I have never seen any posts here about XG Works. I wonder why that is. It looks like an interesting program. $99.00 sure isn't expensive compared to the cakewalk v.9 Deluxe I already have. What are the pro and con's. I am thinking about downloading the free demo and trying it our for a month. I have a PSR9000
Any info appreciated as always
Bebop

Bb,
I have XG works and it works very well for Yammy stuff. The real expert with the most experience is bluezplayer....reach out to him for info.
Terry

I gave it a try and it's OK but it's really designed for Yamaha sound cards and rack mount synths. It only gives a nod to keyboards. For example, most of the high end keyboards have four DSPs but XGWorks can only address two and doesn't even know about special keyboard sysex. I might add that XGEdit, XGGold and XGPad are similar in that regard. I have to use Cakewalk and Studioware panels to generate sysex and I still have to modify it to get all the features. I'm attempting to write a program to address these problems but I'm not doing very well as the Windows Multimedia API appears to be a closely held secret.

Bryan

Hi BEBOP!
I use XG works quite a lot, as I build many midifiles from the Tyros. All the Yammy styles can be used in XG works, I write text and chords for the lyric display etc. For me, it's my most used sequencer progam as it is tailored for Yamaha, and it is really user friendly as well. I can highly recommend it as it is well suited for all your 9000 styles.
Roy-Andrè

First off, Happy Holidays wishes to all. Been hectic here so I haven't had the time I normally have had in the past to post here but I still read the forum when I can.

Bebop,

I would try the demo to see if you like it. One drawback might be that it is a large download so if you are using dial up it may take quite a while.

I still use XG works even though I currently do not have a Yamaha arranger at this time. I also don't have the XG board for my Motif. Pilot is right about it being a better tool for XG boards, but I still utilize it with both my Motif and PA80 because it can, as Roy-Andre says, play any yamaha style from within.

I have likes and dislikes. I also utilize Cakewalk Sonar ( thanks to Terry one more time for that one ), and N Track studio for audio. XG works has 480 ppq sequencer resolution - not bad, but I prefer the 960 of Sonar at times. Although XG works does support audio in some ways, I never use it for that, preferring N Track ( even over Sonar ) for Audio work .

What I like about XG works is the ease of editing and arranging sequences ( even without having an XG board ). The sequencer is laid out so that editing is easy to understand and utilize. The importer function works very well and was very useful when I was importing data to combine or modify styles. I even converted some PA80 styles to Yamaha format using XG works along with Michael P Bedesem's style converter. They played well on XG works. I did not change the voices however, and the styles are still setup with the proper PA80 voice / midi data. They play exactly as they do on the board itself. I have the Tyros styles too. I simply changed the file extension to .sty, and they play well on XG works as well.

When I had my PSR 740, the voice editing capabilities in it were about nil. The XG edit function allowed me access to edit many parameters, similar to the editing capabiltiies of the 9000 and 2000, but with greater detail.

Compared to Cakewalk, XG works is simpler. You cannot make custom patch lists for it, so you'd have to edit the voices later manually for a non XG synth. It doesn;t support cal scripts or third party effects or software ( like "Rythym and Chords" for example ), so it is limited in that respect. Still, I think for the price it's a pretty good piece of software, and for those users who may have a 740 or other PSR that does not allow for voice editing within the board, I think the XG edit function is an excellent tool.

Happy Holidays,

AJ

Bluez,
.... my pleasure my friend.
Terry

I've been using XGWorks that came bundled with SW1000XG sound card. Editing MIDI is much easier for me on XGWorks (in particular drum tracks) than on Cakewalk Homestudio that I use only when XGWorks can not do something. e.g. the XGWorks version I have can not or I don't know how to move a block of MIDI or audio track by fraction of a beat. I can not apply third party effects from XGWorks. When I need to do such things I load the file in to Homestudio and do it.

The most frustrating thing that happened to me on XGWorks was imperfect MIDI audio synching. When I have a lot of MIDI data, the audio tracks started to slip by a very small but noticeable time toward the end of the song. My computer is an ancient Pentium 2 and this may not be a problem on newer computers. For this reason I switch to Homestudio for final mixing that gives me another headache. Unlike on XGWorks, whenever I edit the audio file on Cooledit, the changes do not show up on Homestudio unless I restart the program. Cakewalk technical support confirmed that behavior.

I am still using both XGWorks and Homestudio depending on what I need to do. But I'll sometime look for a program that can do both and also has the functionality to load the changes made to audio files in other programs without restarting.

Shiral

Well there's a couple of things to know about XGWorks - like the fact that it has been discontinued. Yamaha released a v.4 edition of it in Japan only and has officially declared that it will not produce an English version 4 or any other future versions or updates. I think they plan on shifting away from producing their own sequencing program and going more with OPT panels for Yamaha keyboards that will work with other sequencers, especially Sonar.

Also, Yamaha will not provide further instrument definition lists for the XGWorks program so keyboards like the 9000 Pro are not supported in XGWorks. That latter part really sucks because all of the PLG expansion cards that work with the 9000 Pro come with voice editors which ONLY work with XGWorks, but Yamaha never released an instrument definition list for the 9000 Pro so XGWorks if half-crippled for 9000 Pro owners. I'll never understand why Yamaha will not support the 9000 Pro with either OPT voice editing panels or even a simple instrument definition file so editing can be done with XGWorks (at least they finally released an instrument definition file for use with Cakewalk for the 9000 Pro).

I like some of the editing features of XGWorks but since Yamaha has abandoned this product I suggest staying away from it altogether.

Pro:,

I haven't been following it that much as of late but if this is true I would also caution potential users to consider staying away from XG works unless you are willing to do some patch editing afterwards. Judging by the problems users with Windows XP had with driver issues and the very slow response by Yamaha to correct it, I wouldn't doubt for a minute that Yamaha isn't particularly interested in addressing the issue of new instrument lists.

Like Shiral, I still prefer XG works for some things, including some of it's editing features versus Cakewalk, so I use each for different things too. Ideally, a sequence I do will start out in XG works and will be finished in it too, with a trip somewhere in the middle to Sonar to straighten out patch voices, apply cal scripts, use 3rd party software etc. I have had absolutely no synch problems with mine though. Before I got Sonar, I often worked exclusively with XG works and N Track studio all the time, with perfect synch (at least to the ears ) using a modest Pentium 3 800 mhz comp and 192 mb ram. My only complaint with N track ( if there is one at all ) is that the sequencer in it leaves a lot to be desired, or else I would never want to use XG works at all. It's been a great program for me for audio work though. Good enough that I haven't used Cool Edit in ages even.


AJ

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 12-27-2002).]

I use XG works for displaying lyrics and chords to my midifiles, amongst other editing function. Is there any other software out there that works as well as XGWorks for this purpose (for Yamaha boards)?
Thankyou in advance guys!
Roy-Andrè