Well, "some depth," at least.
The WX5 ships with two mouthpieces, a recorder-style one and a saxophone-style one that has a metal, replaceable, reed. For me, at least, the reed means I can actually tongue the thing, without having to do research on how recorder players tongue. The mouthpiece is also removable, like the Akai, but, unlike the Akai, it has a synthetic rubber "cork," similar to a saxophone neck, and Yamaha even has "cork grease" for it, which they call
"recorder cream." I don't necessarily think having a moveable mouthpiece is the best thing for the WX5, though, because you have to "line up" the mouthpiece with the mechanism that captures the breath controller and tonguing data. It might be nicer to have a screw to line up the mouthpiece, like the Akai does, so you can be certain that all the parts are lined up right. Also, the Akai mouthpiece is made out of some sort of semi-firm synthetic rubber that's quite comfortable to use. I would really like to have that on the WX5 ... or any woodwind mouthpiece, really. Possibly a thick
mouthpiece patch will make it more comfortable for me. Hey, it's been awhile since I've played any sax or clarinet. I think I'd want to buy another mouthpiece ($16) and reed ($6) before experimenting with the patch, though.
Production idea for someone: custom WX5 mouthpieces and/or custom reeds.
The WX5 is powered either by an optional wall-wart power supply or six AAA batteries. The WX5 is pretty light --
520 grams/1.2 pounds without batteries (the
first plastic clarinet I could find a weight on is 720 grams, for comparison) -- so the batteries add
a significant amount of weight, percentage-wise. However, if you want a bit more mobility, that's the way to go. I'm probably going to hit up Amazon and do some price comparison shopping for the batteries and power supply. Another thing to consider is that you'll have a MIDI or WX cable hanging off the thing, unless you buy a wireless MIDI adapter. There are now a
few of
these on the market that are under $100, but not all support all operating systems and/or all MIDI controllers.
The one guaranteed to work with the WX5 is $450. I don't think I'll buy one of those.
The key action feels more like that of a clarinet than the Akai. However, theoretically you could play faster on the Akai because you're not hitting a key that connects to a switch. You're actually hitting the switch. However, I don't think you'll ever be able to play so fast as to get to that theoretical point. Also, there's a lot to be said for having the tactile feedback on the WX5.
I've learned that the very old and very discontinued Yamaha WX7 has a bunch more ways you can alter the key action and that the WX7, on the whole, is a better instrument. However, you're talking about an electronic instrument introduced way back in 1987/88. Old electronics are kind of iffy, even if you've had them in storage. You also have to either have one of the original synths designed for the WX7 (VL70, IIRC) or a BT7 battery pack, both of which are pricey and also long discontinued.
Another thing that could be both a plus and a minus is the tweakability of the WX5: you can change hundreds of parameters on the thing and you can do even more with the MIDI parameters on the tone generator you're using. And, if you're using a computer as a tone generator, as I am, you can then look for the "perfect" sound patch. That can send you down various rabbit holes for hours and hours. The Akai EWI USB has an awful lot less stuff you can configure and comes with more-or-less configured software right out of the box. That makes the EWI a bit less intimidating. There's a lot to be said for instant gratification!