Yamaha Motif 6

very easy to use.....

excellent features....

THE MOTIF IS MUCH BETTER THAN THE KARMA...

I tried out both, and hands down, the MOtif 6 has a much crisper, brighter, SPARKLING sound than the karma...Im talking PRISTINE! Both boards have killer instruments, i would actually lean towards the karma for drum sounds and organ sounds...but the sounds dont matter when they are have poor signal to noise ratios...

Perhaps i am wrong, but when i mixed down a song out of the motif, to one file (all tracks to a wav file) and then did the same on the Karma, what i noticed was that the Motif mixdown was much more sparkling and louder. The Karma on the other hand was very quiet and dull sounding...

But this is to be expected as the signal to noise ratio gets shot when you mix all of your tracks out to one wav file on your computer...Ideally you want to be mastering each track out to a seperate channel and seperating them...i have yet to do this with either of these boards cause i been so busy, but...perhaps this would fix the karma's low sound...but either way it is very convenient to have the Sparkling mixdown from the motif, which i can just burn to cd and roll out with...

anyway, i just wish that the motif had the ability to eq each track...and i wish it had the karma's M1 organ and Dark RnB bass...which are the only reason i would buy the karma...

hope this helps,

-jahwise

yes all good...

support sucks...they take your number and call you back in 24houers...totally ridiculous. Korg will help you out no prob on the phone..

the motif is better than the triton for its sound quality, but i think the korg has cooler synthy instruments...i would buy the motif over the korg becuase you can always edit the sounds...

Again, like previous reviews, the Motif is a difficult beast to learn, certainly in comparison to the Triton. It seems that given Yamaha has shares in Korg, that they are reluctant to totally steel Korg's thunder with the Triton, which they could do as they have the resources.

Depending on the amount of time you spend using this board, my guesstimate is that it'll take a couple of hours per day for 2 months to totally master it.

Could have been so much better with a larger screen like their Tyros arranger.

The Motif has some great features, but as above, these are harder than they should be to access. Music is a right-brain creative activity. This keyboard ''''forces'''' you to use the more logical side.

This is the reason I purchased the Motif and the reason I'll keep it. My main uses are in creating performances, which like Korg's combi's are great for achieving good ideas for songs.

The sounds on the Motif (in voice mode) are far superior to what Korg has offered over the past 8 years (or however long ago since the Triton came on the scene). Korg's combi mode is a different kettle of fish though. The reality is that Korg are still stuck with their ludicrously pittiful 32MB of sample memory, while Yamaha have around 85MB+ on the Motif.

There is a LOT of potential there for sound patch companies, and there's already been 5+ collections released.

THE SOUNDS ARE EXCELLENT FOR ALL-ROUND GENERAL USE!

No hardware problems yet.
Be careful about order memory for the Motif, as I had to order a second set of 32MB SIMMS, as the first ones didn't work properly.

Their Motifator site was second to none for the first 8 months of the products life, as I think every question has been asked and answered already.
The OS could do with some serious updating. One major ommission for me is not having the ability to have a count-in measure in pattern mode for sampling guitar, having instead to use a bloody stupid double measure routine to get it.

A great sounding board that made me change from using Korg's (which I had done for 10 years). Ease of use is terrible, and doesn't compare with Korg's, however, for me, as a Performer user, I can get round that with the computer. This is THE best sounding workstation on the market, which is let down with ease of use. If you can afford a Triton Studio and a Motif Rack, I'd certainly recommend that route, although if you're into computer sequencing like me, a Motif 6, 7 or 8 is far more cost-effective.

The MOTIF is a New Creature in the line of Synths. So it can't be compared to any other as for Ease of Use. Once you understand this Keyboard it is very easy to work with and to CUSTOM! Yes at first, it is confusing. And if you think you can jump right into it and record songs with alots of tracks, it will not happen with out some help from tech support (That if you call them, their not available. And they will call you back on their time????? Do have to say by the phone and wait????? LOL). The manual was assemble by the K - 3rd grade students at the local Public School. You really have to go though the entire manual before it clicks. BUT WHEN IT CLICKS YOU WILL FIND OUT YOU HAVE THE BEST SYNTH ON THIS EARTH. Yamaha need it improve the manual and support for this product. All of the information is there in the manual you just have to find it, and Tech support is knowlegdable when ever I can reach them!!!!!! After a Week of studying and working I believe The MOTIF IS the fairly easy for the complex feature that are HIDDEN inside this Keyboard!

