If Yamaha is going to get out of the arranger business, then I wish they would sell their style making software to us. Since most factory styles are miles ahead of any others, it would be great to have a way to make your own styles sound like theirs.
Wishful thinking!
Skip

Mellow, let's not create rumors or misinformation. What makes you think that Yamaha is getting out of the arranger business!? Roland on the other hand hasn't introduced a new arranger since 2015, and they closed their European division where their arrangers were made. If you have evidence about Yamaha, please post it up!

First word: “If”

Thanks for that excellent tip Diki.

This gives me a better understanding of why I could not get the Roland unit to work.

I had not thought about converting the TRS jacks on the Roland unit into standard ¼” TS jacks.

Connecting the Roland RD-700GX Digital Piano to the Yamaha GENOS

The GENOS MIDI Implementation makes it trivial to connect any external controller keyboard.

The GENOS has two MIDI IN ports (A & B).

This makes it easy to connect an external 88-key controller to MIDI IN Port A while you can connect an external foot controller to MIDI IN Port B.

Using the Roland RD-700GX Digital Piano as an example, use a MIDI Cable to connect the MIDI OUT 1 port of the RD-700GX to the MIDI IN Port A of the GENOS.

Use a second MIDI cable to connect the Pacer MIDI Out to the MIDI IN Port B of the GENOS.

By default the RD-700GX is set to transmit on MIDI Channel 1.

Set the GENOS to receive MIDI messages on MIDI Channel 1.

MENU | Menu 2 | MIDI | Receive

You will find a listing of 32 MIDI Channels spanning Port 1 and Port 2.

Select Port1 Channel 1 and set the Part to KEYBOARD.

This is all that is needed to instruct the GENOS to receive MIDI messages from the RD-700GX.

Your RD-700GX will be triggering the LEFT, RIGHT 1, RIGHT 2 and RIGHT 3 Voices.

The default split point on the GENOS is F#2

Set the Split Point on the RD-700GX to F#3. This will mirror the split point on the GENOS.

The RD-700GX supports layering of 2 voices on the Lower Keyboard and the layering of 2 voices on the Upper Keyboard.

In conjunction with the GENOS, this allows you to layer 3 voices on the Lower Keyboard and 5 voices on the Upper Keyboard if you so wish.

As you play a few notes on the RD-700GX you will notice that the green LED will flash in the Receive Monitor on Port 1 (MIDI A/USB1/WLAN), Channel 1.

Assuming you have connected the Pacer Foot Controller to MIDI IN Port B, Channel 16, you would expect the green LED to flash in the Receive Monitor on Port 2 (MIDI B/USB2), Channel 16 as you operate the pedals.

The green LED will not flash. Do not be concerned! This is by design.

When you open the External Controller Settings and select a Port and a MIDI Channel, this channel gets reserved for exclusive use by the Foot Controller.

In this example, the External Foot Controller is using MIDI IN Port B, Channel 16.

Now that you have got your 88-key controller keyboard and MIDI Foot Controller to interface with your GENOS, there is just one more essential step remaining to complete this integration.

MENU | Menu 2 | Keyboard/Joystick | Keyboard

The factory setting for the Initial Touch is Normal

Cycle through the options to see which setting feels right to you.

For me I found it best to use Touch Curve = Easy1

The factory setting for After Touch is Medium

I found the Soft setting to work better for me.

With the RD-700GX connected to the GENOS you have the best of both worlds. You can use the RD-700GX for playing piano voices while you can use the GENOS synth action key bed to play all other voices.

Yamaha GENOS/Roland RD-700GX vs. Yamaha Clavinova CVP-609PE


Now that I have got the Yamaha GENOS fully configured with the Roland RD-700GX Digital Piano and the Nectar Pacer MIDI Foot Controller I decided to summarize my findings on how this contraption compares to the Yamaha Clavinova CVP-609PE.



