George, I am interested in using a MotifXS (either Rack or 61) as a 'virtual' T2 for my G70 to drive. As such, I am interested in whether there are close approximations to the Mega and SA voices of the T2, for my G70 to play some Yamaha styles, and route the guitar parts to the Motif.

It's primarily the guitar voices I'm interested in, but other direct comparisons would be helpful. Do you think the Rack is able to be used this way?

Diki this might help.....
http://www.motifator.com/racks/rack.php
http://www.motifator.com/motifxs/motifxs.php

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 04-18-2007).]

http://files.keyfax.com/MP3s/motifator2.0/xs/Demo_Funkalicious.mp3

Basically, if this don't blow you away, nothing will...

Diki,

The Motif XS is AWESOME! i feel that by sacrificing certain tweaking features that other brands may have, you are getting in exchange an AWESOME sound bank...

you really cant imagine sound getting more realistic than the level it is at now...

i am still waiting for my freakin aussie dealers to get the XS in stock!!! i want one dammit!! lol


[This message has been edited by Nick G (edited 04-19-2007).]

I was considering an upgrade from the ES, but I believe that the XS does not have the expansion slots for the plug in boards. If this is so, it will make my decision an easy one. George, can you or someone else confirm if this is true ?

Regards,

AJ

go to this link and scroll down
http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/ContentDetail/ModelSeriesDetail/0,,CNTID%25253D544448%252526CTID%25253D206400%252526ATRID%25253D20%252526DETYP%25253DATTRIBUTE,00.html
doesnt look like it has any slots for plugin boards...

Yes, it's true: The PLG boards are not supported by the Motif XS. Here is what Yamaha have to say about this (originally posted on the Motifator forum):

*** Citation Begin ***

Okay, now for some news that may stir up some posts. The Motif XS does not support PLG boards. We looked at this long and hard. We supported the forum when there was a call for a new Piano PLG card and got Yamaha Japan to develop it. However, the PLG cards were not particularly successful in the market. The basic architecture was developed almost 10 years ago and had certain inherent limitations. The ones that some people are most passionate about (the VH and VL boards) were not that successful partly because they need more expertise to use (knowledge of vocal harmony settings in the former and use of a breath controller in the latter). The VL which focused on solo wind and brass is partially addressed by the new 8 element voices with note offs and legato.

The VH is replaced by an on board, built in 10 band Vocoder. The Vocoder allows up to 128 notes of harmonies to be created from the keyboard and also is of course useful for cool synth effects as well. It can be used in Voice and Performance mode and recorded directly into the Integrated Sampling Sequencer.
We realize that the decision to stop support for PLG cards in the XS will not sit well with some people, but we always have to balance legacy support with the need to move forward.

*** Citation End*

Kind regards,
Tommy

Although i have not played the XS myself i have read a number of user reviews on the Motifator forum od individuals who have auditioned the instruments side by side through the same sound systems and watched all the demos of the XS on that forum. I have also seen and heard all the demos of the motif ES and really cant see the great advantage if at all in moving to the XS. The XS has the expanded articulation on some voices and has more intelligent arps than the ES but thats really all i can pick up as being significantly diferent. If i had the ES i would need far clearer musical reasons to trade up/sideways to the XS.

It may well be that the OS system is more intuitive or integrated but is hat enough of a reason to switched boards ? I am just throwing that question out there....

Thanks Tommy. That confirms what I had suspected. I guess I understand why they chose to do eliminate them from the new series, but it makes the choice of whether or not to upgrade from the ES an easy one for me.

Regards,

AJ

thanks for the post.. this looks like a lot of fun... May be pickng one up since I'm a studio guy anyway...

Thanks again