Yamaha's "new" Motif / workstation.... anytime soon ????????????

[HomeAmateur]

floyd,

 

ya your probaly wright, I was mainly just talking about the industry in general,... it seems Ive seen a number of piano modules out there not so many years ago..

 

and of course it goes without saying that this also applies to Yamaha NOT putting the P piano in the S series or the MOtif series....

 

like ive said a million times,..

 

especially the Motif series which are made and MARKETED as MUSIC CREATION WORKSTATIONS (more or less) and apparantly Yamaha thinks its customers PREFER making music with LOWER QUALITY PIANO'S

 

OBSURD...! --- and a BLATENT DISREGUARD FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS "best interest"

 

all of course in my humble opinion..

[guestuserguestuser.com]

Originally posted by dgrennan:

Lol,

 

It's interesing the the new Yamaha 'LE' model is called the MO, and the new Korg 'LE' model is called the TR.

 

Coincidence?

HM, VE IN OB, DG.

 

PE IT MO TH A CO.

 

YO TR,

FL

[Ken Hughes]

homeAmature,

 

You don't know if they're already planning a MO rack for later introduction. (Neither do we, by the way.) If a significant demand emerges, they'll create a supply. They're out for maximum profits just like everyone else.

 

MO. It is a silly name. Makes me think of the Three Stooges. Hopefully the product itself will overcome that association.

[cconroy]

Originally posted by homeAmature:

and whats up with the name MO ??? looks like there not just holding back on features..but hell we cant even get more then two letters of of them for a name.....

They just wanted to confuse all the forum users who abbreviate the original Motif that way. "Are you talking about the Mo6 or the MO6?"

 

I predict the next incarnation (with any spare parts still left over) will be a stripped down version of the MO called the M. If we're lucky they won't add a leading zero and label it the M06/M08...

 

-Chris C.

[dgrennan]

HM, VE IN OB, DG.

 

PE IT MO TH A CO.

 

YO TR,

FL

PE, YO NE KN.

[burningbusch]

Regarding the lack of PLG boards in the MO, it might mean something or it might not. It's a budget synth with a lot of stuff taken out. I use them but they are a mess in that Yamaha is all over the place with their editors (some Mac 9, some X, some Windows). And you have to use computer-based editors to get to the meat of the PLGs. Roland consistently provides Mac and Windows based editors and they are well designed.

 

With Yamaha, you never know what you'll get. Does Korg even provide an editor/librarian?

 

I would prefer if Yamaha would just integrate these technologies into the synth like they did with the EX.

 

Busch.

[mildbill]

Originally posted by Frank Svensson:

................... Yamaha will add the FM, virtual analog and VL synth in the new uber-everything mega workstation released next year and the demand for plugin boards will then be nil from then on.

they already did that back in 1998 with the EX5 and i don't think it sold too well - fantastic board, tho.

[eric]

ya your probaly wright, I was mainly just talking about the industry in general,... it seems Ive seen a number of piano modules out there not so many years ago..

 

and of course it goes without saying that this also applies to Yamaha NOT putting the P piano in the S series or the MOtif series....

 

like ive said a million times,..

 

especially the Motif series which are made and MARKETED as MUSIC CREATION WORKSTATIONS (more or less) and apparantly Yamaha thinks its customers PREFER making music with LOWER QUALITY PIANO'S

 

OBSURD...! --- and a BLATENT DISREGUARD FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS "best interest"

 

all of course in my humble opinion..

My oh my! Home Amateur is fired up!! Takin' swings at Yamaha!

 

My advice if you don't like MO: disregard any propaganda, pass it up in the music store and for god's sake, don't buy it!

 

I agree the name is a little bit silly. I wish they had just called it the YO 8. Or the YAM 8.

 

Actually, I think it looks like a decent value and I look forward to trying one. I see no kind of conspiracy or mockery of the public because Yamaha decided to repackage existing technology into a cheaper package. This is a GOOD thing for many consumers. It has worked well for KORG and Roland. Hopefully there's not too much PLASTIC being used in the MO series.

 

Regards,

Eric

[Nordude]

I think it's a great idea for live gigging. Wall wart is less ideal, of course, but 175 MB of ROM and a little lighter than the Classic and the ES (the MO6 is 10,8 kgs, IIRC): lots of great sounds for a seemingly reasonable price.