The Features on this board are the best in the world. It killes the Triton in the area of LIVE PERFORMANCE. The Motif is not only for the Studio guys but it is the dream that a live performer is looking for! Slides controlling volume, seperate from nobs that control all other stuff (cut off, reverb, chor, tempo, etc....) 16 Buttons to select tracks in real time with out messing with touch screens. You can also lay a song in a Pattern (intro, verse, chorus,vamp,etc....) and select buttons in real time to play the parts you want [Great for church gigs and Remixes]. Man This board is loaded! I haven't had trouble with the 62 voice polyphony, but music today shouldn't be to busy any way! It's 2003 (POCKET)! Also you have onboard sampling! GREAT! The concept of the Smart Media card being the primary place for storage in memory had to grow on me, but I just think of it like a computer "Before you shut it down Save your work, or LOSE IT!". The AutoLoad feature helps to restore if you need the same songs or patterns all the time!

The FEATURES are the reason that makes this board so hard to understand. Not other board works the way that the MOTIF does. This is NEW TECHNOLOGY in the Synth world. Ensoniq was getting there but the fumbled the Ball! Now EMU is trying to hold on to it (TO LATE YAMAHA's GOT IT)!!!!

Think of it and a computer. This Board if very TECHNICAL. If you just want to play sound The MOTIF IS NOT FOR YOU. But if you want to make music and perform to you maximum level this synth has every thing! JUSTS TAKE TIME TO UNDERSTAND IT!

The Sounds catch my attention before the features. Those PIANO ARE REAL!!!!!! KORG Triton CAN'T Touch That!(Go Buy Korg's Classical Piano Expansion and you might get good SOLO Piano Sounds :<) If your a Roland piano fan, the MOTIF WILL WHEN YOU OVER! Even those cut through XP - JV Roland Piano, the MOTIF has similar samples. Electric Pnos are great. Organ are good. I wish there were more of a HAMMOND drawbar veriaty in the sounds. Maybe I haven't found it yet??? Some nice Brass, Horns, and Wood Winds Sounds. All of the sounds OFF THE CHAIN! The Drums Kick @*$!!!!! No need for some Hip-Hop, Techno Drum expansion. It's all there! The Acoustic Drum A NICE ALSO! I wish if some of those Roland Synth Pad were in the MOTIF. (I guess I have to SAMPLE!!!!! :>)

I've only had it 3 weeks, It feels Solid. It think is GOOD! Im going to keep my Alesis QS6.1 to tag along with the Motif. They sound good together.

The support is very helpful when ever they call me back. When you call them they will put you on hold (LONG DISTANCE) for 3 - 5 min. just for some guy to take your name and give you a number so some other guy can get off VACATION and call you back. Or maybe they need to hire more MORIF WIZARDS! But the Guy that I talk to is GOOD!

After All I went through to understand this board and now I know HOW GREAT IT IS. YES I'll BUY it Again. I've been playing for 7 years. In that time I've purchased an Ensoniq KT 76 with E-Prime Upgrade (Great Pianos and E-Pnos), Alesis QS6.1, & Roland JV-1010. I've also had a Roland RS-5 and XP-10; I had to get stop using those TOYS!

I was thinking about the KORK TRITON before I puchased the Motif. I alway love that Yamaha Piano sample from the S80 (all of the Yamaha stuff has nice Pno sample, even the small portable keyboards.) The Features and the ablity to customize for performance is The Key for me buying this product. Features that work in real time make the differance. THE MOTIF is True REAL TIME and the TRITON is NOT!
MOTIF's real time featurse 20 - TRITON's real time feature 8
The Triton is better for samples and digital Effects, but thats to make up for a sucky SYNTH ENGINE that can't produce Realistic Acoustic sounds.

OS 1.7
Yamaha have admitted themselves that it's an overly complicated machine - phrases,patches,patterns,styles,sections,performances, pattern chain, tracks ,parts, elements...and don't even try to work out the sample voice set up.
All this on a tiny screen. But hey! It's silver like a Triton, so it must be good huh?