Keyboard Action:


Let’s face it. The primary reason for hooking up an 88-key weighted controller to your GENOS is to make it more enjoyable and realistic to play piano voices.

The best piano voice on the GENOS is the CFX Concert Grand.

This is an excellent sample. However, no matter how much you try you could not quite get the range of dynamics from the Synth Action FSX keyboard on the GENOS.

The Piano is one of the instruments where the only control you have is the velocity of striking a key. There is no modulation, pitch bend, after touch or portamento on a real piano.

Nothing feels the same as playing on a real acoustic grand piano. It is just not possible to emulate the range of dynamics of a piano sample using a synth action keyboard.

There are many graded weighted key controllers. The Roland RD-700GX is one of the best. It has a graded 88-key weighted keyboard (PHA II) with Escapement. Playing the GENOS CFX Concert Grand voice through the RD-700GX makes a world of difference.

The Yamaha CVP-609PE has a Linear Graded Hammer Action Natural Wood keyboard.

Both the CVP-609 and the RD-700GX have synthetic ivory key tops.

The weighted keys on the CVP-609 feel good but falls short of the magical feeling you get when you play on a RD-700GX with key escapement. You get more dynamic control on the RD-700GX. Roland hit it out of the ballpark when they introduced the RD-700GX in 2010. This device was optimized for playing piano voices. It became a favorite stage piano for professional musicians.

While piano voices come alive on the RD-700GX, it does not quite work so well while playing organ voices. The FSX Synth Action keyboard on the GENOS works out a lot better for playing every other instrument besides the piano.

Having the RD-700GX hooked to your GENOS gives you the best of both worlds. This combo easily beats out the CVP-609.




Voices:


The best piano voice on the GENOS is the CFX Concert Grand.

The best piano voice on the RD-700GX is the Expressive Grand. I compared both using the RD-700GX as the controller.

The CFX Concert Grand sounds clean and bright. The Expressive Grand on the other hand delivers a much more richer and warmer tone. It is more textured and sounds more dynamic. The Expressive Grand wins. No contest here.

However, this is an unfair comparison. The Roland RD-700GX is a purpose built device just to make this Expressive Grand Piano Patch sound its best. Everything else is an afterthought.

The GENOS on the other hand can do so much more besides playing a single piano voice. I was surprised with the excellent quality of the CFX Concert Grand sample on this Arranger Keyboard. This voice sounds better than the Concert Grand Voice on the CVP-609.

My rankings for the best piano voices would be:

1. Expressive Grand: Roland RD-700GX
2. CFX Concert Grand: Yamaha GENOS
3. Concert Grand: Yamaha CVP-609


You can layer 2 voices on the Lower Keyboard and 2 voices on the Upper Keyboard on the RD-700GX.

The GENOS allows 1 voice for your Left hand part and 3 voices for your Right hand part.

The CVP-609 allows 1 voice for your left hand part and only 2 voices for your Right hand part. I find this limiting.

Moreover, you have 4 multipads on the GENOS to trigger loops synched to the tempo. The CVP-609 does not have multipads.

These multipads help to enhance the styles.

The GENOS supports 10 Registrations. The CVP has only 8.

The CVP-609 shares the same voices as the Tyros 4. All voices that are common to the GENOS and the CVP-609 sound exactly identical.

The GENOS has many more Super Articulation and Super Articulation 2 voices plus the Revo Drums.

The GENOS/RD-700GX combo wins.



Speakers:

The CVP-609 comes with a system of built-in speakers. The entire keyboard vibrates when you play the instrument loud. They sound adequate. I found I could get better results by hooking up a pair of Behringer B3031A monitors for a more precise 3D sound field at my seated position.

The GENOS and the RD-700GX require external speakers. A pair of ADAM A7X studio monitors mated with an M-Audio BX10s sub yields excellent results. It completely trounces the built-in speakers of the CVP-609.



Guide Lamps:

One of the major selling points of the CVP series is the included Guide Lamps which is lacking in the GENOS.

