Yamaha Digital Saxophone (YDS-150)

My short and sweet review is this instrument is good for anyone who plays sax and either has a noise issue that prevents them from practicing, wants to experiment with alternate sounds no different than a pianist who also owns an electronic keyboard, or just wants a lighter more convenient instrument for travel or playing in a local park. This instrument is NOT for someone who has never played sax and is looking to pick it up.This is a new product on the market so I'll also give a wordy review for potential buyers.I'll start off with the bad first:Cleaning the inside of this thing seems difficult. It's not included in the instructions. I seem to generate more spit with this than with my tenor sax and it gets everywhere. I think it's because the fake reed doesn't soak it up like an ordinary reed. There's a drain tube in the bell. I think removing the mouthpiece and blowing compressed air both into the "neck" and into the drain tube in the bell is all that's needed to dry it out but there will be no scrubbing of the inside of this thing. I'm storing mine vertically so that the spit can effectively drain out of the drain tube.It doesn't sound like a sax. I think that's the #1 complaint from others and I do agree. My tenor sax sounds way better. The sound is less rich like a real horn. There's no nuanced change to the tone from me changing my embouchure. There's a toggle on the bottom for mimicking that effect but it'll take some practice before it's useful to me and using it will not back-translate to bending notes on my tenor. For a total beginner purchasing their first sax, this instrument shouldn't be considered unless they are buying it along with a real sax. This instrument will not allow a new player to develop their embouchure the way they need to in the beginning.Without headphones or a speaker, it's pretty quiet and it does sound like a toy. It's fine for playing alone but if you are playing with a band or you are performing for others, you should run this into an amp or a speaker. It doesn't take a lot to get volume and a clearer sound out of it. I use a 10 dollar portable speaker and it makes a big difference.The soft case has limited storage. The manual says only carry the instrument and the neck strap in there but you can probably stuff some earbud headphones and maybe a 2 foot long usb power cable in there too. It'd be a stretch to put anything else in there. Ipads, songbooks, and sheet music would be better off in a second backpack.The good:The sounds are good enough for playing. I have a Casio electronic keyboard with a few sax sounds on it. All of the sax sounds on this instrument sounds better. If I'm playing a piece that is built on the rich but nuanced sounds of a sax, I'll only get an impression of what the song sounds like with this instrument. However unlike my tenor sax, I can practice that song all night without disturbing my fiance. Plus, music can still be made with synthetic sounds. If you read other reviews, people say the synth sounds are better than the sax sounds. I disagree. The synth sounds are awesome but as long as you understand the sound is that of a synthetic sax and not a real sax, the sax sounds are also great. It's not a replacement for the real deal but it's a solid musical instrument in it's own right. I don't gig but I could see someone gigging with most of the sounds this instrument produces. Go to youtube and you'll see professionals playing their favorite genres on this. It's not fake or a sales gimmick. I've played a lot of music that I'm very pleased with.I like the interface. I picked it up and was immediately playing my favorite sax songs and scales and I even did a little jazz improv for the fiance over a backing track. The only real difference is the high octave key is a high octave button but it takes a few minutes of playing to get used to it. Out of the box, the key response is just a tad bit slow but that's easy to fix if you read the manual. I played it for hours before I decided to change that. The keys do feel plastic but so do the keys on my Casio keyboard.I like the bluetooth/aux in and aux out. It keeps things simple. If you can connect your device to a bluetooth speaker, you can connect to this thing and run your favorite backing tracks into it wirelessly without downloading any apps. Others have said this is difficult. I disagree. The manual has instructions and there is a youtube video on how to do it. I think if they did bluetooth in AND bluetooth out, it'd be more complicated to set up that feature. My set up is backing tracks from my ipad to the instrument through bluetooth, and backing track plus the sax out to my headphones or my speaker via auxiliary cable. I've seen where other owners plug a wireless transmitter into the aux out to play on a speaker or amp wirelessly. I'll be investing in one of those soon and with that, I'll be able to play with backing tracks 100% wireless.I like that all of wires enter the lower left side of the instrument. They are very much out of the way.The breath control is extremely responsive and that's fun.I like the tremelo effect.I like the ergonomics. I'm glad that they built it like a straight soprano as opposed to a curved sax. I never realized how nice it is to play while reclining back on my couch.There's a thread on the internet debating if this thing can be carried on an airplane in the factory soft case. I've flown a lot and this is absolutely allowed to be taken on the plane. At least it is here in America. I doubt you can fit it under the seat in front of you but it'll fit in an overhead bin or you could always ask the flight attendant to store it in the closet.It's light in the case. It would be easy to carry this to a park at lunch to play. It's a lot more portable than my tenor sax. Tenor and barry sax players should really appreciate this.If you think this is an instrument to replace your horn, don't get it. Maybe you used to play in grade school, sold your horn, and 20 years later you're looking to get back into it. Go buy a regular horn. Save this for later. If you are looking to expand your playing to different sounds, this is a great instrument. If you would like something that is more portable and quiet so that you can practice more often, it's better than a great instrument. It's a gamechanger.

