Hi All,

I am new to this forum, this is the first time i am writing here, so please be gentle in your comments and kind enough to help me out.
This june i am planning to buy a synthesizer for my birthday, so here are my questions:

here is the list of vst’s i have:

Spectrasonics Omnisphere,
Spectrasonics Stylus RMX,
Spectrasonics Atmosphere,
Spectrasonics Trillian,
Camel alchymy(almost all patches),
Refx Nexus 2.2(almost all expansions),
Native instruments Komplete 5,6
Sampletank 2.5 xxl,
Sonik synth 2,
cakewalk Dimension pro,
cakewalk rapture,
halion,
Hypersonic 2,
Alicia keys piano NI,
Swarplug,
Truepiano,
Pianissmo,
Pianoteq,
Vir2 Acoustic Legends HD,
vir2 cinematic guitars,
vir2 instruments Q,
vir2 garritan voilin solo,
vir2 world impact instruments,
Project Sam Symphobia 2,
East west symphonic choirs.

+

Synthesizer(MOTIF XF or KRONOS)

= COMPLETE.

1)now the synthesizer mentioned above should have SQ that has lots and lots of “fatness” “warm” “analogue sounding” it must almost represent what a “HIFIMAN HM 802” is in mp3 player category(in other words very musical sounding),ESP in ambient acoustic and pads(even if the number is less no problem,it should have the so called “ESCAPISM” sounds, yes i do want the bread and butter sounds,and i don’t want spend too much time on sound Tweaking. 
I need the synthesizer’s signature sound to have the strong impact at a deep emotional and sub-concisous level,one which people can relate to immediately.I know i am exaggerating a little too much here,i do apologise if this sounds too silly or abstract,its just because i am very particular about certain things,and i ask u guys as u have known how it sounds and the impact that it had on you when u first experienced it.

2)I have been leaning towards the motif despite it being a little older to kronos and having less synth engines, as their are some sounds on it esp the pads some of them which i heard in youtube user named “wendlinka” when he demostrated the potential on the yamaha motif xs in certain songs like “real life” “infinity” and some others,it just blew me away.

3)The only reason i am getting a synthesizer is to avoid the delay the we face in a computer browsing throught the category of banks voice etc etc.(i don’t want that flash of inspiration to fade away by the time i choose the sounds),but that does’nt mean it has poor tweaking abilities.And yes,I do like all(most) genre of music.

4)Which of the two synthesizers will cover the blank perfectly “VSTs + _____ = complete”, and i am not into live performances,here in India(bangalore) i’ve played the motif xf in yamaha music square,the person gave mea headphones to try the machine,i was quiet suprised to find that “analogish sound” as shown in the yamaha motif demos in youtube videos was missing,is it the same for all if u test it with a headphone.?

5)Last question i am in a big dilemma whether to buy XF6 or XF7, i know both have the same keybed,as ,if i purchase either one of them,i will not have any penny left to by an extra midi controller(88 keys) (parent restriction :-)) , please do let me know what would be the advantages of the XF7 ?

And please be gentle in your comments, i am hellbent on getting either one of these synthesizers and no other,upgrading from a ordinary psr e-413 to motif or kronos,as for the learning the depths,i know it will be difficult but again, i have my ways.

BOOYA!!! Run as fast as you can here they come, run… Lol

Get the XF and thank me later...the real people are sleeping, I’m the only one awake, so they’ll see you later but you’ll hear the same thing. This is a Yamaha motif forum. What are you dumb????
Peace

t.s.nishanth - 05 March 2012 05:48 AM

Which of the two synthesizers will cover the blank perfectly “VSTs + _____ = complete”?

The computer integration is best in the Motif XF. The REMOTE Mode is just awesome. So is the FW16E FireWire Audio-MIDI Interface. The Motif XF Editor (or the Editor VST) and the AI Extensions (if you’re using Cubase) available free from Yamaha are again really cool. Then, there are those great tools from John Melas that make your life easy.

And, of course, the release of KARMA Motif is also on the cards.

Whichever way you go, don’t forget to get yourself a good pair of Monitor Speakers to complement your synth.

Best wishes,
Vikas

PS: Add to that list Ethernet/WiFi capability and those cool iPad Apps too.

Hi Mlg4ever ,thanks for your quick reply,

Hi VikasSharma,

Yeah what you said about the Firewire stuff is true its indeed amazing,that is one of the reason i am leaning towards the motif,I inquired about the price of the FW16E firewire audio interface in Yamaha music square, but they did not know, do you know how much it costs here in India.And please mention a good pair of
monitor speakers inexpensive ones,as i am on budget constraint.One more question, can’t it(motif) be connected to my regular creative inspire 2.1+subwoofer speakers..?

t.s.nishanth - 05 March 2012 06:39 AM

Yeah what you said about the Firewire stuff is true its indeed amazing,that is one of the reason i am leaning towards the motif,I inquired about the price of the FW16E firewire audio interface in Yamaha music square, but they did not know, do you know how much it costs here in India.

Approx. price in India should be somewhere around ₹17,500, but you’ll have to inquire on that.

And please mention a good pair of monitor speakers inexpensive ones,as i am on budget constraint.One more question, can’t it(motif) be connected to my regular creative inspire 2.1+subwoofer speakers..?

I’d suggest that you DO NOT skimp on your Monitor Speakers. You can postpone the purchase of other things (e.g. FW16E), but you must get a good pair of monitors.

I’m using a pair of Yamaha HS50M monitors and I’m quite satisfied with the results. A pair in India should be somewhere around ₹20,500 or so.

