Hi all.  I’m new to this forum and trying to do some research before putting my recording system together. 

I already own a Dell XPS 8300.  It has Intel i7-2600 CPU @ 3.4Ghz for a computer running Windows 7 64- bit OS, and 8GB Ram.  Will that be enough to run Cubase?

I want to get Motifator XF 8.  I’ve read the manuals and several posts here, so I realize that I will need the Firewire adaptor to be able to receive the XF sounds into Cubase.

The Motif Manual discusses an IEEE1394 connector. My computer doesn’t currently have a Firewire adaptor; Dell sells a 3-Port Firewire 800 Card Bus PC Card that provides two Firewire 800 (1394b) and one Firewire 400 (1394a) (6-pin) ports.  Is that the card I need to connect the Motif?  If so, which port should I use?

Next the Motif Manual discusses A/D INPUT jacks to connect devices such as micropohone, guitar, bass CD player.  Are these jacks for recording vocals?  Will they also be sent to Cubase? Or do I need another adaptor/mixer combo to record vocals? 

Any recommendations for equipment would be appreciated.

John v

I already own a Dell XPS 8300.  It has Intel i7-2600 CPU @ 3.4Ghz for a computer running Windows 7 64- bit OS, and 8GB Ram.  Will that be enough to run Cubase?

Yes, that will do fine.

The Motif Manual discusses an IEEE1394 connector. My computer doesn’t currently have a Firewire adaptor; Dell sells a 3-Port Firewire 800 Card Bus PC Card that provides two Firewire 800 (1394b) and one Firewire 400 (1394a) (6-pin) ports.  Is that the card I need to connect the Motif?  If so, which port should I use?

Yes or one similar to it. I will try to find the most recent compatibility lists. Yamaha cannot test every device, but this is certainly the type of card that would be necessary.

(you can call Customer Support and find out if they have records of any users with this brand particular card.)

Next the Motif Manual discusses A/D INPUT jacks to connect devices such as micropohone, guitar, bass CD player.  Are these jacks for recording vocals?  Will they also be sent to Cubase? Or do I need another adaptor/mixer combo to record vocals?

The A/D INPUT can handle a wide variety of input types from microphones to line level sources. It can be configured as a mono or stereo input. The signal of the A/D INPUT PART can be routed through XF Insertion and System Effects. It can be routed to the XF’s Integrated Sampling Sequencer and signal from the A/D INPUT can be routed out via FireWire on any of the 16 audio buses provided by the FW16E and recorded into your DAW (Cubase) - when routing signal via the FW16E you can apply XF Insertion Effects prior to the signal leaving the XF. This allows you to apply Yamaha’s advanced VCM processing to your incoming signal. Compressors, Delays, Reverbs, EQ, etc., etc.