Well, this is the day I have been waiting for. In all seriousness, I only had two requests of the next Motif: a bigger screen and an UNDO button. Looks like I am 1 for 2 as I am pretty sure Yamaha has failed to add one of the most fundamentally important features to a hardware sequencer.. an UNDO button.
It may seem like a superfluous gripe to some, but anyone who uses the Motif's sequencer a lot will likely agree. How hard could it have been? Users on other forums have complained about this huge shortcoming for
years. Was Yamaha even paying attention? One has to wonder.
I could be wrong about this, as I haven't got an XS yet, but so far I'm not seeing this much-needed feature.
Cynicism aside, first thing I noticed was the advent of an Ethernet port in the back. Ethernet can transfer a whole hell of a lot of information simultaneously, so it seems a good fit for audio/midi tasks. Let's hope Yamaha engineered Ethernet implementation better than they did mLan (which is all but defunct now, from what I hear). Let's also hope Yamaha gave us a means to easily transfer Motif mixdowns to the computer for processing in one fell swoop. How about pattern/song mixdown to MP3? Hey, one can dream. :)
Apparently, the new Motif ships with a "special version" of Cubase. "Special" in this context typically means "crippled." From what I have read so far, it is a starter version of the software, but apparently upgrades to the full Cubase 4 will be discounted. That would be nice.
Another thing I have noticed is the advent of 8 (count 'em eight!) sliders on the console! This is a fantastic upgrade! The XS also adds another 500MB of RAM capacity and circuitry on par with Yamaha's digital mixer line-up.. err that is, for a turnkey "mastering" solution.
On top of all this, it appears as though one can combine something like 8 elements in a single voice to create MASSIVE voices in the Motif now. I can't even fathom that kind of voice flexibility. Then again, I wouldn't put it past Yamaha as the ES was already the best board on the planet. I'm really looking forward to the XS and will report back as soon as I have one in my hands.
Check out
Yamaha's site for more info (also see attached brochure to this article)
Look forward to my new book on the XS in April of 07. ;)