Yamaha MU 50

Fairly straightforward navigation. Easy to scroll back and forth between MIDI channels, parts, effects. If I want to slap some reverb and/or chorus on a sound, it's as simple as a couple of button-presses - easier than many other synths.

PLENTY of effects! And a nice set of parameters to work with, for each effect. One drawback is that the changes are only stored in RAM, no way to store permanently. That would have been a big plus. I LOVE the fact that reverb and chorus are available for every patch, without eating up effects slots. Meaning you can use reverb, chorus, and a another effect at the same time! Nice touch

Yes the Piano sounds could be more realistic, but this box has so many other good sounds, it will keep a spot in my synth setup. The pianos would be passable in a live setting, I suppose. I like the way some of the presets are categorised by the nature of the sound (Dark, Resonant, Fast decay) rather than the family of instrument. The MU-50 could be used for rock, pop, maybe dance. I like the woodwinds and brass fairly well. I think the presets in the DOC and TG modes are a bit higher quality. The Performance mode has the most sophisticated sounds.

Owned it for 9 years now. Paid $500 in 1997. Probably could gig with it, with confidence. Half-rack unit, so that would need to be addressed. Mine stays in the studio, and never done anything weird, electronically.

If lost or stolen, I'd likely replace it, if the price was $200 or less. It's served me well over 9 years; well worth the price. Definitely makes my musical activites easier. Yamaha did well with this unit. I also own: Yamaha FB-01, Roland Juno-1, Roland Fantom-Xa, and Korg 05/RW. Been playing about 27 years.

Although Yamaha has done a nice job of laying out menus in a clear and consistent fashion, simply the number of menus and the number of effects that can be adjusted require a significant learning curve to get the hang of it. Once that learning curve is mastered, the device is fairly straight-forward to use.

By and large the features on this device are very good. Yamaha has a tendency to include sound patches that sound alike, and I'm not sure I see the benefit of including four separate modes (XG, DOC, TG300 and PERFORMANCE) when XG and PERFORMANCE would have sufficed, but in any case, there are many options to choose from.

This is the most disappointing aspect of the MU-50, espsecially the piano patch. For a company like Yamaha that makes truly excellent piano patches (witness the P-200 digital piano or SW1000XG sound card), why they would include a piano patch that sounds more like a harpsichord is beyond my comprehension. The jazz organ patches were also disappointing. On the other hand, the ability to layer together up to four voices in PERFORMANCE mode is a nice feature, and with the addition of Yamaha's variation effects, one can produce some nice sounds. But the failings of the piano and organ patches are pretty fundamental.

My experience with Yamaha products in general is that they are very reliable.

Yamaha's customer support has historically been better than the industry as a whole.

Otherwise fine product is shortchanged by terrible piano patch and mediocre organ patches.

the Item is very easy to use you really dont need the manual to get it up and running, as far as editing is concerned I myself haven't gotten into that area yet being a beginnig keyboard player but I can say that the manual does go into pretty good detail on how to edit the sound patches.

The unit has built in effects that you can tune or should I say edit to your taste, It Isn't expandable and has the basic setup for midi in/out/thru and host select which means that you can hook it to your PC. It doesn't have a on board sequencer but If you have one already then you can enjoy the unit for what It was meant for, and that would be as a tone generator!

Me as I said earlier, I'm a beginnig keyboard player, but I do listen to a lot of sounds like most of us do, but I must say not hearing anyother modules, that this unit has some phat sounds onboard, in my opinion, I have the yamaha SY77 and a K1000 each with there own unique sounds but when I use the tone generator through my A-70 with a Internal sound card I'm blown away with it!! simply put I just think that It's sweet!!!!!

I don't gig unless I'm playing my bass, but If I did I really think that It could and would hold Its own, considering that this is a older unit as far as production, Its still a good seller for yamaha try It and maybe you will agree.

Haven't had a reason to use them yet, but I haven't had any problems with contact from the online site for other Info on products or service.

If it were lost or taken from me, I would get another one I feel that this is a great tool to have as a desktop tone generator, go out and get one you would be glad that you did.

First, I must tell you that I bought this module used. When I bought it I did not know much about it except that it was general Midi, XG and GS. Thats what I was looking for and I knew that it had to be worth more than the $200 Canadian that I paid for it. I'll try not to base this review on the price paid. I have just submitted a review on my Roland JV1010, I think I gave it a 3 in this category, I'm giving the MU50 a 10 or 11. It has a huge LCD screen that shows you everything you need to edit it, and it is so easy. I'll get the minor quibbles out of the way first, re: the front panel 1: The buttons could have been a little larger, if you are familiar with the Roland SC88, they are the same size in keeping with Japanese sameness in manufacturers. I once owned the SC88 and I can tell you the MU50 blows it away in ALL respects, and this was Yamaha's lower priced model, the MU80 was the price competitor. 2: It has two small knobs, one for main volume and the other to control a stereo input from, say, another module, guitar etc. The only problem is, the main volume controls both, so you cant turn the MU down without turning the input down too, but I'm nit picking here. Bye the way the MU80 has the same input but you can add effects to it, a great feature, but it is the same patchwise, well almost. If you buy an MU50 you can download a program from Yamaha called XG edit, its a nice program, but I prefer to edit the unit itself, its that easy. The editing capabilities are quite good, far better than the SC88 I had, but not as extensive as my JV1010. The MU is certainly enough for me, but I am only close to being a fanatic.

A nice feature on it is that, if you push the enter button twice it will show the SysEx data for the edit you are in. I downloaded a manual for it from Yamaha UK and it is quite good, as far as they go, but I wish the Japanese would get an English speaking person to write them. This unit works so well with GM files and it will amaze you how good it sounds with a good XG file, I was actually moved by a couple of files from the net,never had that before from Midi stuff.

If you were playing the MU50 beside the JV's, you would probably pick the JV for sounds, excluding drums. Roland went all out with the JV1010 soundwise, and that and the price is why I bought it, but first impressions are not always lasting, the MU50 grows on you and I find myself playing its Grand Piano more than the JV's excellent ones, indeed I'm playing all the sounds more than the JV. It has the classic DX7 EP Legend and it sounds better than the DX itself, bass's, organs and synths are very good, especially if you tweek them just a little bit, the drums are a standout, much preferred to the JV. Where this unit stands out is in a mix of sounds, composing and playing back a tune I cant fault the effects either.

Who really knows, but I have never had a problem with any Yamaha equipment, including this one.

Good, if you dont include their US website.

Yes, I would buy it again, but I would see if I could pick up an MU80 just for the effects input. For what I paid for this, I would give it 11, but if I had bought it new a 9. I have owned a lot of stuff and this is one of the most fun units I've had.