Dear Monsieur Bad and Yamaha U.S.:  there is much ado among various posts about the new XF and Logic - but nowhere is there a concise, layerperson-y (newbie)-directed answer in one place from Yamaha that I can find to this question in one simple reply, so would you kindly provide it, as thou arth the buck stopped:  for those of us newbies who already bought Logic, and now want to buy the new XF, what can’t the XF provide or what can’t we do w/the XF -when we use Logic—and what are the consequences practically (in as non-tech jargon as you can explain it, as some of us are just old fashion musicians w/out the tech lingo knowledge/savvy).  Merci (and sorry to bore those others who are conversant with what VST editing and all the rest means practically to us non-tech musicians-and I know this issue isn’t limited to just VST, so please an item-by-item explanation not just on each gap would be so helpful.  Merci.

We thought our previous post was pretty clear, but we will repeat it here with a slightly different wording. 

Currently there is no available software that works inside of Logic. That is because Logic does not support VST3.

We will be releasing a stand alone editor so you will be able to run that software and edit the XF without running a DAW.  In the meantime , if you want to edit the Motif XF, you can install the bundled Cubase AI and run the editor from inside Cubase.  You don’t have to use Cubase for any sequencing, you are just using it as a VST3 host to host the editor.

Obviously this is a long term solution so as we said we will soon release a Stand alone editor (you can run the editor without a DAW at all).

Finally in the future we hope that there will be an editor that will integrate inside Logic as an AU plug in.

Yamaha_US - 15 September 2010 11:00 AM

Finally in the future we hope that there will be an editor that will integrate inside Logic as an AU plug in.

Huge!

We agree and have been pushing hard for it.

Many thanks Y-U.S. for your reply. I am very enthusiastic about Y & about XF so please know that (unlike a few cynical folks on this site) I find what y’all do to be pretty cool and as a consumer have been supporting it and intend to keep doing so.  So thanks again.  That being said, excuse moi but your helpful (to likely most on this site, who have tech-jargon savvy) reply still leaves this newbie a bit in the dark, so can you sip some calming tea, know that you have a varied user-base, kindly not get annoyed and please lay it out a bit more simplistically in this way: 

(1) you seem to be saying the ONLY gap is that one cannot (presently) edit the XF from “inside” Logic. —is that correct?  other than that, there’s no downside if one’s a Logic owner to buying and using the XF - the Logic owner is not missing any experience with the XF other than the (present) ability to edit the XF from within the Logic environment?  that’s all?

(2) can you help explain why one would need to or want to edit inside the Logic environment - remember, before you throw your computer out the window with such a lame question, take a “kindness for the slow” pill for we newbies—so just explain some key examples of what’s to edit, why would one want to do that inside Logic?

—and as a work-around, can we Logic folk just as easily edit on the XF board anything you think we’d likely want to edit inside Logic?

—and can we do so even when we’re working on a DAW-assisted song?

(3) can you give a newbie-friendly explanation of what a VST3 host is - what does it mean to “host” the editor” - and again, why would we want that and if we Logic folks aren’t likely to get that in the very near future (e.g., I’m about to pick up my XF8), and yet if we don’t want to toss our investment in Logic - is there a work-aroound available now, such as editing on the board or something like that?

thanks for your patience - it will continue to pay dividends with truly loyal and grateful support for Yamaha

dexG - 15 September 2010 03:52 PM

Many thanks Y-U.S. for your reply. I am very enthusiastic about Y & about XF so please know that (unlike a few cynical folks on this site) I find what y’all do to be pretty cool and as a consumer have been supporting it and intend to keep doing so.  So thanks again.  [...] thanks for your patience - it will continue to pay dividends with truly loyal and grateful support for Yamaha

Could you describe what kind of taste you had in your mouth after writing your post?

Having the XF, or XS for that matter, function within Logic as an AU would allow you not only to edit the Motif from within Logic but perform offline bounces. Currently, the only way to bounce the output of the XF would be to either record the parts as audio first (allowing for offline bounce), or create something called External Instruments in Logic and bounce in realtime…

So essentially, the XF could function as another software instrument…

No real integration with logic. Obviously you can play in realtime and record the audio outputs or a midi sequence playing the XF and record the audio outputs (online bounce). Am I missing anything?

Only the fact that no one has said there is no ‘real’ integration with Logic…

The remote function obviously qualifies as integration. The stand alone editor when relased perhaps doesn’t operate within Logic but you have essentially the same functionality…
The External Instrument is integration. The ability to call up and recall XF voices from the editor. There’s probably more that escapes my mind right now…

Integration on the level of Virus TI or XF in Cubase, no. XF can operate the transport via MMC & send controllers but I can do that already on older keyboards. The yammy implementation is much nicer. For me this isnt an issue because this is how I already work. Can multiple firewire devices communicate with a single host? I asked this question, just a different way & got a no.

I have no concern for the Virus TI, though many on this forum love to reference it. The point made is that you can do precious little in Cubase with the XF that you can’t do in Logic. And once the AU capability becomes a reality hopefully by winter Namm, nothing…