Yamaha Motif 6

Version 1.7

Preset sounds are good due to a big ROM.
Editing patches is alright, just need a quick reference on
how to do stuff. Instructions on the Web are a lot easier to
understand, with fewer words, than a long-winded manual.
On the positive side, Yammy is generous with putting the manual online.

When comparing ease of use to a Kurzweil, since i consider Kurzweil
to get a 9, yammy deserves a 7. No doubt, its navigation is intuitive,
and branches you out to the place you want, but its definitely not
as clear cut as Kurzweil (which I consider the epitome). Its display
cannot even compete with the ancient Kurzweil K2000, which can show
envelopes, and wave forms.

Poly is 62. I personally prefer Kurzweil's VAST algol rather than
Yamaha's AWM algol. Whether it's 62 poly gets eaten up quickly or
not, use your common sense. A voice can be anything from 1-4 poly.
So if your performance mode uses 4 voices, where each use 4 poly (worst
case scenario), just 1 note will take 4 x 4 = 16 poly. So you get 4
note polyphony from your MOTIF! So the 5th note cuts off the 1st
note. Use wisely. Especially if you're multi-timbering.

Currently effects department is ruled by Korg. 2 insert effects cannot
compete to Korg's 5 inserts. Both have reverb and chorus.

Expansion capabilities are great, read the other reviews.

MIDI is good, uses USB and standard MIDI cables for MIDI.
Good to have smart media card to replace floppies.
On-board sequencer... not tried, intend to use computer.

3 banks of 128 Presets, 1 bank of 128 GM patches. 1 bank of 128
user patches = 640 sounds. Some presets are a waste of my time.
Why can't yamaha make all of them editable? Only 128 user
patches are editable. Yamaha loses my respect for this horrible
sabotage. They should have a separate OS version for clever people
that want to edit the presets, that stupid Yamaha sound engineers
force-feed down our throats. This bread & butter sounds synth
has a cheesy aftertaste on it. There's no such thing as
more than enough sounds. I want more. MORE!

I love the ease of upgrading the OS.

Presets do not use aftertouch generously.
Let down by a so-so sound engine that cannot control
some critical parameters in the sound that could make
it even more life-like.

I hate playing some patches with vibrato built into the sound.
To Yammy sound programmers: It does not sound natural to
vibrato all the time! What a waste of so many PRESETS.
A PRESET is something i cannot change. At least let it be
controllable! Isn't the default usage of the modwheel to
control the amount of vibrato!?!? Whats the use of
the modwheel when there is already a vibrato?
Picture a clown playing a flute, vibrato'ing all the time,
rolling his eyes. Yeah, that must be the Yamaha CEO.

Yes, yes, there are soundbanks that do not have modulation,
but... what a waste of a preset. I don't want to waste my User
bank to correct Yamaha's mistake. Yamaha's so stiff.
To Yamaha: heard of Kurzweil's VAST algorithm flute? I think
its wave rom is 80k only... but it sounds better when controlled
well with the mod wheel. Yammy's saved only because of velocity
switching. That shouldn't be the way... Either you hear it
overblown with vibrato, or vibrato. That initial mind-blowing
44khz crystal clear sound quality sounds boring after
a while, when you realise thats all you hear.
Presets are lacking in character and imagination. Pls get
the public's opinion for sound programming.

Realism is there due to a large sample ROM. (Thats why
it still gets a 9, for the incredible sound definition.)

No comment. Haven't had it for long.

Never dealt with Yammy. If i had i'd imagine i'd vomit blood.

Its value for money, when compared with its equivalent from
other synth makers. Not perfect, but the other synths fail
in some area or other too. If you're looking for near perfection,
and are willing to spend, look to the pricey Kurzweil K2661.
I'm a miser so i'm stuck to this synth for a while.

Ideally a synth should:
1. Have Motif ES great sample ROM (without the vibrato please,
the sound engine can be used to emulate a realistic vibrato)
2. Have a good sound engine (Like Kurzweil's VAST, plus VL/AN/FM)
3. Have a great number of effects (Korg's Triton)
4. Have Kurzweil's & Roland's user friendliness and big screen
5. Have Korg Z1's XY controller and CS-6x knobs
6. Have a good sense of pricing in the economy (Kurzweil/Roland fails)

If you have the manual, do me a favor, THROW IT OUT!! If you are new to motif, like i was, it will only confuse u and make you depressed. I suggest buying the dvd and learn by visual, thats the best way.

