This is my review on the Yamaha YC-61 stage keyboard.  And FYI, this review also applies (for the most part) to the YC-73 and YC-88; the only differences between these 3 models is that the YC-73 & YC-88 both include a sustain pedal, have additional balanced XLR out ports that the YC-61 does not have, and each of the 3 keyboards in the YC line have different key actions.  I bought the Yamaha YC-61 a couple of months ago to try out with my blues band; I’ve tested quite a few different stage keyboards, looking for something that will work well for both Hammond organ AND piano or electric piano and the Yamaha YC-61 is definitely one of the best choices out there – I’ve got tons of good things to say about it, and . . . a couple of little negatives; so . . . let’s check it out.

What IS A “Stage Keyboard”?

As the name implies, a “stage keyboard” is intended to be  . . . used on stage.  So what makes a keyboard a “stage keyboard”?   The first thing that comes to mind is probably . . . “high quality sounds” and while that’s definitely part of it; lots of Yamaha products have great sounds that definitely AREN’T intended to be used on stage.  So what really makes a keyboard a “stage keyboard”  (in addition to sound quality) comes down to a few other important things:

1. A user interface that allows users to make changes quickly & easily, and also that allows the user to easily see what their current settings are by just glancing at the panel.  So this basically means having a LOT of direct access buttons, controls and indicators that minimize the amount of “menu deep diving” into nested menus using a menu screen to see or change settings
2. Proper connectivity for the intended use; the most common and important example of this is proper left and right line outputs, which provide the best connection to external audio equipment like amps, PA systems & mixers.  And for certain uses, you might want a stage keyboard to have 5 pin MIDI in and(or) OUT ports, for either using your keyboard to control another keyboard, or for having another keyboard access the sounds on your keyboard
3. Portability – if you’re moving your keyboard around a lot, the more portable the better; but keep in mind, everyone’s “line” of what they are willing to carry around might be a bit different; for example, if I’m playing 3 or 4 songs in a blues jam at a bar, I’m only going to bring 1 keyboard and it needs to be a light one that’s easy to set up quickly; if I’m playing a full 3 sets, I might be willing to bring a 2 tier stand and 2 keyboards

Yamaha Stage Keyboard Lines

So where does the YC series fit into Yamaha’s massive keyboard selection?  The YC line is one of 3 product lines in Yamaha’s “Stage Keyboard” lineup. 

CK Product Line

This includes the Yamaha CK-61 and CK-88 which are Yamaha’s most recent and budget friendly stage keyboards; the CK-61 is a light organ/synth action, and the CK-88 has a fully weighted and graded hammer action; I owned and reviewed both keyboards in the CK series: here is a link to my review.

YC Product Line

The YC line is a step up in price & features from the CK line; it includes the 61 key YC-61 I’m reviewing here, which has a semi-weighted waterfall action that’s VERY much geared towards organ players, the YC-73 has a “middle of the road” action from Yamaha called “Balanced Hammer”, that falls between fully weighted hammer actions and the organ action of the YC-61. The YC-88 has a high end triple sensor natural wood fully weighted and graded hammer action like a piano. A unique aspect of the YC line is that it includes an organ engine and dedicated organ functionality like drawbars, vibrato, chorus, percussion and rotary speaker control.

CP Product Line

The CP line is focused much more on piano and electric piano; the CP73 has the same “balanced hammer” action from the YC73, and the CP88 has the same natural wood triple sensor hammer action from the YC88. The main difference with the CP line is the focus; much more focused on piano and electric piano player needs than organ players. As such, the CP series doesn’t have the organ drawbars or other organ controls found on the YC series.

My Buying Decision

So, why did I buy from the YC series, and more specifically the Yamaha YC-61?  75-80% of what I play is Hammond organ, with the rest being piano or electric piano, so the YC line definitely made more sense for my needs, and since the YC-61 has the closest key action to a Hammond organ, it was my first choice. 

Now one thing to quickly mention before getting into the review, is if you’ve just purchased a YC keyboard, make sure you check for firmware updates!  My YC-61 shipped (in late 2024) with version 1.2; and I knew from watching tons of YouTube videos that newer versions were available. A new (and significantly enhanced) Leslie rotary effect and some new FM organs were added in version 1.2, and other new voices (including a new Hammond) and other features were added in versions 1.3 and 1.4. I’ll be posting a review on how to back up your current firmware and live sets, and how to update your firmware in the next few days so stay tuned on the channel for that. OK lets get into the review

Check For Updates!