 

I have considered getting a Motif Rack for Yammy sounds (and ditch my S30), but with the ES sounds in the MO6, I might buy one of those instead. KGASSG, please don't talk me out of it

 

Curious what they'll cost in Europe...

[HomeAmateur]

I could be wrong but the way I read it, it looked like there were a few hundred LESS sounds in the MO/8 then the MotifES ????

 

in other words ALL of the sounds of the Motif ES are NOT in the MO6/8 ??? someone please correct me if im wrong on this ....

 

I never said in itself that the MO6/8 was a bad deal, in fact I said it was proably a decent machine...

 

my main gripe is primarily that Yamaha keeps coming out with "workstations" with LOWER QUALITY piano samples....

 

I just dont understand that..It doesnt make any sense to me at all

[Nordude]

Dunno about the piano sounds.

 

But with the same WAV ROM as the ES and the same synth engine (AWM2), they can provide patch data of all the ES voices for the MO6/8. Just like the Fantom S, X and Xa patches are interchangeable (except for the extra WAV ROM-patches in the FX). They even put up the XV5080 patches for the Fantoms on the net.

 

The MO6/8 would have (at least approximately) the same sounds as the ES. Probably less insert EFX, but all in all, that would be cool.

 

I want the Motifs Rhodes, strings, woodwinds, basses and leads, even from the Classic variety. If the MO6/8 can deliver this to me, then I'd be totally delighted.

[SilverDragonSoun]

Depending on the price, action and zone options of the MO 8, maybe it could be a lite version/controller. Kinda taking the approach of the M Audio Pro Keys. I'm a bit reluctant to pass judgement until I see it. Do you think its something similiar to the Fantom XA only with 88 keys? I also wonder which sounds are not going to be included. Just have to wait and see.

[Carlito]

Quote from Silver Dragon Sound:

"Do you think its something similiar to the Fantom XA only with 88 keys? "

 

I don't think so. One will be boring after 6 months of use, the other will not.

 

 

This is from Roland about their Fantom XA:

 

"Advanced sampling workstation with a 61-note keyboard, 128 voices, high-resolution sequencer, and affordable price

Seamless integration of audio and MIDI using ROM waves and sampling with realtime time-stretch capability

Skip Back Sampling continuous sampling for easy recording, sound design, and audio rescue

128 new patches, plus all Fantom-S preset patches and waves onboard

4MB sample RAM expandable up to 516MB via DIMM

3 MFX processors, plus dedicated reverb, chorus, and a mastering processor

Expandable via 1 optional SRX-Series Wave Expansion Board

USB port for MIDI and WAV/AIF file exchange with PC or Mac

4 line outputs (2 stereo or 4 mono), and mic/stereo line input "

[ManInTheBox]

So, I could put the SRX-11 into the Xa, hook it up to an M-audio Pro88, and have a workingman's FantomX8?? cool.

[Felix_dup1]

Seems logical to me. There are probably plenty of potential customers out there who don't have the budget for a Motif. This may be the answer for a bunch of them. I don't see any crime in Yamaha introducing a scaled-back version of Motif at a lower price point to address customers who want a lower-priced workstation.

[HomeAmateur]

belive me,.. Im all for a lower priced workstation... and at first glance I was psyched about the MO8, but the PRIMARY deal breaker for me is that they seemingly DIDNT put one of there BETTER PIANO SAMPLES IN IT !!! if they did I would of seriously considered buying one....

 

the P series piano sample would of been a very nice touch to the MO8 (ok so if that sample is from a different sound engine) then how bout at least the new S700 sample or whatever its called now... that one seems to be from the same engine...... so whats there excuse there...

 

why hold back your better piano sample in a machine made and marketed to create music ???

 

*** ohh wait thats right they want you to buy a P(insert #) piano if you want a better piano.....

 

im guessing they would make more money from the additional sales of people that would buy a MO8 (if it had a better piano) then the people that would buy BOTH the MO8 AND a P(whatever) .....

 

an MO8 at that price level with an awsome piano sample in it would most likley sell like HOT CAKES !!!

 

....and you all must agree with that... (i would think)

[MikeT156]

Quote by Markyboard:

----------------------------------------

Holy S$%T - Mike's back. How you doing?

