Yamaha Motif 6

I am using software version

Presets sound rich and authentic

Editing voices is on the fly! Never used the patch editor in that light.

Couldn't find certain things in the manual, so i resolved to motifator.com- AMAZING HELP! motifator.com is a motif owner's blessing.

i have never been able to switch voices with such ease and comfort on any other keyboard- no, not on a triton. trinity is worse- same as Fantom-x. Thank God for a favorites bank, a life saver!

The keyboard is 64/62 voice polyphonic (Play/sequencer modes). Definitely cuts out with multitrack arrangements, but for normal playing, its ok (128 would be great). playing the Keyboard is like fingering on cloud 9 and a half- no cheap stuff under your finger tips.

Effects are great and professional quality but can be distructive on "Jazz grand" and some of the drum kits. So for those voices, I just switch off the effects section. In sequencer mode, I am yet to be able to make use of insert effects on more than one track (i think its a limitation anyway) thats a letdown. But i realise in a mix, my arrangement always sounds great dry- when organ is not involved that is.

I love the expansion capabilities. Haven't found the need to expand presets wise. But sampling memory expansion is too limited at 64mb. Wish i could place my thumb drive in there.

The sequences is great. I love it for pattern sequencing- its a life saver when playing solo- used it a couple times at shows for accompanying my playing and people were amazed at the flexibility and on the fly, in-sync response. This thing can serious opereate as a drum machine.

I wouldn't give this thing up for any of its weaknesses because it is made up with the sound quality. Did i mention that the quantizing is tight? very impressive and easy to use.

the presets on this keyboard are not as aftertouch based as other keyboards such as the triton and fantom-x. Yamaha does things differently which i appreciate except that the brass/woodwind and synth categories should have taken advantage of aftertouch. I only came across default aftertouch availability on a few sounds so far.

I have noticed that many people dont't know how to take advantage of a motif in terms of authentic emulation so hence they discredit the keyboard. I have owned and used Korg and Roland and not to mention my obsession with both- until i played a motif offcourse...and up to now- everytime i play this thing I am blown away by the richness and authenticity (especially acoustic instruments. Please; do your self a favor hook this thing up stereo and let your heart be more than satisfied. I would only accept the synth-type sounds a subjective situation- I like them though- the motif gives me the extra bite in the synth section that the Roland Fantom-x refuses to give off the bat. The triton is good in that area too (in all fairness). Strings are lush and dynamic- and one can hear actual bowing in sections and spiccato expression is heard at higher velocities. Organs' drawbar/leslie function can be emulated by the knobs/sliders, modulation wheel. I heard this aggressiveness in an organ after i tweaked a knob and i just freaked out. Pianos! nothing beats it but yamaha or Clavia Stage digital pianos. Wow have i mentioned the Rhodes pianos? just look at the world of R&B/Neo Soul, Gospel, Fusion Jazz. Tell me what you see playing the rhodes... thought so. There is no preset steel drum on the motif, and the GM one is a let down (since there is no preset). The brass instruments are great and brass sections can be arranged with the knobs (smaller section, darker section, larger section, etc)- its amazing, strings are tweaked the same. No brass fall is a let down (My Korg had it). Sax is awesome(except soprano) but too much vibrato. That should have been left to the player's aftertouch.

This keyboard will definitely work well for Reggae, Rock, R&B, Gospel, Jazz. Speaking of reggae: an earlier reviewer mentioned using comp piano for reggae- please do the keyboard and yourself a favor. When strumming reggae; get yourslef "WideComp" out of Preset3 bank. This is much better than M1 piano in my opinion; heavy and sharp at the same time.- yes on my previous Korg i used M1 piano for strumming reggae.

Onboard effects are great.

Anything Yamaha and Korg reacts great to my playing

I can definitely depend on this keyboard. Very solid.

I wouldn't think of needing a backup, but If on large gigs, I would, just to say i have backup.

I have never dealt with Yamaha.

If it were lost or stolen, I would get myself another Motif classic! i would only get the ES additionally; would never feel that i have replaced the keyboard if i get an ES- for many reasons such as the Piano and rhodes voices (I have compared the Classic to ES and noticed the difference for the better in the classic). It is definitely worth much more than i paid.

I have been playing for 15 years.

I love the sounds and user interface, hate the fact of having one insert effect in sequencer mode.

I compared with the Korg triton Studio, Roland Fantom-x, Yamaha Motif ES. I personally didn't connect with the motif ES to make me buy it. I chose the Motif classic over the competition because it is the most al rounded in my opinion, and it sounds best at what i wanted a main keyboard for: Piano, Rhodes- hands down this was the one.

I wish i could save on usb thumb drive.

It does help me make music. The acoustic voices are really inspiring, gives me a taste to play also.

The USB multi in/out to a DAW is awesome- its what i use- no need for midi port.

I'm using the latest version of the OS, we're in 2006 don't think much more is coming out for it in the OS department.

I love the preset sounds I have yet to really sit and audition them all. For Hip Hop it has plenty, I say that.

Editing patches is not very hard and among the included software is the "TWE" which ou cam edit on you computer with.

THIS IS IN CAPS FOR A REASON:
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO STOP A SEQUENCE TO CHANGE VOICES, JUST PRESS "MIXING" AND THE "VOICE" SOFTKEY
NO NEED TO SQUINT AT WHAT SOUND PATCH IS BEING DISPLAYED JUST PRESS "CATEGORY SEARCH" AND SELECT WHAT YOU WANT...ALL WHILE STILL PLAYING YOUR SEQUENCE.

On occasion somethings are not clearly laid out and requires more user patience. Having used Yamaha product many times before, this was easy for me.

The initial polyphony is a bit of a squeeze, but when track out to a DAW this problem vanishes because I solo the tracks when recording. Live performer will be less forgiving. However your polyphony does increase with each PLG board.
The onboard effects are decent I do't fiddle with them much I do my effect in my DAW.
The available expansion are great aside from increasing polyphony the sounds a very real and rich.
MIDI is on point 5 PIN DIN STYLE and USB/MIDI, the USB is great for the DAW user like myself, no need for THRU box. Ileave the Motif's USB connect to the PC all the time so it's ready to go.
Not sure what all the huffing and puffing about the sequencer is coming from, it does a wonderful job for me. My only real complaint is the quantizing templates are rather lax. Mixing in the sequence on the fly is a breeze.

The instruments sound great expect for some of the GM sounds could have put something else in those spots.
Rap, RnB, Rock, Jazz should all be a snap on the Motif.

I have no issues but, I keep mine in the Studio it doesn't go out. I would trust it with no backup in site.

Never called them

If it were lost or stolen I'd most likely get the Motif ES because I'd want it back with more power similar yet operation.

The only thing I want changed is being able to drop in and out of record in a groove station fashion and improved quantization templates.

It definitely helps me get the job done as it is right now.

It was strange however at first to discover the volume control slider had no effect when using the optical output.

