Yamaha vs. Korg vs. Roland

[Needle201]

KORG!!!!!WINS!!!!

best interfaces, interesting new concepts (electribes), best sounding VA (MS2000) short of the ION (which is a lot newer)...

 

 

 

Yamaha puts me down everytime i buy something from them...unusable user-interfaces....everytime...everytime...grrrrr

 

 

 

Roland is not to be taken seriously since a lot of years, but have at least the V-Synth to redempt themselves somehow...

 

 

 

 

this is highly subjective...as this thread hsould be...

[GregCh]

 

Originally posted by The Pro Roland seems to be trying to recover from a slump technologically, but their customer support is still legendary for sucking. They only recently put their product owner's manual online as a small example, and I swore off their products in retaliation for their non-support in the past (ie: Roland Studio Pack). I don't trust them and wouldn't base my act on their products. Korg always seem to be the "me too" kid and they come up with some cute and innovative products. I don't know how their customer support ranks these days but it couldn't be worse than Roland's. That thing about Korg borrowing a lot of money from Yamaha to stay alive always bothered me - if they rely on Yamaha when all else fails then it's a clue...

 

 

Hey The Pro, you have interesting opinions and statements.

 

I have been a Roland customer for 8 years. Since their products are so solid

( Roland's 'road worthiness' is well known and regarded in the industry) , I have rarely needed to call them.

 

My XR did need a new motherboard

( 1st XR production batch had some intermittent static when changing patches). Roland was fast in answering the phone and referring me to a local service enter. Roland promptly shipped a new mo'board to local service center.

 

How could you make a blanket statement it still sucks ? Can you back it up ? Waving to a few internet posts doesn't cut it. Give us REAL DATA.

Like Current News, not griping from years ago.

 

Korg borrows money from Yamaha to stay alive ? Please tell us more.

 

Thank you

[Miket156]

Mike51.....You GOT to be kidding.

________________________________________

 

How is Korg the "me too" kid when Yahama's best synth product is the Motif ES, whici is basically an improved Korg M1?

________________________________________

 

The M1 was a good synth for its time, but there's no comparison.

 

Anyway, I look to Yamaha first when considering new gear. Wide range of products, knowledable tech support people, at least in their PRO product division. Most reliable product line on the market. I own Yamaha gear that is over 25 years old and still works fine. It usually becomes obsolete rather than breaks down.

 

Roland makes some interesting niche market products. I LOVE their drum machines. Great sounds, easy to program, and most of them have been very reliable. User friendly interfaces. Tech support is spotty, but occasionally, I gotten someone on the phone that knows what's he's talking about.

 

Korg is an interesting company. I love their Organ clones, great sound for the money. I kinda like some of their synths too. The Triton line is due for an upgrade, but there's lots of players using them. Good sounds, nice action.

 

I also like the way Alesis is surviving. The Andy, Ion, and Micron are making some noise in the market. Hopefully, they will be profitable and continue to make nice synths that we can actually afford.

 

There really is no one clear cut winner, but I do prefer Yamaha. I wouldn't hesitate to buy something from any of the other companies above, if they have what I want for a price I can live with.

 

Buy on sound, features, and price. If you have a local dealer that can help you when there's a problem, that could be the deciding factor.

 

 

Mike T.

[Mr. Riceguy]

i do agree with al lot of you guys in saying that there are many other good companies other than the three i stated and the they have great products like the Ion. i my self think that korg is the a great compnay and their products or very easy to use. yamaha has great sound and the product seem to be able to expand endlessly. although their user interface is probaaly the worst and hardest to understand. I just wish that the Motif would have a touch screen or a color one like the fantom. roland seem to be the best in new stuff and inovations but to me they have always been the company to have a good product but always fall short of making a great product. and like we all agree on their tech support sucks. personally i have to favor Korg in that it fit my budget and my music. the triton le is all i need for now and it has the perfect sound for the eletronic music that i make. i love yamaha becuse it is a great company and makes makes the R1 korg is the one the i would probably use the most and roland is the one that i wish was better than it is.

 

i was also interested in the fantom xa but i don't know how much better it is than the trition le. can someone tell me.

[Mr. Riceguy]

after i said al that i just like the company the has the lowest price for the highest quality and features

[ExplodingBoy]

 

LOL Actually also I do think that Alesis beats them all. A6 is a monster in its class, ION is the beast with unbeatable price, amps have best price/power relation, amps and mixers have lots of effects (we love effects).

