After a couple of months of my usual agonizing/research, I brought home a new MOXF8 yesterday.  Running it directly into the EV ZLX-12P speakers I already had, I have to admit I’m pretty underwhelmed by the S6 piano voice that impressed me so much on the demo videos I’ve heard.  I know those videos are generally recorded running the audio straight into the HD camera they use.  So I guess what I’m looking for are suggestions on a relatively inexpensive pair of monitors ($500-700) range that will most accurately reproduce the sound of the board.  If there’s an up-to-date thread addressing this topic already on here, I apologize as I was unable to find it.  Plus, any tweaks to the sound itself you’ve discovered?

And also, since it didn’t come with a sustain pedal, I plugged in a generic M Audio pedal I had lying around.  For some reason, it sustains when I’m not stepping on it, dampens when I am.  Not sure what’s going on there.

Thanks for any and all responses!

DallasXanadu - 20 May 2015 10:25 AM

After a couple of months of my usual agonizing/research, I brought home a new MOXF8 yesterday.  Running it directly into the EV ZLX-12P speakers I already had, I have to admit I’m pretty underwhelmed by the S6 piano voice that impressed me so much on the demo videos I’ve heard.  I know those videos are generally recorded running the audio straight into the HD camera they use.  So I guess what I’m looking for are suggestions on a relatively inexpensive pair of monitors ($500-700) range that will most accurately reproduce the sound of the board.  If there’s an up-to-date thread addressing this topic already on here, I apologize as I was unable to find it.  Plus, any tweaks to the sound itself you’ve discovered?....

I would set aside the urge buy new speakers right away.  The speakers you have should be perfectly fine to get a good sound.

I can tell you that when I purchased my Motif XF, I did not like the way ANY of the pianos sounded out of the box!

The good news is you have an incredible palette of parameters that will allow you to make the pianos sound the way YOU want them to sound.  Personally, I started with rolling the invariable reverb WAY off.  I then turned to the EQ (at the VOICE level to begin with) to suppress mid-range frequencies that make the piano sound like it is being played from a large cardboard box.

The way any given piano sound is set up in the machine is simply a result of a programming decision to appeal to a broad musician audience.  That may or may not include you...apparently not!

One approach is to use headphones to tweak the MOXF VOICE until you like it in the phones, then turn to trying to capture that sound with the speaker setup.

Speakers and amps in a given room introduce a huge number of extra variables, it can be valuable to reduce those variables initially.

BTW, get a Yamaha FC3 sustain pedal to fully match the half-damper capabilities of the machine.

Thanks for the tips.  The world of keyboards has changed quite a bit since I was buying Korg Poly 800s and Oberheim Matrix 6’s back in the 80’s (including not throwing in a sustain pedal out of the box - common?).  I knew I was in for a pretty steep learning curve, can’t wait to get off work and dig in.  Might need to call in sick tomorrow…

Regarding the sustain pedal, the M-Audio pedal should have a switch at the bottom.  Change the switch to the other side and try again.  This should get you going.  But as others have pointed out, I’m actually looking at getting the FC3 possibly tonight.  :-)

And yeah, my ESQ-1 came with a square sustain pedal.

Have you tried listening through headphones?  What is it you don’t like about the sound?  Do you have a flash board installed?  There are other pianos you can add through using the flash board.

Definitely sounds better through headphones, hard to describe.  If they made a mute for a piano, it would probably sound like what I’m hearing.  About to update system software, try some tweaks, etc.  I’m sure I’ll get there.  Too many people are digging this machine for it to suck!  Has anybody tried the K Sounds patches?  Are they as good as advertised?

DallasXanadu - 20 May 2015 05:26 PM

Definitely sounds better through headphones, hard to describe.  If they made a mute for a piano, it would probably sound like what I’m hearing.[...]

As cmayhle mentioned, speaker placement in a room can significantly affect how things sound. If it’s “muted"/muddy, try moving the speakers away from walls and off of the floor.

