Yamaha Motif XS6 Synth - Now with Conclusions, and Motif XF "Coda"

[TomBo777]

Ok so here is the question and or questions I have regarding the Motif if anyone has one.

I bought a Tyros 3 and realized its a great Style generator but poor WorkStation. But I still have a need for it's great features.

So I recently picked up the Motif xs8 and set up Sonar 8 to receive independent Midi Channel input. I want to send songs to Sonar.
I have set up man and the USB MIDI port. (I have plenty of MIDI ports LOL) All is working as intended. My issues are work flow.

I want to create a Sequence on the Motif using the Arps then send them to Cakewalk on Separate MIDI channels I have tried to send a song from song mode to cake walk using the "Quick set" "recording to performance to computer...but the Motif will not send and regardless of what MTC is set up. WHn I do transmit using the internal sequencer the MID inform action become over loaded ( I suspect a feedback issue) The manual is helpful but not particularly suited to Sonar use. I tried Cubase but the copy protection process completely turned my off and an hour later after I got it set up I decided with all the issues I am having I don;t want to learn a new Software program especially (after jumping through an hors worth of activation hoops)

I realize I have to dig deeper in to the manual but the Motif is designed more for internal working which is fine until I want to get the MIDI to the PC.


The Mackie Control, works great using it on USB MIDI 2.

I am also having issues with suing the XS8 as a n interface with the Tyros. Seems the audio from the Tyros is again looping back. I am sending the audio using LR (all other setups cause feedback) through a Sub Buss on a mixer and sending it out the MOtif LR, Even using asLR it sends it out Sub 1 and 2 out puts and feed back occurs...

Solving these tow issues would go a long way to enjoying the board and ensuring I made the right choice.

[carloslogg]

hi ANDERTON.. i need some help here.. i need to be able to switch my sounds in master mode with a pedal (any sustain pedal) ON MY MOTIF XS8..

while ago i had the motif es8 and the pedal switching was easy to program, you choose and increase value in utility mode ad is ready.. but now on my new motif i don't know how to do that

[Support Guy]

In the Motif XS the program change inc/dec parameter is now programmable for each performance. while remaining global for voices.
In voice mode, go to [utility] [F3] Voice [sF3] control and set "Foot switch cc# to 98.
Then in each performance that you program into a master memory, go to [Edit] [Common] [F3] CTRL ASGN and set "Foot switch cc# to 98.

Now a foot switch will increment through each master memory that has a voice or performance associated with it.

All this and much more can be found here:
www.motifator.com

Enjoy!

[Mountie]

"80s Young Gun" should probably be called "Hair Band Meets Van Halen." This has arpeggiated drums, bass, and rhythm guitar; I played the OB8-ish keyboard part over it.

How do you record the vocoder part(s) in real time over a pattern? It's driving me crazy!

[Phil Clendeninn]

You will find a step-by-step on how to record the Vocoder to the Motif XS sequencer at this link:

http://www.motifator.com/index.php/support/view/recording_the_vocoder_to_the_sequencer

If you get stuck let me know.

[Anderton]

This has been a very successful Pro Review, one of the best yet for a synthesizer, with close to 100,000 page views. However, we're not done quite yet because there was an update a while ago to version 1.5 (now up to 1.55, thanks to some bug fixes). Before buttoning this review down, let's go over what this update adds to the Motif. Yes, I'm a little late doing the update (it was announced at Summer NAMM), but it's such a significant update we really need to cover what it does.

First of all, about the update itself: It's a relatively simple procedure. You go to the downloads section of http://www.motifator.com, which you should be familiar with if you're a Motif owner - there's a ton of useful content there, as well as updates, extensions, extra goodies, etc. If you're a registered user, you'll even have recommended updates show up for your convenience.

The 1.55 update is pretty big - about 250MB. To update, you download the ZIP file and unzip it. I went crazy trying to find the "how to update" instructions on the Motifator site, but as it turns out, when you upzip the folder there's a Read Me that explains all. Doh.

You then need a USB stick formatted on the Motif (in case you don't remember, formatting is done from the File menu), and you then copy the updater file over to the USB stick.

