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#350196 - 09/02/12 04:03 PM New Motif 6 Owner (Almost :)
steelgtr Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 01/26/02
Posts: 8
Loc: San Jose, ca.
Hi Guys,

I mainly play pedal steel in a few country bands but have always loved playing a little keyboard now and then. I have a Korg i3; love the build quality but the sounds are so dated (and Korgy smile

So, this new band that I'm playing with is doing more modern country and some classics (Heartbreak Hotel) that lend themselves more to KB rather than pedal steel.

I went out to look at the Yammy MM6 today, excited about the Motif sounds in an affordable package. Sadly, I couldn't get past the awful KB action and response. Maybe I'm not good enough to play on any type of KB but it seemed cheaper than my old PSR-500!

So I see this used Motif 6 (Non ES) at GC for $550 in very good condition. I love the action and the sounds seemed great.

Since it just came in, they have a 30 day delay to pickup as they check for theft, etc.

This gives me time to check with you experts and see if that's a good fit for me (Live only) or it's sounds are too dated and I should keep looking?

Sorry for the long intro!


bob


Edited by steelgtr (09/02/12 04:04 PM)

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#350211 - 09/02/12 11:32 PM Re: New Motif 6 Owner (Almost :) [Re: steelgtr]
Nigel Offline
Admin

Registered: 06/01/98
Posts: 6482
Loc: Ventura CA USA
Well I guess the sounds may be dated but I think they are still great for a live band. I myself use an old Motif 6 classic in a classic rock band and it works fine for me. Sure I would like to update it but I really don't know if the audience could even tell the difference if I got a newer model with improved sounds.

$550 is a great price for it and I don't think you have a better choice in that price range. I think if I was you I would just go for it.
Although the MM6 may actually have better sounds the lame keybed action may still be a deal breaker. The Motif, while not being the greatest key action, still feels much better than many of Yamaha's keyboard actions.

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#350212 - 09/02/12 11:33 PM Re: New Motif 6 Owner (Almost :) [Re: Nigel]
steelgtr Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 01/26/02
Posts: 8
Loc: San Jose, ca.
Originally Posted By: Nigel
Well I guess the sounds may be dated but I think they are still great for a live band. I myself use an old Motif 6 classic in a classic rock band and it works fine for me. Sure I would like to update it but I really don't know if the audience could even tell the difference if I got a newer model with improved sounds.

$550 is a great price for it and I don't think you have a better choice in that price range. I think if I was you I would just go for it.


Thanks, The KB has a really nice quality feel to it, also.

bob

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#350213 - 09/02/12 11:43 PM Re: New Motif 6 Owner (Almost :) [Re: steelgtr]
Nigel Offline
Admin

Registered: 06/01/98
Posts: 6482
Loc: Ventura CA USA
Because Hammond B3 organ simulation was important to me for the type of material my band plays I did end up buying http://shop.motifator.com/index.php/voice-libraries/motif-voice-libraries/b-s-knees-voice-bank.html which provided some nice organ patches that were a big improvement on those that come with the Motif 6.

I especially like the patches that provide Leslie emulation control on the mod wheel.

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#350236 - 09/03/12 07:07 AM Re: New Motif 6 Owner (Almost :) [Re: steelgtr]
steelgtr Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 01/26/02
Posts: 8
Loc: San Jose, ca.
Thanks again. I was wondering about upgrading the sounds and only found the expensive expansion boards which had me thinking if it would be better to get an ES, etc rather than spending a ton on memory, boards, etc!

I was also curious if the newer Live Cool! Sweet! voices are better sounding than the Gen 1 motif sounds?

thx

bob

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#350237 - 09/03/12 07:10 AM Re: New Motif 6 Owner (Almost :) [Re: Nigel]
steelgtr Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 01/26/02
Posts: 8
Loc: San Jose, ca.
Originally Posted By: Nigel
Because Hammond B3 organ simulation was important to me for the type of material my band plays I did end up buying http://shop.motifator.com/index.php/voice-libraries/motif-voice-libraries/b-s-knees-voice-bank.html which provided some nice organ patches that were a big improvement on those that come with the Motif 6.

I especially like the patches that provide Leslie emulation control on the mod wheel.



Forgot to ask about memory expansion with the add on sounds? Can you buy quality DIMMS off ebay, etc or do they have to be a certain brand?

bob

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#350265 - 09/03/12 03:36 PM Re: New Motif 6 Owner (Almost :) [Re: steelgtr]
Nigel Offline
Admin

Registered: 06/01/98
Posts: 6482
Loc: Ventura CA USA
Originally Posted By: steelgtr
Thanks again. I was wondering about upgrading the sounds and only found the expensive expansion boards which had me thinking if it would be better to get an ES, etc rather than spending a ton on memory, boards, etc!

I was also curious if the newer Live Cool! Sweet! voices are better sounding than the Gen 1 motif sounds?

thx

bob


Although I haven't used a Motif ES I could guarantee there would be sound improvements over the previous generation. If you could get a Motif ES6 at a good price I would be tempted to get that over the classic.

I just looked on Ebay and saw one with 1 GB RAM with a current bid of $520. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-MOTIF-ES6...=item2a225a7324

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#350275 - 09/03/12 07:37 PM Re: New Motif 6 Owner (Almost :) [Re: steelgtr]
Nigel Offline
Admin

Registered: 06/01/98
Posts: 6482
Loc: Ventura CA USA
Originally Posted By: steelgtr
Forgot to ask about memory expansion with the add on sounds? Can you buy quality DIMMS off ebay, etc or do they have to be a certain brand?

bob


I see DIMMS for the Motif 6 on ebay for $17-$20 for 64MB so that is not a big expense.

And those B3 patches I mentioned before don't require any memory expansion. Many 3rd party patches don't require sample RAM.

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#350326 - 09/04/12 08:02 AM Re: New Motif 6 Owner (Almost :) [Re: steelgtr]
steelgtr Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 01/26/02
Posts: 8
Loc: San Jose, ca.
Thanks, Nigel

The Motif 6 I found is $549 and in really nice shape. The ES is going to a lot more?

I found this video on youtube. Do you think these are the built in factory sounds?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bobjp346O...ture=plpp_video

If so, with some memory and the B's knees, I would be happy!

thx

bob

ps: I'm not getting email notifications even tho I think I set it to on?

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