Since mLAN16E’s are not available, is there another way to use Cubase 5 with the Motif ES8?  If so, can you transfer your 16 tracks from a song to Cubase 5?  Are there other options avaiable?

We assume you mean transferring audio to Cubase. Of course, you can use any audio interface, you simply connect the analog outputs of your Motif ES to the audio interface.

Nothing else (other than the mLAN16E) will provide 16 simultaneous audio bus outputs from the Motif ES to your computer. But that should not stop you from using an external audio interface. If you are recording audio, you typically are building audio tracks 1 at a time (multi-track recording ala Les Paul).

While the mLAN16E does afford you greater capabilities in terms of routing, they are now hard to find - they were in production 2003-2007

If you are talking transferring MIDI data from the Motif ES8 to Cubase 5, that can be done easily via USB

The slot on the back of the Motif ES also could house the AIEB2 which is also discontinued - this provided 6 additional analog outputs along with coaxial and optical S/PDIF outputs.

Phil:

Were these add-on products discontinued because they didn’t sell very well?

Cheers,

Mike T.

Were these add-on products discontinued because they didn’t sell very well?

On the contrary. The mLAN16E was expressly made for the following products two products:
Motif ES6/7/8 (2003) workstation
S90 ES (2005) synthesizer
Period.

There are no other products that used it. It is now 2010. Both the Motif ES and S90 ES are long discontinued - no longer a need to make support items for those products. If you were going to expand your unit with firewire that worked in 2003, you would have done it by now (or at least that is the thinking) lol.

Certainly, digital recording where you are using something as complex as 16 bus outputs via firewire is a smaller niche. If everyone was going to be using it, it would come standard (like analog outputs). But much like ‘sampling’ is an option on the Motif-series, it is not for everyone, but if you are into it, you have the option of expanding your unit and taking advantage of the potential.

Thanks for asking… typically it is those that know when it comes out, that this is something they have been waiting to do. If you are introduced to it some time later, this may be harsh - but you can be too late. Technology, for some moves way too fast, and for other not near fast enough. It’s like river: if you are standing on the river bank watching the current move past you, it can look like it is very fast… but once you in the river and adjust to it… everything is moving along with you, it can seem like it is not fast enough! :)

Fortunately, there are enough musicians interested in recording at home to support something as groundbreaking as 16 audio bus outputs from a keyboard workstation. Yes, it is one-of-a-kind and yes, it is a niche, no one else but Yamaha does this on this scale.

The newer generation of pro products (Motif XS and Rack XS) use a different driver, run on different computer OS’s and therefore different hardware was needed to be made to support all of this. The Motif XS and Motif-Rack XS, for example, take the mLAN16E2 (Starting back in 2007)

The mLAN16E2 is a transitional hardware option that is bridging the gap between old generation mLAN/firewire and next generation firewire interfacing). So it is happening again as we speak. Such is the rhythm of life.

Something like expansion options are provided for those that want to push their instrument to its full potentional. While it is never on a 1:1 relationship with the number of units sold, it is still a very significant number of folks. Some “get it” right away - and some (as this thread is proof) are late to the party.

Just as a few points of reference:
The Motif ES with mLAN16E was released when Cubase SX, Sonar 2, Logic 5 and Digital Performer 3 were still current. Yikes.