However, there are three possible cautions. First, I downloaded and unzipped the file on a Mac. The instructions say that only one specific file should be on the USB stick, but the Mac puts a couple small, hidden files on the stick (like the ._Trashes file). So just to be safe, I put the stick in a Windows computer and erased the extra files. I don't know if this is necessary or not, but I figure it never hurts to be safe.

Second, as this is a firmware update that takes a while, you don't want power to be interrupted to the Motif during the updating process. Again to play it safe, I plugged the Motif into an uninterruptible power supply so that power issues wouldn't be a factor in the updating.

Third, updating will cause you to lose any custom data, like programs. You'll want to save these before proceeding with the update.

The updating works as expected: You turn off the Motif, insert the stick, power on while holding down the Magic Button Combination (Cursor up and Utility), then go take a break while the Motif updates itself automatically. This takes a little under 20 minutes; the Motif screen informs of you of what's happening so you don't end up thinking the update process has stalled. Be patient - when it's all over, you'll be told when to turn off the Motif and "reboot."

Next, let's look at the new features.

[Anderton]

As far as I'm concerned, the biggest feature in 1.5 is the ability to record what you play – either in real time, from the A/D input, or from the sequencer - to a USB stick (or networked computer). Of course, you could always record a MIDI sequence, but this function records actual audio that ends up as a Red Book CD compatible (44.1/16-bit) WAV format file.

It’s really easy to set up, I didn’t even need to refer to any documentation. I just hit F1 to get into File-land, and F4 shows a function called Audio. After calling that up, you’ll see a Rec option (and Play, if there are playable files on the USB stick).

Once you hit the Rec button, you need to create a file name. After that’s done, you end up in the Audio Recording screen itself, in standby mode. There are some VU meters to let you check levels, an option to record manually or set a trigger level, and read-only field of the available recording time.

About the only caution about recording is if you want to record yourself playing (for example) piano, you need to choose the program first. Ditto if you want to play a sequence into audio, or record something from the A/D input; once you’re recording, you can’t really go back and change your mind about what you wanted to record.

This feature would have been so useful when I was recording audio examples back at the beginning of this review – I could have just recorded to the USB stick, and popped it into my computer instead of running the audio outputs into an audio recording program on my computer!

If there are files on the stick, you can audition them by hitting the Play button. In addition to letting you hear what you played, this is also good if you have a bunch of files on a stick and you want to import a specific one but can’t remember exactly what it was named…just listen until you find the one you want.

One thing you have to remember is that this is all about WAV files. AIF files will show up in the list of files, but if you try to audition an AIF file, you’ll get an "Illegal File" message. MP3s and other compressed formats won’t show up in the listing, let alone give you the ability to load them. This isn’t a deal-breaker, as WAV and AIF files are pretty interchangeable these days – if all you have is AIF files, you probably have something that can convert them to WAV.

Something else to consider is that this function turns the Motif XS into a true solid-state recorder. Stick a pair of mics into the A/D input, edit the settings, and voila – record something analog, and note that this can be recorded along with what you’re playing on the Motif. For example, you can sing into the A/D input while playing piano, and record the results to the USB stick. Or record your drummer while you play synth along with it.

Get the idea? Granted, a Motif isn’t as portable a solid-state recorder as something like a Pocketrak – but then again, the Pocketrak doesn’t have a zillion programs, sequencer, keyboard, etc. Overall, this is the kind of feature that one might think would have to have been “baked into” the original OS, not something you could just add on. But, there it is, and it works. Cool!

[Anderton]

The rest of the 1.5 features are more about operating system tweaks than dramatic functional changes, but they're still useful. I've basically just cut and pasted the following from the Motifator site because there's nothing to comment on - they're all useful tweaks, and don't require elaboration.

* The Cursor up/down buttons can now move the cursor in the Directory list, Sharing Point list and Device list of the File mode. Also, the Cursor left/right buttons can move the cursor from or to the list box in the display of the File mode. Pressing the Cursor left button moves the cursor up, and pressing the Cursor right button moves the cursor down.

