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Yamaha MOTIF ES6

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Workstations from the MOTIF series by Yamaha

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Yamaha MOTIF ES6 user reviews ( 9/10) - 22 user reviews

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11/27/11

ericthegreat's review "Very good sounds"

Characteristics
Yamaha really created a good product with the Motif ES6 , I think it's pretty user-friendly and you can literally spend days on trying to figure out all of it features because there's too many to mess with. You can change waveforms, add just about any effect to your sound, create scores, and make entire compositions. This instrument doesn't really need expansion boards unless you really need a specific sound that this workstation doesn't have.
Utilization
I found this workstation to be quite user-friendly. I had a lot of it figured out on the second day of messing with it. If the screen was just a little bigger then the Motif would be really off the chain! I usually need help from somebody to show me how to work things like this but I happened to figure it out on my own. Even my friend who owns a Korg Triton Pro-Workstation enjoys playing my Motif over his Korg any day.

No problems yet with this workstation. It never leaves my studio and is never in any harms way. Damn, I paid nearly 2 G's for this thing. It is well taken care of. The quality of the manufacturing is pretty good, you can feel the quality of texture of the keys when you place your fingers on them.
Sounds
The sound quality on the ES is truly top quality! It beats any other synthesizer on the market today. With over 1,000 sounds built-in, there is no need for samples! What I personally liked were the strings and brass on the ES. They are incredibly real and are not ; meaning they have many effects. For example, acoustic guitars are programmed such that when you hit the key on the keyboard, it's like hitting the actual string on the guitar, sensitivity matters! Another thing about the ES is the 64 built-in drum kits. They contain everything from Hip Hop, R&B, Rock, Belly Dancing to Garage kits.
Overall Opinion
The ES is built tough. The exterior is very durable and somewhat scratch-resistant. The keys are high quality, as with other Yamaha's I've used. One drawback is the ; of the ES gets dirty and smudgy with simple day-to-day use.

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08/05/11

yoTrakkz's review "Good Starter.."

Characteristics
The Yamaha Motif ES6 is a great board and workstation. It only has 6 octaves but you can transpose to a different octave. The Motif ES isn’t as powerful as the XS versions but it still holds its own weight. It has everything you need to compose great music. The Yamaha Motif ES6 has very good sequencing and has professional sounds to get your music to the next level for an affordable price.
Utilization
The sounds are amazing, great synths, strings and pads. You can use this keyboard for any genre of music. You could have this for a year and still learn something new out of the blue. The Yamaha Motif ES6 give you full control of the sounds to manipulate them any way you would like. Unfortunately the screen isn’t nice and big like it is on the XS. Its very small and cheap, there also isn’t as many effects as there is on the XS version of the board. With the smaller screen its harder to editing the effects and sequencing / midi notes the way you want to or may be used to if you are coming from a higher version of the Yamaha Brands or from a software sequencing program like Acid, Reason or FL Studio. Don't get me wrong, the Yamaha ES6 is a great board, but its no where as near as powerful as the XS versions of the Yamaha boards. If you compare the too boards its definitely worth saving up a little more money to get the higher version of this board.
Sounds
Comes with a bunch of presets and a bunch of kits from hop hop to rock. I love all of the horn presets, and the orchestra hits!
Overall Opinion
It is loaded with a ton of presets to get you p and running, and the manual is very clear and concise. But you will definitely need to take the time to read the manual. You wont be able to do everything you need to do right off the bat until you pick up the manual (that is if you are new to this board). If you are a vet to Yamaha’s workstations this will be a perfect fit for u. It comes stocked with drum kits and sound effects that you wow you. Price is on the higher end, but its well worth the investment.

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08/05/11

yoTrakkz's review "Great keyboard.."

Characteristics
The Yamaha Motif ES6 is a great board and workstation. It only has 6 octaves but you can transpose to a different octave. The Motif ES isn’t as powerful as the XS versions but it still holds its on weight. It has everything you need to compose great music.
Utilization
The sounds are amazing, great synths, strings and pads. You can use this keyboard for any genre of music. You could have this for a year and still learn something new out of the blue. The Yamaha Motif ES6 give you full control of the sounds to manipulate them any way you would like. Unfortunatly the screen isn’t nice and big like it is on the XS. Its very small and cheap, there also isn’t as many effects as there is on the XS version of the board.
Sounds
Comes with a bunch of presets, a bunch of kits from hip hop to rock. All sounds are really good and realistic. I love the horn presets, very clean and crisp.
Overall Opinion
Overall,It is loaded with a ton of presets to get you p and running, and the manual is very clear and concise. But you will definitely need to take the time to read the manual. You wont be able to do everything you need to do right off the bat until you pick up the manual (that is if you are new to this board). If you are a vet to Yamaha’s workstations this will be a perfect fit for u. It comes stocked with drum kits and sound effects that you wow you. Price is on the higher end, but its well worth the investment.

