Members XorAxAx Posted March 19, 2007 Members Share Posted March 19, 2007 Whoops, they are about $700-$1000 too high. But they'll sell millions, because the consumers of the world are dumb as nails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MartinHines Posted March 19, 2007 Members Share Posted March 19, 2007 But they'll sell millions Yamaha will have created a great product in the Motif XS if it sells over 10,000 units. The MI market is very small, and the keyboard workstation market has taken a hit from computer software alternatives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Does anybody know if the XS series is backwards compatible with the ES series? I didn't see this mentioned on the Yamaha site. If so, I could see selling my ES rack for a XS rack if they come out with one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Miket156 Posted March 19, 2007 Members Share Posted March 19, 2007 Quote by MartinHines:----------------------------------"Given the Motif XS appears to be using a custom chip based tone generator (their "SWP51"), Yamaha won't be able to add new instruments like the OASYS. However, Yamaha has always made OS/functionality updates to all of their past products, and this might make that process easier. As DmitryKo mentions, I assume the big benefit are the features they already ARE implementing (like long filenames and IP connectivity), plus a future potential benefit of easier technology sharing between the different Yamaha groups."----------------------------------The Motif XS is not intended to be an Oasys. Yamaha has ditched the PLG card slots on the XS series. "Old Technology", according to Yamaha. So not only you can't add new instruments, you can't add new "voices" or upgrade to a new piano card in the future that might be better than the one in it now. Maybe owners of previous Yamaha workstations don't buy enough PLG cards to continue making the PLG series or to justify making new ones and supporting that technology, who knows. But the XS appears to be an improvement over the ES series. Provided you don't mind another throw away workstation, you're good to go. Mike T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DmitryKo Posted March 19, 2007 Members Share Posted March 19, 2007 The Motif XS is not intended to be an Oasys etc. What was the point of this post, exactly? PS. Could you please use Quote and Multi-quote buttons instead of copy-pasting the text? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Miket156 Posted March 19, 2007 Members Share Posted March 19, 2007 Dmitryko: If you read MartinHines previous post, then you'd know what my post is about. Mike T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Does anybody know if the XS series is backwards compatible with the ES series? I didn't see this mentioned on the Yamaha site. See p. 274 of Motif XS owner's manual. (Short answer: yes, with some limitations). Since some of the waveforms are different between the two it sounds like it's a hit or miss with presets created with a ES and then played in the XS. I will wait for a rack XS, listen to it and decide if it's worth upgrading Thanx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DmitryKo Posted March 19, 2007 Members Share Posted March 19, 2007 If you read MartinHines previous post, then you'd know what my post is about.Yes, I've read it; no, I still don't know what your post is about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Miket156 Posted March 19, 2007 Members Share Posted March 19, 2007 DmitryKo: MartinHines said that Yamaha will not be able to add new instruments to the XS like Korg can with the Oasys. I said that you can't add new voices or cards (like the PLG in the previous series) much less new instruments. That was my drift. If you don't get it now, I can' help you. Mike T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DmitryKo Posted March 19, 2007 Members Share Posted March 19, 2007 you can't add new voices or cards (like the PLG in the previous series) much less new instruments Of course you can add new voices to the Motif XS - for example, by purchasing 3rd party ROM voices or sampled RAM voices on the Motif Mart. Did you mean increasing the polyphony by installing additional PLG cards? It used to make sense in 1999 but increasingly less so following the release of the ES series, which have 128 notes (voices) of polyphony. And the raw sound quality of "PCM" PLG boards such as XG, PF, AP, DR, PC (and arguably AN and VL boards) is not quite up to the quality of internal Motif XS wave ROM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ouch1234 Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 the big question is this>>> for peoples with the motif es..is it worth selling the es(at a lame resale price now) to get the xs? for example..i was going to sell my es8 with ram upgrade and 4 plg boards and breath controller but it seems i cant get a decent price now...i would like to get $2100.00 usd... but it seems they are going for like 1500.00 now...so maybe i keep it and use it as controller for the motif xs61? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MartinHines Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 the big question is this>>> for peoples with the motif es..is it worth selling the es(at a lame resale price now) to get the xs? for example..i was going to sell my es8 with ram upgrade and 4 plg boards and breath controller but it seems i cant get a decent price now...i would like to get $2100.00 usd... but it seems they are going for like 1500.00 now...so maybe i keep it and use it as controller for the motif xs61? Only you can answer the question whether it is "worth it" to replace your Motif ES with a Motif XS. Assuming you are familiar with your ES, I would suggest waiting until you have a chance to demo the XS in person to decide if its features are worth the upgrade. P.S. -- You can probably sell your ES for more money if you sell the PLG boards individually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members swardle Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 If I were getting my first professional synth, the XS would be a great way to start. But, as an S90-ES owner, I just can't see shelling out another $2k for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Son of HuHefner Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 the big question is this>>> for peoples with the motif es..is it worth selling the es(at a lame resale price now) to get the xs? for example..i was going to sell my es8 with ram upgrade and 4 plg boards and breath controller but it seems i cant get a decent price now...i would like to get $2100.00 usd... but it seems they are going for like 