* The Sampling Main display now contains a list of the Key Banks that make up the selected Waveform. In this display, the Cursor [] buttons can now move the cursor up/down.

* You can now edit the following parameters of the [F2] Parameter display in the [F1] Trim display from Sampling Edit: Level, Pan, Coarse Tune, Fine Tune, Play Mode, Key Range, Velocity Range.

* The initial settings of the "Play Mode" have been changed from "one shot" to "loop" in the [F1] Trim display of the Sampling Edit mode.

* When you press the [sF4] Apply button from the Sampling mode to temporarily modify data, it will be replaced with a Cancel button.

* Sequence data bars on the Song Play Track View display now indicate the relative pitches of note events with higher-pitched notes being displayed at a higher position. (Okay, well actually I should comment on this...it's a very helpful UI tweak that gives a better idea of what's going on with the sequence.)

* You can now customize MOTIF XS displays using file-sharing functionality via a network.

* A message "Press [ENTER] to set." now appears in the Input Character window.

So that's the story on the 1.5 update. In the next post, we'll present the conclusions for this Pro Review. As always, let me remind you that just because I've presented conclusions doesn't mean the review is closed to additional comments - you're welcome to keep discussing the synth, and I'll be checking back periodically.

[Anderton]

Yes, I'm going to need more than one post to present conclusions on this puppy...starting with some general observations.

First, the era of the disposable synth is over. Back in the 80s, the race was on to see how inexpensively they could be made, how few buttons they could have, and also, how many "new" products could be introduced in a year (which were usually just variations on a theme). I'm not just taking about the Motif XS here; the Korg M3, Roland's Fantom series, Dave Smith's new instruments, the latest Access, and so on are all clearly built to be useful instruments with "legs," and are priced accordingly.

In this year's MIPA award, there were no nominees for keyboard workstation because there weren't really any new developments. To me, that's a good thing, and a sign of maturity. After all, my '66 Telecaster still works fine A good musical instrument should be able to have a long, and productive, life.

If you look at the software updates at Motifator.com, the amount of XS6 changes, optimizations, bug fixes, new features, etc. are mind-boggling. The commitment to development for the XS series is commendable, to say the least - especially as all these updates are free to users. At first I thought "How can Yamaha afford to do this?" Few companies have the resources to continue supporting older products while working on new ones in a parallel track.

But then it hit me: They can afford it because the Motif XS series keeps on selling. In other words, instead of making a few hundred dollars here and there off of updates, they're making a whole lot more when someone buys a new keyboard. The Motif XS series is not exactly new, but it's still a current product line, and still selling. Yamaha has not only come up with software updates, but introduced tons of content, templates, new drivers, Cubase integration...again, take a look at Motifator.com...the resources for both old and new Motif XS users are nothing short of phenomenal. I would have no problem buying a Motif XS because I'd know I'd get at least five years, and more likely 10 years, out of it before feeling the need to move on...if I did in fact feel the need to move on.

So why would you not get tired of it? Let's move on to Part 2 of the conclusions.

[Anderton]

A lot of companies have talked about "future-proof" products, and they never are. Yamaha never claimed that about the Motif XS series, yet so far, it has been future-proof. Not all of it has been a home run; the mLAN interface never really made it out of Yamaha's back yard, although they continue to support it. On the other hand, the AI integration concept that allows making the Motif XS an extension to Cubase is effective, clever, and I'd bet it's here to stay. Having that kind of powerful host software in your back pocket as you design new instruments is pretty cool.

 

The Motif XS depth is wondeful, but daunting to say the least. To use all features and fully understand what this synth can do is like learning music itself - it takes a while to get good at it. This is not something you learn in a day, or frankly, even a year. Despite logging hundreds and hundreds (and hundreds) of hours with the Motif XS, I still can't claim to be an expert.

 

Is this a bad thing? No, because fortunately, you can bite off a piece at a time.

 

If all you want is a synth that you set up on stage, call up presets, and play, then the Motif XS can be that synth. You can ignore the sampling, the sequencer, the computer networking, and all those other advanced features for another day. But when that day DOES come ("Damn! There's no sample of a Dobro being set on fire!"), you can get into sampling. And then when you realize you have more samples than will fit in the XS's 1GB maximum of sample RAM, you can learn how to load samples as needed from a USB stick or hard drive...or delve into making the XS part of a computer network.

