Funkster - 05 September 2010 01:59 PM

I’ve been an engiineer for several decades already.

Absolutely the XS should have had quite a few mid life kickers...#4...once per year...and it hasn’t really done that.

I’m not confused about what updates are for.

What was the mid life kicker for the XS?

All I’ve seen is USB Recording (hardly a kicker), skins (hardly a kicker) and bugfixes for problematic memory chips.

In regards to “Economies” of scale....from YUS—I get that, but I also get that a cell phone costs a few hundred dollars and a motif costs several thousand.

That should help with economies of scale.

Also, the more that you can update the software the less you might need to update the hardware, therefore, there is economy in that area as well.

Why can’t the Motif have a KB3 or VA1 mode like the kurzweil did/does?

Clearly it could—its just a DSP chip—it can be programmed to do anything—but Yamaha just doesn’t seem to either want to or be able to execute in that area of making significant changes (adding new synthesis types and the UI and VSTi changes it requires) using the same hardware they have (whatever DSP chip).

I know how this works, and I think the majority of my effort is going to be looking at what the best current VSTis are and what the best low latency output I can do is.

Then I’m in control and can swap out modules at will.

I had bought the motif exactly so I wouldnt have to compose at the computer, but now I’m turning full circle in that regard.

Funkster

Ah - I see.

You’re that type of engineer.

We deal with them fairly regularly at work. It’s difficult to make them understand a lot of things that aren’t working.

They say: “It should work...”

We say: “It doesn’t...”

Then much time is wasted getting the simple reality of the situation into their heads. But that’s OK, because some company pays us for the time. These engineers keep themselves employed making things take a lot longer than they should.

Your contention that “ - it’s just a DSP chip - it can be programmed to do anything - “ is a key error here, and going on to base much of your reasoning on that is the problem.

Reminds me of a recent job on the underground pipe of a town water supply that had to be postponed for a couple of months. A section with a fancy new flow meter and assorted sensors was designed and had to be built then shipped from overseas. It was to be inserted in a cut out section of the existing pipe.

Too bad it was the wrong size.

Funkster - 05 September 2010 01:59 PM

Why can’t the Motif have a KB3 or VA1 mode like the kurzweil did/does?

Clearly it could—its just a DSP chip—it can be programmed to do anything—but Yamaha just doesn’t seem to either want to or be able to execute in that area of making significant changes (adding new synthesis types and the UI and VSTi changes it requires) using the same hardware they have (whatever DSP chip).

BTW, all keyboards that were based on general-purpose fully programmable DSPs either failed on the marketplace or didn’t even make it to the market. The original Korg OASYS concept (not the 2005 software-only model, but a 1996 keyboard and 1999 PCI card which were made with half dozen DSPs), the Alesis Fusion HD, and the Yamaha VP1 and VL1 synths which were researched in cooperation with Stanford. The Korg OASYS keyboard and Yamaha VP1 never made it to full-scale production, the Korg OASYS PCI, the Yamaha VL1, and the Alesis Fusion were discontinued very shortly. I see a peculiar pattern here.

If some people here behaved like that against their car dealer
they would have been kicked right back into the street already.

;JOOP!

I don’t know to what extent that the chips are programmable or not.

I just remember that the Kurzweil added lots of new features (KB3 mode, VA) as a software upgrade using the original (k2500) hardware.

I don’t know what chip was in the Kurz and I don’t know what chip is in the Yamaha, really.

I would find it hard to believe that NOTHING can be added to the featureset with a software update, but anything is possible I suppose.

I never claimed to be a hardware engineer.

Whether the DSP is programmable or not, the OS is certainly programmable.

Of course it’s heretical for me to say that and now this will beget another round of personal attacks based on “I’m that kind of engineer” for “being stupid enough to think that the OS is programmable” or something.

F