I own electronic wind controllers (EWI 4000S, 5000, WX5 paired with VL-70m/Patchman and DynaSample XPressO) but could not master them after years due to unnatural in playing or air flow. I am a Yamaha fan so when I saw their first digital saxophone, I pre-ordered it almost immediately. I am impressed and having fun playing this instrument. I play instruments only for fun though and used to learn Tenor saxophone in school.What I like:- Natural feel with air flow. May be the closet to the real saxophone that I have experienced so far. Once blowing hard, it's louder. Easily to play staccato than my wind controllers, as I like playing Marches- Similar to saxophone keys. No touch sensitive like EWI or roller- Can change fingering and settings easily trough YDS app. EWI is painful to change or setup correctly and it impacts play ability immensely- Very light weight- Many patches to choose from - Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone, Customs, Users- Comes with a bag and neck strap- Good for practice and can adjust sensitivity. This is good to play for fun as my lungs are not strong because of walking pneumonia years ago.What I don't like:- Did not seem to have function to change keys like EWI e.g. if I want to play in Trumpet key- Use phone out as lineout while there is Aux in but I don't see real use of it.- Internal speaker is not great. Using headphones provide much better sound.- Battery seemed to last a few hours and they are not so easy to take out. Would be good if can charge through USB port. However, can provide power through USB port instead of battery.- Keys are light, quite noisy and feel a bit cheap- Instruction in manual quite inaccurate e.g. how to connect Bluetooth - needed to follow on the app instead.- YDS app on app store is used to configure but there was no guide on the manualThese are what I added:- Stand: K & M 15213 Portable Trumpet Stand- Reed: Rico Plasticover Alto Sax Reeds, Strength 2.0 (doesn't matter to the sound, I think)- Wireless: LEKATO Wireless Guitar System Stereo Wireless Guitar Transmitter and Receiver- USB cable: CableCreation Angle Micro USB Cable

First, I will say that this is a great practice instrument and midi controller! It’s great that you can play through headphones and with certain wireless guitar adapters (3.5mm types with 1/4”) you can easily run into a mixer or practice speaker. Using the usb mini connector with the appropriate cable adapters, I can hear SWARM instruments from my iPad out through the headphones. The secret to getting the best sounds are through the free Yamaha App to control and change parameters and save them in your user menu to easily switch between later. Although it has a small speaker, it does not do justice to the sound capabilities of this instrument. The non-Japanese YouTubers are guilty of recording the little speaker and it does not sound very good. If that’s your point of reference, you are in for a very pleasant surprise with headphones or direct connection!Now, with that said, my biggest issue is in how the upper octave key works. It is a very sensitive on/off switch that can easily disengage at the wrong time. As the YDS-120 is a lighter than my proper soprano, it seems to be a struggle for me to keep it engaged while going for high C# unless I am using the neck strap as leverage. I really hope that the next generation of these instruments have an improved version of this button soon. I would love to use it in a live performance as it can create very realistic saxophones and other instruments and save me from carrying my tenor, alto, and soprano when you can just click between them. Midnight saxophone practice is a great use after work or after late night inspiration.