1500.00 now...so maybe i keep it and use it as controller for the motif xs61? a bad idea to use it as a controller, do the math if the XS is a hot model, you can kiss away the $1500 You should know in a week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MartinHines Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 i was going to sell my es8 with ram upgrade and 4 plg boards and breath controller but it seems i cant get a decent price now...i would like to get $2100.00 usd... but it seems they are going for like 1500.00 now Here are some recent completed eBay Auctions for Motif ES8: -- $1,799 + $65 shipping (no extras) -- $1,500 + $110 Shipping (no extras) -- $2,076 + $75 shipping (512 MB Sample RAM, manuals, orig. box) -- $1,605 + $75 shipping (256 MB Sample RAM) Given these prices, I think you could sell it for $1,800 provided: -- you have original box, all manuals & CDs -- you clean up keyboard very well (vacuum, cloth shine so no fingerprints) -- take a number of very good digital photos (including pictures of all peripherals) -- you create an intelligent description (I like to include links to current retailers to show how much if new) -- you are very quick to respond to questions The main idea is that you come across as someone who has taken very good care of the instrument, and someone who is asking a reasonable price. I like Buy-It-Now auctions, run for 10 days. Also be prepared to run the auction for a few cycles. Sell the PLG boards each in a separate eBay auction (you will get more potential buyers). Take digital photos of these as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Miket156 Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Quote by DimtryKO: ------------------------------------------------- "Of course you can add new voices to the Motif XS - for example, by purchasing 3rd party ROM voices or sampled RAM voices on the Motif Mart. Did you mean increasing the polyphony by installing additional PLG cards? It used to make sense in 1999 but increasingly less so following the release of the ES series, which have 128 notes (voices) of polyphony. And the raw sound quality of "PCM" PLG boards such as XG, PF, AP, DR, PC (and arguably AN and VL boards) is not quite up to the quality of internal Motif XS wave ROM." ------------------------------------------------- What I'm referring to is both voices and new instruments. I use the sequencer extensively, and on rare occasion I have had some voice stealing on sequences that use up a lot of voices for percussion (like Santana songs). If I were to use a PLG card that has an additional 64 voices dedicated to just the card, it would not be be taxing on the internal 128 voices being used by the sequencer. Voice stealing can also happen if you are doing orchestration similar to the Boston Pop's records. Sure, its rare, but I still like having the OPTION of being able to buy new instruments with additional voices for that instrument (like a AN card). Yamaha has only released one new PLG card since the ES series has come out AFAIK, an acoustic piano card. Somewhat different than the acoustic piano that comes stock on the ES. Loading samples on the ES8 was way too slow, although the 2.0 USB port is extremely fast on the XS, so they say. I've only used the sampler on my ES8 for adding sound effects to my sequencers, sounds that are not standard on the ES8. For me, that's a bonus and it fits my needs on a limited basis. It would have been nice if the 1.1 port was actually fast enough to load large samples. After I bought it, I found out that it wasn't. I've never bought any of the sound libraries on the Motifator Forums because the 1.1 port on the ES8 is so slow. I use my Motif ES8 for live gigs and there's no time to dick around with loading samples between songs. That forces me to follow a non flexible song list set, so I can load a new set with the samples in between sets. The thing is, I liked the option of being able to expand the ES8 when I bought it, but because of the slow speed of the ES8 and the lack of new products being released by Yamaha of PLG cards, the expansion capability I thought I was buying was a dud. Mike T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stikygum Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Now that Yamaha has finally added a nice big screen, I wouldn't even touch the older Motifs. Nice sounds in there, but not much else as the UI is rather tucked in. Comparing the ES to my RS7000 UI is like night and day. The RS has dedicated knobs and buttons for all the important functions and anything with menus has points next to the buttons to allow you to quickly find what you're looking for. Don't mean to bash the ES, but I'm just glad Yamaha is getting it right finally. There is SOOO much stuff in the Motif, that you at least need a big screen, two would be nice so you could monitor things better. I wish the RS7000 had a bigger screen (I would on any product), but the UI is so well laid out it's quick and easy to navigate. I think if at all possible, get the XS. Doesn't it also act as a plugin for your DAW? Does the Motif XS rack come with a software editor? It's going to have asmall screen and with the Motif's depth, that would be a must. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stikygum Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Forgot to ask, are the ARPs user configurable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Diametro Posted May 19, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 19, 2007 Well ... I finally got to play around a bit (not much) ... but enough to say ... I LIKED IT ... much better looking in person ... color LCD/new UI seems like a huge improvement over the ES ... the sounds ... well, my ears weren't exactly dripping wax ... but the XS soundset seems pretty diverse and sounds good ... grand piano still has that ice-pick quality to it ... but it works ... Cycling through patches is surprisingly a little slow ... Certainly, more in the future ... It strikes me, though, that this is the board Yamaha should have released years ago ... Still, it seems like a very capable machine ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Muzik7 Posted June 3, 2007 Members Share Posted June 3, 2007 It seems to me that the new Yamaha Motif XS is just similar to the Roland Fantom X workstations. I checked the Motif at Guitar Center and it seems that Yamaha copied so many function that Fantom already has... this is my opinion, maybe it is not correct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RPdigital Posted June 7, 2007 Members Share Posted June 7, 2007 +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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