I use OS 1.7. The presets on this board sounds o.k. I must say that it has it's strengths and it's weaknesses. Editing patches are easy compared to korg tritons. I'v owned a korg trinity and a triton le 61 note before this board and it's my first time using yamaha. I find myself around keyboards and usually don't find myself using much of the mauals. The motif is very user friendly and easy to get around. Not because the display is much smaller than I'm used to. It works fine. I edited few voices a. There was one I edited with four different layers and used the four sliders to control each volume in real time. This was great..... The four knob EQ is wicked. I had my second keyboardist playing the M1 piano tone for a reggae tune. I had to take over after a while and turned to my compressed piano in the motif. O.K, everyone looked. Didn't sound much better so I went to my real time EQ knobs and turned the highs up a bit and then......WOW! For those of you who don't know, all reggae musicians use korgs in live shows just because of this. This was one voice I know sounded better on the motif. Thanks to EQ.....soooooo responsive.....

The keyboard polyphony is 64. After creating a voice with four layers I noticed some of it were cutting out. Need not say more. Effects are great. I just sold this board and never got to install any of the expansion boards. They sound good from what I heard at motifator.com. There's room for three expansion boards. Not much internal voices. The touch response is poor. Hate the feel of it. Like it was made for a kid to play. Sounds loud with little touch. Never tried to adjust it. Never heard any after touch.

The e-pianos, grand piano, synths and guitars are great. Sax and Brass are not as good as Korg. Trust me. The Sax is poor. This works best for contemporary, jazz and blues. The way guys gon on and on about the motif, trust me it ain all that. That's why i sold it. Going for Kurzweil k2661. The organs are horrible.

Very strong. Pretty heavy too. Would never use it in gigs without my korg for synths and brass sounds.

Have never dealt with customer service.

I just sold it to get the kurzweil k2661. I'v been playing for about 8 years. I now own a korg trinity and the kurzweil k2661. I like the motif for it's pure sounding piano voices. I hate the feel of it though. One of the main reasons why I'm getting the kurzweil is organ sounds. The KB3 mode. Wish the motif had good organs. Wish the motif was smaller and hold in a SKB case but they are too fat.

I'm using the latest version of the OS as of this writing.

I bought my Motif because, unlike the other workstations then available, it was covered in buttons. I thought it was the answer to my quest for an instrument as breezy to write with as my old SQ-1.

Well, it wasn't, but I found where it really shines: in a live rock band. There's a few reasons why Motifs are to be seen in nearly every rock keyboardist's kit, but one of the main ones (I think) is the complete no-nonsense ease of calling up patches.

The sequencer is a could-have-been. I mostly write jazz techno stuff, so I need pattern sequencing. The Motif ALMOST gets you there, but it requires you to stop the sequencer half the time you want to do something, the mix parameters are spread through too many menus, it's too cumbersome to assign sounds to tracks etc. etc. -- it's just not fast enough for me. Plus, there are a lot of things they could have done with all those beautiful buttons that they didn't do.

But this instrument is made to please as many people as possible, and in the sequencer department, I think the strategy didn't pay off. But they hit the balance when it comes to general performance stuff.

I'd like to give it two different ratings really ...

All the features you'd expect from a modern ROMpler workstation: 64 voices, loads of samples, some of which are amazingly large, excellent effects, expandable, sampling built in, etc. There isn't much the Motif can't do, technically, if you remember that it's a ROMpler. Nothing exceptional, but nothing missing.

One major deficiency of this board is the expansion board system. I know how to program an FS1R and I absolutely couldn't get this mess to work right; nearly embarrassed me terribly at a gig once. Works fine if you want to use presets, but if you want to make your own sounds (as I always do), forget it. Best to pretend it's not there.

I've had mine for a couple of years, and I can safely say (now) that the Motif's strength is in acoustic and rock stuff. I think this is the general consensus by now, in fact.

The pianos sound beautiful; one in particular I rely on constantly for rock stuff, and my band would probably beat me if I switched from it. Organs are amazing; the Motif has one of the best rotary simulations I've heard -- not that it sounds exactly like a Leslie, but that it kicks your ass like a Leslie.

The Motif is not, however, very good at synthetic sounds. (Twenty years ago, who would have thought people would be saying that a synthesiser wasn't good at synthetic sounds? :) ) It can do some interesting patches, but somehow the sounds don't grab or inspire me; the filters are strangely weak, and the sample range seems limited. I say "seems" because there really are a lot of samples in there, but I never find myself really even wanting to make patches on this thing. When it comes to emulating analog synths -- don't bother; the Motif quickly turns into a cheap POS. Others may disagree, but for me, something's lacking.

But when it comes to the "meat-and-potatoes" sounds used for jazz and rock, the Motif is the ticket, and those sounds are so good I have to rate this thing highly. As mentioned, my classic rock band would probably kill me if I sold it.

I once made the mistake of letting a very enthusiastic rock pianist bang on my Motif for one song, and when he was done one of the black keys was broken. Seems he was used to a stiffer action. Fortunately it was quite easy to fix.

Other than the slightly flimsy keyboard, the Motif 6 is tank-like, made of mostly metal, and has the weight to show it. Software is completely solid; this thing is built for gig-level reliability. It's survived a lot with me, is none the worse for wear, and other than the expansion board problem, has never embarrassed me at a gig.

Yamaha's OK. They did sell me the replacement key at an extremely reasonable price, and sent it promptly. They've stopped issuing OS updates but that's de rigeur. Never had to deal with them beyond that.

The Motif didn't serve the purpose I bought it for, but it did serve a purpose I didn't buy it for: when I got roped into a classic rock gig I suddenly found I had THE can't-do-without keyboard in that world. I see a lot of other guys playing lesser instruments, and thanks to my Motif, my sounds are better than theirs. I use a Nord Modular when I need analog synth stuff, and between the two there's not a lot I can't handle on stage.

Don't buy this thing as an SQ-1 / ESQ-1 -style sequencer workstation: buy it as a gigging instrument with some handy extras. Well worth it.

Using v1.7. Presets are great! Organs are a little week but can be tweeked. I don't use the manual I go to motifator.com and I have the video tutorial.

Poly is 64 I think. I like the lightweight action. Lot's of effects. I have put in the max RAM in it. I haven't used the sequencer yet. I use this keyboard mostly for gigs.

Acoustic instruments sound very real. The flute sound is good except for excessive virbrato. I use this keyboard for rock, country, and R&B. I am a freelance player.

Have had it for a year and a half with no problems. (Knock on wood).
I always have back up boards. I use 5 keyboards on stage.

Haven't used customer support yet.

If it were lost or stolen I would pick up the ES version. I've been playing for 20+ years. I also own KORGS X3 and KARMA, YAMAHAS DX21, SY22, TX81Z, PSR410, DGX-505, Ensoniq ESQ1, and Alesis QS6.

I am using the the outboard Yamaha AW16G. I normally use Digital Performer when in the studio but for home, this set-up is perfect & easy.

I love the presets. Certain pianos tend to have a tingy sound at the end but for what it's worth, I'm satisfied.

I have not had the opportunity just yet to have to edit patches. Because I have to play in churches, the preset sounds tend to suffice.

The manual works for me only because of my extensive background with Roland products. I've have the MV 30 sequencer, the 1680, other Roland keyboards (i.e. D10...) If you can handle the manuals on these products and figure the rudiments, handling the Motif manual is a piece of cake. The trick is KNOW THE QUESTION YOU ARE ASKING YOURSELF, THEN LOOK FOR THE ANSWER AS CLOSE AS YOU CAN GET IT FROM THE MANUAL. I guarantee it, the answer is there.