Yamaha, on previous synths allowed you, from Song/Pattern mode, to access, tweak, save *every* aspect the Voices you used...this made song writing and mixing *very* creative.
They've ditched that - in line with the Triton, but instead of giving you 5 cool Insert effects, freely routable, they make you jump back and forth bewteen Voice mode and Song/Pattern mode tweaking the Voices and the *1* "Dual" Insert Effect..back and forth.
They then gave every Element (up to 4 in a Voice) a 2 band EQ...but you can't tweak it from Song/Pattern mode. Cunning.
The "Remote" function to control Cubase et al, is very poorly implemnted, not many people have got it to successfully work...check out the lack of replies in the Logic/Cubase boards at Motifator.com.
There's only 1 arp, it's cool, but forget about making your own...it's a gimmick.
The Sequencer is fine, apart from the bizarre Step Sequencer, which gives you no indication of what note you've selected...pretty handy for editing...and it you want to *change* the Insert Effect from one Voice to another you have to enter _Sysex_. Fun.
Basically what happened is that someone at Yamaha looked at the Triton, saw the big touch screen, the ribbon controller, the knobs and the 5 cool Insert effects, dual arpeggiator and said
"Stuff all that, we'll spray it silver, ditch any radical synthesis engine, publicise the Support Site and no-one'll notice that it's really pretty sub-standard"

It's far more acoutically-geared ie realistic pianos and organs...theres a chronic shortage of pads and leads.
What there is sounds good, but it's not for dance/industrial/ambient music.
The sounds are bigger, warmer than the Tritons and I find this makes it difficult to get them to "sit" in a mix in Song/Pattern mode.

It's broken one key, I've had it for 9 months.

The Motifator site at first was very helpful, and it *needed* to be to get to grips with the appalling UI on this thing. Alot of people seemt to have missed this point.
Over time, the main Yamaha US guy has posted less and less and you're now left with some patronising minion from Yamaha who may or may not deign to answer you.
Very few user suggestions have made it into the limited OS upgrades.
If you have a problem with Cakewalk/Logic/Steinberg and the Motif, you won't get any official help.

I will not be buying another Workstation. If I *had* to, I'd get a Triton Studio...it's *so* much easier.
If you really want a Motif, get the new rack version...with more Inserts and a 3 band EQ on every track (part? patch? whatever..)

it is a bit tricky at first but just remember.....Yamaha sets up there os's in a family tree style..they get deeper and one thing usually branches into another........the manual sucks!!!go to motifator.com..if you're a retard you'll never get it..but it is really simple once you learn it!! if your a beginner you may not want to buy this...i think casio makes a good board for newbies!! lol ha ha ha!

keyboard is nice..basic synth action,,maybe a bit tighter, effects are cool, could use more and more effects busses, midi functions are basic aside from the fact it can control your audio software. I think the 16 track sequencer is great and has awesome swing and arppegiators, good editing and control of sequence midi and audio data plus the sampler has some cool loop slicing tricks built into it! the expansion boards are great and add more polyphony (not all of them)Im not big on touch screens (triton) because i cant eat fried chicken while playing around with it..kidding!!

the best damn sounds on a keyboard ever...this smokes everything out right now including the triton studio. the sound editing via software is great too

this thing has been solid as a rock..knock on wood..lol

good support...they give you a trouble ticket number and call you back when it is your turn..not bad for a company that builds everything you can think of

I'd buy this thing again even if it werent stolen..just because i want one for the road...I'd love to see more effects in the future and faster load time but this thing kicks a triton ass because it is better sounding ,better built, and has a much better sequencer plus is much fun to play with!! the triton is too but i saved over $1000. over a triton and my children can appreciate the walt disney vacation we went on with our saved moola!!!

OS v 1.40. Patch editing is easy. I have been playing around with keyboards and workstation for a long time so its easy for me, but I could see were it could be hard for someone who is new with these things. Manual is jumpy.

The only reason I bought this board was for its external control.

Dont use them!

All the Yamaha stuff I have is very reliable. I only use it in the studio.

Never had to call.

The onlt complaint I have is that I use Digital Performer and it is set up to controll just about every other sequencer. So setting it up was in some ways rude. They NEED to do something about that.