Also, purcell mentioned “touch sensitivity”, but that’s not the term Yamaha uses. Take a look at the Utility mode VelCurve (Velocity Curve) setting, and try “soft”. It can make a substantial difference in the sound. See page 141 of the MOXF Reference Manual.

cmayhle, I have a Motif XF8 that I super super love.
I find these days that a huge amount of the time, I play piano for the lead Part in Performances.
would you please possibly give me any pointers, or settings that you have found that you like, that I could try on my XF8, to compare and see if I like them better than the stock pre-set sounds?
and/or point me towards info on how to tweak the piano sounds myself, in the way that you accomplished modifying them to your liking?
thanks alot,
Charlie

cmayhle - 20 May 2015 12:51 PM

DallasXanadu - 20 May 2015 10:25 AM

After a couple of months of my usual agonizing/research, I brought home a new MOXF8 yesterday.  Running it directly into the EV ZLX-12P speakers I already had, I have to admit I’m pretty underwhelmed by the S6 piano voice that impressed me so much on the demo videos I’ve heard.  I know those videos are generally recorded running the audio straight into the HD camera they use.  So I guess what I’m looking for are suggestions on a relatively inexpensive pair of monitors ($500-700) range that will most accurately reproduce the sound of the board.  If there’s an up-to-date thread addressing this topic already on here, I apologize as I was unable to find it.  Plus, any tweaks to the sound itself you’ve discovered?....

I would set aside the urge buy new speakers right away.  The speakers you have should be perfectly fine to get a good sound.

I can tell you that when I purchased my Motif XF, I did not like the way ANY of the pianos sounded out of the box!

The good news is you have an incredible palette of parameters that will allow you to make the pianos sound the way YOU want them to sound.  Personally, I started with rolling the invariable reverb WAY off.  I then turned to the EQ (at the VOICE level to begin with) to suppress mid-range frequencies that make the piano sound like it is being played from a large cardboard box.

The way any given piano sound is set up in the machine is simply a result of a programming decision to appeal to a broad musician audience.  That may or may not include you...apparently not!

One approach is to use headphones to tweak the MOXF VOICE until you like it in the phones, then turn to trying to capture that sound with the speaker setup.

Speakers and amps in a given room introduce a huge number of extra variables, it can be valuable to reduce those variables initially.

BTW, get a Yamaha FC3 sustain pedal to fully match the half-damper capabilities of the machine.

Have to disagree about the monitor situation. Your EV’s are NOT studio monitors, they are
sound reinforcement (P.A.) speakers. You absolutely should buy a pair of nearfield monitors.
Yamaha makes some really good ones. Go to Sweetwater.com and search for “Yamaha nearfield monitors”.

Keyboard amps, P.A. speakers - these are not accurate. They’re designed to throw sound
across a much larger space. And frankly, some of them are just shite.

Okay, switched velocity curve to “soft”.  Tweaked reverb, and moved the speakers to stands and away from the wall.  I’m a happy camper!  Still will look into some powered monitors for home use.  Yamaha HS7 or HS8 look promising.

There are different schools of thought about what speakers to play through.  Personally, unless I am recording or mixing, I prefer not to play through studio reference monitors.  If you want to fill a space (even a room at home) with piano that sounds good, reference monitors aren’t really designed to do that.  They are made for accurate (as in reference) sound, in a specific location, near-field, with your head at one point of an equilateral triangle.  The other two points of the triangle contain the reference monitors, pointed at your ears.  If that is what you are looking for, then by all means use reference monitors.

You’ll find some additional discussion in This Thread.

Bottom line though, is to experiment with different equipment and programming set-ups to find what works best for you!

DallasXanadu - 21 May 2015 02:19 PM

Okay, switched velocity curve to “soft”.  Tweaked reverb, and moved the speakers to stands and away from the wall.  I’m a happy camper!  Still will look into some powered monitors for home use.  Yamaha HS7 or HS8 look promising.

I can recommend the HS7. Very nice, small studio monitors that are excellent value IMO.

Found the HS8 on sale for $289 each.  Went with them.  I’ve rarely regretted going bigger, only smaller.  They sound excellent.