Expand to full screen and watch the volume sliders as he changes registration.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb9BqK5qmy8&NR=1


If only all instruments did this.

Bill

See..Yamaha does know how to do the advanced stuff... Why not put this on a Tyros 3?

If not motorized, then the sliders must work in PICKUP MODE or they will be useless. If they are in Jump mode as soon as you touch them... TROUBLE.

Lee

Actually Yamaha pro digital mixing panels have motorised sliders for over 10 years.

adding motorised sliders instead of normal sliders will up the production cost with only a few dollars...

But i think it will atleast double the ammount of repairs...

I don't think I need motorized sliders.
But I do need for any board that has sliders for volume etc. to work in Pickup Mode so I don't get the jump in volume that I currently get on the PA2 when changing volume live play. This is easly changed and I have no idea why Korg would have missed this important issue. I wrote then about it... we will see if they see the LIGHT!

Lee

Hello: I actually had the FX1, one step above the FX20, more stage look, all white, non cabinet and or speakers built in.
The sliders gave that "Hip" contemporary look, but in reality, it was not practical, the slider's motors wore out with some time of constant use, from a few months, to around 2 years, after that, you need it to replace them.
The actual instrument did not had to have the slider motor's on, I saw that the user, had several RP5/RP3 or registration's packs, for what they cost, it was better to purchase the MDR1 or the external disk drive, it did not use the standard Floppies, but also was possible to record your performance.

I kinda like the buttons(as on the S900) instead of sliders(motorized or not)...the former are sealed and usually give no problems...unlike the latter.

Ian

I would simply like to see the sliders on the touch screen display actually be movable with your fingers (and large enough to work with).

I think that Korg PA2X Pro's B3 section can do this (correct me if I'm wrong), so I don't see why this could not be used on ALL slider functions....

This would solve ALL the problems... Want a 'jump' to a new position? Just tap at the new position. Want a smooth move from the initial position? Start from there...

This all seems so obvious, it's a wonder no-one has implemented it in an arranger. yet...

Hi Diki
Been available on Mediastation, Wersi, Lowrey and I think 1 or 2 others for quite some time. (Personally I’d take physical drawbars/sliders any day of the week)
Regards

Bill

I'm not a fan of touch screens, either, although some people like them.

Touch screens don't provide enough tactile feedback and require too much visual attention whilst using.

I'm glad Yamaha has stayed clear of them, and hopefully it will remain that way for the future.

Ian

I agree with MDorantes.
In the past I had FX10 and FX20 and had some problems with motorized sliders.
At the end, I sold my FX20 and bought a new model, HX1 with eletronic sliders.
I remember that I spent $$$$$ with visits of the Yamaha Electone specialist to repair the motorized sliders.

Diki,
Korg PA2/PA800 has exactly what you said... touch screen function for the sliders AND physical sliders... so you use what you want.
The sliders on the ouch screen work fine and are big enough to use.

However the physical sliders work in JUMP mode (for individual tracks). I have made an official request (others too) to change that to work in PICKUP mode. I beleive it will be done in a future OS update.

Lee

Pickup mode is OK, a bit better for you to avoid jumps, but it still has a significant problem. You have to look carefully at the screen display to see whether you need to move the fader up or down from it's physical position to get to the null point, so you are concentrating on at least double the the places for a simple fader move, when you are trying to play at the same time!

And yes, motorized faders are EXTREMELY prone to failure. It's not even a cost issue. The best flying faders in the world (on SSL and other six figure mixing boards) still have regular maintenance issues, and it only gets worse as it gets less expensive.

Do you REALLY want to make your arranger's operational ability hinge on the most delicate piece of gear, when a fully functional alternative (maybe not as tactile, but equally functional) already exists? Players are rough on their controls. It is next to impossible to dial back your touch from pounding the keyboard to being soft and delicate as you make a fader move in the heat of performance. Motorized faders on keyboards need to be BETTER than mixer ones (that don't get slammed around like ours do!), not cheaper (which is all we will be willing to pay for - ever looked at the price of a top flight fader pack? ).

We have gotten used to using touch screens for all kinds of functions that USED to be on nice tactile buttons. I think that we could get used to doing fader moves on a screen with practice. It is the only 'practical' solution to the problem, if you ask me....

I too had a Yamaha electone with motorized sliders. It was a model FS-70 which was the top of the FS series range (one down from the FX series).

These sliders were notoriously unreliable. Conventional wisdom at the time said that the main cause was usually lack of use over the full travel causing them to stick. Knowing of this, I programmed a pair of panel presets - one with all the sliders fully down, the other with them all the way up. When I switched the instrument on for a session, I would then 'excercise' the sliders a few times, by alternating between these two presets. However my FS70 had a complete fader set replaced under warranty twice, as they still gave problems despite this precaution.

Possible cost effective solutions could be:

1: the later Yamaha HX & HS system, where the traditional sliders were replaced by a vertical strip of closely spaced buttons.

These were shaped so you could either run your finger up the strip, simulating a moving fader, or could punch a setting straight in at any point on the strip. The button strip was flanked by a ladder of LEDs which indicated current setting, so you always had a visual indication available. This system worked well and was very reliable. The tactile feel of the button row was a bit akin to running your finger over a small roller bearing track.

Downside was that there were only so many buttons in each fader strip, each one representing a small step in volume (you could also do in-between settings). This was a bit like the idea of the stepped drawbar settings on a Hammond, rather than the continuous nature of an analogue fader, but the gradations were fine enough to be practical. In a modern instrument, this concept could be supplemented with a 'fine-tune' feature via software, using the data wheel for very precise in-between increments. Whilst such a fine-tune refinement would not be any use for on-the-fly tweaks, it would be OK when dialing up final refinements for preset patches.

2 - second possible solution would be to use bog standard analogue sliders as at present, but deploy them in pick-up mode with an LED ladder close alongside each one to indicate current position.

Advantages of this include:
- low cost off-the-shelf hardware
- accurate fader adjustment is easy
- good visual clue as to current position
- pick-up mode gives reasonably seamless
operation with no nasty jumps
.... can't think of too many disadvantages



[This message has been edited by MikeTV (edited 05-29-2008).]