What are the differences in the Yamaha VL series synths?
Polyphony The VL1 keyboard and rackmount VL1-m were the original VL synths. There were very expensive when they were released in 1994 ($4-5,000). These synths are the only VL series hardware synths with 2 note polyphony. All the other hardware synths are one note polyphonic (monophonic). The later VL7, VL70-m, PLG150-VL, PLG100-VL card, and synths such as the MU100-R, EX5, and EX5R also have one note VL polyphony. There was a polyphonic software version of the VL called the Sondius XG SoftSynthesizer SYXG100 but it suffers from crippling latency (delay) due to the heavy processing needed for a realtime polyphonic physical modeling synth. This makes it rather unwieldy and unusable for realtime wind controller use. Breath Controller Jack The VL1, VL1-m, VL7, VL70-m, EX5, and EX5R all feature a breath controller jack into which a Yamaha BC1, BC2, or BC3 can be plugged in. The others do not have this BC jack. If your synth does not have a breath controller jack, you can use a device such a
Polyphony The VL1 keyboard and rack mount VL1-m were the original VL synths. There were very expensive when they were released in 1994 ($4-5,000). These synths are the only VL series hardware synths with 2 note polyphony. All the other hardware synths are one note polyphonic (monophonic). The later VL7, VL70-m, PLG150-VL, PLG100-VL card, and synths such as the MU100-R, EX5, and EX5R also have one note VL polyphony. There was a polyphonic software version of the VL called the Sondius XG SoftSynthesizer SYXG100 but it suffers from crippling latency (delay) due to the heavy processing needed for a real time polyphonic physical modeling synth. This makes it rather unwieldy and unusable for real time wind controller use. Breath Controller Jack The VL1, VL1-m, VL7, VL70-m, EX5, and EX5R all feature a breath controller jack into which a Yamaha BC1, BC2, or BC3 can be plugged in. The others do not have this BC jack. If your synth does not have a breath controller jack, you can use a device suc