First things first – if you’ve just purchased a YC keyboard; check for updates! A nice thing about the YC series is you can update the firmware by downloading an update to a flash drive and using it to install updates. My YC-61 shipped (in late 2024) with version 1.2; and I knew from watching tons of YouTube videos that newer versions were available. A new (and significantly enhanced) Leslie rotary effect and some new FM organs were added in version 1.2, and other new voices (including a new Hammond) and other features were added in versions 1.3 and 1.4.

You can check your current version by pressing MENU and scrolling to the VERSION INFO choice and pressing ENTER. If you do need to do an update, then you should first back up your existing data; and you should make 2 backups:

• one complete backup (includes your current settings AND your live sets)
• just a live set backup (so you can restore your live sets once the update is done)

If you want to check out how to do backups & firmware updates; check out this video on my YouTube channel:

So with that out of the way, let’s get into the review.

Key Action

So the key action on the Yamaha YC-61 is a 61 key, semi-weighted waterfall action, which is the type of action you’ll usually find on keyboards where playing organ is a big focus.  In case you’re not familiar with what “waterfall” means, it means there is no lip sticking out over the front edge of the key like there is on a traditional piano action, and the front corners are also slightly rounded on a waterfall action.  This makes organ techniques like organ smears nice and smooth, easy and super comfortable. 

One thing I do have to note is that while the octave width on the YC-61 IS considered to be “full-size”, it’s actually the typical width you find on “full size” synth action keyboards which is 159 mm.  That’s narrower than the 164-165 mm octave width you find on fully weighted digital pianos, or on most of the other “clonewheel” organ centric keyboards like the Nord Electro or Hammond SK & XK series keyboards.   

Now this is something that you might or might not notice, and you might or might not care about.  I’ve asked some other reviewers and some super talented pro players what they think about the octave width difference, and been told they didn’t even notice, so it doesn’t affect their play at ALL.  I’ve also seen a number of people comment online that they struggle with going back and forth between the 159mm and 164mm widths; and I have to admit, I fall into that category.  I find I can get myself used to the narrower octave width if I play nothing but that width, but then it takes me a lot of adjustment to get used to the 164mm width when I go to play one of my digital pianos, and vice versa.  Could just be the fact that I’m still a relative beginner, but it is something I do notice and struggle with. 

But octave width aside, how does the action on the YC-61 feel?   FABULOUS!  I do find it to be a BIT on the light side in comparison to the actions on the Hammond keyboards or my Studiogic Numa Compact, and considerably lighter than the Nord Electro, but it is SUPER smooth, fast and really comfortable to play.  And while any action that isn’t fully weighted and graded is not ideal for playing piano pieces super expressively, you can definitely get by with this action for playing piano and electric piano, especially in a live situation, and especially if you’re playing rock, pop or blues; if you’re wanting to play solo classical piano pieces, then this is not the keyboard for you.

User Interface

So as I mentioned in the intro, one of the most important features of a stage keyboard is the user interface; can you see your current settings, just by glancing at the panel, and can you quickly and easily change important settings without having to deep dive into a menu system.  Well, just to sum up, the user interface on the YC-61 is absolutely spectacular, and quite possibly my favorite user interface EVER.  It is SUPER intuitive, and super easy to use.   

On the very left edge of the keyboard, we have 2 customizable levers, one bounces back to center and the other can be used like a modulation wheel. And, we also have the overall volume of the instrument. So the YC allows you to have 3 voices going at a time, whether they are being layered, split across the keyboard, or possibly being triggered by an external MIDI controller keyboard. One of these 3 voices is something from the organ category, and all of the organ controls are on the left side of the front panel. You can choose what organ you want to use, and there are drawbars, controls for vibrato, chorus, percusssion & rotary speaker. And, you can also easily adjust the octave range, pre-drive, and volume level relative to the other voices, AND you can even specify a lower and upper set of organ drawbars if you want to either switch quickly between 2 drawbar settings, or split the keyboard into a lower and upper manual.