----------------------------------------

 

Hi Mark, yeah, I'm still alive. No internet connection at home, so I can only pop in when I can use someone's computer.

 

All this talk about the Mo "lite". (any relation to BUD lite?) As far as some of the "new" piano samples, such as the sample on the S90ES....I guess if that's what you want, that's what you should buy. It's not like the Motif ES series has a "terrible" piano sample on it. I like it. Sure the S90ES sample sounds great and it's capable of half pedaling.....but I don't play classical piano professionally, only at home for fun and good practice.....so, why would I need that?

 

Maybe we're a bit to fast on the draw to start throwing stones at a new addition to the Motif ES line???

 

Cheers everyone,

 

Mike T

[MikeT156]

double post.

 

Mike T.

[HomeAmateur]

id simply just like to see a workstation with the BEST possible piano sample available actually included in it......(which is EXACTLY where you would think their best piano WOULD be)......

 

the thought of paying all that money for a do it all workstation but sacraficing the piano (primary instrument) quaility just doesnt settle well with me --- it just doesnt make sence

 

im absolutly perplexed that i seem to be the only one that thinks this way

 

and im not throwing stones at the MO8 itself... its probably a very decent board... all in all

[guestuserguestuser.com]

Originally posted by homeAmature:

id simply just like to see a workstation with the BEST possible piano sample available actually included in it......(which is EXACTLY where you would think their best piano WOULD be)......

 

the thought of paying all that money for a do it all workstation but sacraficing the piano (primary instrument) quaility just doesnt settle well with me --- it just doesnt make sence

 

im absolutly perplexed that i seem to be the only one that thinks this way

 

and im not throwing stones at the MO8 itself... its probably a very decent board... all in all

You're not alone. I'd like to see it too. I raised the same point here about two years ago.

 

Another thing I'd like to see is Korg come out with something to compete with the Clavia Nord Stage. They have great clonewheel and virtual analog technology. Their pianos are a little weak compared to Yamaha, but I think they are owned by Yam, aren't they? So, maybe they could make some deal with Yam to license their piano engine. All they would need to do then would be come up with a competitive physical package and UI. Ok, Korg, go to work.

[MikeT156]

home:

 

I would think that Yamaha would upgrade the ES8 in the future. Maybe they will have something for it to announce at Winter NAMM.

 

All in all, the Motif ES series is a good value. The User Interface needs improvement, and the manual is not very useful.

 

The sounds are excellent, period. Sure a new piano sample would be great for future editions of the ES8. But I'm pretty satisified with the one that's on it.

 

I upgraded the OS the other night, and it went as smooth as it be could. It only took a few minutes and I was finished. Not a hitch. That's one of the reasons I like Yamaha...stability, as a company and with their instruments.

 

Maybe the piano sample is quite as good as what's out there now, but I have my ES8 almost a year and a half, so I'm not complaining about the sound. Now the UI?? Hmmm. The first few weeks I tried to use the sequencer I was pulling what's left of my hair out. But if you work with it long enough, you get use to it.

 

Cheers,

 

Mike T.

[burningbusch]

Originally posted by homeAmature:

 

the P series piano sample would of been a very nice touch to the MO8 (ok so if that sample is from a different sound engine) then how bout at least the new S700 sample or whatever its called now... that one seems to be from the same engine...... so whats there excuse there...

It is my understanding that the MotifES does contain the P series piano samples. There are differences in the engine. The MotifES allows four levels of velocity switching while the P series (at least the high end of it) provides 128 levels among other things sepcific to piano emulation. At least that's what I recall for a post by Mike Martin (Yamaha) a while back.

 

Busch.

[Ken Hughes]

Originally posted by The Pro:

Why would you want to review something you've reviewed before anyway?

Because readers are looking to us for an opinion on whether this is something they should consider. You're gonna get sick of reading these words, but there are at least 59,500 other readers out there who aren't regular participants of this forum. Most of them are not quite as tech-savvy (or jaded, frankly) as y'all are. Most of them won't immediately assume it's a watered-down Motif (although, admittedly, the name is a pretty strong clue).

[resigned]

Originally posted by Ken Hughes:

Originally posted by The Pro:

Why would you want to review something you've reviewed before anyway?