 

 

Alesis may win in the analogue or virtual analog arenas, but they can't touch the others when it comes to workstations and romplers.

 

I've always gone with Yamaha for one reason.... consistency.

 

Every Yamaha synth that I've owned or played was built like a TANK. No cheaping out on parts... always solid feeling, great sounding, super reliable and because of their wide range of products and long legendary history.. I just felt good about putting my money into a Yamaha.

 

I owned an EX7 for a couple years and LOVED it. It still works perfectly and is owned by Tucktronix who also loves it.

 

After playing every synth on the market right now.. MANY times... I came to the conclusion that the best sounding and best built rompler available right now was the Motif ES. Some don't like the user interface, but I'm used to Yamaha's layout because of my EX7 so that wasn't an issue for me. When you take the user interface issue out of the picture, there is simply no contest that the Motif ES series are the best "sounding" and best built workstations available right now. I don't use it much as a workstation.. I just wanted a powerful synth that sounded great and had a ton of sounds for my home studio.

 

The Triton series are great.. but when a company starts putting out budget versions of their synths and or making like 10 different versions of a synth, it turns me off for some reason. I like that Yamaha just has the Motif (which is also well built and great in it's own right) and then just comes out with a monster upgrade in the ES series. They don't spread themselves thin with multiple versions and cheaply built budget versions.

 

I've just always thought that Yamaha's synths are the best built, most reliable and best sounding.

 

From the DX-7

to the SY series (awesome synths)

EX series

Motif

 

Yamaha may be the biggest legends in the digital synth realm.

[Mr. Riceguy]

 

Originally posted by ExplodingBoy I've always gone with Yamaha for one reason.... consistency. Yamaha may be the biggest legends in the digital synth realm.

 

 

i agree

[mr.rob]

Yamaha, man. FS1r. Motif ES. A5000.

A Z1 and Oasys PCI might with in that mix too, though.

[Umbra]

Hmmm...... historically things are a bit different but considering the big 3's current product offerings in the synth realm I would rate them:

1. Roland

2. Korg

3. Yamaha

 

Yamaha just doesn't seem to be interested in synths these days, just workstations and digital pianos(bore). Roland seems to provide the largest variety of synths/grooveboxes/etc. Korg is inbetween the two with a few interesting products but not the same variety that roland seems to have.

 

Now if your talking musical instruments in general then it needs to go:

1. Yamaha

2. Roland

3. Korg.

 

Now if your talking historically it's more difficult, each of the three has made atleast 1 major contribution to synths.

[BOBA JFET]

A lot of people credit Korg with having the first integrated workstation, but a point was brought up in a conversation with a friend of mine...Yamaha's V50 came to market before the M1, with an integrated 16-voice FM synth, a drum machine, a sequencer, and effects. It even had a disk drive. It was not as commercially successful as the M1, but certainly it fits the criteria for workstation IMHO. If the Motif ES is just an improved M1, the M1 was just an "improved" V50.

[VTK]

I have been looking for my next keyboard for the past 2 months and I have done some fairly hefty investigation.

I have found the following:

 

Yamaha - pound for pound (oun intended especially for the ES8) - it has the best specs and consequent capabilities - 8 insert effects, size of ROM, RAM upgrades (512 stated but really 1 Gig), 1787 standard arps etc. This is odd because it is technically the oldest board (about 14-16 months old depending on your location).

Cons have been - too difficult to use - I can confirm that from the documentation I have read - from behind the manual stuff from motifator and the official guide. I was ready to go ahead with the Yami until I read a thread on motifator regarding a hum that the motif ES supposedly produces due to a ground loop. MANY people responded to that post - much to the companies shagrin. Now I don't know.

 

Korg - I pretty much agree with the other posts - it IS a rehash with some new cool stuff. I liked alot of the sounds - but the 'real' instruments - piano's/guitars etc - were not up to the Yami. It's much easier to use however and if you are techno/hip hop/dance guy - this keyboard is for you. Dual arps are cool - but insert effects are second to the Yami. In track sampling is also a soild advantage. Cons - worried that another actually NEW Korg board will come out - despite the fact that this version just came out.