The action is hot. Being a Keyboard Player, that clicky type of feel you tend to experience of lesser boards is not here. I've owned 2 Motif 6's as well as the 8. No problem with the polyphony. I never lose voices. It all depends on you recording capabilities. Besides, I maxed my 8 out to 64 megs which is about the only drawback.

The effects are okay. I tend to record everything dry anyway.

I am just beginning to get into the expansion capabilities. As I stated, I maxed my board out to 64 megs which I wish Yamaha had expanded as they did with the ES version. Hey, and why the EDO memory? Who uses EDO? And, the memory you think is correct may not be the correct memory. Go to a reputable dealer for memory in case you have to bring it back.

I don't use the MIDI too much.

I personally have absolutely no problem with the sequencer. I do wish it was easier to loop a track then having to go to Pattern Mode to do this. Oh well, you can't have everything. If you can count, then you can sequence. Just remember, when you record (let's say 4 measures), sequence, quantize, REMEMBER it's 4 measures. That means All of measure 1 to ALL of measure 4. (i.e. 001,00,000 to 004,04,479).
If you don't do it this way, you'll never complete whats needed with All of your information. I wouldn't say this was easy, you just have to take your time calculating what information you want measured whether it be quantizing, sequencing, adding other tracks...

The sounds are realistic. The sax is nice although if your not familiar with how a sax sounds, leave it alone & look for a sax player.

Dance, jazz, R&B music, gosbel music is good for this board.

The onboard effects are not bad. I record everything dry, anyway.

No static.

The velocity can be set by you. I personally cannot stand aftertouch, so of course I love this board.

Yes. My 8 is heavy so I use the 6 although not enough keys.

Yes, I do it constantly anyway.

I tend to know more or just a much as some of the techs but they are friendly. I sometimes have groups of friends with Motifs come by and ask my questions.

I have upgraded with the PLG100 - VH Card.

I already did buy another 6, my favorite board.

I've been playing for 25 years. I own the AW16G, the Mackie 1604, Roland 500, Motif 6 (brand new, my second), the Behringer Truth B2031A's monitors.

I personally love the action, expecially on the 8.

I had a choice between the new Fantom 8, Triton Studio(which I almost bought), & the Motif 8. I found it easier to understand after many a Roland product.

I wish the screen was larger, maybe a touch screen, and more memory.

My writing skills have grown since acquiring this product.

This board has only strenghthened my credibility.

I have been using Yamha Sequencers since the Rm1x first came out, then moved up to the Rs7000, then switched to the Motif just recently (Didn't need the ES so I bought the regular 6 at Guitar Center for $1200 new.) But, if you are new to the Yamaha way of working a sequencer/synth. let's just put it this way, they have a very odd but logical way of working things. Once you get use to it, you will move around the interface like nothing.

Everyone knows the specs, very good for the price. Just wish they had put a bigger screen on this than they had on the Rs7000. But, I am so use to it, I really don't care. And the sounds.... whoaa, that is up next though.

Amazing. Yamaha sure didn't cut corners wen it came to building the ROM set for the Motif series. Very great sounding samples and since you can add the amazing An1x VA synth engine as well two other boards of your choice, it really just tops off the value to price ratio.

Solid board. It sits in my studio on the double keyboard stand, so really doesn't see much (or any) road time. But, I have seen quite a few live acts use the Motif, and I know if I did shows, this would be the center of my studio as far as sequencing goes.

Never had to use them for the over 7 years of my career and I have owned more than just Yamaha synths. Even when I owned the Yamaha Aw4416 awhile back and everyone complained how plagued they were, I never ran into a problem. So, I guess I got really lucky with my Yamaha experience.

-If it were lost or stolen, would you buy it again or get something else? Is it worth what you paid?

If it were lost or stolen, I would buy this great board again in a heart beat. For the price they are going for new, let alone used, they are worth every penny.

-How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?

I have been composing for over 7 years and my cozy little project studio looks like this: iMac G5 20" with full factory specs, Digidesign 002 Audio Interface/Control Surface, Korg EmX-1, Korg EsX-1, Yamaha Motif6, Alesis Ion, Tannoy Reveals, M-Audio Bx5's (as reference monitors,) and a bunch of software.

-Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?

Oh yeah. I really switched studio setups quite a few times. I have owned all the major Workstations and always found myself back with the Yamaha "sound" and sequencer. I chose this workstation I guess because I started off on Yamaha, I was just really accustomed to their way of working. The step sequencer can't be touched by even some of the best software I use. Just really great to lay down a bare-bones song and finish it on your software sequencer.

-Anything you wish it had?

Of course there is always things you wish a synth had. I would really love to have a big touch screen, but, it isn't too bad to navigate once you learn it. And, for the price, I really can't complain.

-Does it help you make music, or does it get in the way?

It always has since my Rm1x and Rs7k days and on through today with the Motif. When I get a quick idea that I need to lay down before it gets away, I go strait for the Motif then go from there.

I would recommend this even for beginners. Once you get past the learning curve, you will see how much this teaches you about producing. As for more advanced producers, this synth will fill some gaps of a studio. I knew I needed a more live twist to my compositions, and the Motif has been a great tool to fill that gap. Highly recommended.

I am using version 1.7 and I truly like this synth. I got to audition it whe nI wen to Tokyo and it was the first this I purchased when I came back to the states. Presets are great and it is LOADED WITH SOUNDS!

Effects are great and the expansion cards are great! I'l admit that the unit is not for the meek and light hearted. YOU HAVE TO READ TO GET THE MOST FROM THE MACHINE! I liked it so much that I purchased all the expansion cards. Resample feature, best around and with a dedicated site for support, www.motifator.com, you cant go wrong. Kudos to Keyfax!

All of the instruments sound line the read deal! Hey, I'm a percussionist and it's hard for me to tell the difference at times! The unit works well for all tymes of music but as I stated above, YOU HAVE TO WANT TO READ TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THE UNIT! IT"S WORTH IT TO DO SO! I typically spend at a minimum several hours reading mi literature!

Very dependable unit and I would gig with is w/out a backup. You don't need it because it's loaded with all you need. Again, the expansion cards are great, customer support on motifator.com is excellented. I'm definitely motifated about my Motif!

Since I've had my unit, I havent had any problems. I had a few questions relative to the expansion cards, but found all my answers on motifator.com. Also, the training CD's for this unit are the best on the market! Professionally produced and arranged. I'll never sell them on ebay! Heck, my 6yr daughter loves this unit also!

If it were lost or stolen, I would travel back to Japan if need be to get this unit. It's the best sysnt and Yamaha did an excellent job on it. Just look at the artist that use it live, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Usher, etc. They all have hit records, which I sure would not have been the case w/out this unit being in their collection.

Using version 1.7
Presets are outstanding. Loved them.
Using the software that comes with the keyboard, this is very easy.
Manual sucks! But then you have motifator.com for that part....