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11/02/08

Audiofanzine FR's review

Characteristics
(Originally written by geo1208/translated from Audiofanzine FR)

- The Motif ES6 is the smallest from the Motif Series with "only" 5 octaves. The ES7 has one additional octave which would be certainly perfect but it was out of my budget. Nevertheless you can shift the octaves of the keyboard if you need to.

- The pitch bend wheel is very effective. It also has a modulation wheel and a touch-sensitive ribbon controller.

- The rear panel provides all connections you need: jack outputs, foot controller connectors, Midi in/out/thru, etc. The workstation has two USB ports, one for your computer and a second one for a USB storage device with loads of samples ^^

- You get tons of sounds for the different instrument groups (strings, piano, keyboard, brass, lead, pad/choir, etc.). All in all you have about 750 sound presets plus 400 user presets. It's very easy to create good presets that sound better than the factory presets.

I haven't mastered each effect yet but I can say that they add realism and power to the already impressive sounds.

- I haven't connected it to a PC yet. You also get a CD-ROM full of software with the Motif.
Utilization
- I muss confess that I was a little befuddled the first time I used it due to the huge number of functions and symbols on screen, even though it's not my first synthesizer or sequencer. The first day you'll only listen to the sounds, the first week you'll understand how everything works and by the end of the first month you'll have your first song ^^.

- Sound editing doesn't seem very difficult, but I haven't tried it out yet. The presets are so good that I don't need to edit the sounds.

- The user's manual is clear but you'll need some time to read it all because it has nearly 300 pages. It's a bit like the keyboard itself, in the beginning you can get lost very easily but once you know where to find what you are looking for it's amazing!
Sounds
- I basically bought it because of the sounds! They are simply incredible, especially the acoustic sounds. The piano presets are very good and I find them even better than the "Steinberg Grand 2".

The electric pianos are also very good: smooth, jazzy, powerful... There is only one mediocre harpsichord but who uses it anyway?

The bass presets are really fat and fit every music style.

The guitars are the best of the whole bunch. The possibilities are HUGE if you know how to "play" guitar with a keyboard! It's stunning with the arpeggio function. It's almost as if you had bought a guitar with your Motif!

I like especially the "Mega Steel" preset.

There are lots of acoustic strings... Cello, violin and strings ensembles that sound very impressive. Synth strings sound all alike and they don't have the same attack as the acoustic strings, but you can edit them.

The numerous brass and wind instruments sound incredibly real and you can achieve very good things with them!

The lead presets are also very good and the editing possibilities are endless. However you don't have many pad or choir presets.

The drum kits are really stunning and they provide all sorts of sounds (808, 909, house kit, drum'n bass kit, new rock kit, etc.) and you can add your own samples.

The sounds of this synth are some of the best out there. If you already have a master keyboard you can get the Motif rack version, but the keyboard is very good anyhow. I didn't test lots of other synths but there is no comparison between this and my old Xboard 49!
Overall Opinion
- I've owned it for over 2 months and I'm still discovering new possibilities.

- I love its sound but I found the unit too complex in the beginning.

- I used to have a computer with VST plug-ins and a master keyboard (Emu Xboard 49). This is my first big workstation and I'm pretty sure I will keep it for a long time (in spite of the new XS launch).

- If the price seems a bit high you can always buy it secondhand. But for the price you get everything you need in one workstation. In the worst case you'll have to buy a USB storage device for your own samples... Considering all the possibilities it offers you it's very cheap!

- I know now I should have bought it earlier! I wouldn't hesitate buying it again. You won't regret it if you like to play and make music. ^^

I give it a 10. It's one of the best all-round workstations on the market and it surely deserves a place in every studio.

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10/31/08

FP User Reviews's review

Characteristics
The ES is equipped with a Step Sequencer, demolishing the need for MPC's and other sequencing hardware. It is somewhat hard to use, but is a breeze to use and export once you get a grip on it. The ES is equipped with the largest memory of all synthesizers; 175mb upgradable. The features on the ES in general are phenominal. The ES has over 1,700 arpeggios built in! With that many arpeggios, you are sure to find what you're looking for, from Rock, to Funk, to Hip-Hop pre-programmed arpeggios. The ES also has a hardware mixer, to mix your songs live. Another unique feature is the optional mLAN, which is an add-on that will enable the ES to function as an Audio Interface when connected to a computer. The ES also works as a Pre-amp for dynamic microphones.