Those Creative Inspire 2.1 (so much for a name) speakers are NO GOOD for your Motif. These kind of speakers are typically a joke and are good only for connecting to an iPod or perhaps a computer for listening to MP3s. Although you can connect them, the sound that you’re going to get will be awful.

Hi t.s.nishanth,
Welcome to the Motifator Forum.
It’s nice to see more folks, from the other side of the globe, journey here through thee www to N. America.

The Motif XF is an awesome, powerful and very well built keyboard/workstation.

You already have a valuable asset here, in Vikas Sharma.
Who could give you a wealth of usefull information, guidance and compliment your learning curve.
Should you choose the Motif XF? Yes, by all means.

You can certainly download the free PDF versions of the Motif Owner’s Manual, Reference Manual and the Motif XF Data List, to help you become familiar with Yamaha Motif XF structure, terminology and about her very broad capabilities.

Enjoy your time here at Motifator.
Best wishes with your ultimate music purchase.

Chas

Motif XF.
Demo’d Kronos and XF side by side, not that exciting.

To be honest man, If you are a s"synth engine” fanatic” you may like the Kronos more. To me, I am of the opinion that the Motif is the best “musician friendly” instrument. You sit down, and make music with quality inspiration sounds, with a balanced level of flexibility that does not come at the expense of the whole point of it all: To make music. And Cubase + VST Editor is hands down the most inspiring part of the package IMHO. God bless....

All I can say is that with all the software instruments you own, I wouldn’t bother with any hardware synthesizer unless you need hardware for some reason like needing to play music without a comnputer.

Don’t misunderstand me, I love my XF (haven’t played Kronos, no local dealers will stock it) but I’ve worked with demos of many of the instruments you own and I don’t think the XF will add anything sonically. In fact, I only wish I had the money to own all those instruments and a computer powerful enough to run them all.

Just my opinion, but I own over half of his list and then some of my own different ones, running on a brand new pc that I just built last month. I still see the value in owning the motif XF.

It has more of a “completeness” to it that none of the VSTs by themselves have. JMO though....

I don’t see me getting the latest a greatest next synth to come out though.... (I am probably just addicted to sounds.....)

VikasSharma,

Thanks for the info,really appreciate it.

Redhotpoker,

thank you for the warm welcome,it’s nice to see you guys work together and do such a good job of helping newbie’s like me and others.

Techman09,

Yeah buddy, even i am not a synth engine fanatic,its just that this purchase will be my first and last,so i just want to make sure that after few years of motif purchase i don’t want to be lagging way behind when new synth comes out.
as for addicted to sounds, same here, since i am very particular about some sounds which come from motif,their are some sounds esp pads i just can’t replicate,for ex: even after layering 10 to 15 layers of different pads in sonik synth 2(also tried in zebra 2 u-he),it just was not as fat and lush sounding as the motif.
Sure many may say i may be lazy in tweeking it right,but after hours of sitting and tweeking in front of the PC i would’ve lost the essence of the song in my head.god bless you too brother..

meatballfulton,

yeah their were times even i thought i did not need a hardware synth,but that “Motif xf- inspiration comes in a flash” is well.., sometimes not the case of software synth for me.I do understand your comment, but my concern was ,will the motif make for this incompleteness(delay).I can always create a structure of the song on the motif,and make it more grand with the help of software synth,so how much does the motif excel in this job..? is what my question was.Does the kronos have an edge over the motif in this department...?
god bless..

And guys,

What would be the advantages,of the xf7 over the xf6,other than additional keys to aid splits..?

I have played both the motif xs6 and motif xf6 the keys on the xs6 were lighter compared to the xf6,sort of fragile actually,is it because of the “burn-in” period(after some usage keys becoming lighter).??Do the keys need time and some usage to become lighter..?

The difference is not really for Yamaha or anyone to tell you. It’s you the user and what you intend to do with your machine. As is the bigger the machine the more the price. However it’s more so matter of convenience than anything; that’s why these options are there. Take for example me; I just bought the XF6 and that’s because I needed just that size for now and it works very well for me. I would have paid the money even if it cost me as much as the 7 or 8.  It’s just that I needed a lot of firepower within a smaller rack than the full blown to allow me mobility. It’s really a matter of convenience and you are the decider. In any case you won’t be stuck with a bad thing if you already picked the XF over that other one. Size, they say doesn’t matter at times. Whereas if you were a player, you would eye more the added value of those extra keys to play on.
Peace

t.s.nishanth - 05 March 2012 05:30 PM

And guys,

What would be the advantages,of the xf7 over the xf6,other than additional keys to aid splits..?

I have played both the motif xs6 and motif xf6 the keys on the xs6 were lighter compared to the xf6,sort of fragile actually,is it because of the “burn-in” period(after some usage keys becoming lighter).??Do the keys need time and some usage to become lighter..?

If you’re going to be playing split keyboard (multi-voices separated across the board, you’ll quickly appreciate having the extra octave of keys.  I have the XF7, we do a few songs where I wish I had the XF8.  Then again, being my own roadie and equipment manager (wink), I think the XF8 just might kill me.  (I’m not that young anymore).

Gee, I thought that was what wive’s were for? j/k

I’m grinning, but single… hug a tree?

Chas

Redhotpoker - 05 March 2012 07:36 PM

Gee, I thought that was what wive’s were for? j/k

I’m grinning, but single… hug a tree?

Chas

LOL.  Even my cute little XF7 would crush my petite darling of a wife.  She wouldn’t get past the curb, much less ever get it 2 feet off the ground and in my car.

As I walk over to the bank to whittle down my utilities,
I’ll be smiling in the cool breeze.

Eh, give her a big bear hug, and tell her you love her just the same.

be well, and perhaps buy that pregnancy girdle advertised here last week…

Ah, for back support!!

Chas