And a SUPER cool feature on the YC-61 are the light indicators behind the drawbars. When you choose a preset, it not only displays the drawbar settings for that preset on the screen, but the lights also provide a SUPER clear and easy to read indication of what your current settings are (regardless of where the physical drawbars actually are), which is SUPER helpful. My Hammond SK Pro showed the current drawbar settings on screen only. So if you want to adjust a drawbar setting you need to move the drawbar to where the current setting is (so “match the light”) and THEN adjust the setting. And something else that is ALSO super cool AND SUPER USEFUL is the fact that you can apply colour codes to your drawbar lights and save them within your registrations (and you can specify a different colour between upper and lower WITHIN a registration as well). And just to emphasize something I already mentioned, to make sure it’s clear how cool this is; while the lower and upper button is MOSTLY meant to allow you to either split the keyboard into a lower and upper manual section (or to have an external MIDI keyboard control just the lower or upper while the YC controls the other), you CAN also just use the lower and upper button to quickly toggle between 2 different organ settings within a song without having to manually switch drawbars, and by using the drawbar light options, it’s super obvious which one you’re on.

Now the center section has the screen, buttons for calling up and working with registrations (or what Yamaha calls “Live Sets” – I will be going over those in more detail later in this review), and a section (that I absolutely LOVE and EVERY keyboard should have) with dedicated buttons for a BUNCH of common tasks that keep you from having to deep dive into a menu system. There are direct access buttons for setting the split point, transposing, tuning, setting the touch curve. You can also lock the panel if you like which disables everything until you press that again, and then there are a couple of buttons for working with more detailed settings at the registration level (so things like configuring more detailed organ or leslie speaker settings, what do the pedals and external MIDI keyboards do, etc), and a menu button for more working with overall settings.

Then to the right of the screen, we have the “Keys” section; this is where you configure one or 2 more voices (A and B) to include in your registration; each of these voices can be from the piano, electric piano, synth or “others” sections. So this is a good time to start talking about the metal switches all along the bottom of the front panel; these are AWESOME – they allow you to quickly enable or disable a voice or effect, AND immediately see what is and what isn’t enabled. So if I flick the organ switch to OFF, the organ section becomes dark, and if I flick on the “A” or “B” sections, then that area lights up. You can specify whether you are working with A or B by using the A/B toggle switch, and then choose your voices by first choosing the category with the wheel and then navigating from voice to voice using the red up and down switch. And when working with A or B, you can also set the relative volume & tone, adjust the octave, specify whether the A or B voice is across the full keyboard or on the right of left side of the split. And you can also choose and configure up to TWO effects for each of A and B, and set the depth and rate of each effect independently which is super cool, and once again quick and easy to use and see what your current settings are. And, you can quickly and easily turn these effects on or off with the buttons by each one.

Then the NEXT effects section has the same set of effects available again, but in this area, you can choose whether these effects apply to A, B and(or) the organ section. The main idea here (at least I THINK) is that you can not only also apply effects to the organ section as well as A&B, but you can quickly and easily turn the effects on or off on ALL voices at once with the metal flip switch. So even if you weren’t using effects on the organ section, if you had effects for BOTH A & B that you wanted to be able to quickly turn on or off, you could do that with the metal switch instead of hitting both of the effects buttons in the “Keys” section.

Then we have the “Speaker/Amp” section, where you can choose a voice (Organ, A or B) and then choose an amp or one of the rotary speakers available, and set the tone and the overdrive for it. Then the “Reverb” section (which can also be flicked on and off easily with the metal switch) allows you to specify common or individual levels of reverb for each of the voices. And finally, we have a “Master EQ” section on the far right which WILL apply to ALL voices, and can also be turned on or off quickly, although interesting that Yamaha used a button to do that here instead of another metal switch, but . . . still easy to use and works great.

So my overall thoughts on the user interface on the Yamaha YC series? ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! I can’t come up with a single thing missing or anything that could be changed improve this interface; I’ve never seen one this good on any other keyboard. It is SO easy to just glance at the keyboard and see ALL your important settings, and SO easy to quickly edit settings on the fly without needing to deep dive into menus to do so. The only settings that are only available within the menu system are settings you’re VERY unlikely to need “in the moment” while you’re on stage, so . . . FANTASTIC JOB Yamaha!