It took me a good week to really figure some things out on this board, at first it is very complicated, but it takes time and patience to understand this beast. I havent mastered it yet, and i still need to spend some more time with it. Watch the dvd, and read the sucky manual just to read it, go to motifator.com and you should be fine

Presets are incredible, better than any other workstation ive heard thus far

Features, are perfect for what I do. All i need is a good sequencer which it has, a good sampling unit, which it has, nice sounds that can be tweaked, and the rest comes from creativity. If you want more polyphony, buy the motif es! It is very user friendly with computers, and other equipment.

I must say the motif in my opinion is the best synth on the face of the earth. When i bought this keyboard, I told my girl..."I am the owner of the greatest keyboard of all time" Before buying this board i compared the three greatest synths ever....Korg Triton, Yamaha Motif, and Roland Fantom. Hands down, Motif beats out both boards in drum sounds. The drums are amazing as well as the keyboards. Everyone has the triton, y not try something different? Fantom is hott!, but too much gimmicks (dbeam) plus u can only mute one track at a time which sucks......

Keyboards- amazing, Pianos - amazing, guitars- amazing, Drums- best ever, u don't have to buy any plug ins , theres enof drum sounds for everyone. If you need more sounds you could always sample or upgrade, but the presets are unusually awesome...compared to other synths

So for no problems. I mainly use this board to make banging beats. It does all that i need it to.

Never used em'. Bought the dvd, read the manual, and went to motifator.com.

If it were lost or stolen, i'd Kick his A**, sew up his a** cheeks and feed him pork and beans all night(lol) Because this motif is a monster. Keyboards are based on preference. Im not sayin that the triton and fantom arent as equally hot, cause they are both nice boards, but the motif is a new beast with a different style. I'll put it to you like this: James Dean, Phonzy, Elvis Presley, Brad pitt, Tom cruise, Will Smith, John Wayne, Clint EastWood, Dirty Harry......Who would pick which synth........??.......The motif- James Dean, Phonzy, and Elvis.....cause they are too cool for anything else.......Triton- Brad pitt, Tom cruise, Will smith...."The american standard" we'll play it safe.........The fantom.....Dirty harry, clint, and john wayne.....The fantom is hott....raw and dirty, like their styles....but the motif will win in a shoot out!!!!!!! You people proly think im crazy but i dont care...... I GOT A MOTIF!!!!

I'm not sure on software version.........
I love this synth..... I should have bought it instead of my Triton.
The presets are nice, I'm not much into deap editing very much so Its nice to have good sounds right out of the box.

I havent edited patches yet so I'm hoping it is a smooth job. I have to check out the software(I'm hoping for the Mac Laptop soon)....

The manual seems a bit poorly laid out.

I like the action of the keys they are very simular to the Tritons.
It has a better than synth action.
Reverbs are nice in this unit I dig em.
I want to get the Analog modeling, DX, and piano expantions.
I think that willl round out the sound very nice for me.

I have had a couple of problems or I should say odd questions about the midi USB port since I could get it to output midi data but can I use it to synce up with reason etc.

I like the sequencer in this work station. I only miss the touch screen on the Triton, thats a nice thing to have it really saves time...........................................................
But it is easy to figure out.

I love the Rhodes and wurly sounds. very nice the main reason I dug this board so much.
You can do a ton of diferent styles with the machine.

I love yamaha stuff they nevre let me down.
I would gig without backup but thats because I couldnt aford two.

I have met the Yamaha Guys before and can say that they are realy great guys. I met them first when I worked for Mars music then recently at the MN, Music and soud expo.
They always are good about helping.

If it were lost I would shoot myself in the foot for being a dip stick in the first place, Who looses a synth?
Stolen yeah I would get it or an ES, then beat the jerk who took it, Oh I'll find ya.
I have a few things in my arsenal now, from Yamaha DTXpress drum kit to Boss BR-1180CD, Boss GT-3 and a PC with Reason and Sonar.
I would like to have a Apple power Book or I-Book for use with reason and ABleton live and editing software.
Like I said before I should have got the MOTIF in the first place and not the Korg Triton.
The list of wishes that manufacturers is too long to list here.
Yeah music come alive for me on this thing. Not one bit in the way.

Get one! Its a crazy machine you could use it for so much.!!!!

I love it.

Basically, the whole thing is properly designed. However, the manual is rather confusing.

There are a few drawbacks -- like the fact that you cannot edit patches directly from the "song" (or multi) mode or that you have to store your mixes before calling any other than song mode -- otherwise your settings will be gone. that's a little "stone-aged" in my opinion.