Guide Lamps are an excellent way to entice young kids into playing a Clavinova. They offer instant gratification. The music pauses till you hit the correct key. It is a brilliant concept executed to perfection on the CVP series. There are cheaper lighted keyboard models offered by Casio and Yamaha but they all fall short.

What are the alternatives to Guide Lamps?

1.
The cheapest alternative is Synthesia.

Synthesia

You can purchase a license for $29 and install the software on all the devices in your household.

Synthesia plays back any MIDI file while highlighting the keys you need to press. It waits for you to press the right key. This is a popular music practicing tool.


2.
The PianoMaestro Teaching System.

https://thepianomaestro.com/

This device comes with an LED light strip spanning 48 keys.

It works in conjunction with Synthesia and waits for you to hit the right key.

The price is $139.


3.
The ONE Music Group Hi-Lite, 88 key LED Bar.


88-key LED Light Bar


This LED strip spans all 88 keys. It costs $217.


You can use any of these options on the RD-700GX to mimic the Guide Lamps on the CVP-609.


While it is fun and easy to play your favorite tunes assisted by Guide Lamps, it is a better long term strategy to learn how to read music. It is not that difficult. Sight reading is an essential skill.

One of the best online Piano Teaching Courses that trains you how to sight read music is PianoMarvel.


PianoMarvel


A 1-year membership costs a reasonable $111.


Piano Marvel Quick Tour


As an Arranger Player all you need to learn is how to sight read these 23 notes spanning from B3 through A5.

If you spend just 10 minutes a day you can easily advance to Level 3 within a year. You will be able to play hundreds of songs from these Fake Books.


Hal Leonard Fake Books




Usability:

If you are a gigging musician the GENOS is your best choice. It is light weight (28 lbs) and easy to transport. You cannot carry a Clavinova with you. At best you can consider adding the RD-700GX which packs another 55 lbs.

The GENOS/RD-700GX works well in a studio setting.

The Clavinova works best as a standalone all-in-one device in a living room setting. It has something for everyone in the family to keep them entertained. It is a great learning tool.



Appearance:

The polished mirror like ebony finish on the CVP-609PE exudes elegance. This glossy surface also becomes a fingerprint magnet. It is easy to maintain the factory shine by applying this product once a month with a microfiber cloth:


Cory Super High Gloss Piano Polish



You can use this product to clean the keys:


Key-Brite Piano Key Cleaner by Cory


The CVP-609PE is designed for your living room.


The GENOS/RD-700GX/ADAM 7X combo on the other hand looks a like a contraption erected by a mad scientist. It is optimized for the studio environment for professional musicians.

Based on appearance alone, the CVP wins.




Price:


Let’s break down and examine what it takes to set up the GENOS/RD-700GX combo:

1.
GENOS Arranger Workstation
$6,000


Yamaha GENOS




2.
Roland RD-700GX Digital Piano.

This model is discontinued.

You can buy the current model for $2,680


Roland RD-2000 88-key Stage Piano



3.
Quik Lok M-91 Keyboard Stand
$80


M-91 Keyboard Stand



4.
Quik Lok M-2 Add-On Tier
$35


M-2 Add-On Tier


This supports the GENOS at the perfect angle.



5.
GENOS Music Stand Extension for Angled Position.
$37


GENOS Music Stand Extension for Angled Position


You would need this bracket to hold your sheet music upright when the GENOS is mounted in a tilted position.


6.
ADAM A7X Studio Monitors with the Sub10 matched subwoofer
$2,500


ADAM A7X with Sub10 2.1 System


This is the ideal near field speaker system for reproducing the sounds of the GENOS.


7.
Calibration Microphone
$119


miniDSP UMIK-1 USB Measurement Calibrated Microphone


You would need this calibration microphone and the free Room EQ Wizard software to blend the sub with the A7X monitors.


Room EQ Wizard



8.
Speaker Stands.

You would need a pair of these. They are 36” tall which puts the height of the ADAM 7X tweeter at 42”. This matches the ear height when seated on the piano bench.