Deep Dive Voice Customization

So I’ve mentioned in other reviews that I’m not much into “deep dive voice customization” on any keyboard; I tend to use the built in sounds and registrations, maybe add some reverb, and OCCASIONALLY an effect or two. So while I’M not much into that, I know LOTS of people are and love doing it. Well if that’s your thing, you will NOT be disappointed with the YC series. With the organ voices, you can deep dive into adjusting leakage, key click, percussion, modulation & panning, and for the rotary speaker, you can adjust the level, background noise, stereo/mono, speed and acceleration. For the non organ voices you can adjust mono/portamento, FM unison, EQ/Fiilter, modulation, touch sensitivity and panning. So if tinkering is your thing? You’ll like all of these options.

Sounds

Ok, sounds on the Yamaha YC Series? I can sum that up in one word if you don’t want me to go into any more detail . . . . SPECTACULAR! The organ section is fantastic; there are 4 choices for Hammond organs, then British, Italian and simple sine wav transistor organs – and the new and improved rotary simulation is awesome. In my (Hammond organ novice) opinion, these Hammond sounds are better than the Yamaha CK Series, WAY better than the Studiologic Numa Compact, but not quite as good as those on Hammond clonewheels, but pretty close, and still super impressive. Here is a demo of the organ section (mostly focusing on the Hammond sounds):

The piano and electric piano tones are (as you would expect) REALLY good coming from Yamaha; the piano section includes variations of the CFX Grand, S700, C7, U1, CF3 and even a Hamburg Grand, so there are lots of great piano voices to choose from. The electric pianos are equally as good, and the extra voices like wind, brass and strings are always amazing on Yamaha keyboards. Here is a demo of some of the non organ voices on the Yamaha YC-61:

So my thoughts on the voices on the YC-61? Pretty much amazing all around; in comparison to the Hammond SK Pro, I would say the YC organ voices are ALMOST as good (not quite, but almost, and that’s saying ALOT). The electric pianos on the SK Pro are really good and probably close to those on the Yamaha, but the Yamaha pianos and “other voices” are way better. All in all, a pretty amazing set of voices (and with tons of effects and customization available)

Registrations (Live Sets)

So I might do a deeper dive into working with live sets later on my channel, but just to give you a quick intro into how this works. A live set is a registration saved with custom settings for 3 voices, one from the organ section, and then voices A and B. There are 160 live set slots available, and they are grouped into 10 “pages” of 8 live sets each. The Yamaha website says the YC ships with 136 slots pre-configured for you, and then 24 empty slots for your custom setups; not sure if this is something that changed in an update, but mine appears to have 144 preset sounds and 16 available slots. The built in ones are a great way to test out different voices and effects setups and combinations. I’m not an effects expert, so I often start with a pre-built setup then modify it to my liking and save it in one of the available slots.

You can navigate through the live sets in a few different ways; you can just start turning the knob and scroll, or you can use the page up and page down buttons to select a page, and then the numbered buttons from 1 to 8 to choose that live set from that page. So let’s say I want to create my own live set from scratch; I’ll scroll to an available slot that says “Init Sound”, and then just start modifying my voices, effects, splits, relative volumes etc to my liking. And, I Once I’m done, I can just press STORE and choose the current slot I’m in, or save over any other slot. Note that pressing down on the wheel is like pressing “OK” or “ENTER”. If I want to further customize this live set, I can press SETTINGS and specify more options in this menu, and I can also give the live set a name. Or, if I wanted to start with an existing live set that has some settings I like, I can do that – lets say I like this Gospel Shout live set but want to turn the percussion on and change one drawbar – I can make whatever changes I want and then save it over the existing one, OR save it to a new slot and give it a new name etc.

So with only a handful of open slots, you might want to think through how you set those up – if I end up keeping my YC for a long time, I will likely end up using up some of the built in slots that I’m not interested in to make room for my own. But either way, working with the live sets is super intuitive and easy to do. And, you can back up your live sets within a complete backup that includes your current firmware version, and you can (and should) regularly backup JUST your live sets so you can re-install those after a firmware update.

