All user reviews for the Yamaha MOTIF ES6

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UTILIZATION

This is my second synth. Before I was working on a "small" Roland JX-305 that I use even after 7 years of loyal service, and who taught me to use a synth (though it is operated can really do a good job, then it may be disappointing at first).

Machine rather intuitive and ergonomic aspects of the midday JX: So I still have not opened the manual!

SOUNDS

The ultimate criterion. I did not know which machine to buy, so I went to Paris to try the sounds, with a clear bias in favor of Roland ... turned out to be the least appealing: summarizing without too much exaggeration, the only big difference I noticed between the Fantom and JX appears to be at the converters ... I indeed found some patches (some are also the same names as "solid goa") already existing in my synth yet no longer young, and eyes closed I had trouble finding a difference. Big disappointment, although I'm curious to hear what gives a V-Synth.

So I find myself in front of two strangers, Korg and Yamaha. Strangely, I always had an a priori negative mark. As for Korg, the only reference I had in mind back to the M1 (which had struck hard at the time). I then try the triton extreme. The sounds are already much better, but I remain on my hunger has not heard another synth that jx for 7 years, I expected to hear a hopeful step forward, a mini-revolution at least ... bof, against the lamp by providing a real bonus. That said, I could play with isolated patches and I wonder what happens to the mix.

I only remained to try the pattern, and without conviction after these two episodes, I even hesitate to test it, almost resigned to leave empty-handed ... ben's simple, I stayed two hours longer in the store!

Not what I expected, but good surprises: Most of the patches are good, sound beautifully and are very inspiring! special mention for electric guitars, some patches of it can even vary the timbre in real time by letting your fingers on the keyboard to vary the relaxation (the patch then varies depending on the value of the latter). Even the piano is not too rotten. I regret not just the strings quite varied, as kits batteries for that matter, especially at the snare and percussion annexes, although a bank is dedicated to chromatic percussion. In contrast, Natural and other Musical Effects worth visiting, such as keyboards. The synth sounds are impeccable.

It is true that all sounds a bit digital, or rather we would like to a grain more analog as the rest is a success. On the other hand, it should be noted the ease with which they mix the sounds together: although very rich in harmonics, they mix without being too negative frequency recovery, and clean everything is audible, but not perfect of course, but we approach the concept of "premixed ready-to-dial." The difference on this point with Jx is as large as that of the quality of sound. It's really appreciated! Similarly, it can overload the piece by stuffing the 16 tracks, dynamics and power provide: I always hear clearly my battery where the snares and kicks others drowned in my projects on JX.

When I think I am far from having exploited all ...

Touch on the other hand is okay, nothing less.

OVERALL OPINION

I bought used a year ago for around 1300 euros. Say that I do not regret is an understatement ...

I finally have a pro machine, and it was nice to have a device that like the JX, it remains essential to obtain eventually a synth of this size, both the quality of sound is undeniably crucial. I made more from this machine, and also faster: it sounds live, when we set a rhythm for example, we do ben said "bizarre, it lacks a little something, I do not know what" we realizes that what counts for much in that little something, in this case is the sound quality!

And besides, in my opinion the most versatile machine at present.

Last point of interest, the series of MO (6.7 and 8), much more affordable and with the same bank's!

It is a 5 octave synth with everything you need for a Controller worthy of the name, 2 knobs, ribbon, sustain, foot switch, audio inputs, 4 outputs spares, 8 multi-effects Fully ditables all.

768 presets all styles, possibility to have up to four instruments at the same time, all types of layers and splits possible.

Polyphony 128 voices, extremely useful when stacking sounds because I also have a voice MO8 and 64 of the latter are quickly reached if you play Manir rich performance with a sequence of battery 3 other sounds of keyboards and bass stacked.

UTILIZATION

The config is not comfortable if you do not know the logic Yamaha.

Everything is Fully ditable, so everything is possible.

An important dtail: The memory is volatile so it must have a compatible USB key (or a former MODELS smartmedia find that difficult) to store its songs (no vocals and performances, they are stock es on dedicates ROM)

A BMOL squenceur me on the possible problem (skipping second quarter of each new loop of a same song) on ​​an instrument loaded with 11 tracks + 3 plug-in card INSRE (PLG150AP, DR and PC) playing at the same time. So, one must rebalance on a DAW like Cubase.

The manual is quite Drout, there are some quick start, then another who wants to explain the operating principle of the Motif ES, steep enough to departure. Not everything Retailer and you learn as and find the info you seek.

SOUNDS

And is the main strength: its sounds and capabilities of publishing. It was quite good presets, but at the same time, it is not limited to the contrary.
The presets are good, but balance and ruffed a little way back in, it can be seen the standard sound quality filters, quas, compressors etc ...
I usually make instrumentals for singers like playback and clients are impressed with the expressiveness of the instruments ism. Ms. guitarists are having thanks to MegaVoice!
Incidentally, the cards 150pcs Plugin (percussion) and 150DR (drums) are standard,, ds presets on the other hand, the cymbal sustains no end of kicks that make you sound good on the bottom of Headquarters, slamming snares, it becomes difficult to mix the same shot with all the harmonics in every sense.

My prfres sounds: pianos, Hammond organs, violins rear plan, drums, guitars ... I do not dtest but I spend less time on the rest, I still find my account leaves a little to change the sounds.

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for 4 years and live in the studio and I'm still not all the end of the BTE. What I like most: sound.
Minimum: ergonomics, dpart anyway.
INTERESTED report quality price since you can do it all.
I would do without this choice hsiter prfrerais and I even have a Motif ES 8 Used plutt 1200-1300 saw the possibilities of buying the XS 3000 is in nine.

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.

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.

hit type synth excellent, much better than my ex-Juno G sounds very difficult to navigate at first.

UTILIZATION

The general pattern is very complicated compared to many other synths I've had (the tritone, the juno-g, etc. ...). There are many sub-menu, in short, ergonomics is not his strong point, more user Empoli (it's marked with that record on my spelling in French) is almost unreadable ...

February 2011 edit: Even with time and habit, I confirm that the workstation is hard to handle: just to avoid this for a beginner who may be discouraged ...

SOUNDS

The sounds are beautiful, especially acoustic, but editing can obtain a wide variety of synth sounds (just see the number of waveforms) Among the workstations I've owned, it is clearly ahead in terms of Blancing sound (relative to the triton, Juno-G, etc. ...) Also have 8 insert effects per song is simply awesome! It is important to know that unlike the Motif XS, you can add summary maps VL, AN and DX cossidérablement that increase the sound possibilities of the machine (having a half-An1 x, a DX7 and a VL1 simplified in the same machine is a more significant!) but a computer running Windows XP is essential.

Edit February 2011: 5 years later, I still really enjoy with all these sounds!

OVERALL OPINION

I've had more than end of 2006.
On occasions, the money is extra, although better than a MO 6 for example has fewer side effects, no sampling, cheap finish ... and which costs almost the same price new. IN short, despite a questionable ergonomics, a good value in the field of workstations.

February 2011 Edit: I always get tired and do not least thanks to its PLG cards (very hard to find today). That said, I will complete it with a korg Kronos, it multisynthèses home and without option cards.

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)

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)

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)

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)