 

And while computer sequencers are great, it's worth learning how the one in the Motif XS works because it's slick and efficient. Once you master it, you might very well just do your songwriting on it because, well, it's easy and you're sitting at the keyboard anyway. Besides, you can always bring it into Cubase...

 

Don't forget that it's a control surface too. See what I mean? You can just kind of keep going forever, delving into little corners of the operating system, and finding additional goodies. The whole phrase factory thing and looping are also fertile fields for experimentation.

 

You have USB for connecting to the computer and associated editor (another useful, and first-class, freebie), dual FireWire ports if you install the mLan card, Ethernet, multiple audio outs, stereo audio ins...and now you can even treat the Motif XS like a giant solid-state recorder.

 

So when it comes to flexibility, there's little, if anything, to fault. 1GB of sample memory (which does require expanding from the base amount of memory, but it's not a big deal) may seem a little tight these days, but really, is it? That's almost two hours of 44.1/16-bit audio. We're talking a lot of multisamples, to say the least.

 

But what about its feel as a musical instrument? What about the operating system? It's time for Part 3 of our conclusions.

[Anderton]

Yes, technology is wonderful. But sometimes, it can also get in the way. Although Yamaha's operating systems don't always have a reputation for transparency, the XS6 has a few surprises up its sleeve.

 

There's no getting around the fact that any product with this kind of capability cannot be totally obvious. It's just not possible. Nonetheless, there are close to 100 buttons, a really informative display, eight knobs, nine sliders, and a data wheel. While not exactly the "one function, one control" analog ethic, you're seldom more than a few button presses away from where you want to go. This is very hard to pull off, so props to Yamaha for that.

 

Also, despite people always complaining about manuals, I think Yamaha has done a very good job. You have to be realistic: With something this deep, you can't just read the manual, you have to study it and work with the keyboard. I must admit there were times when I felt my head was going to explode as I tried to learn about some feature, but ultimately, after working with things for a while it all made sense.

 

Obviously there have been some long gaps in the review while I was off traveling or taking care of other HC obligations, but this led me to a really interesting discovery: When I got back to working with the XS, I fell right back into it. Sometimes after a long time away from gear I can't remember how to go basic things and need to look at the manual, but that happened very rarely with the XS, which quite honestly surprised me. Maybe it was because I've put so much time into it, but I think it has more to do with the "Yamaha Way." Once you sort of figure out how Yamaha thinks, functions and operations become far more intuitive because they're internally consistent.

 

I do have to relay a funny story, though. At the 2009 Summer NAMM, a forumite came up to me while I was at the Yamaha booth and said how much he had enjoyed the Pro Review, and that he had bought a Motif XS primarily because of the review. He felt similarly to me: That no matter how much he had learned and how much he enjoyed the instrument (and by all means, let's not overlook the fact that it sounds great), he still felt he had more to learn.

 

Then he said "Well, I guess you have a job for life." I was a little puzzled by that comment, so he elaborated: "Because you'll never be able to finish this Pro Review, you'll always be finding something new, and HC won't be able to fire you until you're done." I thought that was funny, but he was right: This could go on forever. Still, at some point you do have to close the curtain...

 

This was the first synthesizer Pro Review I'd done, and I have to admit, I expected it to be a relatively simple affair: Check out the patches, go through the manual and find out what it does, put up some audio examples, done!

 

Right. Instead, I got an education in to what deep means in today's world of synthesis. It seems every time I figured out one feature, another one would crop up. Then just when I thought I had it all figured out, Yamaha would release a new update, add some more content, or come up with a cool software accessory. Or there would be some forum post from Phil Clendeninn (Yamaha product specialist extraordinaire, but also a nice guy) that would make me go "Record the vocoder? I completely forgot it HAD a vocoder!" Back to the manual...

