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Its been 8 Months- has MODX met your plans/expectations ?


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I, too, ditched MODX8 b/c the subpar keyboard got to me, too!

Butâ-

I LOVE the sounds in the MODX(Montage/Motif) especially Chick"s Mark V and CS80 packs.

I am thinking of getting a MODX6 and MIDIing it to a better keyboard.

I WISH THEY (Yamaha) would make a Montage MODULEâI"d buy one in a hot minute!

 

Actually if you join yamahasynth.com, they put up user polls and they are now floating the idea for a module via a user poll.

Bravo, Yamaha!

 

With the proliferation of subpar and cheap plastic build keyboards out there, perhaps rack mounts/Modules will make a comeback!?

"I have constantly tried to deliver only products which withstand the closest scrutiny � products which prove themselves superior in every respect.�

Robert Bosch, 1919

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I WISH THEY (Yamaha) would make a Montage MODULEâI"d buy one in a hot minute!

 

... , perhaps rack mounts/Modules will make a comeback!?

 

That´s what I urgently wait for too.

Yamaha Motif XS rack is the latest and development from the past meanwhile.

I really wish they come up w/ an up-to-date new rack device, usable for pro touring musicians,- and like you, I´d buy it in a heartbeat.

 

:)

 

A.C.

 

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What's crazy (to me anyway) is the hammer action on the Casio PXS3000 captured my attention more than that of the MODX88. The overall "Swiss knife" sounds make the MODX the winner but damm... this makes it an even more traumatic decision. :(
You don't know you're in the dark until you're in the light.
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I haven"t found a PX-Sxxx in the shop yet. Some say the short key length makes it a bit dead close to the back of the keys - like the FA-06 (although I am sure not as horrendous). Will keep trying to get my hands on one.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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theres a pxs 1000 at GC Times Sq and Sam 34, elmer.

i am gonna go there to tomorrow or fri

"I have constantly tried to deliver only products which withstand the closest scrutiny � products which prove themselves superior in every respect.�

Robert Bosch, 1919

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I WISH THEY (Yamaha) would make a Montage MODULEâI"d buy one in a hot minute!

 

... , perhaps rack mounts/Modules will make a comeback!?

 

That´s what I urgently wait for too.

Yamaha Motif XS rack is the latest and development from the past meanwhile.

I really wish they come up w/ an up-to-date new rack device, usable for pro touring musicians,- and like you, I´d buy it in a heartbeat.

 

:)

 

A.C.

 

the XS rack is +10 years old. Here comes my skeptical observation:

 

Did you buy it when it came out ? I question how many actually bought it.

 

we all know manufacturers have to be encouraged to produce a rack version a keyboard.

 

If the same 50 folks say they want a rack version, is that enough for a Yamaha to produce a MODX rack ?

 

I don't make assumptions based on history, esp if we are looking back 10 years

Why fit in, when you were born to stand out ?

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

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I can see the appeal of a module for sure, but conservatively I'd estimate that 75% of those who previously would have bought a rack module are now on PC-based solutions, and I include gigging musicians in that. I can't see them having the market to make it a desirable product to develop. Love to be proven wrong though.
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I can see the appeal of a module for sure, but conservatively I'd estimate that 75% of those who previously would have bought a rack module are now on PC-based solutions, and I include gigging musicians in that. I can't see them having the market to make it a desirable product to develop. Love to be proven wrong though.

 

I think you are right. Co's like Yamaha/Korg typically plan the 'product lineup ' when they develop the new keyboard.

 

Thus, if they did not project plan the Rack at the same time as the keyboard , its unlikely to happen. Plus the window of opportunity

is only open so long, a few years.

 

These co's do not operate " try as you go ".

 

Korg and Kronos is another example. There is no Kronos rack even with +8 years of harping on it and wishing for it.

 

Unless Korg planed it +9 years ago, its not going to happen.

 

I understand my lack of wishful thinking can be annoying. But its partly

that I plan my purchases 1 year out.

 

My guess is if there will be a MODX rack, we will see it this year or possibly next. Yamaha won't sit on it, if they planned it.

Why fit in, when you were born to stand out ?

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

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And there'd be spoilers everywhere and probably some naff countdown clock on the main company website with pictures being revealed bit by bit ;)

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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And there'd be spoilers everywhere and probably some naff countdown clock on the main company website with pictures being revealed bit by bit ;)

 

Yes , those folks who 'claim ' to be on the inside. Nevah mind them

 

Ok, on to discussing marketing gimmicks :D

Countdowns are lame.

Why fit in, when you were born to stand out ?