The ARPs are specifically good. Amazing stuff. Everything else is good too. The sequencer is OUTSTANDING! I have used that feature to death and the quantization and other features just make this the easiest to use keyboard sequencer. Used the sequencer to do this.

http://forums.keyfax.com/user-files/137589-C2.mp3

Great sounds and awesome quality. I love the piano and string sounds. Guitars are nice and so are the bass sounds. I most like the synth sounds and the trancy sounds though...Absolutely fabulous...check this piece out that was done on the motif ->

http://forums.keyfax.com/user-files/137589-C2.mp3

Yep I can depend on it. I have been performing on this baby and composing on it for a while. I have complete confidence in her..

I dealt with Riksmusic.com and the first keyboard that came had a crack on the body. They replaced the entire keyboard for free and gave me a new one. Great to work with and I have done a lot of business with them consequently. Highly recommended.

Great Keyboard for compositions and for live performance. I compared it with the triton and the fantom and found this to be the most versatile for my needs. I compose and I also perform live and this.suited both those needs very well and was the best value for money. Read this review and you will know why it is so good.....

http://www.musical-keyboard-guide.com/yamaha-motif.html

Using version 1.7
Presets are awsome, added the vintage keys to it with even more awsome synth sounds.
Haven't done much tweeking yet, sounds are great out of the box.
Haven't used the manual, I go to Motifator Forum and am going to buy the DVD.

63 Poly. Synth action.
Expansion via scsi, midi for softsynths, smart card.
Has a sequencer but haven't used it yet.

Pianos, EPs, Synths, Strings are great. A little weak on Organs and Brass.

So far very dependable, have had it for 4 months.

Never dealt with YAMAHA except to get T-Shirts.

If it were lost or stolen would probably get the ES.
Been playing for years, My stage set up is the MO6, Korg X3, and Alesis QS.6 on a three tier stand.
Love the sounds out of the box. Nothing to hate about it so far, but have a feeling the sequencer will be a bitch.
I chose this over the Triton because I felt the sounds were better.
I wish I had a 88 Key dedicated digital piano.

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....

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

Software version 1.40. Presets are great sounding. Have not edited any sounds yet. Using the sequencer is very confusing at first. The web site has some links to info that explains some things that make it very understandable. Definately register with the web site and order the video. The manual is ok, but again use the www.motifator.com website and get the video. You will be glad you did. File mode is a very confusing mode also. Just basically saving and loading data is confusing at first also.

Poly is 62. Keyboard action is somewhat klanky like the old Sequential Circuits Pro-One synths, (which I have for sale). The effects are great. The expansion capabilities and midi capabilities are phenomenal. With this board there is no need to purchase another board. It comes with an onboard sampler that by itself outshines a lot of dedicated samplers on the market.There are things you can do with the integrated sampler that are amazing. It comes with 2megs and can be expanded to 64 megs. The sequencer is very, very versatile. Keys are velocity sensitive. The onboard seq has some really great features,but is confusing to use at first. Again get the Motif video. One other important thing to note. This keyboard will not fit in to a standard 61 note keyboard case. The website sales a very expensive hardshell case. I personally purchased a Gator GK-261 Hardshell case with wheels from soundprotector.com for 155.00. The smartmedia cards are also cheaper at pricewatch.com. The keyboard is equipped with 4 analog outputs, a scsi port, a digital optical port and 2 analog inputs plus some others. You can add up to 3 sound expansion boards and an MLAN board for broadband connectivity.

To sum up this category one can say one word. Fantastic. The sounds are very realistic for instruments that need to sound real. Then you have your synth sounds that are great sounding. The arps are truly stunning and plentiful. They are the most realistic arps I have heard ever. The guitar arps make the guitar sounds sound like you have an actual guitar player player in the studio. This board is for every style of music. You can get free sounds, arps and samples from the website also. The sound quality is unmatched.

So far so good.

The website is all you need. Yamaha is very good about responding to the website questions and announcing updates there. www.motifator.com.

If lost or stolen I would buy again. Possibly the 88 key version as I have heard it has weighted keys and a better key bed. I had the Korg Triton LE at first but sent it back because it was a joke and got the Motif 6.

I was up and running out of the box. Figured out some simple editing quickly as well. Having played numerous boards over the years I expected to be able to fire up a sequence without much effort. Instead I was stumped for awhile. After calling a friend with the video manual he walked me through the basics and I have to say now that I can get around it the sequencer is really easy to use. Although I still give the nod to the triton for the better sequencer. Most everything else works the same as in other keyboards.

This keyboard does everthing a workstation has to. I use it at gigs, to record, songwriting and beat making. And it seems to excell in all these catagories. While I would like to see more effect insterts, the effects are outstanding. Check out the reverb on the patch Kubrick. This patch is also a good spot do check out the filters. Hold a note and drop the resonance now climb the cutoff freq.
You can hear the netherworld in there, great filters.

I bought this board for the waves. And because my Triton has spent its time on this earth and it was time to move on. Wind and brass may no be the strongest. Amazing guitars and keyboards. OK organs. You will notice that the sounds are uncommonly clear.

Had it just 2 weeks. Its the same action thats in the 61 and 76 note tritons ( actually a Yamaha action) so it will hold up to playing. No wall wort.

If you've been to the website you know the support is out of this world. Calling Yamaha for help also nets good results.

Selling my 61 key to a bandmate so I can get the 88. Its a nice rig and if someone stole it they would be a lucky man.

I'm using software version 1.40 in my Motif6. The sound are great and there are manay sound, also I can download some voice file Motifator.com. The voice editing is very easy to use, you can edit the voice by selecting 4 AWM (Advance Wave Memory) and edit the detail. The manual...nothing bad or good, the manaul show abit detail information, but I never read it, like some new function such as the integrated sampling and the mixing, I bought the Motifated video manual. This video manual is great, so I just watch some part of the video and I get how to use the Motif6.

The arpeggio sound okay to good, but only last 3~4 weeks I get bore with it (maybe I'm a heavy user), so I have to download some new arpeggios. It really depend because some standand arpeggio in the Motif is not that useful. There are 3 expansion shot, so you can add on 3 expansion cards and use this at the same time, and the SCSI shot is standand in the Motif. The best thing is the Motif got optical output(That's is perfect), so I can record the demo to a MD. I use a USB cable instead of MIDI cable to connect to the computer, but my computer are not that reliable while using the USB cable. The worst part about the USB cable is the cable can't use as a audio cable. The sequencer is very very very easy to use, BUT is suck on the Motif O.S. Version 1.00, because the sequencer got BUG in it!!! After I used about 3 weeks, I can't record on some of the track, but after I updated the O.S. to Version 1.40 very thing goes well.

There are some voice are realistic such as the piano, some of the strings, drum kits.(I use the most is piano, so is very very realistic.) This a Motif....if I want to make Dance, Techno, House, Eurobeat or EuroTek, I will like to use Korg Keyboard, like KARMA or Tirton. I didn't said the Motif is bad for making Dance music, everything in the Motif is good, but I personally will like the Dance music goes with the KORG. The realtime switch is fun on the syn.lead voice and other voices. The original 4MB sampling ram is not enough. It is very useful after expandable to 64MB of ram.

Motif is very reliable, everything works great.(I use about 3 months, since there was nothing happen yet..^_^) SO FAR SO GOOD! Backup?! NO NO NO... NO Need! NOT Necessary! The dependable SmartMedia card work hard and very reliable, but saving the song is necessary, without saving the song then turn OFF and than turn it ON again, every song will be gone in the song mode, is very important to buy a SmartMedia card or connect a hard disk to your Motif.