 

So here's the bottom line. There are several great synths out there, each one having its own personality. Saying which one is "better" or "worse" is like saying a Strat is better than a Les Paul; some guitarists have great chemistry with a Strat, others with a Les Paul, others with a PRS or Ibanez or...you get the point. The Motif XS is not a box with buttons, it's a true musical instrument, and either it speaks to you or it doesn't.

 

Well, it spoke to me. We had a slightly uneasy relationship first due to the "omigod, this is overwhelming!" factor, but once I settled in, I would look forward to being able to carve another hour or two out of the day to work on this Pro Review. I got better and better at learning what it could do, and appreciated more and more of its possibilities.

 

I can't imagine anyone laying down the bucks for a Motif XS series synth and not feeling they got more than value for money. It the Motif XS had never existed and just came out last month, it would still feel totally current. This is an instrument you can grow with, learn, and appreciate; it's an instrument that requires a commitment, but what good instrument doesn't? And again, kudos to Yamaha for displaying a high level of commitment to the instrument and its customers that is highly welcome.

 

At this point, I'm hoping that Yamaha says "well we're coming out with version 1.8 soon, why don't you hold on to it a little longer so you can review that as well..." Seriously, though, this is a helluva instrument...one which I think few buyers would be willing to surrender. With a lot of high-tech instruments, I often think "Well, I can't really afford it now, but if I wait a few months it'll be half-price on eBay and I can get it then." So I checked eBay, and guess what? There were only a handful available, and most of them weren't selling for that much less than what you could buy one for new from MF and other retailers.

 

I guess that tells you something right there.

[SonOfSun]

 

Mr. Turner is in a small group that do not represent the majority of Motif XS owners.

 

 

Sorry to say, but I believe majority of XS users share Mr. Turners opinion, Motif XS has serious screen redraw problems and the board can't keep up with fast sequences of button presses. It is really annoying because you can't work as fast as you would without the delay. It's a great synth otherwise though.

[Anderton]

Sorry to say, but I believe majority of XS users share Mr. Turners opinion, Motif XS has serious screen redraw problems and the board can't keep up with fast sequences of button presses. It is really annoying because you can't work as fast as you would without the delay. It's a great synth otherwise though.

That's why I included a video in this review of me pressing buttons and having the screen redraw, so people could decide for themselves. I don't find the redraw rate problematic, but maybe I'm not bashing the buttons fast enough to where I would find it problematic.

Also, I don't know if it's my imagination or not, but it sure seems the responsive of the instrument as a whole has improved incrementally with the various updates. If you haven't updated to the latest OS, it's really worth it IMO.

[dailymixdown]

Hi Craig and HC'ers.

Craig this was an incredibly informative series. Hopefully you get paid good to do this because it's a tremendous value to the community. Great work here !

I am intimately familiar with the XS (all Motif series keyboards) since I wrote two books on them and have worked alongside and trained many Motif owners for the past nine years. I'll add a few observations to your already stellar conclusions..

First and foremost, the sounds in the XS are incredible. Better than most sample collections in many of the instrument categories. Listen to this track on my site. It's just a a little fun song we did for a client recently but check out the guitar track. DOWNLOAD IT. That's an XS guitar with an XS arp slightly tweaked to swing a little. In fact ALL the sounds in that song came from my XS7 including drums. Our client thought we had a band after hearing it the first time. I did most of the mixing in the Motif and had very little clean up to do when I tracked to Cubase 5. So if you're seeking professional sound, you will love the XS.

Second, the build quality of the XS is INCREDIBLE. The key action on ALL models is SUPERB. Better than any keyboard I have ever played. I wish all keyboard manufacturers made keyboards like the XS. What a treat to play. Kudos to Yamaha for taking no shortcuts. Rare thing these days.

Third, the ARP library is out of this world. Major props to Yamaha and Keyfax and everyone else who got this massive library of MIDI sequences into the XS. You can go crazy with that stuff. The number of guitar strums and variations is out of this world. Go crazy. Just love them (but I confess I was shocked and saddened to the see the ability to call up preset phrases in PATCH screen disappear in the XS).

Fourth, being able to record PERFORMANCES is a game changer. The performances in the XS are fantastic and if you are working on deadlines as we are, it is a joy to bang out a variation and capture it quickly to a pattern. Can't say enough about this. Love it.

