Oh, I didn't know you bought a Motif? How do you like it? 61, 76, or 88 keys? What do you think of the Piano patches? I understand the ES will have a 3 layer stereo Piano patch which really interests me.

And the biggest question I have is; do you find the Motif redundant to the Tyros?

Regards,
Al

Times change. There was a time when the Kurzweil piano was considered by many to be the best. But then, 4MB was alot. As good as the Kurzweil programmers were (are?), it is hard to compete with the 16MB, 64MB, 90MB, and gigabyte pianos out there with only 4MB dedicated to the piano sound. With the Yamaha Motif ES at 175MB ROM (effective), Kurzweil lags, what at 32MB. I just don't think Kurzweil has been aggressive at upgrading technology.

Al,

I think Terry parted ways with his Motif quite a while ago. I have the Motif and the PSR2000. I know the Tyros is a step up from the 2000, but I've played the Tyros a good bit too, and they aren't all that far apart in sounds. I have the 61 key Motif, plus the AN150 analog modeling plug in board and the VL150 acoustic modeling board. The 2k and Motif have some sounds that are similar, but they are worlds apart in many areas. For laying down individual tracks, especially bass and drums, the Motif shines. It sounds like I'm playing on a real drumset or bass guitar when I use it. The 2000 doesn't come close, and though the PA80 maybe comes closer, I prefer the Motif's drums and bass in most any mix. Then of course there is all the synth edit power even without the plug ins.

I pretty much agree that it would be nice to go to a different manufacturer to get a new sound set, but really, the two boards have very different sounds. Not redundant at all. You won't find those outstanding sweet saxes or trumpets on the Motif ( it does have the sweet flute though ), but the VL board makes up for it for me. The guitar sounds rock, the organs are good, and the Rhodes, Wurli, and Clavinet emulations are among the best I've ever heard. The ac piano is good, but I'd guess that the new motif's will be even better. Synths ? with the AN board, I can emulate many of the popular analogs fairly closely, plus make a whole new set of unique sounds to boot. My only grief with the board is that it could use more polyphony ( which is promised on the ES ), but as far as sounds go, the Motif is the best "all in one" for my money, though the TS2 is no slouch either. Also, the OS is very deep and can be confusing, as the manual really doesn't detail some of the functions, but I've learned it well thanks to all the support on the Motifator site.

The only thing standing in the way for me to run right to the new Motif is that new Roland VK760. I can easily see that in the studio.. what with the marvelous organ and piano sounds it has, but something here would have to go... almost certainly the PSR2000 ( there goes my backup arranger..lol )

I'm not overly impressed with the latest Kurzweil stuff either, though in the past I played a loaded k2600 at a studio that probably cost several thousand or more to put together when all of the plug ins and accessories are figured in. It sounded good, but it certainly wasn't something I would want to spend all that money on.

AJ



[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 07-08-2003).]

Yes, Paul.
You were not here in 1999.
A lot of the then active BBS posters often commented the Gem products as inferior!
I won't call names but a lot of them are still here!

By the way if you have read well, you will have noticed that I disagreed with that, and still do

About the Kurzweil;
I own one and it will take me another 10 years to understand everything of this board.

People claiming , wahhh sounds are weak after two days have no clue, and should not buy a K anyway.
They are better off with a roland XV series or another sample module with ready to go sounds.
To understand even the basic capabilities of a Kurzweil you need a lot more as 2 days.

It's like I hear someone saying , damn that guitar is not good, I still can't play it after two days practice.

And this post was 4 years old!
Thing's change a lot like cliff said.

Take care you all., I am off for holliday after thursday...(4 weeks )

Fred