I was up in erie PA for the Holiday weekend, and I spent some time at the local music store. I was hoping to find the Casio WK 3000/3500, but they didn't have them there. I did get to play the Motif ES-6 and the PSR K-1. The Motif ES is one AWSOME synth!!!! The sound quality is great, and I loved the mega voices. I too am a little upset that they made the screen smaller. However, it is nice to see the ribbon controller back The preset performances were really impressive. The drum kits were also great. The overall quality of construction is quite good.... The only thing I didn't like about the design was the sliders are sticking up from the face of the unit.. I think they should have been more within the body. The way they're set now, they can easily snag on things. As far as user interface is concerned.. I didn't have any problems, but that's because I'm familiar with Yamaha's OS in their synths.. I honestly wouldn't suggest this board to a newbie. It could be quite confusing... It's not to say it's hard to navigate, but it would really help to be familiar with synths before using this one. Overall.., great job Yamaha.. The Motif ES is a great sounding synth, and the features are top notch. The possibilities with the ES are endless. The addition to the poly was greatly needed too. I was surprised to see the original Motif with only 62 notes. That's not nearly enough considering the layers within the samples... When I first tested the Motif (original), I easily maxed out the poly when sequencing patterns. I didn't notice any drop offs when I sequenced patterns on the new ES.

The PSRK1 is pretty decent. It's got a great little screen and the sounds are honestly quite good. It's a great board for beginners, and would make a decent board to use for scratching out ideas.

Squeak

squeak,
They actually didn't make the screen any smaller, but they sure didn't make it any bigger either they did tilt it up a bit though which helped.

Don't know how deep you got into the board say editing a sequence or working with the 8 new insert effects etc., but it can be a daunting task when one starts to go deeper than the surface. But you're right it is one great workstation.
Terry

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jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

[This message has been edited by trtjazz (edited 12-01-2003).]

Wow! For some reason it seems smaller.. I wonder why..???? The tilt does help too. I think getting into the effects and deep features of just about any synth can be pretty daunting Some are easier, but they all take a little time to get used to.

I just tested the MOTIF ES 6 in France
but...
I have the KETRON SD1, and I want to expand the possibility for more good sounds, and a good sampler,
But...
I found the sounds very poor compared to the SD1...
ok, there is good ideas in this synth as arpeggios... and goods functions, but I think the 175 M of sounds, are compressed, and the half are for drum loops.
For example, Piano sound, or brass sounds, and even flute and megavoices, are less less warm compared to the SD1...
It sound as my first Korg arranger

So, now I don't know what I can buy...
I want the motif ES for the 512 Mo of RAM for the sampler, so I can use my samples, but

What did you think about, the Triton , or the Kurzweil K2661 VS th Motif ES??
I don't know whitch to buy !!

If you basically just want a Sampler you may be happier with a stand alone one. The Motif Rack may be a good choice. The Motif Rack has 128 note Polyphony as well (same as Motif ES Keyboard). There are other Stand alone Samplers as well that may suit you better. If you have to have a Workstation Sampler/Keyboard the Triton Studio would definitely be something to look into. The nice thing about the Trition is that it has a "Loop Crossfade" feature which Yamaha deemed unnecessary to put into the Motif ES. Loop Crossfade allows a user to smooth transition from one part of a Sequence to the next part by fading out one part of a song, etc., and fading into the the next section. All within the confines of a sound or song "Loop". Hence the term "Loop" "Crossfade".

PS: You may want to wait to see what pops up at Winter NAMM 2004 (January 15-18) before buying anything. There is word Korg will be releasing a new "Workstation" that will blow everything else out of the water including the Motif ES which apparently you didn't care for anyway.

Best regards,
Mike

I think the ES has a better overall soundset than any other hardware board I've ever played. Going only by what I've heard on demos and user songs from the SD1, I disagree with Dan's assessment of the ES vs the SD1 ( although the SD1 sounds fine to me ), but we also must realize that Sounds are very subjective.

If quality sampling is the main reason to get another instrument or piece of equipment, while the ES allows for 512 mb of sample ram, I would instead recommend looking toward a dedicated sampling unit, either hardware or soft, particularly since you don't care for the ES soundset.

AJ

Roland just came out with a new dedicated sampler and of course Akai has been the standard for years.
Terry

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jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

[This message has been edited by trtjazz (edited 12-03-2003).]

No, I don't want a sampler only!!!
I want a keyboard, with very good sounds, with the best Sampling possibilities (to play all my AKAI CDS) The SD1 is very bad for the sampler...
My hope was for the MOTIF ES6 with its good technology!!!
But... some sounds are very good, but not very realisitic... and a lot of poor sounds...
I tested sounds for 1 hour, and perhaps, I don't know to find the better sounds
It's not very easy to find sounds...
Sounds are perhaps good for Studio, good pad and synth sounds... I think it can sound good in mixs but not sound in face as the SD1... Saxs, Brass, pianos ... are nice but poor ... they sounds FINAL CD MASTERED but not LIVE PLAYER as the SD1...
I use SONAR 3 for sequencing, so I not use the sequencer. But I like the control surface of the ES transport..., I like the arpegio, sound very good with guitars, but the only problem was the Acoustic Sounds...

I think the ES have the most powerful possibilities of synth today...

Someone has tested to load akai sounds on the ES???? they sounds good???

I think the Triton studio is to expensive for what he do... I use computer sequencing so I don't want all audio sequencing capabilities of the triton studio.

I don't like roland... but it's personnal...

I heard about the Yamaha motif ES, and the new Kurzweil K2661... (for some additionnal $ )
What dis you think ... What is te best for a keyboard with good acoustics soundset, and good (and fast) sampling capabilities...

Maybe it's just me, but I think that higher quality arrangers tend to have better acoustic voices than the synths.. Take a look at the Motif original and ES. The original added voices like the sweet flute (taken from the arranger line up), and now the ES adds the mega voices from the Tyros. I think the synths are great, but I think the good arrangers have the edge on the acoustic voices.. Now when it comes to synth leads, pads, ect, I don't think any arranger can truly hang with the synths in that department.

Squeak

squeak,
You nailed it the arrangers have better "bread & butter" sounds.
Terry

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jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html