The sounds are lucious, crisp, clean, and professional. I've worked with Yamaha instruments throughout the years and the cleanness of the sounds far surpass the sampled sounds of instruments like roland.

Only reason for a 8 is because I wish this thing had sampling or the ability to add the mLan or Sampling expansion to it.

First day out of the box and w/ the manual in hand, even without manual this thing was easy to use. And there's still much I have to learn about it. So in other words it's an instrument of the present and made for the future.

I had to take it into the shop because I had an issue with the power supply but that was due to my own fault and yanking it. Quick fix at a shop and still works wonderfully.

From my experience in professional studio equipment, and the sound this thing provides, this thing just might be underpriced. In other words, I think it's just right.

Haven't had to use it yet so yup all good.

Own it.

hobbyist, Studio Owner, Artist, and basically anything you need in the studio.

Trance. But I have helped produce and write all styles.

The sound is nothing short of amazing. I've owned much equipment over the years from many manufacturers, and I used to love the sound of Yamaha's back in the days when they were still using the combination of original AWM and FM synthesis (that shows my age lol). I just never liked their more modern and more sample based AWM2 stuff and went more to Roland in the mid 90's. Then I heard some samples of this unit online on various videos people had made and became intrigued, so I decided, what the heck, for the price I could get it for if nothing else it will make a nice compliment to my other gear. And yes it does, it sounds great along side my Roland(s) and other gear. But this module stands out on its own. It has that crisp yet warm sound that I always loved about Yamaha in the past, it's quite amazing to hear that in a fundamentally sample based unit. I love the sound of this module. I could seriously rave about it all night, but I'll spare you from that! I'll just say if you haven't heard any of the MOTIF sounds I seriously advise you to check them out, they are very refreshing to my ears, and I'm sure they will be to yours too.

Short of being able to sample or do vocoding there's really not much more they could possibly cram into this baby, it truly is a powerhouse.

Like all 1U synth modules it can take a bit of time to familiarize yourself with, lack of space for controls and display on these devices creates a learning curve for any new user. That said, Yamaha have done a good job on the interface and the manual is really good. A few features seem a little more complex than they should be, though some others, like the arpeggiator in particular are very easy to use straight out of the box.

Quality is excellent, just like every Yamaha product I have ever owned in the past. I certainly would have no worries using this for live performance.

Even at the full list price this unit is still a good deal for the sound alone.

I've never had to use Yamaha support, but based on my experiences with the companies equipmnt over the years I'm sure if there was a problem it would be excellent so I will give a 10!

I own it and try as you like you could never snatch it out of my hands if you tried!

Many, from classical to alternative to techno

I love this sound module with my Yamaha P-70 piano controller and with 88 hammer action keys this sound module sounds excellent and clean and very expressive. Recording sequences with this 128 polyphony sounds great and clean even with all 128 notes at once which I haven't exceeding the polyphony yet! The sound output from the headphone jack leaves little to be desired and in my opinion is weak as far as volume and phatness of the sound. However the rear output jacks perform much better and using the digital out is the best quality I have heard from any sound module to date! Recording live with this on stage would be tedious to program but could be done with some effort involved.

There are so many features that it would take five years to utilize them all and with expansion options it only gets more complex and the polyphony also expands with the expansion modules, it is like getting a new sound module when you expand this and the possibilities of the sounds are almost limitless! Guitar sounds are the best of any sound module out there except maybe samplers which can emulate the real thing. I find the learning curve on this is high but very usable out of box without the manual but you will want to study the manual for doing unbelievable sound editing and setting up performances and effects on this thing are all limitless! I think this is by far the most far in future usable sound module ever made thus so far and until they come up with something astronomically better, but I can't imagine needing more features than this and with the future sound expansion options the sky appears to be the limit with this excellent gear.

The arpeggiator is very easy to use and setup the sounds you want, you can edit arp settings for your playing and chord styles and anything can be used as a arp setting any notes and or chord sequence can be recorded and saved into the user preset. Programming and button menus and setting up performances are a little tricky at first and the learning curve is just as high as Roland sound modules but once you learn the structure that Yamaha has it is pretty straight forward. The editor for this on the computer is easier to program than the button face screen on unit but you will still have to study the manual for understanding the voice, midi channel setup and performance, effect settings and arp settings to tweak or set it up for your song. The only gripe is that you have to save vial sysex dump or software save through the computer all your custom setting because Yamaha erase s it all when this unit is turned off. Why can't Yamaha spend a few extra bucks on a memory user settings hold feature?!!! After all, if the power goes off you are screwed!!! Unless you save your settings on your computer??? Come on it is the year 2007 and we still can't get it right???

The screen looks ok and the turn jog dial is sturdy but stiff and hard to turn at times, the jog turn dial should have been larger and a outer rubber grip and made easier to turn. The buttons on the front panel seem a little cheap when pushing them, the other buttons move a little when you push just one button, I hope they hold up? What is nice is they are large enough and fairly easy to push and they are lit up when you push them, that is a nice feature. Very basic generic civil look to this module and it is functional. Nothing really stands out and catches your eye.

I would say the value of this sound module is fantastic not only because of its price and sound capabilities compared to its no competition but also future sound upgrading and features make this a great product to own/use now and atleast ten years into the future easy!!!

It seems the Yamaha website is very supportive of both new and old gear and it is updated often and users are allowed to get the latest updates and manuals etc. And the warranty length and service on Yamaha is good. I have not called yet for support issues?

Out of all the competition, there is not anything that comes even close to this as far as sound quality and quality of the samples, effects and arpeggios functions and voice polyphony and in terms of future upgradeable sounds, effects and polyphony and not to mention the future capabilities of this sound module is almost limitless! I hope Yamaha still supports this module long into the future and it does not become like on the back burner, because I think they have a real winner here.

Recording Engineer and Active Musician and Studio Owner

Acid Jazz, Electronica and Lounge, Techno, Rock

sounds are excellent for most selections, great compliment to a roland setup

you don't need alot of assessories for a synth module

i've been on synths since the 80s and have owned many of them over the years, this thing is just way too hard to get around in, plain and simple ,the interface is non-intuitive, too many doubl-buttons to push, they really need to work on interface, plus, the software is a joke as well and it's obvious they didnt' invest in a good interface. this is too bad since this unit sounds so awesome.

make excellently,

it's expensive but it does sound excellent, i would say the price is where it should be

i never dealt with the company, they're web site and the tools available to upgrade the unit are not very intuitive

i would want it if the interface and software were good.

30 yr musician, writer, performer, recording artist

christian contemporary, worship, folk, rock, r/b

it's real good and real easy to use i love it and the sound is good

more bass guitars sounds

through midi it's great

i can hear the rich sounds out of it

to my addition

active musician & recording engineer

r&b and hip hop

The sounds are excellent for most of the music that goes on in the industry. Crystal clear comtemporary sounds. Excellent for R&B, Pop, and Radio Rap.

The USB port and the ablitiy to edit and save your patches in Cubase SX 3 is great. This brings the great sounds of the motif and the ease of use of a VST instrument in Cubase into one. I been waiting for this since I haven't really liked the sounds of software modules that try to do the same.

The module looks 'phat' and love how they designed the looks of it. Construction seems well build.

For $1020 I think I got a good value on this unit. It provides almost everything, if not everything I need to make a hit. This has been the missing piece to my setup.

Never had to call them yet.

This was the unit that always been waiting for...I had to pass the first motif rack cause I didn't think the sounds were that great compared to sampletank and it wasn't designed to be as effcient with Cubase as this was.

striving professional producer

Rap, RnB, Hip-Hop