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

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This is a very useful thread, so thanks to all.

 

I recently landed a gig with way too many horn parts for my Nords to do justice, so on a separate thread I solicited input on "best keyboard for horns".

 

Lots of great suggestions, and I did take the time to research all of them to the best of my ability. I am not lazy when it comes to gear research.

 

The MODX came out quite high based on responses and subsequent youtubing, but the board also had another important attribute -- it's not a Nord. So it does more than a few things that Nords don't do well. While I love my Nords, there are certain things that are not part of their DNA. Which is fine, really.

 

Generally speaking, anything that's a straight sample or simple emulation the Nord will do quite well. Examples include acoustic pianos, digital pianos, all sorts of organs, mellotrons, string sections, vocal choirs, classic synth samples and the like. It's an outrageous classic palette. I've crafted wonderful band sounds around Nords and decent amplification. Very happy.

 

What Nords don't do well is emulating articulations on non-keyboard instruments. There appears to be a bit more articulation support on the MODX for, yes, horns but also electric lead guitar and woodwinds. No, I don't think I'm going to do the breath controller thing anytime soon.

 

To be fair, I have no idea what the heck I would do with several thousand arps, or six bazillion waveforms, but I get the appeal to others.

 

So, bottom line, a near-new MODX6 or 7 is gonna happen in a few weeks. Looks like a solid board with many talents, and it comes from a completely different gene pool than my Nords. And short money if you poke around.

 

Besides, I'm retiring soon and will (finally) have plenty of time to poke around all of its extensive nuances.

Want to make your band better?  Check out "A Guide To Starting (Or Improving!) Your Own Local Band"

 

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I think the MODX is not such a good candidate for a "box of sounds" rack version. The MODX is not just a bunch of sounds with a keyboard attached. A lot of what makes the MODX what it is all the real-time interaction with its touchscreen, superknob, and other front panel controls; plus a lot of its upgraded sounds are "multi-part single instrument" sounds where from an external keyboard you'd have to transmit on multiple MIDI channels at once just to play the single sound... this function doesn't move well to a generic box independent of its own keyboard implementation. From the perspective of a simple box of Yamaha sounds, the Motif Rack XS can still go a long way.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I think the MODX is not such a good candidate for a "box of sounds" rack version. The MODX is not just a bunch of sounds with a keyboard attached. A lot of what makes the MODX what it is all the real-time interaction with its touchscreen, superknob, and other front panel controls; plus a lot of its upgraded sounds are "multi-part single instrument" sounds where from an external keyboard you'd have to transmit on multiple MIDI channels at once just to play the single sound... this function doesn't move well to a generic box independent of its own keyboard implementation. From the perspective of a simple box of Yamaha sounds, the Motif Rack XS can still go a long way.

+1

Can"t wait until I get my hands on a new MODX and its superknob.

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I had/have been creeping up on the modx as my next (and maybe last) hardware keyboard, for live use...saving pennies from gigs, getting quotes....I went to Sam Ash last week just to make sure I can get on with the synth keybed, and it feels fine to me (not as good as my pc361, and it sucks no aftertouch, but fine for live).

 

Then I went to the dentist Monday, my birthday.

 

I'm looking at a massive bill, and no modx this year probably. My insurance is "meh" when it comes to dental.

 

Conclusions: don't forget to floss, and buy the keyboard you are pining after BEFORE you go the dentist. And don't go on your birthday unless you want a crappy birthday.

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I had/have been creeping up on the modx as my next (and maybe last) hardware keyboard, for live use...saving pennies from gigs, getting quotes....I went to Sam Ash last week just to make sure I can get on with the synth keybed, and it feels fine to me (not as good as my pc361, and it sucks no aftertouch, but fine for live).

 

Then I went to the dentist Monday, my birthday.

 

I'm looking at a massive bill, and no modx this year probably. My insurance is "meh" when it comes to dental.

 

Conclusions: don't forget to floss, and buy the keyboard you are pining after BEFORE you go the dentist. And don't go on your birthday unless you want a crappy birthday.

 

I have spent a huge amount on dental and medical procedures that past year. No one can duck this stuff- for very long. I stay informed on relevant personal health topics. I am lucky to have excellent access to skilled professionals. Gear purchase is no competition.

Why fit in, when you were born to stand out ?

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

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Well, the 'old Fantom has a scratchy volume pot and several buttons that require extra persuasion and my trusty VR09 just developed scratchy main outputs causing intermittent signal loss after a four-hour show in 102 degree heat under indirect sunlight. She's done well for six-and-a-half years of dirty bar gigs and dusty outdoor festivals and parties. Some compressed air blew out some gunk and helped a little, but still get some crackly noise when the line outs get jostled. Time to seek a new workhorse.