N/A

If lost or stolen, I would replace it with a Motif7 (sometime is not enough key to play on piano voice, and I don't like to play halfway and I have to switch the octwave button. "more KEY is BETTER") ,because of my budget, so I bought the Motif6. I only play it around 3 months, it really easy to use beause I own a Yamaha QY100 squencer, most of the functions work the same. Although I got a Motif, I still want a Korg KARMA or Yamaha B2000 or Yamaha SU200 sampling unit. I love most of the stuffs on the Motif more than hate. I choose the Motif becuse the price is same as the Korg Karma, and the Motif got most of the functions I will like to use. I personally turst Yamaha, so I like to use Yamaha product.

This is a tough one. Depending on what aspect of the board you are using it ranges from extremely simple to extremely difficult. Right out of the box, you can plug it in and play some GREAT sounding presets. When you get into editing, it gets a bit more difficult. Depending on your past experience you may find it counter-intuitive to what you are used to. It took me a couple of days to get the hang of the layout of the patch-editing. After that it seems to flow in a fairly straight-forward manner.

The manual is slightly better than a joke. The video manaul Yamaha sends out for free is a big help. Also, the motifator.com website is excellent, and there are many people there to help you answer questions.

62-note polyphony. (How do you get 62 notes? Are two notes missing somewhere). Many of the patches are so rich and complex that this gets eaten up right away. The OS update (2.4) helps with this a bit, but I stil find that when playing a piano/string stacked sound with sustain pedal I lose notes. The action is OK. (Keyboard action is all a matter of taste anyway, is it not?). The built-in effects sound good. I have yet to feel I need any outboard effects for any sound I am using. There is room for expansion boards and extra memory for the sampler. The sampler and sequencer are included with the board. I haven't used these much yet, as I bought the board primarily for the sounds. My only other complaint with the features is that except for some convoluted routing method through song/mix mode, the on-board sounds are only available via 1 midi channel at a time. Therefore, accessing the on-board sounds via another board is difficult. This could have been made a bit of versatile IMO.
This board has a set-up called Master Mode, which makes the board a pretty versatile midi controller. As I use it primarily as a live-gigging keyboard, I have found a lot of use and ease through this feature. There is no floppy disc. The back-up is all done on SmartMedia Cards. This is very simple. The cards are a bit pricy though.

Here we come to the meat of this board. The sounds. Many, many excellent, realisitic sounds. The fact that there are so many different ways sounds are created here (different synthesis techniques used) accounts for this board have a WIDE variety of sounds. IMO, boards I've played prior to this one have a tendency to have the same tonal qualities on all patches--Korgs sound like Korgs--Rolands sound like Rolands, etc--This board has amazing variety of tonal qualities, and a rich warm sound throughout. People will (and do) nitpick about the quality of each particular patch, but the truth is you won't find better quality sounds throughout on any board in this price range. Are there better piano sounds somewhere? Probably. Better strings? Better pads? Sure. But not all on one board. My only 'beef' was with the factory brass patches, but I was able to tweak this to my taste fairly easily. I use this board primarily for classic rock/r&b/pop stuff. It's excellent for all of that. I almost bought the board just based on the Rhodes sounds alone.

Very reliable. I have never had a reliability problem with any Yamaha product. I've owned it 3 months now. I guess we will wait and see how it holds up with time.

So far, the customer support has been good to great. The motifator.com website is an excellent resource. I don't know of any other manufactuer providing this type of support. My only complaint was it took over 2 months for me to get a copy of the video manual. But is was shipped FREE, so I can't complain too much. They have also provided free sound banks available over the internet. Hopefully they continue with this level of support for a long time.

I think I would buy it again, yes. I love the sounds on this board. When I bought it, I was also looking at Korg Triton, Trinity and Roland Fantom. There was no choice. Just on sounds alone, this board won hands down. I've heard great things about Kurzweil 2500 and I might check that out first if I had to replace the Motif, but I can't imagine wanting another board. I don't buy new keyboards very often, and one of my primary concerns was "how will I feel about the sounds on this board a few years from now when it is considered out-of-style and obsolete?" I think I will be very happy with this purchase for years to come.

First let me start by saying that this keyboard has the best sounds/structure for Pop music - so if you do pop, this is the keyboard of choice. I won't talk about "this keyboard has XYZ and ABC" - for that stuff, go to http://www.motifator.com.

Ok, that being said. For ease of use, I think a good proxy is "how easy is it to make really great music." Some of the presets and USER banks make it easy for you to just add water and end up with "Instant Cheiron in a box" (refer to http://www.cheiron.se ) or "Instant depeche Mode in a box." But it doesn't stop there - "instant euro dance in a box" and also "instant techno in a box." Remember just add your inspirational 'water'.

Polyphony could have been better - EMU's proteus 2500 comes with the ability to play 32 MIDI channels at a time. I would have thought this board should have been able to do similarly. However, they probably didn't since the screen is tiny relative to a Korg's, and 32 channels would have given people enough MIDI rope to hang themselves.

Effects are amazing!!!!!

I am working with someone who uses a Roland XP-80, and when he did his gig, he brought our song to life. However, when I took his tracks and used even the GENERAL MIDI sounds - they sounded WAY better and brought his stuff to life! Long live the Motif!!!!

My only problem has been picking which of the many awesome string sounds to use....maybe I will just use them all....

A preset sound on this board sounds better than the COMBI sounds on my Korg !!!!!!!!

I only use this for studio use - never on the road. It works like I expect to, and not like I don't.....at least so far. So I think it is very reliable.

I appreciate the user forums sponsored by Yamaha - at times they even have a representative address user questions. I haven't seen that before, so that is outstanding!!!

I would buy it again, in a heart beat. I have a Korg Trinity, a Roland D-50, an Alesis SQ6 in addition....and I am unloading all of these to pay off my CC bill from buying the Motif....and happily doing so.

I allready own a cs2x, so the yamaha technique was not so new to me. Though, it costed me a lot of time to get explore all the functions. That's probably the reason why some people find it difficult to find out how to work with the motiv; it's got so many features..

it's a workstation... sampler, sequencer, 16 parts, many effects... motiv's got it all. there are only a few things which aren't so great: eq is only possible on master signal. Further, I regret that teh machine doesn't have the variphrase technique. I would have loved that. But the motiv has got a great slice function for samples.
+ USB for midi!

It has got over 1300 sounds, it contains realistic sounds but also very cool and weird dancy things. That's great about the motiv. It is a machine which works out for many musicstyles. That's also I reason I wanted it.

I expierenced some problems with savind songs. Sometimes the motiv doesn't save the sounds I picked in a mix. Further on.. my G4 has sometimes problems handeling the USB connection. Don't know if that's due to my motiv.

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also own a cs2x + G4 including pro-tools. The motiv is the heart of my setup. I love the machine. (as far as you can love a machine...)