Polyphony:
The MOTIF shares the songs with Emagic's Software instruments EXS24, EVP88 and EVB3, and there is still a Roland D-550. So I haven't run out of voices by now.

Construction:
The Keyboard action is excellent. Typically YAMAHA, I'd say. Sturdy construction.

Expansions:
The expandability was a clear "pro" argument for the purchase (I bought a used model with AN and DX boards installed). Serious drawback: The boards cannot be edited from the MOTIF directly, and there seems to be no Mac remote editor software so far. So the boards are of no use until Emagic comes around with SoundDiver Modules for the boards.

Sequencer: Never used it.

MIDI implementation is good, but the Kurzweil 2500's was much better (I still can kick my a** for having sold it two years ago). Kurzweil can trigger notes or even whole sequences via footswitches, set up a footswitch / front panel switch as a "sidekick" (alternate sound program), can route literally everything to everywhere. It was a revelation for live performance. Compared with that, MOTIF has basic functionality. It's not too bad, but there are still some things to be desired, in my opinion.

Basically, the overall sound is VERY GOOD. It is very clean, yet powerful, and the dynamic range is impressive.

However, there is no single device that can do everything. When I first heard the MOTIF, I thought I'd give away my D-550, but after some trying, I decided to keep it, mainly because of its (in my opinion) great synth brass sounds. MOTIF sounds a little thin in comparison with that.

The effects are very good. They contribute a lot to some of the raw patches. Serious drawback: You cannot use the original patch effects in song (multi) mode since the insertion effects from voice mode are replaced with just one (!) "variation effect" (in addition to the global reverb & chorus FX) here. It was quite a disappointment to find that.

Velocity and aftertouch are very sensitive. I think it cannot get any better. Although aftertouch can be a little touchy and is easily triggered accidentally when playing a little harder.

Drums are very good (lots of perfectly balanced kits for a huge scope of styles -- just "jazz" is not the real deal, especially the ride cymbal), basses are good, so are the guitars, brass is not so good, classical sounds are basically OK, but no highlight, keyboards are very good (4-stroke Rhodes, e.g.). Only Organs are a bit weak in comparison with the EVB3 by Emagic (not to mention a real B3). Especially the rotary effect seems to be not so great. There is a big variety of good synth sounds -- pads, leads, sequencer stuff -- which is owed to excellent filters.

Maybe serious programming can get a lot more out of the machine, but I think a lot of users are happy with usable presets -- which are definitely at hand.

I think it's very reliable although I only own it for 5-6 weeks and used it just once on stage by now. But the construction is very rugged, it utilizes excellent parts like knobs, faders and the like.

I did not encounter any software bugs by now.

Of course it would be nice to have everything in a live setup as a backup, but if you cannot afford that (who can?), you will certainly be very much on the safe side with this device. It's rather heavy, by the way (16 kg for the MOTIF 6). Such things do not break to easily.

I have no experiences with the YAMAHA support. I owned a DX7 II for some years, and it never needed any repair or maintenance. This is a good sign, and the MOTIF seems equally sturdy. Maybe there is no repair department at YAMAHA's because no-one ever needed a device to be repaired? :-)

I think it's well worth the money. If it was lost or stolen, I'd certainly try to get a MOTIF ES instead. But I did not regret the purchase of this one, and I think it's going to go along with me for a long time.

I love the aura of being very well-crafted, and it has some very inspiring sounds.

I decided to buy it for the sound, expandability, on-board sampling (although I did not use that by now), USB and Smart Media capabilities, and good experiences with other YAMAHA products.

I used to own: Roland W-30, YAMAHA DX7 II, Korg Wavestation, AKAI S-1000, Roland JX-8P, Roland D-50, Roland MKS-80, YAMAHA ProMix01 (digital) and Kurzweil K2500XS. The only thing I really mourn about is the Kurzweil.

The only other hardware device I use (and really appreciate) today is a Roland D-550. And (almost forgotten) a YAMAHA P-80 (which, however, has some slightly damaged / stuck keys due to extensive playing).

Ver. 1.7
I've had the Motif for about a year now and have drawn some conclusions about where this keyboard stands in the grand scheme of keyboards. The presets sound good, not the best but very clean.Good guitars, basses, drums, etc. But that's just it. Nothing sounds great.
Absolutely nothing blows me away. The best sounds in this board are the "keyboard" type sounds, which are better sounding than any other keyboard that I've heard. For the rest of the sounds...well, you can find better. The samples are good, but the programming is average. The board also lacks the effects power to unleash the potential of the 85 megs of raw samples it contains; and for that I'm truely disappointed.

