Hi!

So I’ve had my ES since it came out.  Still love it.  Have gobs and gobs of various libraries in my arsenal.  But I want to get a “newer” keyboard because...heck...it’s old..but I don’t want to lose my library of sounds I’ve created over the years. 

I’m thinking that I would purchase a Motif ES rack and transfer my libraries to that....as needed (different musical project require different libraries). This way, I can still use the Motif whenever I want to and MIDI it to my current rig.

Does this sound like a good idea?  Anyone have any issues with the Rack?  Any other suggestions?  Any cons?

Thanks so much.

Hi,

You haven’t revealed much about the scenario you’re planning to use the Rack ES in, or the role your current ES has, so my answer is going to be quite general. That said, I tend to take the studio/tech angle on things, so please ask for clarifications if you feel like I’m overlooking something of particular interest.

In terms of reliability, I’ve had to replace the power supply on my ES7 once, but have never had any problems with my Motif-Rack ES. It took me a couple of attempts to successfully update the firmware on it, but that’s it. Patches sound the same on both instruments, and I’d be hard-pressed to detect any difference in sound quality.

As I’m sure you’re already aware of, the Motif-Rack ES does not have the Master Mode, sequencer or sampling functionality of the ES keyboards, and also lacks SmartMedia/USB storage. They are otherwise very similar, and the tone generator section, effects and wave ROMs are identical. Thus, if you have built your voices/performances using only the internal ROM samples of your ES, you can use them on the Rack ES too. Multitimbral setups (Mixing voices) are also transferrable.

If you already have your ES connected to a computer, and know your way around its Voice and Multi Part editors, the editors for the Rack ES are basically identical. File extensions for keyboard and rack version libraries are different, but the Voice and Multi Part editors will open both types and save them with the proper extension, allowing you to repurpose any current files to use with the rack version.

The Rack ES uses the same USB-MIDI driver package as the ES keyboards (as well as a ton of other Yamaha instruments), which has been kept up-to-date for current operating systems. Just run the installer after first connection.

If you want to avoid using a computer for transfers, it might be possible to bulk data directly between the instruments, using a pair of MIDI cables. I haven’t tried this myself, though, and can’t say for sure what data is recognized by the Motif-Rack ES, and what is not.

The lack of file storage on the Motif-Rack ES is perhaps the most cumbersome limitation in my view, although it’s not very problematic at home or in a studio. When you don’t have the computer around, however, the only option is to bulk dump the required data from the Motif-Rack ES to an external MIDI sequencer, and reload it from there as needed. More stuff equals more to stuff up, so I’d say it pays off to plan any live gigging in advance and make sure the synth is set up with the patches you need, instead of attempting to load data during gigs.

- H -

Thanks for the input!

I intend to sell my keyboard which is the reason for transferring to the rack so that’s the purpose of this exercise.  As for the sequencer, never used it much anyway. 

Sounds like this maybe my answer.

Thanks again.