This is the MOTIF's weak point. It's not the easiest thing to use at first. You can play around with the voices with ease though. however, it starts to get complicated once you get into the sequencing portion of it. Making patches for voices isn't too difficult, there's just so much information crammed into those displays (and so many options) your head might explode.

The keyboard action is great. The effects are top notch! I wish they would have made it 105 variation effects instead of 105 insertion effects, but you can always resample. It has tons of expansion capabilities (SCSI Drive, 3 plg ports). The on-board sequencer is pretty cool (you can make patterns, and turn those patterns into songs), but it's not easy to get around with. That will definately take a little work. The cool thing about the MO is that you can do everything on your computer, export it as a MIDI file and import it into your keyboard. That just rocks! There are way too many features to list. The A/D input is great, I plug my mic in and use its' sampling capabilities to record vocal tracks instead! Heh!

I have never heard anything more expressive in my life! I originally was going to go for the Korg Karma, and I had my heart set on the Karma for months because of the cool features. Then I listened to the quality, and the Motif blew me away. How could I pass this keyboard up? The Karma is cool in the way that you can make real neat arpeggios, but the tone quality goes to Yamaha!

Yeah, it's heavy and made of metal. It looks durable! My only complaint is that the sampling RAM is very PICKY to upgrade. So be careful where you buy your RAM from. Go on MOTIFATOR.com to find some good deals (visit the forum). The overall reliability is excellent in all other aspects.

I go to MOTIFATOR.com for all of my questions. They have a forum which really helps out alot. Yamaha even comes on to answer questions. You got to love those guys. They just released a new update today for the MO and are working on a new one to be released sometime in August. That goes to show that they don't just make a product and move on to the next one. They're really working hard to make sure the MOTIF is the best synth out there.

My job is working with music technology, so I have to have alot of knowledge in this field. I teach high school kids how to make music with computers and synthesizers. After all of the synths that I have been exposed to, the Motif blows them all away. I don't know if I could afford another one if it got stolen. It is definately worth the money paid. I will just say this- the Motif isn't the easiest read (owner's manual) because there is so much stuff crammed into it! That's the beauty of it too. This isn't one of those synths that you'll have completely figured out and bored with in a week. This synth grows on you. It's the most wonderful machine that I've worked with. The little flaws it has pales in comparison to what it has to offer.

The manual is tough, but I was able to figure it out about after 3 to 4 days, You need to update the software (very easy to do through smartmedia card) to get the full polyphony, after the upgrade this monster will run like a charm. You definitely need to use the sound editor , though the sound search save you much studio time

Features hmmm, don't think there are any other keys that have this many features except maybe the triton studio. the onboard sequencer is very easy to make expressive stuff along with the arps.expansion
capabilities again are great. the keys feel pretty good , though I use a dx7 for great keys feel. biult in effects sound like the top of line yamaha effect modules from the past. poly phony is not bad though the triton studio i find in this dept a little better.

What can i say , Yamaha rock it here. I use it for all kinds of dance stuff, The sounds are great for this style ( some ppl say the triton is better for dance stuff, hehe don't think so, this beast is much warmer, i have both and the triton sounds more thin) If you want pristine sound , nothing can beat the motif, nothing. I tried them all . Now roland pianos you can't beat, but the motif I really think comes second in this dept, stings are great, wish it had more basses. but the preset basses are good, the pads are warm and lush, and the realistic guitar and saxes and brasses is where the motif stands out from the rest. The drums Have been very useful. though I find my roland mc307 for dance stuff sound better. Though no manufacturer can touch roland for their drums and bassesthough the motif is the all around beast. Oh, the sampler is awesome as well and you can't get the sound quality from any akai or other sampler. though i wish theyould give us at least 16mb of memory instead of 4mb, can't really do much with that little bit of ram. this monster is definitely the bang for the buck keys, compared to everything else under 2k, highly recommended

i use it in my personal studio , i have 2 neve 12x4 sidecars for mixing , with plenty of other keys and modules, I haven't had it lock
up or freeze yet. i leave my stuff on overnight sometimes. So far for dependability I gave it a high rating

