It’s possible to watch TV program on your PC but people are still buying TV sets and they will do this for a long time. Same applies to hardware synth’s. They are made for make or just play music. Software synth can be add on but not replacement for HWS. Finally, if you are even a little bit serious about music, professional keyboard at least, is minimum requirements and that’s additional hardware isn’t it?

People get positive criticism mixed up with bashing. I’m probably getting an XF and already posted why.

Just wish Yamaha would start moving towards 2010 technology.

Not so much true anymore kiborg. One of my good friends is an engineer for Darkchild (Producer for Michael and Janet Jackson) and these guys are all plugins. They have about 2TB of sounds. I’m not saying they don’t use hardware like the MPC, but the bulk of their production is with plugins.

very interesting thread ... concerning yamaha’s policy regarding hardware I can only say there is missing prophet like Steve Jobs ... the leading componies need leaders *point*

bsmart - 29 August 2010 08:16 AM

Yamaha could upgrade to a 64-bit CPU and supporting board, but all of the dedicated controllers in the Motif would need to be redesigned. You can’t just put 32-bit to 64-bit translator circuits in them.

Yamaha could just increase the address bus width to say 36 or 40 bit (64 Gbytes to 1 Tbyte) in their proprietary memory controller designs, and they will be good for another decade or two.

The MIPS architecture CPU used in the Motif XS (a Toshiba TX4939) is actually a 64-bit processor, though the memory bus is 32-bit; Yamaha could easily move to a MIPS64 core or an entirely different processor if they need to, since their code is based on a portable Linux OS now.

So, how powerful of a general purpose processor do you need to run a softsynth streaming up to 128 voices at once from disk

19 high quality effects plug ins, 16 3-band EQs, a 5-band mastering EQ, and be able to run all of that, at once, with all notes and plugs active, and run it at less than 5Ms?

I hope for reasonable things, like wishing that we could have even more user voice banks than we do, or wishing that the damn clicky portamento might finally be fixed when the 5th generation of Motif is released in 2013.

- 29 August 2010 01:11 PM

As far as I can tell from the various replies the reason Yamaha (or Roland or Korg etc) can’t make the “dream synth workstation” is because it would require a massive investment to redesign not only their hardware chips to a 64 bit operating enviroment but also their software and this investment would not be able to be recouped given the level of workstation sales.

Keyboards will graduate to 64 bit computing by default. So 64 bit is coming and the prices for 64 components will be what 32 bit cost right now or possibly cheaper. Just may be in time or even could be on the next workstation never know. But there’s no need to rush out 64bit right now so it won’t be. Synthesizers technology also have no other choice but to graduate with computer technology.

Maybe I’m blinded, but I see the synth manufactures making more synthesizers then anytime before Yamaha, Roland, Korg, Akai, Alesis, Moog, Sequential, Nord, Virus, etc, etc. Plus more synths coming out this year and next year? So in general I think synthesizers are selling as much as they ever were.

Yamaha themselves say the XS was highly successful, Roland says their Fantom X series was successful, and they were able to chunk out the Fantom G with little changes from the X and even scaled back some features. Companies don’t scale back features unless they have the consumer by the balls.

Hardware synth have a market and clientele that generates enough revenue that they don’t need to be too worried about soft synth growth I think. Otherwise we would see the urgency in the features offered. Example: Korg M3 didn’t sell as great as they thought I guess and they piled on free extra features and sounds and dropped the price of the unit. That’s when you know a keyboard is not selling well when you see an immediate price drop plus tons of extras. When I see the Motif XF I see no urgency or desperation in features offered that will compel mass numbers of buyers needed to prepare for a drought in sales. Although the Flash features are really compelling and cool but nothing drastic from the XS that would compel them to sell their old models like some upgrades would. Hardware can do much more in an easier function than soft synths and that’s why people continue and will continue to buy them.

There is not one single soft synth available that’s can do all the things the Motif XF can do. No soft synth will offer all the high quality Motif sounds and all the Arps and sequencing and sampling and etc, etc all in one package for cheap. That’s why people will continue to buy the Motif hardware for what it is and other keyboard hardware for what they are. Example: I already have Motif ES, Fantom X and MPCs, Fusions synths, and I’m still interested in buying the next latest greatest if I can afford it. Same with other people.