[ddots-l] Fw: Motif Press Release.
- From: "James Murphy" <maestro_22@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2007 11:46:10 -0500
I just want to share this with everyone.
----- Original Message -----
From: ernest mccullough
To: James Murphy
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 10:14 AM
Subject: Motif Press Release.
http://www.motifator.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=1,2,4&Board=MotifES&Number=299412&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1
The Yamaha Motif XS6 synthesizer features Xpanded Articulation sounds that will
inspire your creativity, and Performance Recording with 4 intelligent
arpeggiators
instantly captures your ideas. The new large color LCD is an attractive
addition to the Yamaha Motif series.
The Motif XS6 also has an Integrated Sampling Sequencer with studio-style
mixing and VCM effects that let you create complete MIDI/audio productions. With
computer connectivity and Cubase AI software you can expand your musical
possibilities.
Yamaha Motif XS6 synthesizer - making great sounding music has never been
easier.
? Yamaha Motif XS6 Profile:
? 61-touch sensitive keys
? New UI with large color LCD and 8 knobs and sliders
? Xpanded Articulation Synth engine with 355MB of WAVE ROM
? Studio-style mixing environment with Virtual Circuitry Modeling effects
? 4 intelligent arpeggiators with instant Performance Recording
? Integrated Sampling Sequencer with 1GB of optional memory
? Total Computer Integration and Cubase AI software included
The new GUI is great. You have the larger color screen, with black backgrounds
and neon/white lettering (reversed) so it's very easy to see, especially
on stage at night. Whether it's less confsuing than the ES interface - I can't
say for sure. I think it is, but then I never thought the ES GUI was very
hard to navigate. You'll have to be the judge ultimately.
Sample loading times are somewhat faster via USB device or connection. They are
a LOT faster via Ethernet. I have not done any work with sampling yet so
I can't report exact times or exact methods.
Filters sound better, you could say there is less aliasing in the high
registers - but keep in mind, it's still a sample-playback machine, and since
sounds
cover the entire 1-127 range of MIDI notes, you are always going to get weird
artifacts on the very top or very bottom of that range with a lot of sounds.
That's the case with any rompler. Overall, synth voices sound much more like
real analog synths, there are new FM waveforms for FM (DX) sounds - I honestly
don't think that the AN and DX plugboards will be missed that much, with the
exception of something like analog hard sync, which is not possible in a
sample-playback
machine (there are new hard sync waveforms which sound very good).
For those of you who would like another clarification on how the new XS sounds
and looks -
Soundwise - the XS has a brand new LSI chip and this chip sounds better than
any previous chip they have employed in a workstation. The waveROM has been
almost completely re-done. In short, it all sounds significantly better than
the ES. Analog synth voices sound like analog synths, acoustic instruments
have brilliance and clarity, bass sounds have plenty of low end power, drums
are more detailed and punchier. Yamaha paid attentiuon to all the comments,
complaints, and rants about the ES ROM and addressed those in re-doing the ROM
waves, and we as programmers addressed it in the voicing.
The piano sings and sustains and is brand new. Almost all of the orchestral
wavesforms have been replaced - new strings, brass, woodwinds, etc. There are
new analog waveforms and a huge amount of new effects waves. New drum waves as
well. Voice-wise, there are a ton of new electronic and hip-hop voices,
special effects voices, as well as vintage synth sounds, along with all the
bread and butter sounds you have come to rely on. No matter what genre you
work in, you can do it with the XS.
Looks-wise, the XS is actually cooler looking "in person" than you'd think. Its
profile is less deep than the ES, and the 6-7 models weigh less. Keyboard
action has been changed to what is more like the keyboard action on the Tyros 2.
One of my favorite things about the XS is the multiple arps. In Performance
mode, you now have 20 total (5 arps with 4 variations each).
There are many chord recognition arps, so you can have a Performance that
features a drum groove, a separate bass line which plays automatically AND
follows
the chords you play, a separate rhythm guitar or piano or synth comp playing
automatically, a separate melodic line playing in the upper octaves
automatically,
AND you can play a part on your own in real-time on the keyboard and everything
follows along. It's really sophisticated and I haven't seen it on any other
product out there.
I have posted about XS versions of DCP libraries in the "Sounds" section of the
forum. Yamaha US has posted answers to just about anything you can think
of in the "MOTIF ES" section of the forum.
I can't answer every question about every single voice in the XS. Your decision
will of course be based on what you think of it when you finally get to
hear it.
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