Hello!

Help is needed!
I bought Yamaha MoXF 6.
Why are the sounds so muffled? It’s like listening through a pillow.
Not enough high frequencies!
How can I set a common equalizer for all musical instruments?

Thank you!

Hi osmos,

Welcome to the forum.

Usually when a new user suggests that the sound isn’t very bright or is audibly muffled (with the chances of a defective unit being ruled out) the first place to look is at velocity curves.  The default setting of NORMAL doesn’t suit everybody.

For example, I like to play on a SOFT velocity curve which means the keyboard behaves in a louder and brighter way, and that fits the softer way I like to play.  I initially found NORMAL to be similar to your experience when I had to hit the keys harder to get a brighter sound.

You can access the Velocity Curve settings using the UTILITY button:

Utility > General > KBD

When you find the one you like best, don’t forget to press STORE, or the MOXF will forget that setting change when you power off.

osmos - 22 September 2018 04:11 PM

Hello!

Help is needed!
I bought Yamaha MoXF 6.
Why are the sounds so muffled? It’s like listening through a pillow.
Not enough high frequencies!
How can I set a common equalizer for all musical instruments?

Thank you!

Did you buy new or used?  If used - there may be some other global settings saved into the board that affect sound.  you could do a factory reset to ensure everything is restored to original settings.  Also check if you have the latest firmware installed. 

Next question:  How are you hearing the “muffled” sound - exactly what are you connecting to what MOXF output sockets, with what cables etc?  The more specific you are, the better experts here can offer advice.  Have you listened with high quality headphones connected to the headphone jack?  How about the main L/R output ports - what have you connected and how? 

Bottom line is unless you have a hardware defect or some odd programming saved - the MOXF should output a full frequency range across the entire spectrum.  What you describe is not normal or by design.  you don’t want to add an EQ to “fix” it - you want to find the real reason for why it is not to expectation for you.

I bought a new one.
And out of the box sounds muffled.
Can not you hear that?
For recording, I use the equalizer in the settings.
I have every tool to raise the high frequencies by +9 + 12db from 2kHz and higher.

osmos - 30 September 2018 08:50 AM

I bought a new one.
And out of the box sounds muffled.
Can not you hear that?
For recording, I use the equalizer in the settings.
I have every tool to raise the high frequencies by +9 + 12db from 2kHz and higher.

Insufficient key velocity can cause what you’ve described.

You got excellent advice from philwoodmusic. Did you follow it?

The MOXF does not sound “muffled” under normal circumstances. Several relevant points and questions were raised by motidave. If you’d like assistance with the issue you’ve raised, please address what he posted.

Yes, I set the fixed key settings to 74.
This is done in order to have exactly the loudness,
the expression is recorded and played.

osmos - 02 October 2018 09:09 AM

Yes, I set the fixed key settings to 74.

Key velocity values range from 1 to 127. Most Voices will sound “muffled” when velocity is under about 100. Setting the velocity to a fixed value of 74 will cause loss of high frequencies with most Voices, as well as lack of dynamics.

 

osmos -

This is done in order to have exactly the loudness,
the expression is recorded and played.

Most players control such things by how hard they strike the keys (velocity). If you find it necessary to to set the Velocity Curve to a low fixed value, then the loss of high frequencies (and other consequences) will occur.

There’s nothing wrong with your MOXF - you have made a choice that causes it to play the way it does. If you set the Velocity Curve to “normal” or “soft”, and strike the keys hard enough, the high frequencies will be apparent.

osmos - 30 September 2018 08:50 AM

For recording, I use the equalizer in the settings.
I have every tool to raise the high frequencies by +9 + 12db from 2kHz and higher.

No amount of EQ will help you if you are using a flat velocity setting of 74.  You’ll just be brightening an already muffled sound.  There won’t be any unmuffling as such.

Thank you friends for your help in this matter!