Price paid

$1,600
Utilization
The OS on the ES (as with the original Motif) is somewhat hard to use. It takes a day or two to get used to getting around, finding the right sound (from a library of 1000s of sounds) and trying to find what you're exactly looking for. Navigation through the "F" and "SF" buttons is not exactly a breeze. I have had the keyboard for a while but it's still hard to find the specific voices I'm looking for.
Sounds
The sound quality on the ES is truely top quality! It beats any other synthesizer on the market today. With over 1,000 sounds built-in, there is no need for samples! What I personally liked were the strings and brass on the ES. They are incredibly real and are not "stock," meaning they have many effects. For example, acoustic guitars are programmed such that when you hit the key on the keyboard, it's like hitting the actual string on the guitar, sensitivity matters! Another thing about the ES is the 64 built-in drumkits. They contain everything from Hip Hop, R&B, Rock, Belly Dancing to Garage kits.
Overall Opinion
The ES is built tough. The exterior is very durable and somewhat scratch-resistent. The keys are high quality, as with other Yamahas I've used. One drawback is the "face" of the ES gets dirty and smudgy with simple day-to-day use.

I have to say I absolutely love this keyboard. The sounds, the quality, the overall professional feel is what sets this keyboard apart from others on the market. It definitely earns a 10.

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com

Posted by: range ( 4-, 2006)

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10/31/08

FP User Reviews's review

Characteristics
Perfect again it has everything i need im lovin the mute buttons.

Price paid

$1,400
Utilization
Very easy i was told a few things and checked the manual once or twice and pretty much know everything i need to know.

built real nice. it was dropped before and all that broke was the usb input witch i use so i had to get reapired cost 80 cutz other than that no problems
Sounds
Lovely this thing is crazy everything is perfect. i have a mpc 2000 for drums but lately ive been sampling them into the motif at a lower sample rate. real nice naw mean
Overall Opinion
I love this joint i woundnt trade for a fantom and two tritons. first equipment i had other than fruityloops and a sp-303. i have a mpc 2000 that im learning how to use but my motif is taking up all my time.

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com

Posted by: almost-famous ( 3-, 2006)

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10/31/08

FP User Reviews's review

Characteristics
Yamaha did a great job with not excluding any features that you can think of for a workstation. I think it's pretty user-friendly and you can literally spend days on trying to figure out all of it features because there's too many to mess with. You can change waveforms, add just about any effect to your sound, create scores, and make entire compositions. This instrument doesn't really need expansion boards unless you really need a specific sound that this workstation doesn't have.

Price paid

$1800
Utilization
I found this workstation to be quite user-friendly. I had a lot of it figured out on the second day of messing with it. If the screen was just a little bigger then the Motif would be really off the chain! I usually need help from somebody to show me how to work things like this but I happened to figure it out on my own. Even my friend who owns a Korg Triton Pro-Workstation enjoys playing my Motif over his Korg any day.

No problems yet with this workstation. It never leaves my studio and is never in any harms way. Damn, I paid nearly 2 G's for this thing. It is well taken care of. The quality of the manufacturing is pretty good, you can feel the quality of texture of the keys when you place your fingers on them.
Sounds
The sound quality of almost all sounds on this workstation is great. There are a few things on the keyboard that I'm discontent with but it all depends on what you want from the workstation. Since I produce R&B and Hip-Hop tracks, this has been a great instrument for me. The Motif ES6 is one of those instruments that offer some things that other workstations don't have, but those other workstations have some things that the Motif doesn't have. It all depends on you. I wish Yamaha added just a few more orchestral sounds and sound effects. The Motif is great if you want to incorporate real-like sounds into your tracks. If you want to create electronic music like dance music, then this isn't the workstation for you. With this workstation, you're definitly going to be creating tracks that are of the same quality as the ones that are out on the radio or cd's that you buy in stores. That's only if you know how to use it.
Overall Opinion
I use the Motif in every track that I make. I don't make my tracks entirely with the Motif but it is a must-have.

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com

Posted by: Unfadeable Isaiah (January 0-, 2005)

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10/31/08

FP User Reviews's review

Characteristics
To me there really isn't anything missing!

Price paid

1,800
Utilization
The machine itself wasn't hard to use. This is coming from someone that is new to producing.I think that everything is somewhat easy to figure out and the manual isn't bad.

Well I just purchase the motif es6 so, so far so good!!
Sounds
I'm somewhat new to this whole producer thing but, I'm not new to the music industry in a whole. As far as buying a workstation the motif es6 is great. The sounds on this machine go great with the type of music that my partners ,and myself produce. That type of music would be hip hop r&b ,and rock alternative. Honestly, I believe that all the top three workstation have something good to offer it really comes down to what you want. I did alot of research before I purchased this machine ,and it seems that what one machine may offer the other doesn't. So therefore it really comes down to you. Because if the person behind the machine is no good it really doesn't matter what you buy!
Overall Opinion
Well honestly I wouldn't say I love the motif but, I like it alot. I mean damn I just spent damn near two grand on it. Really I hope that my motif ,and all of my other equipment that I use an my other producers equipment they use. Can just some how get us to the damn promise land. What I mean by that is the next level. So do I love the motif, well only time will tell.....

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com

Posted by: Unknown ( 2-, 2005)

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