N/A

I probably wouldn't buy this again. Not an indispensable item. I like it, but I want something with much more powerful effects. I also own a Fantom, Triton, RS7000, and other fine pieces.

I use OS v1.6, I guess. Haven't found the time to upgrade to 1.7 yet. Well... Ease of use, hmmm. Yamaha has some weird point of view regarding ease of use, sometimes. But after a while you get used to it. I only have to say that when I bought my Roland XP-50 long time ago, I didn't need to open the user manual to get started. With my Motif I just couldn't do much without reading the F* M*. But it's OK after all. You don't have to study Japanese to understand it.
Presets sound... like presets. But don't worry: it's a synth. This machine is built to TWEAK sounds, to create new ones.
Editing goes well; just walk around the menus and try changing the parameters - you get new sounds in a heartbeat. The software voice editor is cool and conveniently arranged.

Yeah, this board has it all.
- 62 voice poly (128 would've been better)
- great keyboard feel (compared to my XP-50: "silence is golden", i.e. when I'm playing with my headphones on, my wife sitting in the same room doesn't get a headache from the twanging).
- 3 expansions slots awaiting to be filled.
- Every MIDI function you could dream of.
- Nice sequencer.
- Sampling...

A few suggestions for the next generation, Yamaha:
- increase the polyphony
- larger display would've been more convenient (these days it's a trend anyway, look at Fantom/Triton)
- more plug-in boards (maybe one with the FS1R specs?)
- a slot for an internal Hard Disk; there's a SCSI connection anyway, so why there's no possibility to add an internal HD? I hate external additions, all those cables have to turn into a cobweb someday.
- decrease the price (we poor Belgians have to pay 21% VAT!)

The presets sound OK. OK for presets. I have to admit that my old XP-50 has way better acoustic guitars, strings and woodwinds. But the effects on Motif are better. The Motis was developed to be the best sounding synth of this generation, as Yamaha tells us. I won't complain about the sounds, but for a best sounding synth they could've done better. But I say it again, it's only the presets. If you buy stuff like this, you should use the possibilities and tweak your sounds at your own pleasure. And we've got the built-in sampler...
But the sampler is still untouched by me - if I only had more time...

No problems till now.

www.motifator.com

I won't let them steal it!

By the way: Motifator.com has some free sounds to download. You can also upload your own stuff. Maybe they could reward the best contributions with a free voice bank which you normally have to pay for, just to encourage contributions. Just an idea...

OS 1.7. Intimidating at first, but once you get the logic behind the menu design, it's a snap. The presets are outstanding, but definitely use the software editor for any extensive tweaking. So far, the manual has been very helpful.

Everything on this machine rocks. I've owned it for about 7 months and loved every second of it. The faders, knobs, and switches are a huge convenience. Sampling is a little tricky, but definitely effective. The sequencer is a monster, pattern and song recording is so wonderfully easy. Easily the most versitile board I've ever used.

The pianos are strong, but the EPs are the highlight of this beast. The phased Rhodes ("Sweetness") is the [i]best[/i] emulation I've ever heard. The guitars are exceptionally good. Strings are great, but the brass leaves a little to be desired. Just about every other soundset is exceptionally good. The drums are outstanding. The key action is good and very responsive.
Mo can cover pretty much any genre.

So far, absolutely no problems.

Haven't needed it yet.

If it were lost/stolen/destroyed, I'd go for the Motif 7 or 8. For me, this board is irreplacable. I've been playing for about 7 years, and been through a lot of gear in that time. Nothing has impressed me like this. The Triton came close, but couldn't quite do what I wanted. The only drawback is the polyphony, but that's been upped with the MoRack (mmmm...).
Believe the hype. This board inspires.

I bought this product new last week, And I assume it has the latest operating System. The presets are good enough not alot of editing needed, Patch editing is the same as the XP80 but u kno different ways to do it, but easi to do...The manual is easy to use...very straight to the point and the web has alot of information.

63 polyphony, doesn matter great board. Action is synth weighted great..Use with XP-80 (controller)...Luv the effects, learning to use though but I will get tht DVD that many people have been talking about. Expansion +++ but prolli will never use it....Great sounds already. MIDI, great have composed songs with VS 1680 and XP80 and Motif MiDIed together!!
Sequencer is alittle difficult right now because I'm use to the XP 80 sequencer, but after I get used to the Sequencer and Sampling functions, I will rid the XP80 and get the monster XV 5080 or 3080 to compliment this board....But for now the XP80 sequencer gets the job done.