Connectivity

OK, so for connectivity? Once again . . . pretty awesome! One thing to note right off the bat is that like many higher end stage keyboards, the YC-61 has a normal power plug instead of the cheaper (and far less sturdy) “wall wart” power adapters. That was one of my few complaints about the Yamaha CK series, is the power adapter and cable are pretty flimsy and I don’t think would hold up super well long term if you’re moving it around alot.

Connectivity Common To All “YC” Keyboards

• 1/4 stereo headphone port
• L/R 1/4″ mono line out ports for connecting to external audio equipment, and if you just use the left port, you will get a merged LR mono signal (so you can use this if your PA system or amp only has one available port)
• L/R 1/4″ mono line IN ports (WITH A GAIN knob) for sending audio IN to the YC (which then gets sent out of the line out ports along with whatever sounds the YC is making)
  • This is super useful to have (as opposed to the more typical 1/8″ stereo audio input that is just meant to stream in audio from a pc, phone or tablet), because if you are using another keyboard, you can send that keyboard’s audio THROUGH THE YC to whatever amp or PA you’re connecting to; which will make the person working sound at your venue happy that you only need ONE connection on the house PA system instead of two
  • And you can still stream in audio from a device with a splitter cable from that device’s headphone out that splits the signal into 1/4″ left and right mono (that’s what I do with my iPad backing tracks)
• 2 1/4″ expression pedal ports (which is super cool); I’m only using one at the moment for controlling organ volume swells, but having another available port is awesome
• 1/4″ sustain pedal port (which does offer half-pedaling if you have a compatible pedal – this works great with my Yamaha FC3A pedal)
• 1/4″ assignable foot switch port for connecting a brick style foot switch or simple sustain pedal to; I have this mapped to my rotary speaker speed on organ voices
• Traditional 5 pin MIDI in and MIDI out ports, so you can use the YC as a controller, or you can access the YC sounds from another controller; the most likely use for this in my opinion would be to use a fully weighted and graded hammer action controller connected to the MIDI in on the YC-61 for playing the awesome piano patches on the YC (if you really want a truer piano action); or if you have the YC-88 with its fully weighted action, then you might want to do the opposite, and connect a lighter more organ friendly keyboard for organ patches
• there is a USB to host port for transmitting MIDI to apps on a pc, tablet or phone, which ALSO transmit audio which is super cool and useful; this means you don’t need an external audio interface to send high quality audio FROM the YC to a device, and if you are using the YC to trigger sounds on a MIDI app on a device? Those sounds will come straight back through to the YC without any lag! Built in audio interfaces are something Yamaha has been including in many of their keyboards for some time now that alot of other manufacturers have tended to ignore
• and finally, there is a USB flash drive port which is used for installing firmware updates, as well as saving or loading backups of your settings and live sets

Extra Connectivity On The YC-73 and YC-88

• Both the YC-73 and YC-88 also have balanced XLR L/R line outs; this is an awesome feature (that I wish they had included on the YC-61), because it means you can connect to a PA system in a venue directly, without needing an external “DI Box”. A DI box converts your 1/4″ unbalanced outputs to “balanced” signals to connect to XLR inputs on a house mixer; balanced XLR cables can be run longer distances, without picking up noise along the way from other electronic devices. I’ll do a video one of these days on DI boxes 🙂

So this an awesome set of connectivity; I really like all the available pedal ports, and having L/R 1/4″ line ins as opposed to just a 1/8″ stereo audio in is awesome. And 5 pin MIDI in and out (especially on a keyboard like this with 3 available sounds and easy external keyboard configuration) adds a ton of functionality. Some people might wonder on a product this expensive; why no BlueTooth? Well to be honest, for a stage keyboard? I would personally never trust a wireless BlueTooth connection onstage myself, I would always want a wired connection for that, so I don’t feel that is a loss.

What’s Missing / Could Be Improved?

So what’s missing on the Yamaha YC-61? Not much! The sounds are amazing, the user interface is the best I’ve ever seen, it’s light and portable, the connectivity has almost everything you could possibly want in a stage keyboard, the build quality is REALLY solid, and the key action has a LOT going for it, especially if you are playing a lot of Hammond organ.

So What About The Action?

As I mentioned earlier, this IS a really nice and high quality feeling waterfall action that is fabulous for organ, and you can “get by” with it for piano and electric piano, especially if you’re playing rock/pop/country/blues etc in a band context (as opposed to playing classical piano solo pieces – you really do need a fully weighted & graded hammer action for more precise piano playing).

