Yamaha MM6

The Yamaha MM6 is Yamaha's 'baby' version of the company's flagship keyboard, the Motif. The MM6 offers a wide variety of sounds, most of which are strictly taken from the Motif. It also has a wide variety of ways of creating new sounds and editing them. There are many DSP effects to choose from in the Edit and Utility menus. It comes with four classic knobs with controls such as Cutoff, Reso, Attack, Release. There are also Dual and Split buttons, made for quick sound layering and splitting. The MM6 also features an eight-track MIDI sequencer. Finally, the MM6 features "Performance Memory," which allows users to save their favorite sound settings into eight buttons on the machine. There are eight banks of eight patch locations, allowing a total of 64 presets.

UTILIZATION

Sound editing is very simple. As mentioned earlier, there are many different ways to make and edit sounds. There are so many types of DSP, Reverb, Chorus, etc. effects that can be found in the Edit, Utility menus. You can route different effects, and tell the instrument which sounds get what effect in what patch. On top of effects, there are four realtime control knobs on the panel, which allow for quick, on the go, sound editing. The manual is clear and explains all of the above in perfect detail. Sound editing can be time consuming on this instrument, but generally speaking, the overall ease of use is fantastic.

SOUNDS

The sounds are of high quality, as most are taken from the company's famous, flagship keyboard, the Motif. Now, note I didn't say "extremely high quality." The onboard sounds are good, but you can definitely tell that this instrument is not very expensive just by playing a few of them. I highly recommend editing almost everything, and tweak everything to your liking. This instrument was not designed for basic sounds such as piano, organ, strings, etc. It does, of course, provide those basic sounds, but I recommend using the instrument to its fullest extent, editing all patches to your liking.

OVERALL OPINION

I really love this instrument. It's simple, easy to use, and great for anybody. Whether you are a live performer, studio engineer, or someone who wants to treat themselves to a nice synth experience, this keyboard could provide you some benefit. Routing and editing is simple, but a lot of that is time consuming. Luckily, Yamaha provides preset memory, so you can store your favorite settings into up to 64 different locations, so you don't have to scramble to get all your settings the way you want. The MM6 is a nice, street smart synth, and is a great buy out there on the market. It is well worth what Yamaha is selling it for. It currently sells for approx. $500. Maybe a bit more or a bit less...depends where you buy it from. But I'd say this instrument should be roughly $1000 based on its features. Great buy!

The MM6 is one of the more affordable synths from Yamaha, it does have some of the Motif Sounds but not all of them. The sequencer that the MM6 has could be a lot better, it is not easy to use and not very good. You can control your sound easily with the MM6 and add effects and tweak sounds quickly and all in real time. The MM6 has a arpeggiator on it and some built in groove sounds for all your background accompaniment.

UTILIZATION

Setting up the MM6 is simple, it does come with a manual but you will not need it unless you are going to use the MM6 to sequence with. It also comes with a copy of Cubase which is very good because the MM6 only cost 500 dollars and with the Cubase software it makes it a steal at that price!

SOUNDS

The sounds on the MM6 are good, they try to sell you on the fact that it has Motif sounds. But do not be fooled and expect to have all of the Motif sounds. It does not have all of the Motif sounds just a few of them. If you have never used a Motif, I recommend testing on out at your local music store and you will hear the difference in sounds from the Motif and MM6.

OVERALL OPINION

The MM6 is decent, and for the money it is perfect for someone who is just starting out. I used the MM6 for a few months years ago but I didn’t keep it long because it got really boring to me. So I when out and purchased a Motif and wow it is a lot better. The build of the MM6 is not very good either. It feels like plastic and the keys feel like a 100 dollar MIDI controllers keys. If you want to use the MM6 for the sounds, I say go for it. But if you want it to be the brain of your studio and start sequencing on it then I would not get it. Go for the Motif.

The MM6 is a keyboard that after messing with it for 5 minutes it will feel like a toy. Its not well built and the keys are plastic and have no weight to them. The whole board overall feels like a 50 dollar off brand midi keyboard. But that doesn’t mean that its not a good quality as far as functions and sounds because it is, just the way its built was a big disappointment to me.


UTILIZATION

Very easy to use, way easier than the mo6 or motif xs models. Mainly because it’s a watered down version and not as many functions and ability to get into the depth of the creation process. The MM6 seems to be very basic and that’s why its really cheap, the price of it will let you understand why it feels to cheap. But you do get what you pay for and in this business you will have to spend money to get the best gear.


SOUNDS

Sounds are ok, it carries some of the standard yamaha sounds that are on the MO6 , it just doesn’t carry all of them or that many. Its like a watered down cheap version of the MO6. The pitch wheel even feels cheap and its pretty stiff.


OVERALL OPINION

If you are on a tight budget and need a good keyboard than I wouldn’t get this, purchased a used MO6 or just keep the money and save up, its not really worth having this plastic keyboard with a tiny screen to have to sequence on. Or you could get a midi controller and purchase the MO rack and have the same sounds and still expand on them. Because this will bore you really fast and don’t drop it or that will be game over and it will crack wide open. Yamaha’s only purpose of this board was to try to get to a new geration of clients (the ones who do have a lot of money to spend). But it could work for you, but wait till you get your hands on a MOTIF, then you will see the difference.

The MM6 has two octaves ,cut off ,resonance ,attack and release knobs .It has MIDI in and MIDI out ,usb ,headphones ,audio in and audio out.Ithas alot of sounds from the motif wich includes strings ,guitar ,piano ,bass ,brass ,synths ,keyboard/organs and drums .The MM6 comes with a copy of cubase le for computer connectivity.

UTILIZATION

Its very simple to use i had it out the box and playing it in minutes.The effects are very good and u can manualy change the sounds with the effects knobs and the manual is very clear

SOUNDS

The sounds suit my music style very well and are sooo realistic .the effects as i said are good and the keys are high quality in my opinion i prefer the pianos on it because the are very realistic.

OVERALL OPINION

I have been using it for two months now.I like all the sounds on it but i cant make beats straight of the keyboard wich is disapointing.No this is my first keyboard.Knowing what i know about it now i stil would still get it