That said, the XS is not for everyone. For one I think its sounds are conservative out of the box (think Kurz), and generally need tweaking to create tracks that don't sound like everyone else's stuff. Second it's a steep learning curve for many people. If you don't have workstation experience, plan on a long ramp up time.

There are also a lot of other annoyances. Entering data to create text is really awkward. There IS significant lag both in terms of screen redraws and button presses. Craig make a video of this and post it if you have time..

1. Start recording.
2. Press STOP
3. Immediately press JOB immediately followed by F1 immediately followed by ENTER immediately followed by the RECORD button again.

I bet you cannot finish that button pressing sequence. Motif XS will not be able to keep up with you.You will have to wait. And that waiting just kills some of us.The ES was INSTANT. I still use it because of that reason even though the sounds aren't as good and the arp library is only a fraction of what the XS offers.

What the next gen Motif model needs (is it coming soon?) is what I will call a DESTROY button. What the destroy button would do when you hit it during RECORDING is deactivate recording, wipe out whatever you had played since the last time you pressed record, reactivate recording, and then immediately start again with the count in . Seamless comping. Ahhh I pine for that. Someone recently told me that made a macro do this in Cubase. I haven't tried it but I need to. We one man band types need all the help we can get

In my opinion OVERALL the XS is a very, very good board that came up a little short of great. In fact I stopped sequencing on the XS because it was too frustrating with the lag. More and more I am moving to Cubase sequencing of VSTi's now because of the convenience factor. That said I still use the ES to sequence as a sketch pad of sorts because it so fast. In closing I recommend the XS for live players (incredible live features and performances!), people who want top shelf quality sounds for the mainstream genres, and people with a lot of experience who don't mind programming the XS to get the sounds they want out of it.

Thanks for reading and pls msg me if any further questions.

www.motifcity.com

[Anderton]

The thing I love about pro reviews is the interactivity, and your comments are very valuable. I did not try the specific sequence you mentioned so can't comment on the lag, but if you say it's there, I believe you

 

Then again, I did not really try to use the Motif as the main, "replace a DAW" sequencer, but more as what I thought it was intended to do...get ideas down, then use something like Cubase to take it to the next level. But, I think your idea of a DESTROY button is fantastic!! That would solve the problem you describe, and make the Motif more versatile as a "fast" sequencer. In fact I'd like to see that idea carried over to other gear...the DigiTech GNX4 guitar workstation did something very similar with Pro Tracks and its footswitch, where you could hit a footswitch and create a track, arm it, and start recording.

 

Maybe what the world needs is more macro capabilities in general for both hardware and software.

 

In any event, thanks for sharing your thoughts. So...did you ever get into networking with the Ethernet and all that? I must admit I found it challenging at first, but wow, that's some deep stuff!

[dailymixdown]

I think macros would be killer for workstations. I have so many ideas I wanted to share with Yamaha for next gen Motif, but despite my best efforts they won't involve me in R&D. They are notoriously fraternal and secretive. It's all good, but I think they could truly make better products if they included lay people like me in R&D--especially having worked alongside so many Motif owners now and witnessed firsthand their frustrations, confusion, and of course JOY with the Motif

So thanks for the validation on the "destroy" feature. "Kill" would be a cool button label, too. Hey Craig we should design a workstation and then go sell the blueprint. Wanna?

No I never got into the networking stuff. No time, to be honest.

You rock. Thanks for your reply , and great work you do here on HC

mj

[al herr]

Well, I just managed to save the entire synth contents (file with a .XOA file extension) to my computer. I was under the impression you had to save first to a USB device then access that from the computer, but apparently that's not the case. None of the above should imply that I'm a Yamaha Motif network expert (yet), and truthfully, a little more documentation about how to actually use this feature would be helpful. But for now, one thing's for sure: It works! Cool.

 

 

Hi Anderton,

 

1) How can I copy or save a existing saved song (in the Motif) to a USB memory stick?

 

2) How can I copy, save or export the the previous song's audio to Cubase via mLan.

 

3) Once I save a .XOA file of the previous song into CUBASE, how can I manage its audio from my computer.

