Hi kbrkr,

Thanks for your fast reply. This forum seems getting alive (LOL)
Our keyboard-retailer who is specializing in digital pianos and secondly keyboards, has received the Motif XF7 in the store. So on Friday I will leave my work a bit early and will visit the store to look and play the instrument. I think on a keyboard/wokstation like T4 there is focus on styles and melody voices to easy combine into nice song. A Motif on the other hand uses arpeggios, loops to combine into a custom style. But I learned to do that on T4 too You can listen on my site to the song Incomparabel where I play with a custom ballad style, merged from other preset styles. And like you can make custom voices using wav files on the flash ROM in the MOTIF, you can do likewise on T4. So keyboards and synthesizers grow towards eachother.

My music (also from my earlier machines) can be heard at
http://my.vision-4-life.nl/index.php?id=71&L=1

P.S. I don't have the money to spend on a MOTIF besides my T4 but I must admit that the MOTIF XF has sex appeal:)

Al, if I may ask, in what ways did you find the pa2x less gratifying than the Tyros, being that I keep flip flopping back and forth between considering one of these two in their latest models (and have not yet had access to play either one). Thanks
Hal

Hal,

Here are my feelings on keyboard selection.....

Style Management
One of the first challenges with the Korg is the style/midi file management. All styles are part of what they call a .SET file a .SET file can have a 100 or so styles in it. If you want to copy a single Style off of the keyboard to the computer, work on it, and then send it back to the computer you can't; you must extract it out of the .SET file then use utility software to combine it with the set file and copy it back to the keyboard; WHY? Legacy, that's why and Korg refuses to update this legacy style management model. It is sooooo much easier on the Yamaha's. On the Yamaha you simply modify a single .sty file (midi file) and copy it back. Plus there are many 3rd party style management tools on the market to support Yamaha. The Korg .SET file type is a closed proprietary model and Korg will not allow 3rd party vendors create utilities to support their keyboards. Go figure?

Sounds
The bread and butter sounds in the Korg are nowhere near the quality of the Yamaha T4 sounds; period. Many of the sounds of the T4 are simply breathtaking. I do not get the same feeling from the Korg; actually I find some of the Korg sounds dated and synth-like.

Defined Nuance Control
Even their implementation of Super Articulation; Defined Nuance Control, does not come close to the coverage of the Yamaha's. There are so many more voices on the T4 that use this technique and I feel the technique is utilized better on the Yammy. The other manufacturers are playing catch-up.

Style Quality
No manufacturer has the depth and breadth of style variety than Yamaha. Not to mention quality, since the T4 was introduced they have released at least 25 new premium styles. You can't underestimate the importance of this as far as adding more value to the keyboard playability and gratification.

Not only are the styles-a-plenty, but the quality is second to none. Oh you may find a dozen or so styles on the Korg, Audya, Roland that will knock your socks off. But overall across all the genres, no one does a better job of coverage than Yamaha. And with the sliders and quick on/off buttons you can silence busy styles or turn on style parts to give the style that great full sound much easier.

Support
The Yamaha hardware is probably the most reliable on the market. combine that with the end-user support network of forums, style sites, psrworld, createsongstyles, Yamaha Keyboard site, etc.etc. it is the most widely supported keyboard on the market. Also, you can simply connect the T4 to the Internet and download Music Finder entries quickly and freely if you are wondering what song goes with what style. You can't do this with any other manufacturer. You can even download songs and lessons; right from the keyboard.

That is why the T4 is the most gratifying for me.......

That's certainly convincing and helps a lot. Now, that leaves for me to wrestle with the choice of Tyros vs the new Kronos with Karma, or the Motif XF (I know it has access to Karma but only via computer so I don't want to mess with that - and then I'm not sure how important Karma really is anyway - but it does sound intriguing to use). Any thoughts of the last two keyboards vs Tyros, if you could only have one? My goal, again, is one man band playing, but don't want to sound canned either - and am not a virtuoso. Want to focus on more new age ethereal, ambient, this year of my own composition - but still want to be able to play pop/rock covers if I decide to.
Hal
Hal

Hal2001,

Reading your comments I can only advise: go for T4. I am also not vituoso, but the T4 invites to experiment.

Just listen on http://my.vision-4-life.nl/index.php?id=71

the song Hosannain two versions you will like since they are made with very nice new styles that are not found in any other keyboard, not even T3. Or "Met diep ontzag" or "Rapsodia".

kbrkr, also a question for you. Can you send me more info about style management via the computer? Currently the style management I use is mixing the 8 elements of a certain style with elements of other styles.

Regards, Fred

Thank you for the references. I can see there are some nice sounds there. Hal

Hal, the Motif and and all workstations are VERY different from Arranger keyboards like the Tyros.

Workstations are not TRUE arrangers in that there are no Intro's, Endings, Breaks, Fills, etc on the drum / bass track. Also, workstations arpeggios really only have 4 parts; bass, drums, some chording and right hand. The arranger has 8 parts of accompanyment.
I would and don't use the Motif on solo gigs; it is just not suited for that task. Karma is kool, but it too is not meant for the arranger player. It is a random beat generator that sort of follows your chording, but doesn't recognize elaborate chord structures.

Do you currently have a workstation? What do you currently play?

Yes, I didn't realize the difference between As & Ws until two years ago after I bought my Fantom X8. I naively thought that, since it looks like a NASA control module it could do everything including auto-accomapniments. On my website there are two songs, "Human" and "Unchained Melody" where I have nice auto-arrangements. The first one uses factory presets on the Fantom (unfortunately there's a very small number to choose from that are linked to the rhythm pads). The second one uses a Yamaha QY100 to provide the auto-arrangement (unfortunately I find it awkward and inconvenient to program for new styles). Samples of what I've done are here:
www.youtube.com/Halunlimited
I am now expanding in the direction of more new age, ambient, and ethereal electronic music (ie using soft pad and arpeggiated patterns- some from my four Fantom SRX expansion board sounds). I never got the hang of making new accompaniment rhythms with the Fantom, that's why I've been thinking of the TY, pa3x (but no longer the pa), the Motif and Kronos. I considered the Roland BK7 but that would probably be similar to my QY100 in inconvenience. I don't really want to keep two keyboards, and thus would sell my Fantom for one of the aforementioned. Thanks for taking the time to consider my situation.
Hal

Hi Hal,

I have listened you Earth Song. Have you listened mine??

Krbkr, can you still naswer my Stuyle manager question?

Regards, Fred

Just listened to your very nice rendition. The sound quality, both of the patches themselves and the recording, is excellent. The sound of the TY seems to have really excellent clarity and spatial depth and stereo width to it. That's very important. Now I have to decide whether to keep my Fantom X as a second board or sell it. I'm wondering how much I would miss having the 88 keys. Perhaps I could run it as a twinset, although that's not my main goal.
Hal