Yamaha Motif XF

[elwoodblues1969]

Aahh...the acquisition of exponential technology & the ever advancing bang for your buck,as a result.Being that Roland failed miserably with all of their flash & useless bells & whistles of the G-series..i.e.,the 128 tracks(of which is not even possible to achieve on a PC,without crashing it),the mouse,the few selected bits of the SRX library and astronomically priced ARX cards(with a whopping library of 4 cards) and only 256MB of ROM....the Yamaha Motif XF is a refreshing and welcome change...not to mention a serious upgrade,as well.
With it's 741MB of ROM,1664 voices,16 track sequencer with 8 insert effects,128MB of flash RAM(upgradable to 2GB),advanced synthesizer with 18 filter types and it's 3rd party sound library support & 5.7 " customizable graphical display,the Motif XF seems to be an awfully impressive & versatile workstation.

With a total of 3GB worth of sounds under the hood(with upgrades & expansions),this keyboard is well worth the asking price($3499.00 for the 88-key)-which by the way,is the same price of the Roland G8...making Roland the sick joke of the hardware workstation world,in my opinion.

About the only fault I can find with Yamaha,is that their audio demos are in the form of complete songs,rather than exhibiting the individual sound patches(which to me,is the true test of the keyboard's sonic prowess),but having demo'd the previous XS-series,I am confident that the XF will be sure to please the masses.


-Thom

[kara]

yes I agree, it looks like a great new workstation.
To expensive for me, but propably worth the asking price

k

[rharv]

Now if only Yamaha could make it where the average guy could figure out how to program the sounds .. there is absolutely nothing intuitive about motifs.
Sounds cool out of the box, but if you want to alter a sound it's a battle of menus.

[kara]

Now if only Yamaha could make it where the average guy could figure out how to program the sounds .. there is absolutely nothing intuitive about motifs.
Sounds cool out of the box, but if you want to alter a sound it's a battle of menus.

True, but they are not the only ones, ever tried to program a Roland XV5050 without his PC software editor ?
Korg is way better as an example

k

[elwoodblues1969]

Rharv,

Spoken like a true Roland fan that you are! Seriously though,I don't disagree with your statement regarding the Motif,but to me,it's all about the sound quality & a decent amount of ROM to work with-which the Motif has and that's well worth the extra work to learn.

What it all boils down to for me,is that if I did not have my Korg M3 and I was starting with nothing & I had $3,500 to spend on hardware,I would choose the Motif over the Fantom 6 days a week & twice on Sunday,as there's just no comparison,in terms of sheer ROM amounts.

With regard to workstations,Roland has always given their users a small amount of mediocre factory sounds & extorted money out of people,by making the most usable sounds,only available through their SRX & ARX libraries.

I do not mean to provoke a pissing contest over gear,but to be brutally honest,I've spent quite a bit of time on the Roland forums,in an effort to make a decision regarding what workstation I was going to buy,& no matter how politely I voiced my opinions with reference to the Fantom,people there always became very upset.
However though,I could be utterly malicious towards Korg if I wanted to & completely trash Korg & that would be perfectly fine with them.

A product specialist from Roland,who has his own YouTube page,bitches & moans about how complicated the Reason 4 software is and how the Fantom G has better sound quality anyway,which simply is not true,no matter how opinionated someone is.

Roland users are very similar to die-hard sports fans,as they have unflinching loyalty towards a particular team,regardless of how often that team loses a game.

Like I had always said,I am very fond of Roland's stand-alone synthesizers,like the Super JX-10 and the V-Synth,but their workstations are so overpriced for what they offer in terms of sounds & the price of their ARX cards just compounds the problem 10 fold.

When I shop around for a workstation,I don't do so with any fierce loyalty towards a particular brand and I just end up making a decision strictly based on merit of a particular product and all of it's particular attributes for what I need.

Yes I am a Korg fan & have owned nothing but Korg workstations,but only because Korg has been consistent in their reliablity,work-flow,sounds,features & value.

I have longed for variety for quite a while & have considered many different brands & the only other brand of workstation that seems worthwhile to me,is the Motif series,beginning with the XS.
This is coming from one of the most anti-Yamaha guys you'll ever know(as it were),but I have felt that Yamaha has finally turn a corner for the better & I feel that the XF series is the most exciting prospect to date,currently.