They are $230 a pair.


Ultimate Support MS-90/36B 36" Studio Monitor Stands



9.
Piano bench
$144


Roland RPB-300-BK Adjustable Height Piano Bench



10.
Analog Mixer

Mackie 1604VLZ4 16-Channel Mixer
$1000


Mackie 1604VLZ4 16-channel Mixer


This is an excellent analog mixer.


11.
Nectar Pacer MIDI Foot Controller
$230


Nektar Pacer MIDI Foot Controller



12.
Two Yamaha FC7 Expression Pedals
$78


Yamaha FC7



13.
Three M-Audio SP-2 Sustain Pedals
$75


M-Audio SP-2 Sustain Pedals



14.
Equipment Rack
$318


Omnirax Pro20


This is ideal for rack mounting the Mackie Mixer.
You can place your laptop on the top surface.



15.
MIDI Interface
$235

You would need this MIDI Interface if you plan on adding more sound modules.


MOTU MIDI Express 128 8x8 USB MIDI Interface





Grand Total = $13,761


This excludes the price of the Audio and MIDI cables that you would need to hook up all your devices.


Now compare this to the CVP-609PE. This model is discontinued. The current model is the Yamaha CVP-809PE.

$12,500


Yamaha Clavinova CVP-809PE


This is about $1,000 cheaper than a fully decked out GENOS/RD-2000 rig with the premium ADAM A7X 2.1 near field monitoring system and the Mackie 1604VLZ4 mixer.





Summary:


The GENOS and the Clavinova are both optimized designs that are targeted towards different audiences.

If you want a single all-in-one device that will look and sound marvelous in your living room, the CVP-809PE is the one to get. This device has enough features to entertain the whole family and double as a music teaching tool for kids.

It makes little sense for a gigging professional to buy a Clavinova. The GENOS is the ideal keyboard to carry around. You always have the option to add a Roland RD-2000 to get that magical piano action. You can also add on a premium near-field monitoring system that will far outclass the built-in speaker system in the Clavinova.

The GENOS makes perfect sense in a studio setting.



David

Live Controls on the Yamaha GENOS

The GENOS has 6 Live Control Knobs and 9 Live Control Sliders.

The bright OLED display above the Live Controls has a cleaver design to show the assignable values of these 6 Knobs or 9 Sliders depending on which control you are operating.

The usefulness of this display is greatly expanded by the use of the Knob and Slider Assign Buttons. Each cycles through 3 pages. Essentially, you are getting access to (3 x 6) = 18 Assignable Knob parameters and (3 x 9) = 27 Assignable Slider parameters.

These Live Controls are completely missing on the CVP-609.

The 6 large and brightly lit Gateway Buttons makes it very easy to navigate.

• Home
• Menu
• Style
• Voice
• Song
• Playlist

They are missing on the CVP-609.

The GENOS has 6 Assignable Buttons. The CVP-609 has 4.

The GENOS is a well thought out instrument with ease of use as its top priority.

Functionally, the GENOS/RD-700GX combo surpasses the CVP-609 by a wide margin.

Using a Smart Surge Protector with the Yamaha GENOS


Rather than manually turning on/off all the connected devices to your GENOS, you can use the GENOS to act as a trigger by using a Smart Surge Protector.

I am using this 7-Outlet Smart Strip.


Smart Strip SCG-3MVR 7-Outlet Surge Protector

$14.14


The GENOS is connected to the Control Outlet while the ADAM A7X monitors, RD-700GX and Mackie 1604VLZ4 mixer is connected to the 4 Switched Outlets. The M-Audio BX10s sub is connected to one of the Always On Outlets.

The GENOS draws very little power. I had to turn the sensitivity dial clockwise a bit to make the GENOS act as a trigger.

This works flawlessly.