 

Roland - Damn it if it wasn't just a little bit better! I was looking at this board first and was close to buying until I started to check the forums (which by the way is a good place to check for real issues with the device). Another poster said it well - a good product that shys away from being great.

Awesome piano/guitar sounds - the rest of the ROM's pretty much suck. skip back sampling is one of the most useful features - but records at low levels which must be edited. Least in insert effects, arps - one of the highest in expandability. The easiest device to use (but if you are a Korg guy - the familiarity would make Triton easier).

 

I'm in the same boat as you so I know how frustrating it is. I have a gut feeling that something new is on the horizon - but with technology you never know. A Yami with the Motif ES engine and good user interface with a real touch display would be it. As the Yami is about 16 months old and the new rack is on it's way out - it could be 1 year until we see a new board.

 

I hope that helps,

 

VTK

[Mr. Riceguy]

hey thanks VTK. i did not know the the motif was that old. wonder whan the motif es rack will came out. any guesses? and i agree with on the fact that whan the motif gets a touch screen on it, it will be a lot better.

[VTK]

To answer your question - it seems the rack mounted ES will be announced after Christmas and probably shipped out by the Spring/Summer.

 

To add to my above description of the tops synths - I forgot a couple of things about the Kord - lousy memory limitations - especially for the sampler and crappy standard filters.

 

I have found out that using a di-box to connect through will solve the Motif ES issue - so I am back on track towards Yami - although I am trying to check rumours on any new keyboards that may be coming out. So far - no luck.

[Kirumamoru]

 

Originally posted by VTK Yamaha - pound for pound (oun intended especially for the ES8) - it has the best specs and consequent capabilities - 8 insert effects, size of ROM, RAM upgrades (512 stated but really 1 Gig), 1787 standard arps etc. This is odd because it is technically the oldest board (about 14-16 months old depending on your location). Cons have been - too difficult to use - I can confirm that from the documentation I have read - from behind the manual stuff from motifator and the official guide. I was ready to go ahead with the Yami until I read a thread on motifator regarding a hum that the motif ES supposedly produces due to a ground loop. MANY people responded to that post - much to the companies shagrin. Now I don't know.

 

Actually, the Mo'ES technically has 16 insert effects... and I agree, it is the best-specced synth out there... one reason why I'm glad I own one. As for the difficulty of use, I really don't think it's all that hard to use if you spend a few hours learning your way around it. There's a lot of people who say that who only sat down with it for 10 minutes, or heard someone else talking about it who'd only sat down with it for 10 minutes.

 

As for the ground hum, I've never experienced it. I don't know what thread you mean, but the only time I've heard about ground hum seems to be a problem with using the USB computer connection. I have posted here a possible workaround, modifying a USB cable to lift the ground between computer and synth, which I am pretty sure would easily solve that problem, but no-one has ever told me whether they tried it or not.

 

Kiru

[VTK]

Hi Kiru,

 

The problem with the HUM can be seen at motifator.com under the MOTIF ES section. The issue does not seem to be the yami's fault per se because a ground loop is caused by variance in the voltage differentials. With multiple devices you will sometimes have voltage irregularities. A Di-box was the recommended fix (supposedly costs 25$).

[Kirumamoru]

heh you know, I'd listen for it on mine, but I just today packed the thing up and shipped it to my parents' house. So I can't. I've never noticed a hum from my ES, though.

 

Kiru

[Miket156]

Hmmmmmm (pun intended). That's interesting guys. My Motif ES is quiet as a mouse, unless of course I'm playing it. I practice every day with just the MOTIF and my rack for the sound system on and its very quiet. I use to get a lot more hum coming from my sound system in general, until I bought a Furman Power Conditioner and plugged everthing into it, including surge strips that I connect all my KB's too. The Rack/Furman is plugged into one outlet on one 15 amp circuit and it's very quiet.

 

Many KB's don't have XLR connectors on them to reduce cost, and don't have polarity switches on them anymore; that can be the culprit too. I'll have to check out that thread on Motifator.com and see what's up. Trouble is, once my Digitech Vocalist is plugged in and the MIC cranked up, the hum level increase a fair amount, so I guess it doesn't matter anyway.

 

Mike T.

[Kirumamoru]

OK, is it just me, or could this hum problem be easily solved by wrapping a thin piece of tape around the ground contact of the 1/4" audio plug going into the Motif?

 

Kiru