-Thom

[rharv]

I do like the sounds from the Motifs (a lot), I just commented on their user interface. I can not get a handle on their menu selections, so I guess I get frustrated with them.  So much sound possible, so much time into finding it. Most users end up using the stock sounds because of this.  For a while it got to where you could recognize patches when the Motif first came out.
If they solved this, they would sell a ton more stuff.

That said, I also have owned (and the studio still has) a couple Korg units.  Not complaining about those.

Sound is such a personal thing, I understand how some people become devoted.  I like stuff I can actually use, as opposed to specs.  Standing in front of a Korg, a Yammie and a Roland, there is only one that would leave me frustrated.

Why are you "one of the most anti-Yamaha guys you'll ever know"? Just curious. I don't dislike the company, just their upper line synth menus.
BTW, I don't like the Roland forums either, I gave up on that many years ago ...

[elwoodblues1969]

Like I had said,I am formerly anti-Yamaha..past tense.My dislike of Yamaha(as it were),goes back to the days of the DX7...can't fathom why it was a "milestone" in the synth world.
I never liked their studio monitors,nor did I like any of their keyboards-period,until the Motif XS came out.Yamaha was never really at the forefront of "build your own sounds from the ground up"-type keyboards,as up until the XS series,Yamaha always had mediocre bread & butter sounds & no really versatile synth possibilities(but then,I never really studied the XS in great depth),but a lot of folks complained that the Motif is just a bread & butter sound keyboard.
The Motif XS is now dropping in price & I am actually tempted to eventually buy one,but I don't know if it would really have anything to offer,beyond what I already have.

Now that I am heavily into software,I don't know if I'll ever buy another hardware keyboard....but if Korg comes out with a workstation that has a lot of retro sounds,such as from the 01/W and the Triton Extreme and also is reminiscent of the Oasys,then I would be all over that!

A lot of folks say that Korg workstations are a breeze to work with and I agree....however though,my relationship with Korg goes back 23 years,so it's insanely easy for me,for that reason.....so I don't know how I would feel about a Korg workstation if I were brand new to it.....I must say though,the touchscreen is an amazing way to work.
I am however,wide open to other keyboards that are least the size of Korg's screen size,so touchscreens are not terribly important.


-Thom

[rharv]

Their monitors; meh (I agree)

Their mixers; I like.
Their FX prcessors; I like
Their lower line keyboards for beginners; I like

I like more of Yamaha than I dislike, but programming one of their better synths is a chore.

[kara]

And don't forget the Tyros 3, best arranger keyboard in the world !

k

[Fred S]

Just to add another opinion.

Perhaps since I've used so many different softsynths, I'm used to approaching sound through various menu structures. I've always used Korg, but now I'm using a S90es, and a motif (and my Hammond). I'm having no trouble getting to the sounds I want to make. All the top keyboards have strenghts and weaknesses, but in my opinion, the touch of the S90es is the best on the market, and I doubt you'll be able to build a better sounding accoustic piano than is possible with that board.   

So, I would still like to have a new Korg, but I'm surprised how much I've grown to like Yamaha over the past couple years.

[rharv]

And THAT is a testament to a product.  The new stuff can always seem impressive, but when you still like it a few years later; nice.

[elwoodblues1969]

It seems that one is much more likely to find a good stand-alone stage piano/synth,than a good workstation keyboard.I've been so disappointed many times,over becoming really excited with workstations of a different brand-apart from Korg.,..only to find out what a overpriced disaster a lot of them are.

With the upcoming Yamaha Motif XF however,I am fairly confident that Yamaha will deliver something quite extraordinary with this one,& I am counting the days until I get my hands on a floor model,to test out at my local music store!


-Thom

[rharv]

I'll be working at the parent's music store today, I'll have to ask him to get one in, as they are Yammie dealers.

[elwoodblues1969]

Far out!

The music store down the street from me only goes by statistical sales,so Korg & Yamaha is all that they sell,as they're the highest selling.However though,they don't seem to be doing too well,as not only have they moved to a smaller storefront,but they sent me a $10 gift certificate.
That being said,I'm not so sure they'll have the new Motif XF....& unfortunately,a SamAsh & a GuitarCenter is an hour away from me in any direction.


-Thom