 

A MODX7 landed just a few hours before the gig this last Saturday. Set it up and turned it on for the first time at the gig. Many hours of Utoob and just a quick glance at the PDF manual is all the experience I had before this. It was set up L-shape from my normal rig, just in case the Roland had troubles (which it didn't). Played some piano, horns, and growly sax parts on the newbie.

 

It is pretty easy to navigate and the AWM2 sounds are great. Still like the piano feel on the Numa Compact2 much better and am really going to miss the organ playability of the VR09. Gonna miss the aftertouch on the Fantom and the D-Beam...yeah I DO use it for filter sweeps...looks cool, too.

 

Anyhoo, the Yammie is nowhere as dead sexy as the Vox Continental I've been pining for, and the MODX organs seem to be its weakness. I still think it will be versatile enough to easily replace the Fantom. Booked every weekend the next couple of months...someday I get to dig deep to see what it can really do.

 

Oh, the Roland has an awesome blues harmonica with slid-up pitch on velo and tasty overdrive. Has anyone found a similar sound in their MODX?

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Oh, the Roland has an awesome blues harmonica with slid-up pitch on velo and tasty overdrive. Has anyone found a similar sound in their MODX?

Yeah, that's one killer sound...

 

https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2838626

 

 

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Just to followup on my dental saga, since it's way more interesting than the MODX! My wife saw the bill and went Def Con -7, since she hates my dentist and has been trying to get me to go back to my old one (her current one) for over 10 years. I only left because he's now across town. Long story short: I went, and he found NOTHING that needed work. NOTHING. Color me very surprised and a little upset, and a LOT relieved.

 

There's some small chance that my newer dentist is just "better" and found stuff that my old one didn't...but I think it's more likely he's looking for stuff to charge me with. Grrr.....

 

Moral: still floss, don't go to the dentist on your birthday, get a second opinion, and now I can get a MODX! :D

 

We've been adding new-ish synthy songs (we have only been doing 70s stuff that requires piano and organ mostly for years) so I'm looking forward to diving in. My big decision is modx6 vs 7, I'm leaning 7 simply to be able to have more breathing room with splits AND because I can velcro an ipad or submixer on the big open space on the right.

 

Edit: also hoping to have some fun with the vocoder! Band: "You know, you don't HAVE to use the vocoder on every single song...."

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My plan is to pair my FA-06 & MODX88, light in weight & heavy in sounds!!!

 

I have the FA-07 plus my 88 Kronos. I don't gig unless a bunch of seniors throw money at me.

 

Anyway, I prefer hardware minimalism. And plan to get MODX later this year.

 

I see some overlap of acoustic instrument quality FA vs MODX. At some point, I would let go of the FA

to keep my setup simple. I am not collector.

Why fit in, when you were born to stand out ?

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

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Well, I didn't care for it much a rehearsal tonight. It was quite loud in the PA, but nobody could hear it very well in the mix. In hindsight I probably should have boosted the mids with the onboard EQ...probably the 1000Hz area. But alas, does the EQ reset everytime you switch patches?

On the fence whether to return it and save up a little for the Vox Continental.

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Well, I didn't care for it much a rehearsal tonight. It was quite loud in the PA, but nobody could hear it very well in the mix. In hindsight I probably should have boosted the mids with the onboard EQ...probably the 1000Hz area. But alas, does the EQ reset everytime you switch patches?

On the fence whether to return it and save up a little for the Vox Continental.

 

 

If you set up performances for each song, you can absolutely save the EQ settings plus a lot more...

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Well, I didn't care for it much a rehearsal tonight. It was quite loud in the PA, but nobody could hear it very well in the mix. In hindsight I probably should have boosted the mids with the onboard EQ...probably the 1000Hz area. But alas, does the EQ reset everytime you switch patches?

On the fence whether to return it and save up a little for the Vox Continental.

 

 

If you set up performances for each song, you can absolutely save the EQ settings plus a lot more...

 

Or just go and adjust the PA channel EQ? I seldom tweak EQs in the MODX, really. Seems fairly well mixed internally. Sometimes i want to emphasize a particular frequency range, but I never had felt the need to re-EQ performance just to get them to sound right. I"ve never looked for a global EQ settings, not sure if it exists and not sure you"d want to EQ every performance the same anyway. you can adjust EQ of individual parts or the performance overall and save it forever, but yes that is each performance one by one. And of course, you can"t modify and then save a preset itself - but you can modify it and save your new version to User memory.