Low rating due to the complexity getting the sound you're playing into the sequencer track and moving along with your inspiration. Yamaha states it as the shortest distance to inspiration..... well maybe, if you're a Yamaha developer and have been trained in the multiple layers of commands needed to simply apply the correct FX, program, etc to tracks. It ain't no Ensoniq!! In fact, Yamaha should take a 10 year old Ensoniq SD-1 and have their engineers study the guts right out of it. Simple is often better. The complex editing features could still exsist, but should not block the process of creating MUSIC... I ain't no programmer, I use Macs 'cause I'm Plug and Play only.

Features are running off the page!! Lots going on, lots to dig out. The screen should be larger, or better have an output for connecting a cheap computer monitor. There needs to more polyphony... they 62, but in reality all the cool sounds use 2-4 "waves"... figure the real polyphony to be 24-32. Tons of expansion room.. one reason for buying this thing is that alone. No floppy drive, seq data is volitile and has to be saved before you shut down. Smart media and SCSI help...This rig is very much like a PC based system. Lots of detail midi sys ex data can be altered... all of which is great if you're into editing PC type sys ex. data.. again, I'm a Mac guy... intuitive interface means alot to me... The Sequencer is DEEP and not as straight up as Yamaha junkies would like you to believe. I'll get it figured out, one day. It's gonna take awhile. Not Plug and Play. And someone here stated any six year old could figure this out. Can I hear anyone say MENSA?? Overall features are excellent.. although Yamaha needs a new manual to allow easier access to them all.

No question here, the sounds are incredible. But be aware of the fact that many are very dependant on programmed FX. With the FX many sounds are Casio in nature....

Dunno... I have an 88 key model... I ordered a 61 key model and played it for 2 days. Terrible keyboard. Awful... Sad... if you're serious about playing get the 88 key model or hope that Yamaha will make a 76 weighted key model. I sent my 61 key model back with full refund, Fed-x delievered my 88 key model (80 pounds) with a broken middle E key. It had to go back and the replacement arrive 3 days later....

Dunno.. the MOTIFATOR site is still growing. They need to get some decent info there beyond the manual. There's only a couple pages, both of which are pretty basic.

If it were lost, or stolen and the insurance guys wrote me a check on the full amount......? I'd have to think about it. It sounds great, it is expandable, intergraded sampler is real cool, 88 keys are perfect, the sequencer, song writing process is a bit delayed at this point. I reckon a few zillion hours decoding the manual might get me there, but it's a s l o w process to be sure. I'd probably look at the Roland Fantom or maybe a used Triton,, or perhaps even an Ensoniq ZR-76. Tough call right now.

The preset are divided in to categories : voices and performances (basically a mix of up to 4 voices). Patch finding is extremely easy as they are classified by type of sounds. Besides, whilst searching for THE sound you need, you can put a "Favorite" tag on the sound you prefer for further decision making. The manual is ok but you need to adapt at Yamaha's way of writing manual. It comes with 3 CD-roms. One being a sample CD of demos, one has the Voice editing program plus lots of drums loops, and another one called Acid express that I haven't tried yet.

Effects are okays though not as impressive as my TR-Rack. Thanksfully, Yamaha is to issue expansion boards very soon and have asked feedback from motifs users on www.motifator.com for further expansion boards ideas. One very welcome feature is the Master mode (like a master controller). It gives you 8 banks of 16 preset that will fetch sounds from the motif itself or from external synths/modules. Very handy indeed.
The sequencer seems complicated but it's the first time I use a workstation. The real pain is that you HAVE to buy a smart media card so you can save your sequences!

Electric pianos are good. There are some great clavinets .Organs are a bit weak. Saxes and winds are okay but it's mostly the synths (pads, leads, brass) that are to mention.
In all cases, I find that I need to modify every single sound I use but this can be done very easily thanks to the 4 knobs on the left (with a selection of basic parameters such as Eq, Rev/Chorus, Cutoff/Rez).
I use it for Fusion and Funk but I can't see why the Motif would suit other music styles. The keyboard is excellent. I use it as my top keyboard, mostly for solos and the keys are very nice to play with.
Aftertouch is often to be programmed but it takes no time to do so.

I've had it for three weeks, gigged and recorded with it. It's solid and the screen is big enough to check sound selection in the heat of the performance.

Yamaha have proved great care of their clients by putting up the www.motifator.com website. You can purchase additional accesories and other stuff, but also participate to forums.

I'd definitely be pissed off if stolen and would have to sell some gear for buying another one as it fits my rig so well (I use a Kurweill Stage Piano connected to the Korg Tr-rack).
It's a great keyboard, very easy to use and program.

V 1.10. Presets are great. Editing patches seems straightforward enough to me but I wouldnt say Im an advanced user. Manual is patchy. The Getting Started guide is OK but tends to miss steps. So too, by the way, does the Motifator site section on Behind the Manual, which I would have thought rather defeats the purpose.

Plenty of polyphony unless you are using lots of 4 wave voices. Effects are Yamaha, so very good. Lots of expansion via PLG boards, additional inputs. Would have been more sensible to include a coaxial SPDIF out rather than an optical one seeing as the AW4416 uses coaxial. You can get coaxial i/o on the optional i/o board but why have to pay extra. Integrated audio sampling and sequencer is brilliant. Computer interfacing is excellent and the multiport USB MIDI connection allows the use of additional modules, which is handy. The board itself I find easy to navigate after a bit of practice. The File Utility program requires a little thought. Sounds straightforward in hindsight but it took a while to figure out how to add files from the PC to the memory card via the file utility - you have to open Windows Explorer as well and copy files across. One great feature is ability to use it as MIDI controller for sequencer software, etc. That's worth 10% of its price straight away.

The sounds are the best I have heard. Far better than Triton and slightly better than JV1080. Listen to the viola and cello for example. Plenty of preset patterns to use. I wuld think this board can be used for any sort of style. Could do with more orchestral sounds, though. I'm a guitarist rather than a key board player so cant really comment on action, but it seems very good to me.

Only had it a week so cant tell, but my other Yamaha stuff has been very reliable. Had a problem with noise on an AW4416 but Yamaha fixed it for me. Verry solid so would be fine on a gig. Autoload feature allows very quick resetting after power outage.

I have found Yamaha generally excellent.

To me this is the best option currently on the market. Far better sounds than Triton and much more flexible than existing Roland offerings. Cant speak for Fantom but that has no sampler. User sounds are eclectic to say the least and not generally usable, but they are after all there to be over-written. Wish it had coaxial SP/DIF in and out on board rather than via an expansion option. Optical digital out no use to me with the AW4416. It would be nice to have an ADAT i/o as an upgrade option. It would also be nice to have software for editing performances. However, you cant have everything and I think this is a fantastic bit of kit.

learning curve like any new gear, but once you got it all figured, it's really easy to get around

the expandability is the best feature. the effects sound really great. i don't use any internal midi stuff, so i have little to say on that.

great voices. the drum kits rock for any type of music. the keys are the best in my opinion. not even a kurz is this lively in the rhodes department. some voices suck, but that's just personal taste... i use it for dance music, but you could make anything with it. the sampler sounds great too.

so far so good...

great. go to motifator.com and see for yourself.

great workstation. i sold my emu and my virus to buy this and i'm not looking back. this is the perfect workstation for anyone serious about music.

using version 1.0
Easy..easy...sooo easy to use. Four assignable knobs, four assignable faders, a six year old could figure this one out. Basic editing: no problemo, but ya've gotta read my friend to do some serious editing. You can use the provided software for computer editing too. Need to find a patch? Just use the category button.

