Hi there,

There´s a lot of discussion on fora about the quality of the MO compared to the Motif, Motif ES and MM. MO and MM claim is ´based on motif ES´. MO has the same waveforms. Still some say that a MO doesn´t sound as good as the Motif ES. Is this thrue or is it just a better ´feel´ when playing since the ES has aftertouch, metal housing, and especially… more polyphony?
Anyone experience hearing differences between the MO and Motif ES when playing? Just curious…

Kind regards,

Michiel

The MO and Motif ES share the exact same wave ROM, and sequencer paradigm (PATTERN > PATTERN CHAIN > SONG). Yamaha, in general, does not like to short change musicians on the SOUND. There is a saying (Howard Massey, author of many books on synthesizers): there are only three reasons why any musician buys a musical instrument: The SOUND, the SOUND and the SOUND.

The Motif ES has double the polyphony (128) and the ability to have 8 PARTS simultaneously recall their Dual Insertion Effects.
The MO has 64 notes of polyphony and the ability to have 3 PARTS simultaneously recall their Dual Insertion Effects. But other than the number of simultaneous effect PARTS, the effects are the same

Beyond that the physical case is different, the number of pedal options is different, the ES has a Ribbon controller and BC option. There is no output expansion (mLAN, AIEB2, PLG boards, nor DIMMs) meaning there is no sampling in the MO. 

But on the sound? No skimping… beyond the above mentioned number of effect processing items… the sound is going to be identical.

You would be very hard pressed to tell the difference blindfolded.

The MM is simply a “best of” array of original Motif sounds put into a 12-pound wonder… at that price nothing sounds as good. But it does not have the same sequencer or workstation capabilities of the MO-series or Motif-series. There simply is no better sounding sample-based keyboard at its price, period.

Thanks for the explanation, I can see things clearly now...!  :-)

I own an ES but on occasion I have used a MO 8 at another church. There is no difference in the sound quality. What is nice about all the Motif’s, S90’s & MO is the basic setup is very similar, so it is easy to navigate all of them if you are familar with one of the keyboards.

PeterS

I’ve never written a book, but my three reasons are the SOUND, the FEEL, and the SIZE. (I didn’t by a Korg due to no feeling of “throwing a hammer” on keys.) That said, I really the MO8 sounds, and, somewhat strangely to me, the longer I have it the more I like it and the more I think the acoustic piano sounds sound like a real acoustic piano (maybe because I’ve since stopped playing a real acoustic piano?).

I dont think an acoustic piano can ever be replaced from a playing perspective. The acoustics are generated in a mechanical manner as opposed to electronic. You can feel the vibrations of the sound waves in your ears and hands. The strings are reverberating at various distances from maybe 3 feet to 8 feet depending on the size of the piano. There is so much going on in the enviroment from playing an acoustic piano, that you cannot create in a electronic keyboard.

However that said, from a listening perspective in the audience, the difference is not nearly as great. The duplication of the sound of the acoustic piano has come a long way. I dont know that there are many people sitting in an audience that could discern the difference. I am sure there are a few, very few who could.

Here is an example of something I am at a loss to explain. Maybe someone in the forum might have an answer. Personally, I think Yamaha has the best sounding acoustic pianos in their electronic keyboards. I have played the Korgs and Rolands and I hear a big differance in what I consider quality of sound. However, when I am in an audience, listening and not playing, the Korgs & Rolands sound good to me. There seems to be a difference in what I hear when I play & when I am part of the audience even using electronic keyboards.

Food for thought.

PeterS

Hi PeterS,

I hope you’ve read my post ‘mr. tony banks in the house’… by the way.
Your question about the pianosound, well, I migth not have the perfect answer, but I understand what you mean! That’s because my first synth was a SY55. When playing preset voice 1, piano, you did’nt hear a very impressive piano immitation. I played in a pop/rock band at the time, and I bought a R. JV1010 module. The piano voice in this sound module when playing solo at home was like 10 times better. But when playing in the band and listening back to recordings ... the band members defintitly preferred the Yamaha piano sound. How’s that!

Kind regards,

Michiel