 

much depends on the band, the songs, the performances (sounds) you"re playing, the notes you"re playing, etc. Usually the sound system matters the most in my experience. I"m reluctant to retune all performances to one individual PA unless that is the same PA the band will play through in live shows. ... yes ... interesting observation. Ive noticed that performances are 'brighter' in most every sound system than they sound in my headphones (ATX50s).

 

Earlier someone else asked 6 ot 7 - do not doubt or hesitate - get the 7 without doubt. Its freakishly short on footprint and light for a 76 and that extra octave is gold. The main reason I got the MODX7 was i had been switching from my Motif XF7 which was too heavy and big for fly-ins to a MOXF6. But MOXF6 lacked that extra octave and was a pain for menu diving to do much of anything too on its tiny monochrome screen.

 

MODX7 interface is so easy compared to prior Yamahas ... finally an interface that is relatively easy to do advanced things. Its just a lot easier at everything for gigging imo. Local gigs is an easy backpack, fly ins ride as standard luggage rules (not oversize/overweight) in an SKB or Gator molded TSA case.

The baiting I do is purely for entertainment value. Please feel free to ignore it.
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EQ is something that I've seen misunderstood before, where someone says something like "board X has dedicated front panel EQ controls; board Y doesn't but allows you to assign EQ to multipurpose knobs" without distinguishing whether they are doing the same thing. (I could possibly even have been guilty of this myself at some point, as this was a distinction that hadn't always registered with me.)

 

Some boards have a master EQ, some board's EQ controls only affect individual patches, and the two implementations have very different purposes. The latter is used when you're using EQ to shape particular sounds (often on a permanent basis); the former is used to alter the sound of the entire board (often temporarily), based on the room you're playing in or the amp you're playing through, or possibly just how you're blending with the rest of the band (brenner13's example above). Both are useful. People who build their own sounds or tweak factory sounds (as opposed to strictly preset jockeys) benefit from EQ controls that can be altered/saved per program. People who play through their own amp and who do not use a mixer (or whose mixer or amp has minimal-to-no EQ controls) can benefit from an easily accessible global EQ whose settings persist as you change patches.

 

A MODX shortcoming is that there is no master EQ that persists through changing from one Performance to another, so you cannot adapt the entire board to a particular amp/room/bandmix environment. You'd need to run the MODX through a mixer or other device that provides its own EQ between your board and the speaker.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Don't write off because it was bad "first date"... I think we've all been guilty of that (I know I have, when the fantasy & reality collide). Also you said it was a rehearsal , wouldn't the sonic space be different at an actual gig ? IMHO ;-)
You don't know you're in the dark until you're in the light.
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That's been my problem in general at both gigs and rehearsal...our bass player left with his QSC mixer, and we got a (well-regarded, but used) Allen and Heath mixwizard to replace it. Everyone likes having the knobs there to tweak (we mix on stage) instead of having only a touch screeen. Problem is, everything sounds dull and muddy to me even with my in-ears. We have done one recent gig using a soundman's gear (a yamaha mixer) and all the instruments were instantly more clear and bright. I don't think it's an EQ thing either, it's clarity that unfortunately may be a preamp thing. I thought it could just my monitor feed (bad cable, impedance issue or something) but we used it at rehearsal and everything that went through it sounded....dull and muddy. My patches that are bright and cutting don't cut at all so I end up playing too hard and turning up too much. ARRGHH!

 

Long story short, make sure it's not something else in the chain.

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Such great advice here. I'm struggling to get the thing ready for shows as I only seem to find 50 min or so in the late evening to work on it. Takes great discipline to actually locate sounds for the setlist and not dive down the sound exploration rabbit hole. Yep, just using presets to get something close ready for each tune. Once those are in place, I'll start tweaking them. I love the one Rhodes performance that I've heavily modified. That one is punchy and expressive with all the amp and effects settings right where I like them. It's just going to take a while, I guess. The dang VR09 spoiled me because those stock sounds are so easy to modify and sound pretty dern good with very little effort.

 

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Got another couple of weeks to make sure it's the right tool for the job.

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...A MODX shortcoming is that there is no master EQ that persists through changing from one Performance to another, so you cannot adapt the entire board to a particular amp/room/bandmix environment...

As an owner of a MO8, I was curious about the above matter. The MO8 has global eq settings in Utility mode. So I checked the MODX manual; unless I missed it, I've not seen any global eq settings. Pity, you would think the newer board would retain such a crucial function.

 

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