Well, up to this point there appears to be no new workstation from Yamaha or synth or nothing(up to this point) however I think the best news from Yamaha I’ve heard in a long long time is to have given the Sequential name back to Dave Smith.

http://www.davesmithinstruments.com/2015/01/sequential-back/

Have you ordered your Kronos yet? Enjoy it!

meatballfulton - 22 January 2015 07:41 PM

Have you ordered your Kronos yet? Enjoy it!

So I am not supposed to be upset about Yamaha not coming up with anything new up to this moment (5:00PM MST January 22nd 2015) right ?

Here’s the Yamaha NAMM Showcased Product pdf...just low end piono (p115, p45), E series (E343).  Pretty much staying focused in the low end…

YamahaNewProductsNAMM2015.zip  (File Size: 4738KB - Downloads: 323)

Things work this way .

If Motif XS or XF is really that good you will never need a new model .

If Motif XS or XF is not that good you will need something new.

It seems that so many users want to see a new one...

No need to defend your Motif if it’s really that good. BUT IT’S NOT THAT’S WHY SO MANNY NAMM WATCHERS

Venatt - 22 January 2015 09:02 PM

So I am not supposed to be upset about Yamaha not coming up with anything new up to this moment (5:00PM MST January 22nd 2015) right ?

No, because the lack of a new model doesn’t make the old models stop working or sound worse.

meatballfulton - 23 January 2015 01:04 PM

Venatt - 22 January 2015 09:02 PM

So I am not supposed to be upset about Yamaha not coming up with anything new up to this moment (5:00PM MST January 22nd 2015) right ?

No, because the lack of a new model doesn’t make the old models stop working or sound worse.

Well you see, I have a Sequential Circuits Pro One from 1981 and still sounds and works great.

I really don’t understand the clamoring for a new “Motif” (or whatever it might be called). If you’re unhappy with your current Motif, why was it purchased, and how could Yamaha be trusted to release a new model that you’d like/respect?

I feel just the opposite. While my XS and XF aren’t perfect (nothing is), they mostly do what I want. If Yamaha came out with a model which greatly outperformed the XF, then I might feel bad because I’d develop GAS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:GreyCat/Gear_Acquisition_Syndrome

5pinDIN - 23 January 2015 02:32 PM

I really don’t understand the clamoring for a new “Motif” (or whatever it might be called). If you’re unhappy with your current Motif, why was it purchased, and how could Yamaha be trusted to release a new model that you’d like/respect?

I feel just the opposite. While my XS and XF aren’t perfect (nothing is), they mostly do what I want. If Yamaha came out with a model which greatly outperformed the XF, then I might feel bad because I’d develop GAS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:GreyCat/Gear_Acquisition_Syndrome

I’ll answer why: Because as time marches on, people expect more. The Motif is largely unchanged since 2007. The XF was an “Update”, but come on, it was a tweak at best. The rest of the world is moving on. As both an XS owner and a Kronos owner this is plain to see. Though the Kronos is based on 2005, it’s had many improvements that have brought it up to date with exception of the sequencer. With the “Kronos 2” chances are they’re going to develop it even further, maybe even the sequencer one day!

The days of straight romplers are OVER. Not that the Motif sounds “Bad”, but it’s really starting to show its age. Yamaha hasn’t had any proper VA in it’s machines since the EX5 and FS1R which would both be considered “long in the tooth” by now.

I mean EVEN KURZWEIL is forging ahead! That should tell you something. Nord is now head and shoulders above the Motif for what it does as well. Not just a little bit as before, but now embarrassingly so. Plus the Kronos and Roland is flirting with getting it together too with the Integra and the XA. This is all putting Yamaha DEAD LAST in the PRO MI category.

I am ready to sample what’s left still unique to the Motif and get rid of it. There’s just better options now if you’re doing current stuff. Even the tablet(Surface)/iPad with a controller route is almost viable for live performance.

To understand why everyone is saying “Where’s Yamaha?” One simply has to look around. Let’s hope they’re working on something and we see it at Messe!

meatballfulton - 23 January 2015 01:04 PM

Venatt - 22 January 2015 09:02 PM

So I am not supposed to be upset about Yamaha not coming up with anything new up to this moment (5:00PM MST January 22nd 2015) right ?

No, because the lack of a new model doesn’t make the old models stop working or sound worse.

Because the existence of new models from others make Yamaha’s old products sound worst.

Yamaha cannot introduce a product similar to KRONOS at least for a while.
If you read the pdf file of montavista linux you’ll realize why:

“The previous generations of MOTIF had been developed based on the open source μITRON real-time operating
system. Yamaha designers appreciated the the basic functionality of μITRON as a real-time OS. However, when
they determined the requirements for Yamaha’s next-generation MOTIF XS, the development team realized that
achieving their vision for the products would not be possible with μITRON.”

It indirectly mentions that Yamaha was stuck with the old micro controller realtime OS that time and the engineering team didn’t have enough knowledge to customize a version of linux themselves.

OASYS was developed around 10 years ago. Unless Yamaha has a similar prototype like OASYS it will take them some time to come up with something similar.

Also the technology the have been using is archaic. It will cost Yammy A LOT to put an end on the loop technology meanwhile they have TYROS5’s super articulation engine and some people here are wishing for it.

I guess the best bet for Yamaha is to repack TYROS5 in MOTIF body and resell. Super Articulation engine is the only thing Yamaha has at the moment.

Hopefully others will produce better engine after a while and Yamaha becomes empty handed.

Yamaha’s problem is it’s current motif engineering team.

WesEXer - 23 January 2015 04:13 PM

I’ll answer why: Because as time marches on, people expect more. The Motif is largely unchanged since 2007. The XF was an “Update”, but come on, it was a tweak at best.

The XF’s “update” was more than a “tweak”. If you’re unhappy with the built-in sounds, the flash modules make it possible for that not to be a limitation - assuming it isn’t just that you don’t like “romplers” any more.

The point is, however, if you feel that Yamaha is lagging behind, why not just purchase something from another manufacturer? Complaining about what Yamaha is offering doesn’t have nearly as much impact as buying elsewhere. They’ll get the message, if they haven’t already.

Yamaha will likely either release something new fairly soon, or they’re planning to abandon the market. Either way, I doubt that things written here have much impact on what they do.

abdol - 23 January 2015 05:21 PM

[...]Yamaha’s problem is it’s current motif engineering team.

Do you have some inside knowledge? Otherwise, posting information about the past design of the Motifs doesn’t make a good case.

Just wanted to ask you, what is wrong with the Kronos sequencer ? let’s say compared to the Motif XF sequencer ?

5pinDIN - 23 January 2015 05:40 PM

abdol - 23 January 2015 05:21 PM

[...]Yamaha’s problem is it’s current motif engineering team.

Do you have some inside knowledge? Otherwise, posting information about the past design of the Motifs doesn’t make a good case.

Unless we wont see a new innovative product coming out of Yamaha you really don’t need an inside information to JUDGE the innovation level in MOTIF department.

abdol - 23 January 2015 07:30 PM

5pinDIN - 23 January 2015 05:40 PM

abdol - 23 January 2015 05:21 PM

[...]Yamaha’s problem is it’s current motif engineering team.

Do you have some inside knowledge? Otherwise, posting information about the past design of the Motifs doesn’t make a good case.

Unless we wont see a new innovative product coming out of Yamaha you really don’t need an inside information to JUDGE the innovation level in MOTIF department.

So the answer to my question is “no”, then.  :-)

Indeed, it’s a matter of waiting to see what happens.