Because readers are looking to us for an opinion on whether this is something they should consider. You're gonna get sick of reading these words, but there are at least 59,500 other readers out there who aren't regular participants of this forum. Most of them are not quite as tech-savvy (or jaded, frankly) as y'all are. Most of them won't immediately assume it's a watered-down Motif (although, admittedly, the name is a pretty strong clue).

I know... I found it amusing because whenever Keyboard reviews upgrades of instruments or software it often starts out with "... to read about the features of the previous version please see the review we did back in issue blah, blah blah... this review will focus on the new features...".

 

Sure we're jaded - Yamaha released the new Tyros 2 arranger with upgraded sounds and features well ahead of any announced upgrades for the popular Motif ES, so everyone is anxiously expecting something new (that was the original topic of this thread, right?). So when the Mo showed up it caught us by surprise that it wasn't an upgrade but a downgrade.

 

I think Yamaha's timing could stand a little improvement, don't you?

[Ken Hughes]

Originally posted by The Pro:

I think Yamaha's timing could stand a little improvement, don't you?

Based on what?

What does it matter unless you own Yamaha shares?

[resigned]

Originally posted by Ken Hughes:

Originally posted by The Pro:

I think Yamaha's timing could stand a little improvement, don't you?

Based on what?

What does it matter unless you own Yamaha shares?

Based on personal opinion, like everything else on discussion forums. Some of us like to talk about these things... some just like to kill conversations. Sorry if you're only interested in the latter.

[guestuserguestuser.com]

Pro, I also wonder where you're coming from with this. Most of the synth companies release higher-end and lower-end products. Why the expectation that MO should be a higher end product which surpasses the Motif, or Tyros 2? It's a lower-end version of Motif - so what's wrong with that? Also don't understand what you mean about the timing. Not trying to kill the conversation, just wondering what you mean.

[dgrennan]

I agree that the timing seems off, but I also think that that's only for the moment.

 

I think they're only part way through playing their hand, and they have a few more cards to play.

 

Then it will all make sense.

[resigned]

Floyd: First, I have nothing against the MO at all... it's probably fine for what it is (in fact I think it's aimed more at the dance/rave market judging from the demos). But if you step back and look at previous timelines: Yamaha released the original Tyros arranger and then followed with the Motif ES, and the two instruments are directly related to each other (same MegaVoice technology... Yamaha has even said that the Motif ES technology came from the Tyros on their Motifator website). So fast forward to this year - first, pictures and info about the Tyros 2 was leaked out way back in the beginning of the year and Yamaha squashed it everywhere they could, but it was too late - we knew the Tyros 2 was coming and speculation started that a new Motif or an upgrade to the ES might follow. Then the Tyros 2 was released on October 1st with new MegaVoices and a Super Articulation keyboard... so now the speculation begins in ernest about a new or improved flagship Motif. And suddenly, a month after the Tyros 2 release, a new Motif does show up but it's not a "Motif ES 2" but a "Motif ES Lite" aka the MO 6/8.

 

It was a surprise but I think we've all accepted that Yamaha has released the MO as a new midrange instrument. If the MO had come out before the Tyros 2 then I don't think that expectations would have been as high... that's all I'm saying in regards to Yamaha's timing.

 

The question remains: will the new technology incorporated in the Tyros 2 appear in a new flagship Motif ES workstation or as an upgrade to existing models? Or at all?

[bigbaby987]

you cats may not dig me for this but, as i do like piano sound in the motif.. i actually bought it for the totality of the sounds of the board.. it has every sound that i can think of and need really .. it's really incredible.. yes, i'm a motif enthusiast, but i know many artists personally that will let you know that the motif is their ax of choice.. especially in gospel, r&b, and well.. rap world. this board is hot.. period.. i'm personally about to pick up an S90ES soon because it basically seems to be my mo rack es with a weighted keys without sampling and some other small stuff i really don't care about..

 

as far as the mo boards.. triton has le, roland has xa and yamaha now has mo.. pretty simple to me and they'll upgrade the other stuff in due time..

 

btw.. how many motif users (especially anyone complaining right now) can actually say they have tried to use every patch, performance or multi, or have you just run to the piano patches and that's it... if that's the case don't buy the motif or sell it and buy a piano.