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