I agree with AJ. If there was one thing both the Motif Classic and ES did well was traditional styles that were acoustic orientated. The release of the Motif series is an excellent example of Yamaha's trend towards a "softer" workstation. It's plain as day too. If you want to get a good example of this change, have a look at Yamaha's top synth "before" the Motif line. That synth was the EX-5. The EX-5 was an absolute beast in terms of synth power. Acoustic voices were pretty good in it too, but man it kicked ass as a synth.

Roland and Korg are IMO doing much better in at least keeping a better balance between the two worlds of acoustic and synth with their workstations. Yamaha has gone more towards the acoustic end.

I've been told the Motif XS is supposed to rival the Classic and ES in the synth department though, and there are tons of performances to check out in that area too. I'll be playing the Motif XS by weeks end, and will post my thoughts if others are interested. I'll also be testing out several of the top end arrangers and synths too. Also keep in mind the Motif XS is now utilizing (some) arranger features as well.

Squeak
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GEAR: Yamaha MOXF-6, Casio MZX-500, Roland Juno-Di, M-Audio Venom, Roland RS-70, Yamaha PSR S700, M-Audio Axiom Pro-61 (Midi Controller). SOFTWARE: Mixcraft-7, PowerTracks Pro Audio 2013, Beat Thang Virtual, Dimension Le.