Hmm, I called yamaha for a couple of questions. They responded within 24 hours of my call by a tech. Who answered all questions and gave me
great advice with the motif, So I give yamaha a 10 for cust support.
Especially with the motifator web site, you have plenty of info to get questions or service answered fairly quickly.I got to say the guy I spoke to was very well mannered and friendly as well. Thank you Yamaha for great customer support.By the way I bought it at GC where some of the reps are pretty good. though one guy was trying to get me to buy the triton le, thank god i didn't listen to that guy. I got to say that guitar center even sent their rep to my home to upgrade the software on my motif. Thanks GC you guys are great. They even gave me a great deal on a trade in to get the motif. I went to samash where I will never go again. they tried jerking me for the trade in , about 200.00 less. I suggest that no one buy from samash. Samash you suck

If it where lost/stolen. I would consult my good friends Smith & Wessen and eliminate the perpetrator of my motif. Seriously this monster is the center of my studio along with the mc307. I would be seriously depressed without these units. I you are a serious musician I highly recomend the motif. I've been sequencing and playing for about 16yrs. along with the motif I have a k-station, mc307, triton,
2 neve 12X4 sidecars with that pristine high headroom classic neve sound.1 motu 828, 1 1296, i use sonar2.0 for sequencing. and a pair of ns10m. eventide 3000, and the focusrite producer pack red.
There's nothing i hate about the motif , I LOVE EVRYTHING ABOUT IT.
IN FACT MY WIFE IS VERY JEALOUS OF IT. SINCE I SPEND A LOT OF TIME WITH MY NEW LOVE. HEHEHEHE. i'm scared one day she may take an axe to it.

Pretty easy to figure out after a while, but admittedly Yamaha's boards are set up a bit more like scientific calculators.

Nice bells & whistles--built in scsi port, smartmedia...

Sounds are great overall. Individually I'm sure you can find boards with better sounds, but all together I'm pleased.

Haven't gigged this one yet.

Motifator.com is a great resource. Yamaha always answers questions & they've really helped a lot of the users.

For the $, I really like this instrument. If it were lost or stolen, I MIGHT replace it with a Motif 8, otherwise I'd just get another one.

I've had it for about a month, I been programming keyboards for years and still found it a little tough from the get go but it's still fairly easy after a few days of trialand error and manual reading.

You've got to get the lastest software upgrade for it to get full polyphony, but once you do that it's play awesome. Effects are great
better than what I expected. You can't get better expansion capabilities on any other board with mlan, additional outputs, and upto four expansion cards for sounds and scuzzy and all yamaha kicked ass on this. Usb midi that's flawless using Sonar 2.0. The keys feel pretty good kinda like the older yamaha board feel, though the 88 key version feels just like an actual piano. On board sequencer is easy to use and figure out and with lots of options. I was able to do basic tracks for a whole song in about an hour. never been easier
And the arpeggios are very useful for all styles

Sounds are awesome, great for HipHop, RnB, Dance< Rock, Whatever you desire with this board it's got it all, I actually bought the triton LE at first and took it back after I had someone let me try ther motif 7. You can tell the difference big time in sound quality by taking the effects of the triton le, they actually sound dead, With the motif sounds sound great and bright with no effects on. Again onboard effects sound great like most yamaha product effects. This board gives the most pristine sound I've heard to date. Just go to guitar center and try all the big boards and compare. You'll come back to this bard every time. The pianos violins and guitars are so real sounding that you can fool a real musician with them. I heard some rock group used the Electric guitar sounds on their tracks.

well i sold all of my boards and samplers, except for a few modules,
I'm only using the motif as my main workstation until i find something better down the road, I can tell you as well that the sampler is can do about the same stuff as an akai sampler can do which is what I had before. So the Motif is it for me. No problems at

I called Yamaha for a few questions, I had a tech call me back within 2 hours and helped me with everything I needed to know. So to me they have great customer support. There's is also the motifator site on the internet for many questions and other websites dedicated to this board.

I can't live without this board now, so if it was lost or stolen. They minus well shoot me. I've been playing for fifteen years, What can I say more about the motif, You've got everything you can get on this board for under $2000.00 you can't get any better. Forget triton
forget Kurzweil> Yamaha kicked ass. I just wished it had more sounds
i always want more sound, but don't we all, Well i just can't say anything bad about the Motif. By the way, for anyone going to purchase this Board, buy it from musician's friend I got quotes from everywhere else. No one has it cheaper and no tax woo-hoo. if you are into hiphop,rnb,or dance stuff the Motif is for you