When I turn on the GENOS, it turns on the monitors, controller keyboard and the mixer.
The moment I play a note, the Subwoofer turns on which is set to auto-sensing mode.

When I am done playing, the GENOS shuts down automatically after a period of no activity.
This in turn shuts down the monitors, RD-700GX and the mixer. The Subwoofer turns off automatically when there is no activity.

If you want a Smart Surge Protector with more outlets, you can buy this model:


Smart Strip LCG-3MVR 10-Outlet Surge Protector

$48.34





For the best surge protection for your GENOS you can use this BrickWall Audiophile Grade Surge Protector:


BrickWall Surge Suppressor Model PW2RAUD


$239


This is a Series Mode Design. They never fail.


How a Series Mode Surge Suppressor Works


I have had 4 of these units since 2004. None of them has failed. I have never had a connected device get damaged due to a surge. They certainly give you peace of mind.

Good point about the UPS’s… I live in Florida, so it’s a daily fact of life here!

For me, having everything shut down when I turn off my keyboard doesn’t really work, as I use the sound system for much more than just the one keyboard, and my computer DAW, interfaces etc..

My Mackie’s are auto sensing, so the main power user goes into sleep if it doesn’t detect any sound, and that’s probably most of the vampire current draw.


A techie once told me that components get stressed more by being powered up and down daily than by running constantly (given a solid UPS) for months or years, so I leave what I use all the time running. But YMMV…

Calibrating the Genelec 8351B powered monitors with the Genelec 7370A Sub


For someone wanting to use the Yamaha GENOS in a studio setting with a Genelec monitoring system, here is an excellent setup and calibration video:


Setting up Genelec 8351B 3-way monitors with the 7370A 12” Subwoofer


Stephanie from Genelec shows how to use the Genelec GLM Kit to calibrate the speakers and dial in the sub to create several presets for each of your favorite listening positions.

The auto calibration compensates for less than ideal room acoustics and even off-axis listening positions. If you have an untreated room, this is the easiest way to achieve the smoothest frequency response.

Genelec Systems are pretty much standard in recording and mastering studios.


Genelec 8351B 3-way Coaxial Powered Studio Monitor


$4,000 each


Genelec 7370A 12 inch Powered Studio Subwoofer


$4,000


Genelec GLM SAM Loudspeaker Management System


$300


The total system price comes to $12,300.


It seems expensive at first glance, but not outrageous considering they include built-in amps with the circuitry to calibrate the speakers for any listening environment. They are an essential professional tool to help you produce the best mixes and identify flaws.

An audiophile grade system used for playback in a living room comprising of Revel Ultima Salon 2 speakers and Mark Levinson power amps and preamps costs a lot more.


I tried getting the flattest frequency response using a pair of Tekton MOAB speakers with the Paradigm Servo-15 sub driven by a Parasound A21+ power amp and sourced from a RME ADI-2 FS DAC.

You can see the final SPL graph in Post #39


Final results after the Beryllium upgrade


The system works well as a mid to far field monitoring system. However, after going through all the trouble of setting this up and applying the modifications, I would not recommend this in a professional studio setting.

You are better off purchasing the Genelec system which is purpose built to give you the best frequency response under any conditions.


Other highly regarded monitoring systems used in recording studios include PMC, ATC and Focal.


Here is an excellent introduction to the Focal Professional Studio Monitors from PureWaveAudio:


Focal Professional Studio Monitors


What brings the exceptional clarity is their inverted Beryllium Dome Tweeters.


The Focal Twin 6 Be is an excellent choice in a studio setting:


Focal Twin6 Be 6.5 inch 3-way Powered Studio Monitor


$2,200 each


Focal is a high-end audio company that made inroads into the Professional Audio arena.

They are the makers of the world class Grande Utopia EM EVO floor standing speakers.

They sell for $130,000 a pair


Compared to their flagship product the Focal Twin 6 Be is a bargain.


It is quite amazing how far technology has advanced and how many choices are now available at every price point to suit your needs.