My only “gripe” about this action is that it is a BIT on the light side, and the fact that the octave width is narrower than full size piano octaves, but also as I’ve mentioned . . . LOTS of players (that are far more talented and experienced than I am) don’t notice and(or) don’t care about this issue, so this could just be a personal preference on my part that isn’t shared with everyone else out there; but . . . I just wanted to make my opinion clear. As I always say in my reviews, keyboard actions are super personal, so it’s always best to try them out in person first whenever possible. I’m actually super curious about the “Balanced Hammer” action on the YC-73; I’m assuming I would still prefer a waterfall action for organ, but I am hoping to see one of these in a store one of these days so I can check it out.

Things That You COULD Add, But . . .

• alot of people expect BlueTooth audio in on keyboards nowadays, but you only see (or really need) that on home keyboards, not stage instruments (I would never depend on a BlueTooth connection myself on stage) so the lack of BlueTooth is not an issue in my opinion
• microphone input with gain and effects? You are starting to see those more and more, but you usually only see those on entry to mid level “performance” keyboards, usually arranger keyboards where they are meant to be used more as a solo performance instrument for a busker or solo performer in a cafe etc, but true stage keyboards don’t tend to include those, since they are intended to be used on bigger stages with full PA systems and mixers for controlling mics. So, once again . . . not really an issue

Only Things That I Would Consider Adding

• I was surprised that I don’t see port labels on the top of the front panel that help prevent you from needing to tilt up or go behind the keyboard to confirm connections; that’s a common feature on stage keyboards, so Yamaha? Please add labels for these . . . 🙂
• The XLR outputs on the YC-73 and YC-88 are a HUGE add (preventing the need for external DI boxes at gigs); why not add these to the YC-61?
• If it was up to me? Full size 164mm octave width 🙂

Overall, I really have nothing really negative to say about the Yamaha YC-61 – If you’re ok with the action and octave width? This is a FANTASTIC choice!

The Competition

Yamaha YC-61 ($2000 USD) vs. Nord Electro 6D ($2700 USD)

So one of the biggest competitors for the Yamaha YC-61 is definitely the Nord Electro 6D.  The Electro 6D currently sells for about $2700USD, so it is a fair bit more expensive than the YC-61 which currently sells for about $2000USD.  You’re probably already familiar with Nord, but just in case you’re not, they are one of the most highly regarded manufacturers of stage keyboards out there.  They have a great, very sturdy build quality, great quality sounds, and are one of the most commonly seen keyboards on stages, from your local bar right up to big professional touring acts.  The Electro 6D is aimed at the exact same customer as the Yamaha YC-61; someone looking for a stage keyboard with multiple sounds, but with a heavy focus on Hammond organ sounds. 

Now I haven’t reviewed a Nord Electro yet, so I don’t know a ton about them (other than having tested them out MANY times in music stores) so I can’t offer an in depth comparison, but I can offer a few observations.  Like the YC-61, the Electro also has a semi-weighted waterfall key action (which I BELIEVE is the TP/8O action from Fatar used in many Hammond “clonewheel” keyboards), and is one of my absolute favorite actions ever (although that action does seem to differ slightly depending which manufacturer is using it; I’ve always personally found the Electro’s action to feel just a bit heavier than the action in Hammond clonewheels), and heavier still when compared to the YC-61’s action which I find to be pretty light.   That being said, I still personally prefer the action on the Electro 6D over that on the YC-61 simply because the Nord keybed is true full size, with an octave width of 164-165mm as opposed to the narrower 159mm octave width found on the Yamaha.   

As far as the user interface goes, I did mention in this review that the YC-61 user interface is probably the best I’ve ever seen; I’ve always found the Nord user interface to be confusing and NON intuitive (I often have difficulty with them in stores), BUT . . . to be fair, if I actually owned one and got familiar with the UI, maybe I WOULD like it, so . . . not a fair criticism.  As far as a sound comparison goes, I can’t really offer much until I get the opportunity to do a side by side, but suffice it to say, I think the sounds on both of these keyboards are fabulous.  With what I do know, deciding between these 2 would mostly come down to personal preference on the key action and size,  the sound quality, and the price difference.  I’d prefer the Nord’s action, but given the extra cost and how much I like the YC’s interface?  That’s not an easy decision, but I am pretty big proponent of good user interfaces, so personally?  I would probably lean in the YC’s direction.