All sounds fit in the mix wonderful!! Great sounds!! Works well for All types of music...
Effects are great..Need to learn more about them..Reacts to my playing well!! Aftertouch velocity very good.

yes dependable..Gig without back up!!

Great so far onli had for 1 week!

If it were Lost or stolen..I would definetly purchase this equipment. Great for live and studio situations (Great for Worship Music) God is good!! Thank the Lord for Yamaha!! Love everything about it so that I do not hate this keyboard, I'm sure I will love it more in a few weeks after I learn how to use the whole functionality of the keyboard. Compared to the Triton, not realli a comparison one is not better than the other, It jus depends on the personal preference. I chose the Motif, because it was a gift and the price was reasonable and the keyboard is incredible....I plan to purchase a Korg Product soon (some day)....I already have and have had a Roland JV80 (x2), Xp80, A33 with Alesis module, Kurzweill SP76, Yamaha PSR 530, 510 (a great keyboard). I have a home studio with the VS 1680 as my recorder and I mix down to a Sony CDRW33...Plan to upgrade tremendousli in the nex few years..The Motif was a great addition!! Ive been playin for 8 years gospel music!! Greatest thing that ever happened (Playin for Jesus thank U lord for Choosin me!!)....Enough tlkin pick one up!!

I have the latest version of software as of 4/03, not sure the number
IF you get this, you should get the DVD. I got mine used and it had the DVD, I sat down with the keyboard on the cofee table, watched the dvd and I mastered in in howerver long the DVD took, 1 or 2 hours. If you try and figure it out without the manual or DVD, it is tough, but if you are not a total moron, it is easy to get through with the DVD. IT is very logicaly set up so I liked it. It is easier than the Triton to do the more complex things, and once you know how, you can do things just as fast.

Great sequencer, patterns and sections are a great idea, very easy to sequence, mix, choose voices, etc... Very well designed. Has smart media, scsi board so it is easy to integreate with other things. Fx are easy to use also, It has everything you could want. I got rid of a Triton for this, and i dont miss anything from that.

The best sounds, period. Nothing else is close, I used every other workstation out there, and this is amazing. I fooled people with the guitar and drums sounds, people know I dont play strings so they know they arent real. FX are good too. Every sound you could want is in this. You can modify the sounds too, sample phrases into patterns, like vocal lines.

Hasn't broken in one year.

never needed, web site is useful

10 of 10, the best choise, dont listen to the winers or morons who cant figure it out. This is the best choise out there, and I dont even work for them.

I use the os 1.7, and i've fount it really easy to use , there is no problem looking around the keyboard and setting it up, my RATING want 10 because of some sampling problems, its the only thing a little confusing...

Kb action is kinda "smooth", i hated the polyphony, it says 64 notes but with some performances it just "lacks a cast", even when you use nothing but three voices the keyboard cant handle more than 3 notes, i repeat only with some performances, but it becomes like a russian rulette, you dont know if it is going to work, the problem even appears with factory performances, so thats why im moving to triton's... sequencer is good, but only if you upgrade the os, i found some troubles there tough.

sounds are greatest, pianos, guitars, i own the plug in board 150 piano, and its sounds are of such quality, wind instruments kick ass, this is the cutest thing about motif... this is why motif worths every penny.

Well i dont know, motif has very powerfull setups, but polyphony problems make it untrusted so, i wont use it without a backup...

i tried to solve my polyphony troubles, and they even gave me a plug in board, so i have two of them, FORGET IT POLYPHONY IS NOT UPGRADABLE, NO MATTER HOW MUCH DO YOU FIGHT WITH IT THERE IS NO WAY TO UPGRADE IT... they where nice, but at the end, they couldnt solve the problem

If my motif where stolen, i think i'll go for korg or some kurzweil, i own a korg N364 and its nice, i also own some yamaha PSR4600 and some casio 670, i dont actually play kb, i play guitar, but my brother does play as long as i can remember, anyway we love to buy good things, and we where very sad when we found that motif had this problems, which are not little if you want to perform on stage as we do... As i said i loved motif's sounds , really cool!!, but polyphony sucks really sucks.. and its a pain in the ass having those big problems, even when motif has more realistic sounds tahn triton le, i think they are hand to hand....