I am going to purchase a plg board, but I am skeptical if it will work or not because my line inputs do not read anything, I want to know if the plg board uses the same architecture as the line inputs there fore resulting in it not working as well. If my line inputs do not work, will my PLG boards work if I purchase one?

Hi,

You have not stated specifically which PLG board you want to buy, but audio input is only required for the PLG-100VH Vocal Harmonizer board. It shows up as an additional effect unit when installed, and uses the host instrument’s A/D input (microphone) to generate vocal harmonies.

All the other PLG models are synthesizer/tone generator boards, and should operate even if your audio inputs are disabled.

PLG-100VH: Vocal harmony effects
PLG-100SG: Vocaloid-type formant shaping
PLG-100XG: AWM2-based XG voices (16 parts)
PLG-100DX/PLG-150DX: FM synthesis
PLG-100VL/PLG-150VL: Physical modelling
PLG-150AN: Virtual analogue
PLG-150AP: AWM2-based grand piano
PLG-150PF: AWM2-based piano voices
PLG-150DR: AWM2-based drum kits
PLG-150PC: AWM2-based percussion kits

All PLG boards are compatible with the Motif, but please note that the original PLG-100 series was developed for XG tone generators, like the MU-series.

XG tone generators didn’t have memory to save custom voices. Instead, parameters had to be saved using an editor on your computer, often inserted directly into a MIDI file in your sequencer. When playing these files back through the tone generator, the parameters were recalled. Any PLG-specific data would be directed to the corresponding PLG board’s edit buffer. This edit buffer is volatile (contents are lost when the instrument is shut off), and only holds data for one voice.

The PLG-150 boards were fitted with extra memory, in addition to the edit buffer, that allowed the host instrument to upload a full bank of custom voices to each board. This user bank is also volatile, but can be reloaded from the Motif’s SmartMedia slot, and also autoloaded on startup. With a PLG-100 board, this is not possible, although the Motif can still use voices from the board’s own preset banks.

To design custom voices for the PLG boards, your Motif should be connected to a PC (editor software is actually the only way to reach all the board parameters). The way voices are transmitted and stored can be confusing at first, but is well worth it once you’ve learned how.

- H -