It comes with pretty much the standard features you would expect from a synth in this price range- amazing sound set, sampler, 100,000 note sequencer; and a few extras- terrific feel on the keys, usb, breathe controller enable, realtime controllers, arpeggiator, awesome effects. Plus you can add new technologies, sounds, effects, and upgrade your polyphony simultaneously. The board comes with 62 not polyphony to start with which I find to be adequate for my playing style. However, I have considered getting an expansion board or three! Ha! Ha! Can't have enough!

Let's talk about sounds for a second. Most people expect a keyboard to sound like a "keyboard". Never do they expect real instruments' natural resonances to be duplicated in a digitally sampled instrument.
Okay, I spent three months evaluating every keyboard on the market for the best natural instrument sounds and the Motif, yes, a clear winner HANDS DOWN! Pianos- the best I've every heard. Guitars- chilling. Oh and don't mention the drums- you can hear the beater against the shells of the bass drums..sooo dynamic.And it comes fully loaded with an arsonal of analog, techno stuff that I rarely use. Using it live - you will love it. A truly full range sound. In the studio- won't record without it. Pristine sound- like Eventide, The TC Electronics Gold Channel, and Manley pre-amps baby. Now, about the effects. They are excellent in sound and variety, but you have to find them and edit them sometimes. If and when you do, you will discover how great they are.

Owned it for 3 months, have gigged with it and no problems

Never had to use them

If lost or stolen would replace immediately. Also own a Jx-305, Triton, JV2080, and many others

After using Korg products (trinity & D16 recorder) Yamaha's logic seems quite complex to me. I had to use users manual to make some sense out of the machine, which is not so logical also. In my opinion architechture of the machine is not good if you have to read manual to do basic programming.

Polyphony ok. Built in effects are quite good. I'm using An-expansion board which sounds good but changing programs is really quite slow. Especially when used with internal sequencer. Pain in the a**. Expansion boards add polyphony and effects which is great. Comparing to trinity or triton the amount of effects is not so good. Only two internal effects can be used at the same time + master effects (modulation + reverb). That's not enough when motif is used as a main sound source with sequencer.

Synth sounds are really good, piano's (both acoustic and electric) are great, some guitars are very usable if you're not trying to use them instead of the real one's. Electric basses are not so convincing. There's room for using motif's sampling part. But i bought motif for its sounds, so that's about it. Have to tell you that i tried emu's proteus 2000 also but it was SO BAD comparing to motif. Tried triton also but it sounded too much like trinity. Like an update.

Can't say yet. Had it for three weeks now.

motifator.com is a good place to see if it works.

Logic of it sucks, otherwise it sounds great. Good alternative to triton.

Like everything else in life, there is a leaning curve. Fine. But the sequencer on the Motif was made much more difficult then necessary. If you just want to delete a couple bars out of your song...sorry, you can't do it. You have to delete each note on each track individually. If you want to copy a section of your song and then change some stuff...sorry you can't do it without changing the original as well. I'll bet ten bucks Yamaha didn't finish a song on this thing before they started making them. It sounds really user friendly in theory but it poorly thought out and a big headache. I think to say that the sequencer has 16 different sections is very misleading. It is a linear sequencer, but you have 16 'access points" which makes it more convenient to start recording in a certain spot or to get easy access to a part of the song. But..if you change the tempo on one section it changes it for all. If you erase part of one section, the whole track for the song is gone. If you change an instrument in one section, every section changes. So, you see, there is only ONE section, really. There are other ways to work around this so that you can create sections and later piece them together, but it is frustrating and it is not the way they intended, so I think you should understand this first so that you aren't misled.

features are good, but I haven't utilized enough of them to comment, except I'd say watch out fot the sampler. You have to but extra equipment and memory to do a lot of stuff, so you might want to look into that.

I like the way it sounds very much. I actually want to make music that is the flavour of New Order or Swing Out sister. It has a wide array of sounds. Lots of electric pianos and organs and stuff like that. I like the electronic sounds but I wish there were more because they begin to sound alike and you can't put too many of a certain kind together because a lot of them have that "fuzzy bright" sound. If you select the right sounds though and do some layering, I think the Motif sounds excellent. You can download the "best of" the CS6X and S80 off the net, which I haven't done yet.
I like the pianos and strings very much. I like the drums too. At first I wasn't crazy about the electronic drums, but there are so many sounds that it just took me awhile to find the ones I liked. Synth basses are good but I wish there were more that you could play in a 16th note style. I really like the way the brass sounds too. The saxaphones are really cool. I'd kind of like some more vocal sounds, but I like the ones that are there. The pads sound good but I wouldn't describe the sounds on the Motif as generally "warm". This is OK, because it has its own sound and it sounds good, but it is a bit more on the bright side, I'd have to say.

Well...it has crashed on me many times but usually when I'm copying stuff from another synth, which perhaps isn't inexcusable. But today I was just saving a file and it crashed several times and the $40 disk seems to be ruined. I don't know if the bad disk caused the Motif to crash or the Motif ruined the disk or a third factor, but it happened.

Well..in a way I want to give them a ten and in a way, a two. They have the website but I don't know why I should have to find a computer and write to people for an answer that should be in my manual in the first place. The manual is really THAT bad. Most of the information you need, simply doesn't exist in the manual and the stuff that is in the manual is often ambiguous or hard to access due to the poor index. Plus sometimes on the website the answers don't get answered or you need clarification and you wonder if you're bugging them. The guys at the site though do answer a heck of a lot of questions and they are really good about it in general, I mean very helpful and diligent...but that still doesn't make up for a solid manual.

Overall it is very good but...if you are buying it hoping that the sequencer will be everything they claim it is, then you will be disappointed. It sounds bitchin' though and with the expandibility it is hard not to really like it. If I could buy it again or not...well...I'm not sure. I would still want a rack version, but I might look more seriously into computer sowtware to do my sequencing. I have been using the sequencer but it has definitely slowed me down and I'm still seeing if I can work around the potholes. I wish someone would just blantantly steal Ensoniq's style, instead of trying to be "innovative" and messing it all up. So I think the Motif is excellent for easily creating really cool parts for your song, but I'm not sure yet about putting them all together.
I don't think this would be the only keyboard I would want to use if I were making dance music. Too much of one flavour. But..we'll see what happens when I get the analog expansion board.

Software Version 1.05

Presets - These range from 'so so' to "pretty damm good!" The overall sound is fairly cold and brittle but I have noticed that most presets seem to sit well in the majority of mixes I have completed so far! Also, the basic sounds are pretty good without utilizing the efx systems which makes a pleasant change from the Tritons of this world, which only sound good when used in combo with the built in effects system.

Editing is a bit of a nightmare but then what's new!?! Easier with a computer and as the Motif has a built in USB port for connecting to the computer for the reception and transmission of midi data.. then this speeds things up quite nicely!
The manual is your typical 'Japlish' document.. Its a reference guide and not a "How do you do this.." though the www.motifator.com web site goes a long way to rectifying this problem.

