Vintage Digital

Yamaha

Yamaha is a company that is so diverse in product it can make your head spin. The fact that they are so capable in each of their product categories is amazing. Everything from motorcycles to pianos, home stereo and home theatre products, through to professional audio products including digital mixers, amplifiers and speakers. Yamaha has a long and very successful history with digital audio processors. Their first was in 1983 with the release of the Yamaha REV1 Digital Reverb. The REV1 was a high end professional reverb targeted at the big studios to take on the likes of Lexicon and AMS, the big names of the day. They made little impact at the time, regardless of the quality of the unit.

The following year Yamaha released a more affordable digital reverb for the smaller and home studio market, the Yamaha R1000. Again, huge success did not come, but the R1000 those with lesser means, to get into the world of digital reverb. It wasn’t until the Yamaha’s next release that things really took off. The Yamaha REV7 hit the market in 1985 and was a big hit. Falling somewhere between the R1000 and REV1 in terms of sonic capability, the REV7 was a huge hit because it’s reverbs were great, and it offered many other effects on top of reverb, such as delay and modulation effects.

Many studios around the world added a Yamaha REV7 to their effects racks, some still have them too. Not content with that, Yamaha then made their next major move with the release of the Yamaha SPX90, also in 1985. The Yamaha SPX90 was a game changer, as it provided smaller studios and home studios a full effects rack in one single rack space and it was affordable. Everything from reverb to delay, modulation and everything in between was offered. The SPX90 was a monster success for Yamaha, and today it is the most viewed product on Vintage Digital by a long long way.

On the back of the success with the REV7 and SPX90, Yamaha continued to offer newer upgraded models of each and their success continued. Today they still offer the SPX2000 which has everything Yamaha learned about digital effects, in a single rack space, and has been in production now since 2003. Their long history in digital effects has provided us with some great products which are still sought after today, with the standouts being the REV5, ProR3, SPX2000 and the SPX90.

Released in 2003

Yamaha SPX2000 Professional Multi-Effect Processor

The Yamaha SPX2000, while inheriting the standard interface and popular programs from its predecessors, brings a new dimension to the SPX sound with advanced REV-X reverb algorithms and 24-bit, 96k-Hz audio processing.

Released in 2000

Yamaha SRev1 Sampling Reverberator

Reminiscent of their own REV1, the SREV1 was Yamaha once again going all out to take on the big brands, namely Lexicon in the studio reverb space. The Yamaha SRev1 is perfect for recording studios, audio post, broadcast, concert halls, theaters, or anyone looking for superb quality reverb that sounds just like the real thing, with the option to sample the reverberation characteristics of any location for use back in the studio.

Released in 1996

Yamaha REV500 Digital Reverberator

Digitally reproducing the complex reflection patterns of natural reverberation is a daunting task that can only be effectively handled by custom LSI circuitry. Yamaha was a pioneer in the field of DSP (Digital Signal Processor) LSI production, and continues to lead the way in products such as the Yamaha REV500.

Released in 1995

Yamaha ProR3 Digital Reverberator

The Yamaha ProR3 marks a new era in Yamaha’s reverberation technology. Third-generation Yamaha digital signal processors (DSP) with 32 bit digital signal processing and high-performance 20 bit linear A/D and D/A converters provide unprecedented density and resolution, with breathtaking dynamics.

Released in 1994

Yamaha D5000 Digital Delay

The Yamaha D5000 is something of a rare processor that is very difficult to find for sale, and when they are they are often rather expensive. So what is the magic? With the quote from Bob Clearmountain that it is the best digital delay ever made, the Yamaha seems to have gone underground in home studios or Yamaha simply did not make very many of them.

Released in 1994

Yamaha REV100 Digital Reverberator

The Yamaha REV100 was one of Yamaha’s most affordable digital reverbs and it offers reasonable quality for the money too. Reverb is the essential effect for musical instruments, recording, and sound reinforcement. Delay and modulation run a close second and third. The Yamaha REV100 offered all this and is most suitable for live rigs.

Released in 1993

Yamaha SPX990 Professional Multi-Effect Processor

The Yamaha SPX990, regardless of the name came after the Yamaha SPX1000 and continued the Yamaha tradition of providing superb quality. The Yamaha SPX990 effect systems offers 80 preset effect programs including accurate simultaneous natural reverberation and early reflections.

Released in 1988

Yamaha SPX1000 Professional Multi-Effect Processor

By 1988 when the Yamaha SPX1000 was released, Yamaha had pretty much established their place in recording studios the world over. Look at any modern studio effects rack and you will find Yamaha SPX1000s and it’s siblings, in studios the world over, such was the quality of these multi-effects processors.

Released in 1988

Yamaha SPX900 Professional Multi-Effect Processor

The Yamaha SPX900 was the first SPX processor to feature full bandwidth, 20Hz to 20kHz. In doing so Yamaha put to rest the REV series of processors. As digital technology improved over time, Yamaha moved forward with just the one series of processors and given the success of the SPX series, the REV series was dropped and all efforts were put into SPX series.

Released in 1987

Yamaha SPX-50D Digital Sound Processor

Yamaha was on a roll with the great success of their SPX90 and SPX90 II multi-effects processors, and expanded the line up with the SPX50D. The Yamaha SPX50D added distortion to the list of effects, clearly aiming the processor towards guitarists and perhaps trying to compete with the success Eventide were enjoying with their processors.