hi rikki,
well problem solved with a workaround...as i mentioned earlier the motif runs mostly on controller messages, and its the simplest answers that are the hardest to get to!!! all i did was open my editor program for the motif and block controller messages to the harmoniser channel, and eureka everything works as it should...going on the specs, it looks like the default assignment for the motif es is for controller 16 to affect sample amplitude, so what was happening with a value of 0, was the turning off the main waveform for the sound which left that hollow dull sounding second sample as the only one audible, this seems to be a universal control, but i am awaiting confirmation from the yammie gurus to confirm...but it now all works, so i won't have to diss the sd after all which is god coz it would have got less than 1500 out here....thanks for all your efforts on this one rikki, its appreciated..
all the best
dennis

PS i still reckon the midi implementation on the sd sux, for higher than GM levels anyway, and it would be nice for ketron to fix up the filter pages, but hey its happening now, so let sleeping dogs lie....