Polyphony - 62 when using just one element per voice. In reality it's probably nearer to 24 to 32 when using more interesting sounds.
The built in effects section is excellent with a wide range of types and lots of parameters to change and control via midi.
Excellent expansion facilities... Upto 64MB to use for sampling/sequencer/pattern storage.. Smartmedia cards for storage and transfer to computer, 3 expansion sockets for Yamaha PLG boards (I have both the DX7 and Analog boards installed and they not only add more ground sounds but also add to the polyphony too!) and this beast also support an addon MLan board as well as an addon multiple out board too!! Not too bad in my opinion as far as expansion goes.
Nice sequencer.. easy to use though midi routing is a little tricky at first..Useful resample fuctions to sample the sound coming out of the synth so you can resample an entire multi sound setup for example and play it back just using one single voice! The sampler itself has most of the most useful and needed features including "slice and dice" etc..

Sounds... All a matter of personal taste. Some I love.. some I hate..but you cannot argue with the fact that Yamaha have provided the user with one of the biggest selections of waveforms available in just one keyboard and any one time. There is even a preset called "Everything including the kitchen sink" and that really sums it all up!!
The keyboard itself is the same one as used in the original DX7 and is light, responsive and feels pretty good overall. Better than the one built into the Korg Karma for example.
As I said earlier, the sounds themselves can be a bit brittle and cold but they do sit well in mixes and in combination with other keyboards such as the triton, Karma, Roland XP's etc.. they act as complimentary but different sounds giving a useful alternative sound palette to work with. No real complaints here... except maybe I wished that some of the waves were a little 'warmer" but then again.. that is what helps the sounds fit into mixes well I guess!

Unknown as only owned it for 3 weeks but I have had 2 * SY85's along with a DX7 for years now and never had a single prob that didn't amount to me just needing to give them a good clean inside and out.
Yamaha keyboards, for me at least, have been the most reliable over the years.

The website dedicated to the Motif range (www.motifator.com) is truly excellent with Yamaha personnel constantly answering questions and tending advice to all and sundry. If they can keep this level of intial support going longterm then they sound sell thousands of these keyboards simply based on such wonderful support! Also, the Motif community is getting going too with lots of helpful users out there filling up the Motifator Discussion boards and already new sounds etc are being distro'ed. All in all... Support is fantastic!

I would buy another is something happened to this one. At first I wasn't so sure but after spending a couple of weeks delving into it and using in mixes and remixes I have no doubts now as to its level of usefulness within my studio setup.
Keyboard setup includes;
Triton ProX, Karma, 2 SY85's, DX7, XP-30, Minimoog, Prophet 5 (still working.. just!) Korg Delta and an assortment of midi modules etc..
Overall opinion.. Good useful keyboard that adds a different dimension to the thicker, warmer sounds of my Korg gear. Good value for money too!!

The motif is a dream. It handles corners on rails. No, really, they say the shortest distnance between inspiration and creation. They were right. This board is perfect for sequencing, sound editing, groove control, mixing in raw samples, ram-tracks (kurz-speak) and much more.... Wish the menus were more intuitive.

62 note polyph - cuts out some times in thick layers. I have an S-80, Triton, Kurz2600 and XV3080, and they all do it except the XV... 128 note.

Action is excellent for playing, I got the 6 vs. 8 for the 8 is too heavy, and the S80 is the perfect controller. However, the best thing about this board is : Sampler, Akai, etc + Smart Media card = song in your pocket. Nuff said. This board is the ultimate.

Ohhh... mahhhh... Goddddd..... This board has sounds that snuff the Triton. Yamaha is so good at sounds, you'd think they were Kurzweil. Really, these two should get together and put Eric/Ilio/Roland and the Korg "Effect" Mongers out of business. Take the effects off of any sound (you can do that w/ one button) and see what I mean. Also.... please note: this board carries the original (souped-up) Yamaha P500 piano sound - oh yeah baby - not the measley P200/P80/S80 one, but the P500. All other sounds are awesome, not a bad one in the bunch - over 85Megs of Wave Rom--- it shows. Takes PLG expansion, but who needs them?

Don't konw yet.

Pretty good on my S-80.. Hopefully, more web-tools and stuff for auto-support, if you catch my drift.

I would always replace if stolen.... it is a music maker's dream. Don't gig with it, but could. GET THIS BOARD!!@@ Don't buy the Karma - it is bad karma .... get a real Triton, but GET THIS BOARD - MOTIF ROCKS!

Here's the story:

I got off work today and said...."I wonder if Guitare Center has the Motif in yet?" I really didn't think so...but I went anyway to play on the synths and soon as I walked in...........guess what I saw............Yep a demo Motif 6. I ripped one of the Yamaha foot pedals off an S80 and put hooked it to the Motif and plugged it in one of the foot switches.

Now let's begin my analysis: I'm a keys kind of guy and I must admit.....The Motif has the best Piano/Keys/Rhodes on the planet to date..........hands down. But the problem was........I was so excited that I was scrolling throug all of the patches so quickly...........But bad news: There was a Triton-loop-head-junky around and he was recording loops and beats and toons all day and it was so loud that I couldn't hear the Motif. So I went down the street to Sam Ashe where they were mad that Guitare Center had it first......Initially I must admit I probably would be more excited if I had not previously owned the EX5, because I heard a lot of EX5 voices in the Motif and some of which lacked the EX5 taste....Specifally FDSP and VL and AN.....I have to be honest fellas.....

So, I bought the Motif 6 with the DX and AN boards in it. By the way...Yamaha did not fix the legato/slide effect on samples....It still retriggers the note. In some aspects I feel my EX5 sounds better.....Honestly speaking, but the Rhodes and the strings are way, way better than the EX5.

So I got the Motif 6 for $1589.99 and the DX and AN boards. I went back to Guitare Center to a quiet room where I could hear the Motif.

In Performance mode there are tons of splits with loops that are phatt. It was kinda confusing navigating and I didn't quite understand the menus and stuff.....but no problem....just have to read up on it works.

So you ask: Why did I buy it.......Well to be honest, I bought it for the expandibility. No other synth on the market is as expandible as the Motif with a DX7 and a miniature AN1x and built in SCSI with the ability to load Akai samples. The EX5 lacks this ability and my fully blown XP-50 does too. So I bought the Motif 6 for expandibilty and sounds...........but to be honest.......The sounds are very very very good, but I couldn't get too impressed because my EX5 is still in the running and a lot of the Motif's character is in the EX5....So once again...I bought it for expandibility.

I'm cought in a delema though: The EX5 and Motif (to me) have overlapping sounds that I don't want to have both.....so I can't part with my EX5, but I want the option for the large sampling library of Akai and the ability to load Program data.........These two synths are all I ever will need for a very long time.

The good news is........I got approved for 15 months same as cash from Sam Ashe and I may be able to have all three synths.

I don't get caught up in marketing hype........I'm being as honest as I can.............You see I still bought it, but my reason was for expandibility as I would still be able to get by with my EX5.

My total sale price was $2193.49 for the Motif 6, DX, and and the AN board. Don't get the PLG PF board....The Motif is enough.....unless you want more Poly. If you don't have a 76-Note synth already I would go for the Motif 7, because you will definitely want to use the extra keys when playing the piano/rhodes/keys.

Bottom line..........To me........It sounds a lot like my EX5.........But now I have two of the best sounding synths ever made!