 

By the way, I appreciate the review and "how to"'s streaming about the XS6 that you are posting.

[Support Guy]

Hey Al,
All these questions and much much more will get more attention from more people (some of whom are actually "on the job") and likely get you answers quicker by going to:
www.motifator.com

You will find an active group of Motif users often with very similar issues, not to mention the wealth of knowledge that has accumulated over the last 9+ years and millions of posts on the forum.

To get you started try this:
http://www.motifator.com/index.php/support/view/motif_xs_song_import

This is not to say Craig will not answer your question...I just happen to know he has a lot of really important things to do and there are people at Motifator who's job it is to do just that!

[Anderton]

Thanks, Support Guy!

I too think the best answer is moltifator.com. I contend it's the poster boy for what support web sites should be. Couple that with the free content and forums, and it's really a fantastic resource.

[Support Guy]

This is from the Yamaha Music Production department:

In keeping with our dedication to provide outstanding customer support, Yamaha is making available to thousands of Motif XS owners an operating system update that gives them many features that were introduced in the Motif XF.

 

New features;

-Normalize, Slice, and Remix have been added to the Sampling Edit display and Sampling Main display respectively, allowing you to more easily call up these displays.

 

-You can now increase the available memory of the DIMM by using the newly added Sampling Job.

 

-You can now convert a Sample Voice to a Mixing Voice.

 

-You can now edit a Drum Voice in the Mixing mode.

 

-TAP (tempo) is now available in the Voice/Performance/Song/Pattern mode.

 

-Network function now supports Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6 .

 

For more:

 

http://www.yamahasynth.com/downloads/drivers_software/synthesizers/motif_xs/updater/

[Anderton]

Thanks for the update!! In other welcome news, I now have expansion RAM here for the XF, and will be checking out the RAM-related functionality so I can add a "coda" to this thread. Can you really play that many voices with RAM playback? We'll find out soon...

[Anderton]

Well let's see...245 posts, over 127,000 page views...clearly, there's no interest in the Motif. Sorry, Yamaha.

 

But seriously, as you probably know the Motif XF is picking up where the XS left off. Yamaha asked if I wanted to do a brief coda in this review about differences with the XF compared to the XS, and while I'm obviously not going to do another pro review all over again, I do want to hit some of the high points.

 

The main change, at least in my opinion, is the ability to add up to 2GB of Flash RAM for storing sounds (gave me a deja vu back to the days when I installed a whopping 1 Megabyte of non-volatile RAM in my Peavey DPM-3 and thought was soooo cool). Now, hold on to seat, because a 1GB Flash expander costs a whopping $300. So, why can't you just go down to Office Depot and get a 1GB memory stick for $19.95? Well, because it isn't fast enough. The Yamaha Flash RAM has to be super-fast in order to play all the voices of which the XF is capable. Besides, it has a red circuit board, so it looks cool...even if no one will ever see it when it's parked inside your 'board.

 

Installation was a total piece of cake. There's a plate on the bottom with five screws. Undo screws, take off plate, put memory into edge connector, screw down two screws per card, replace plate, done. Here's what it looks like sitting in the XF.

 

 

So it'll cost you $600 to do the full 2GB, but what you get in return is instant sounds, as if they were in ROM, and built in to the keyboard - no external drives, cartridges, or other accessories. These can be your own samples, or expansion packs (I'm currently downloading the free - yes, free - 466MB "Inspiration in a Flash" sample set from www.motifator.com, so given the glacially slow DSL around here, check back in a few weeks after it's downloaded and I'll let you know what I think:)).

 

There's also a FireWire expansion card available for the XF. If you can't figure out where to install it, you have no business trying to install it yourself:

 

 

Here's what the card looks like; like so much other music gear, it uses the Wavefront FireWire chip (the big chip in the middle) for the interface itself.

 

 

Again, installation is easy. You remove two screws from the old plate, guide the card into two card guides until it lands in an internal edge connector, use two screws to secure the interface to a new plate, then use the two screws you removed to hold the new plate in place. Done.

 

 

Note that the protocol is FireWire 400, not 800.