I had a chance to demo the Motif XF her in Tokyo....specifically its sampling.

I attempted to chop/slice a short drum loop and it took way too long for the Motif XF to accomplish this.  Samplers created a decade ago can edit faster than the XF in this regard.

What took so long to accomplish on the Motif XF the sequence steps or the chop/slice processing?

jahrome - 26 October 2010 09:32 AM

I had a chance to demo the Motif XF her in Tokyo....specifically its sampling.

I attempted to chop/slice a short drum loop and it took way too long for the Motif XF to accomplish this.  Samplers created a decade ago can edit faster than the XF in this regard.

If it took “way too long” then you’re doing something wrong. Slicing
a drum loop of say, 2 to 4 bars, or even 8 bars, is very fast on the
XF - at least it is on mine.

Here’s the thing - if the drum loop is not trimmed correctly, it won’t loop correctly, and that can cause a delay while the XF tries to figure’
out where to set the loop. Almost all of the complaints I see about
bad looping results are due to the wave file itself being incorrectly
trimmed, so there’s blank space either before it starts or after it ends,
or the wave file was “pre-looped” badly to begin with. Some loops just
won’t “loop” - there’s no zero crossing point where you can set an end
point, so the loop just “clicks” when it starts over.

Sample CD’s or collections you download can be full of bad loops. I’ve
encountered this problem a lot.

Naw...I didn’t do anything “wrong.” I just pull up a drum kit and when into the sample menu.  I sampled myself playing a drum pattern.  It wasn’t long at at all.  Then I sliced the sample.  No looping and I didn’t attempt to create a sequence.  It just took longer than I expected.  When I sit down with it some more, I will write about my specific settings.

Not really here to debate..just to tell about my experience with it.  And as I wrote earlier...the XF along with the other current keyboard workstations (to include my Fantom G) on the market...are really limited when it comes to sampling.

I also want to note that the Motif XF has too many menus you have to access to actually sample.  The Fantom G has two menus to get to actually sampling.  The XF has 4.  An MPC has just one.

Jah I feel you, Sadly I’ve come to accept that the days of sampling setups as we know it are Over!!!!  I’m learning the Motif now and although it’s no ASR-10 by any stretch it’s not too bad.  Unless you’re using a computer pretty much this is all we got.  I think the only real workstation that has what you’re looking for is probably the Korg M3.  As with all pieces there’s a learning curve, once past it you’re golden.  I haven’t seen anyone use the motif in the capacity you’re speaking of but hell I’m trying to be the first.  Once I get the hang of this beast It’s a Wrap!!!!

Try it it’s not too bad

Me and my girl just left a local dealer and I was talking about how companies like Korg, Roland, Yamaha, and Akai are just repackaging their products...probably due to the economy and lack of market for highend workstations.  Not really sure if that is true. But...I haven’t been happy with the sampling in my Fantom G so I have been looking for an alternate which is the reason for my interest in the XF.  I will most likely pick up the board by Christmas because there are no other alternatives.  I was a big fan of the Korg Triton Studio but I passed on the M3 because I though it was one of the ugliest and cheapest looking highend workstation I have ever seen.  Used models are dirt cheap in Japan so I may have to take a look at that also.

...regardless....Yamaha if you are listening/reading....show some love to the sampling aspects of the XF.  No need to reinvent the wheel.  All of the sampling tools I have talked about are in samplers of the past and present.  Just no company has set out to put them all in one keyboard workstation.