Yamaha YC-61 ($2000 USD) vs. Hammond SK Pro ($2500 USD)

The Hammond SK Pro is Hammond’s long awaited update to the SK-1 which came out in 2011.  The SK Pro is also aimed at the same market as the Yamaha YC-61 and the Nord Electro, and is priced in between those 2 at about $2500USD.   The SK Pro also has lots of sounds in addition to the main organ engine; I reviewed the SK Pro on my channel, here is the link if you want to check that out.   So to sum up (very quickly) how I would compare the SK Pro to the YC-61?   The SK Pro’s Hammond organ engine and features are probably a step up on both the Yamaha YC-61 and the Nord Electro. And the true full sized waterfall action on the SK Pro is probably the best organ action there is, at least in my opinion – it is by far my favorite action.

As far as the other non organ sounds go, I can’t speak for the Nord, but the piano, electric piano and other sounds on the Yamaha YC are far better than those on the Hammond.  That’s not to say the Hammond piano and electric piano sounds are bad, they’re not; they’re actually pretty good and totally usable.  But, the equivalent sounds on the Yamaha YC are borderline spectacular in my opinion.  As an example, the SK Pro has what Hammond (and a lot of reviewers) said was a VASTLY improved main piano sample from its predecessor, the Hammond SK-1.  And that “vastly improved” piano sample is a Yamaha sample, and from what I can tell, sounds VERY close (if not identical) to the piano sample on my Yamaha PSR-EW425 keyboard.  And while that is an awesome piano sample (especially in my $500USD PSR-EW425), it pales in comparison to the CFX Grand piano sample included in the YC-61. 

So overall, I would give the edge to the SK Pro in terms of Hammond sounds & features & key action, and I would give the edge to the Yamaha YC-61 in terms of user interface, non organ sounds, build quality & price.

Yamaha YC-61 ($2000 USD) vs. Yamaha CK-61 ($1000 USD)

OK this is a pretty interesting comparison; Yamaha recently came out with their new budget line of stage keyboards, the CK series. And the Yamaha CK-61 is HALF the price of the YC-61! So the big question here is clearly; what are you getting with the YC-61 that you aren’t getting with the CK-61 (and more so, are those features worth the extra money to you?).

Main Differences

• Key Action:
  • The key action on the CK-61 is Yamaha’s FSB (“Future System Basic”) action, an updated version of their older “FS” action from older Yamaha organs; these aren’t waterfall keys, and they aren’t semi-weighted – they are synth style diving board keys, but they do have a slightly heavier initial touch, and they are also the narrower 159 mm octave width; are they as nice as the waterfall keys on the YC-61? Definitely not, but they’re not bad, and can also function as decent organ and piano playing keys, so . . . remember the price difference
• Organ Sounds:
  • The organ engine on the YC series is a step up from the CK; the CK Series uses the same organ engine as the Yamaha Reface YC (which is an AWM engine, and not bad at all); but the YC series uses the VCM Organ engine which is a significant upgrade, especially the rotary speaker emulation; so once again the YC is definitely higher end, but once again . . . there is a big price difference
• Non Organ Sounds
  • While I could be wrong on some technical details here, I do think (at least in my opinion) that this is a wash; the CK Series seems to have alot of the same voices, including the CFX Grand and other pianos and electric pianos that the YC does
• User Interface
  • The user interfaces on both the CK and the YC keyboards are awesome, they’re very similar in a number of ways; I reviewed the CK series first and at that stage it was probably my favorite user interface ever; until now . . . the YC series is just a little bit better
• Connectivity
  • Connectivity is great on both, but the CK actually has a couple of cool extra features on it that actually make it better than the YC:
    • the CK also has L/R line in ports, BUT on the CK, you can configure one of those as a mic input port (for a dynamic mic) with gain AND vocal effects! And yes, I did try connecting a dynamic mic to the line in on my YC, and you could barely hear the mic at all
    • The CK allows you to specify a backing track (stored on a flash drive) as part of your live set, and you can even trigger that backing track to start playing when you press the rightmost white key on the keyboard (with that live set loaded); that’s a great feature for a solo performer
• Portability
  • The CK wins out on this as well; while both the CK-61 (12 lbs) and YC-61 (15 lbs) are super light and portable, the CK-61 has the option of running on batteries, the YC does not