But I was repelled in my settings first from the drum.
Key speed is adjustable from 1 to 127
My tuning 74 is more than the middle, if you set 101 then the sound of the snare drum will be very sharp and aggressive, as if it is already beaten in a jump, the piano is the same.
When adjusting the average intensity of keystrokes, the sound, as for me, is deaf for recording ...

osmos - 03 October 2018 06:01 AM

Thank you friends for your help in this matter!

You’re welcome.

 

osmos -

But I was repelled in my settings first from the drum.
Key speed is adjustable from 1 to 127
My tuning 74 is more than the middle, if you set 101 then the sound of the snare drum will be very sharp and aggressive, as if it is already beaten in a jump, the piano is the same.

That is one reason why using a “fixed” Velocity Curve is usually a bad idea. With Velocity Curve set to “soft” you control the sound by how hard a key is hit. If you record MIDI data to the sequencer and it doesn’t sound right in a few places, the velocity for some notes can be edited.

 

osmos -

When adjusting the average intensity of keystrokes, the sound, as for me, is deaf for recording ...

Sorry, it seems we have a language barrier. I read what you wrote, but I’m still trying to determine what you meant.

Perhaps these will help:
http://www.motifator.com/index.php/support/view/midi_velocity_and_audio_record_levels

http://www.motifator.com/index.php/support/view/mox6_mox8_recording_tips_from_bad_mister

osmos - 03 October 2018 06:01 AM

if you set 101 then the sound of the snare drum will be very sharp and aggressive, as if it is already beaten in a jump, the piano is the same.

I’d suggest that there is something unusual about your monitoring (the speakers / amp you are listening on)

We get this type of problem come up on the forum a lot, either something sounds too dull or too bright, or has too much mid, or is muddy, and it’s pretty much always the monitoring.

Snare drums are supposed to sound sharp because they are metal or wood with plastic, hit with a stick. There are ways that you can edit velocity or cut off per instrument or per midi channel, if you want to do that, but it’s not a great solution for you.

Having owned a MOX, a MOXF and a Motif XF, and worked with them through world class monitoring systems, I can tell you that there is nothing over the top or lacking in the sound of any of them.  They are in fact some of the nicest sounding keyboards I’ve ever used.

I’d take a bet that whatever you are listening on is already hyping the higher frequencies somehow, either by design or by adjustment, and thats your problem.

if your monitoring is nice and neutral your MOXF will sound fine.

With the volume level, everything is fine.
High frequencies are not enough ...

Have the MOXF since 2014 and still use it as my main production tool. I have to say, I also had sometimes issues with recordings sounding “muffled” (in particular when doing whole multi track arrangements with MOXF) which I did not have to that extend with some other gear. I had to do quite some EQ-ing (in Song / Mixing Mode), but this then sort of did the job for me. To be fair, Yamaha provides EQs on several levels. You have the 5 band master EQ, 3 Band EQs per Part, and another 2 band EQs on Element level. Plus, a lot of voices uses EQs (VCM EQ 501) as insert effects. So, tools are provided to get the sound you want, but “out of the box”, I’d say the sound character is often a bit darker (maybe its neutral, and other manufactures just do some EQ for the high frequencies as default, I don’t know).

Ah and one more thing: I recorded my stuff through the MOXF USB audio interface, which should be purely digital, and listened to the result on different speakers etc., so I guess things like converters, cables, etc. can be ruled out. You might want to do that as well as a double check if it is really just the “normal Yamaha sound character”, of if there is indeed something else / more in your setup.

One possible problem is that sometimes users turn the volume level up too high on their amplifier(s) or powered speakers. Then they compensate by not striking the keys very hard, leading to low key velocity levels and corresponding lowering of high frequency content. The cure for that can be to simply turn the amp down and hit the keys harder. That, of course, assumes Velocity Curve hasn’t been set to a fixed value.

And how to find a five-band equalizer,
where is it in the moXF?

In Voice Mode: Utility -> Voice -> MEQ
In Song / Pattern Mode: Mixing -> Edit -> MEQ

You can also adjust it using the Computer Editor, its right on the top