Some years ago I’ve bought a Roland synth and a Logic sequencer.
I’ve spend weeks to try to understand how I could interface the sequencer with the synth, without real satisfying results.

Now I’m planning to buy the Motif Rack XS (Including the Cubase sequencer) and I’m affraid as hell to have to go through complex and time-consuming procedures again.

How easy can one connect the sequencer to the rack?

When I read the manuals, and I watch the demo video’s, all settings (drivers) are included in the sequencer and no real setup has to be done (when applying the firewire-interface).

My basic questio here is : is it really that easy? Do the sequencer actually “sees” all the voices? Can you really assign those voices to 1 of the 16 channels?

Can you edit those voices that easy?

When playing with parameters (= turning knobs) on the rack, does the sequencer follows the changing values?

My hobby is playing music and not trying to understand protocols between my PC and the rack.

Can anybody explain me what he/she had to go through?

Thanks already!

Dirk

Good news, Cubase AI4 comes in the box with the Rack XS so don’t spend any money on a sequencer package until you are comfortable with AI4. All the additional software you’ll need is on the http://www.yamahasynth.com website, so it is a true ‘try before you buy’ proposition.

If you’ve done this sort of thing before, it should not be too bad to figure out, but you’ll see for yourself soon enough. FYI - Sonar http://www.cakewalk.com also has a free version 8 demo you can download. While it does not contain all the add-ons, the basic package itself is complete. Personally, I find Sonar to be 10 times easier to figure out, but that’s just me.

Best of luck!

Bob