So, is the YC-61 worth twice the price? That totally depends on your needs and your budget; for me, since I play mostly organ and I’m not a solo singing performer, the YC is definitely worth the extra money for the improved organ sounds and rotary speaker as well as the key action. While the backing track and mic input functionality is pretty cool, it’s not something I’m likely to use. But if you play more piano and just a bit of organ, and want the added portability and mic input, then maybe save yourself some $ and go with the CK.

Yamaha YC-61 ($2000 USD) vs. Viscount Legend One ($1800 USD)

So as I was editing this review, a new competitor was announced (in January 2025); the Viscount Legend One, which is available in 61 and 73 key formats. I don’t know much about this keyboard yet, but the initial demo videos and specs have me super interested. I’ve never personally seen a Viscount keyboard, but they are highly regarded for making great quality instruments, and have a pretty good reputation for their Hammond organ sounds. They have a number of organ products, including the Legend Classic (full furniture style upper and lower manual organ with pedals, meant to look like an original Hammond organ), Legend & Legend Live (upper and lower manual portable organs), and the Legend Solo (upper manual portable organ).

Viscount also makes digital piano products, so with the Legend One, they have released a stage keyboard that not only features their organ engine, but also features 2 additional sound banks with pianos, electric pianos and other sounds. They are also known for having a nice feeling waterfall key actions, but something important to note here: the 61 key model is an UN-WEIGHTED waterfall action, the 73 key model IS SEMI-WEIGHTED. I’ve reached out to Viscount to try and get some more info on this, in particular to ask if their other organ actions (which have been highly praised) are the unweighted or semi-weighted versions, but I haven’t heard back yet so stay tuned to my YouTube channel for an update. This makes me wonder if the unweighted action might actually feel lighter than the YC-61, but the semi-weighted action on the 73 key version might feel heavier. Can’t tell without some more information, and preferably testing it out myself.

So with all this in mind, and a price that (at least initially) appears to be less than the YC-61? I’m really looking forward to learning more about the Legend One, and hope to get a chance to try out both models and key actions in person.

So I can’t really say much more at this stage, other than you might want to look into the Viscount Legend One before you make a buying decision on a new stage keyboard.

Yamaha YC-61: The Verdict

As I mentioned earlier, I really have nothing negative to say about the Yamaha YC-61. If you are looking for a high end stage keyboard with a really nice waterfall key action, great organ sounds and functionality, SPECTACULAR piano/electric piano and other sounds, a top of the line user interface, tons of customization and great connectivity? This is an absolutely fabulous keyboard! It’s ALMOST perfect for me to use with my band, and allows me to only have to carry one keyboard around. The ONLY issue with me is that narrower key width, which doesn’t matter at all to lots of people.

When Would I NOT Recommend The YC-61?

• if you’re looking for a stage keyboard that is more “piano” focused and aren’t super concerned about organ functionality, then I would recommend either looking towards the CP series (with weighted keybeds) or even the CK-88 which is $500 USD cheaper than the YC-61 and has a fully weighted and graded GHS hammer action keybed
• if you are looking for a stage keyboard with the YC’s functionality but don’t want to spend that much? I’d highly recommend the CK-61

So that’s pretty much it for this review; as always, I have links in the description below to products I’ve mentioned here so you can check out current prices in your area, as well as some links to other relevant reviews of mine, and also some links to online piano training that worked for me that I highly recommend.  

So thanks again for stopping by, and happy piano shopping!   

Thanks so much, and happy organ playing! (and organ shopping 😉 )

Links To Check Out Current Pricing:

(please note that as an affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases)

Yamaha YC-61

Nord Electro 6D

Yamaha CK-61

Yamaha YC-73

Yamaha YC-88

Yamaha CK-88

Yamaha CP-88

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Piano Training I Recommend

I’ve taken a number of online piano courses; the ones I’m listing here are my favorites and I can highly recommend any of these if you are looking for some online training to get started on learning piano, or to take your current skills to the next level.

Video Version Of This Review