Yamaha MOTIF 6

Bought this unit at a guitar center. I was actually looking for a kurzweil k2600, Roland xp-30, interested in what the motif could do, and last resort a triton. Once i said motif the sales person said forget all of those and look at the motif and starting telling me all the features. And i was impressed with the sound quality. Paid about 1200. Dont regret buying it but am looking to expand with more other named brand keys to match what motif lacks.

I love the fact of the ease of use. Yes at first it seems easy, then you get in depth with and realize some things are hard. But then when you learn them they make using a production station so easy. Realtime controls, assianable nobs,wheels and sliders. The patch function, key mapping, pre-built in sampling board. Tones quality. Able to create user arppagios, drum tracks.
The abiality to customize voices and create your own via usb and a computer with the enclosed software.

Okay yes every piece of equipment has its flaws its a marketing tactic to get you to buy more stuff. And yamaha definately cashed in on it. If your looking to do weird music, techno or anything on the darker side of music you might find the voices not of that genre but you can buy voices online and plug in boards that will make it or you can tap away on a comp and make the sounds you want wiht the included software. Another flaw is the fact that it uses smart media. Which is an expensive and low capacity system. For 60 bucks a smart media card i could probably buy a whole pack of zip disks or blank cd's. So if you have scsi drives to use with this thing your in the clear if not youll buy a scsi drive or be buying some expensive smart media cards and a reader for the comp. Cause inorder to load a voice into the memory bank properly you would need something other then using hte sampling function. But other then that hte OS is good, sound quality very good, programming capablities are very good and has alot of short cuts for technical stuff. Buy the videos and watch them cause there is just too much to type out. Oh yea one more band thing is that you can put eq on every track. Its one standard local eq that effects everything. But does have assignable outs if you have global eqs to work with.

Bottom is metal. And top is constructed out of either aluminum or some kind of cast not really to sure. Weight is heavy even without the weight keys. So must be made of of some kinda metal. Motif 6,7 keys are kinda weak feeling keys. But if your writing techno and everything buy programming then this is not a probablem for you. But if you looking to play at all kinds of humanized velocity's you might break some keys unless they are weighted. Nobs arent falling off like korg stuff but they are tending to get a little loose but thats understandable. But again if your programing then they wont take that much abuse. overall construction i think it can take a beating. Depending on whos giving hte beating though.

Ive had this unit for about half a year. And im loving it even with its money sucking flaws. I mean if you want awesome equipment you gotta pump more money into the machine after you buy it, just like a computer. If i mixed this thing up with two more units for example the k2600, and a roland both exapanded i would be having a really nice set up. But go down to a guitar center for a few weeks and keep playing with it and other ones youll hear the difference.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Honestly, I haven't had the opportunity to purchase this unit yet (ie. I don't have the money.) However, I have spent countless hours at my local Guitat Center playing and testing it. I will acquire this unit as soon as possible because of several reasons mentioned below. Priced at around $1900-$2400 these workstations really are a good deal.

Most keyboard players are 1 of 2 types: Korg/Kurzweil or Yamaha/Roland. This newest workstation from Yamaha, bridges this gap. Some of the noteable aspects of the Motif are the quality of the patches, the inclusion of input/output devices and the durability. The patches are truly awesome, and as is typical with most Yamaha keyboards, the user interface is fairly self explanatory. The Motif includes a SCSI card and an Optical I/O port, and you can import and map sounds to create your own patches or effects. Analogue and digital 1/4" outputs are included as well as jacks for volume/expression pedals and assignable pedals and the standard sustain. Durability is deffinitely a plus if you have to travel to your gigs, and the Motif is no slaker here.

Despite the positive features of the unit, there are still some disadvantages. Of course the weight of the Motif 8 (weighted key model.) Also, the Motif lacks some of the controllers that you have come to expect in a top-of-the-line workstation, such as ribbon controllers. It does have standard pitch bend and mod wheels as well as 4 assignable faders, 4 assignable knobs and 2 assignable buttons. For this reason only I am not giving it a 5 star (pick?) rating. Also patch wise, it lacks some of the more odd effects based sounds you would find on a Korg, and opts for more variety and quailty of the more standard instruments.

As I mentioned, the quality seems very solid. Obviously, I haven't moved it a whole lot, but Yamaha has a history of producing durable equipment (the PSR model I currently own has been through it and back.) Nothing gives, and of course it has a solid metal body. The controllers are set and sturdy, and the interface screen is covered well.

Definitely my favorite board I have played. Primarily for ease of use and quailty of patches. You can add foot controllers where it lacks the touch ribbons, and there is no fear of breaking it. I tried the Triton and felt the sounds were too odd and somewhat difficult to manipulate, I tried the K2600 and thought it had good pianos and controllers but that was about it. The Motif combines the best of both worlds.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com