Yamaha Motif ES

[JackJens]

Finally I've bought it !!!!

I've never loved Yamaha keyboards.......

......but with this is different !

I've bought a Yamaha Motif ES 8 & I've to say that it's probably

the best sounding gear created !!!!

Yeah....better than my loved K2600......

What do you think about this Keyboard......?

Have you ever tried it ......?

I think that it's time for a new KURZWEL......K3000 ?????

I'd like to have your opinion guys !

http://www.hellsky.com/images/motif.jpg

[Angelic Layer]

Why you don't like Yamaha synths?
I myself is a great Yamaha fan.

[JackJens]

....There wasn't a real matter.....

But now I love 'em.......

well.....I love my Motif ES 8

[Georges]

Like I said on the Sonikmatter forum, what we need is not a new Kurzweil generation. Kurzweil Music Systems should simply put more efforts into factory preset programming - note that the factory presets of the MOTIF have been the result of many months' work (and that was a big marketing coup) and certainly show alot of its potential, while the K26xx presets do not even show 2% of the latter's potential. Mind that only a very few people (among the top sound programmers) really dig KDFX, KB3 and TMP, not to mention VAST. I'd say that not even the Kurzweil people themselves have had the time to seize its real potential.

Now that software synthesizers are becoming more widespread (and that many "preset"/programmed sounds are delivered with those), hardware synths can no longer have only a sample of preset sounds which demonstrate its potential, but rather a big bunch of preset sounds which actually use it to its fullest. The MOTIF is nothing exceptional technology-wise, but marketing-wise it is one of the biggest success stories already now; and the preset sounds played a CONSIDERABLE part.

[JackJens]

Yeah....Kurz is of corse more versatile......

This is the matter I'm still owning a KURZ.......

By the way....I'm not an engineer, but......for example....

I've never been able to program a piano sounding as well as the Motif's one !

Enigma's piano is great (thanx a lot for the patch man).....but Motif

Piano is a lot better !

[Deceit]

I know our fellow Endless Enigma is a great sound analyst and programmer, he gave me a lot of aid for sounds on Acid Rain.
You're italian as me, aren't you? ^_^ Looking forward to meeting you in some gigs, I've never listened to Hellsky and want to do it live...by the way stop performing Rhapsody (I hate them) :DDD.
Deceit.

[synthguy]

The reason the Motif ES stereo piano sounds so superior is because the sampling of the different key strikes was done with great care, more than most of the pianos out these days. And I agree, the ES has been programmed in an exceptional way.

And the Kurzweil does have some outstanding sounds, but the programmers Kurzweil/Young Chang uses should definitely spend some time on those VAST algorithms. I heard some demos of the new Nord Modular G2, and finally heard some songs that showcase the modular power in that thing. Kurzweil needs to get someone doing more sounds that show off what VAST is capable of in a musical context.

Another thing I was disappointed in was Kurzweil not redoing those sound roms. The Contemporary and Orchestral roms are definitely something I'd want in a 2600, but those samples were done back around 1990 and it shows. The quality is lacking, when you compare the orchestral samples against a Roland or Korg orchestral rom, and for some reason Kurzweil decided to include a lot of ethnic instruments in the Orchestral rom which doesn't make a lot of sense. Especially since there's only 8 meg of rom in each. These days you need to devote a lot more memory to your roms or they will suffer in sound power. The Motif ES has 175 megs in its rom! Kurzweil should include some goodies with their 2600 series, like sample CDs and possibly a SCSI CD drive, or work with a rom maker for some deal. I'd much prefer a 2700 with a huge built in rom standard. The synth engine is fine and the converters are already audiophile quality. Now they just need something Motif-like and they'll do well.

[Luca_Capozzi]

mmm i'm partially in disagree. we are talking about synthesisers or samplers? ;)

I can understand your point of view about ROM sounds, but don't forget that at the end, what worth is the power of a machine to modify a sound to get what you want. Obviusly, if a musician needs a "real" acoustic sound, he can point on a sampler (both hardware and software) but all stops after that. We can't have a complete "all-in-one" keyboard, due the fact that everythink must have a precise role as instrument.

This is my hopinable opinion :) I'll prefer a more advanced synthesis engine instead of hundreds MB of waves.

See ya

[BotneKeys]

I'm curious about one thing conserning the Motif ES. Is it possible to do an "everything save" with it? With my K I can save everything to the internal HD, and thus save multiple "images" of the memory.

[synthguy]

Axiom, it depends on whether Kurzweil's samples compare favorably to others'. Take the original 2000 rom. It had a one strike mono piano sample that originally programmed was pretty lame. It wasn't very dynamic and it wasn't really authentic. Later programming yielded much better piano patches that were useful in a number of different styles and moods. So why did Kurzweil redo the piano in the 2500? And then add an additional 4 meg stereo strike sample? Because the piano was being overshadowed by everyone else's. And if the electric piano samples were good enough, why did Kurzweil come up with the vintage keyboard rom? It's because they weren't.

I love the 2600 and will have one someday, but you can't keep using the same samples for a decade unless they are close to impeccable. Roland, Korg and Yamaha can do this because their samples are excellent, but Kurzweil really needs a new generation of roms in the next wonder instrument, or it will be a marginal improvement over the 2600, and that may not be enough to get people to run out and buy it over something like a Korg Oasys, which will be appearing any year now.

Oh btw Jack, I love your rig!

[Mike Martin]

I'm curious about one thing conserning the Motif ES. Is it possible to do an "everything save" with it? With my K I can save everything to the internal HD, and thus save multiple "images" of the memory.

Thats essentially the only way it saves. :) Then you have the option to load individual items.

[BotneKeys]

Sounds cool! And how good is the UI when thinking of loading, naming, saving and generally exploring files compared to Kurzweils?