M3 or Motif XS ?

[vEddY]

It's the big question ... someone had to ask

Personally I think the Motif XS actually looks pretty good and is an interesting development on the previous Motif Classic and ES.

What do you think ? How do these compare for your needs ... which is floating your boat ? Difficult question with so little audio material to get your teeth into and no physical units to get hands on with.

KARMA is clearly a significant USP for the M3 and from my Oasys experience I can say that this new EDS sampling engine is inheriting a sweet sound from the HD-1 engine in the Oasys and will be substantial improvement over ye olde Triton.

Daz.

Hey Dazzy boy,
I'll make you a promise - I'll go and check out the new Motif tomorrow and help you out with that one. I'll try to devote the same amount of time to that thing as I did to the M3 today. OK?

[Daz]

Thanks dude ... I am potentially looking for a keyboard for gigging (no way am I taking the big O out!) and either an M3 or XS might be ideal for that. I would trade in my old Triton etc.

I haven't owned a Yamaha since 1994 ! I suspect the XS is quite an improvement on my old W7 ... which I still have (god knows why!)

Daz.

[vEddY]

Thanks dude ... I am potentially looking for a keyboard for gigging (no way am I taking the big O out!) and either an M3 or XS might be ideal for that. I would trade in my old Triton etc.
I haven't owned a Yamaha since 1994 ! I suspect the XS is quite an improvement on my old W7 ... which I still have (god knows why!)
Daz.

No problem, I'll do that tomorrow. I have some, yet limited spare time because of the fact that I have (checking it out) 6 meetings tomorrow. So, I guess I'll have a couple of hours to play around with the Motif And I'd really like to go to Roland's booth tomorrow to check out their keyboards and drums. I have a whole list of requests for that

[80salife]

if M3 wouldn't have a Karma, than definatly MOtif XS...

look:,M3 also has the look of "second synth" , or "add-on synth" but not a Workstation, buttons on M3 look very ugly.

controls:that joystick looks very cheap, it's probably both a vector control and regular, i like standard Triton joystick, but also hate wheels.

buttons are ugly and unpracticable...just located directly side by side...

Joystick... I think it should remember to good old times...their the same as in M1 or T-models... in past i spend the most money to repare the joystick because it brokes often down...

But I just don’t get the feeling of Triton Series / workstation replacement here. It just looks more Synth than workstation to me.

Does that make any sense ?.

No sense...

I will underwrite it without thinking about ... A workstation should be a working place... But it seems to be a toy... its not realised for Live-Playing keyboarders...At home you will have much fun... But the first time you have to change programms, or starting sequences, or change Karma modules live on stage you will get the shock of your life

But Sharp you lucky boy will be in a few days a owner of an Oasys und you haven't make any thoughts about it...

[sewa]

There is a progression from ES to XS from what we can hear, but I think my assertion is still valid. If you already have a Motif ES or Fantom X as your main workstation, what's the point in buying a Motif XS ?! You're better served by expanding your sonic arsenal with a synth like the m3, or V-Synth for that matter.

Unless you're only interested in "real" sounds. In which case, Kontakt 2 may well be the solution in addition to your Fantom/Motif/Triton.

Agreed; the new "bells anw whistles" of the Motif XS do not make such a big difference to me so I'll stick with the ES.

Korg M3 is a smart way of expanding "sonic arsenal" as Francois put it, because of Karma and those sweet Korg electronic sounds...but I wouldn't replace my Motif ES with it...

I believe that the Motif's sequencer is still superoir (the resolution is equally high, there are solo/mute buttons for every track and the pattern sequencer is simply awesome). Also, the ES and the XS also look more professional to me than the M3.

Having said that, the perspective of having Oasys Karma implementation is thrilling so I might buy the M3; it will not replace my main board (the ES) though.

my 2c

sewa

[Tiitu]

If I did not have a good arranger keyboard at home, I would probably decide the same way as I did a year ago: I would buy a Tyros-2, first. But at present, M3 is definitely my choise. Motif XS looks dull, in my opinion. And, I used to have Motif ES (which was good), but I sold it, because I preferred Tyros-2. M3-M module is a superb solution.

[JD]

Without any hands-on experience there should be no verdict, but from looking at specs, design and knowing both companies I would go for the M3.

1. The Motif XS is butt ugly and good looks are inspirational for me. I applaud Korg for going for a diffeerent look and the Radias integration. I loved the design of the Alesis Fusion as well...

2. The M3 is the first of a new Korg workstation generation...the Motif XS might be the last one in the Motif series. Korg will definately release new sounds and maybe release some different expansions. It is a more futureproof investment for the next few years.

Generally Korg is taking more risks to do the next step and I fully support innovation instead of evolution.

Rock on, Korg!

JD

[Vadim]

Having just both of these even without any other gear would probably be the best Combination of synths for today

[sewa]

Having just both of these even without any other gear would probably be the best Combination of synths for today

I couldn't agree more; just add an access Virus on top of that

[bkboy]

I actually prefer access virus ti for electronic sounds more than korg, and i prefer motif xs more than korg for acoustic.

so if i have a motif xs + access virus ti, i personally think it can blow the m3 away. karma is cool, but i never really enjoyed it as much as some people here do.

also don't forget, roland's v-synth gt will have many modelled filters (not just waveforms) of tb, juno, etc. i love vintage roland synth sounds as well.

[vEddY]

Thanks dude ... I am potentially looking for a keyboard for gigging (no way am I taking the big O out!) and either an M3 or XS might be ideal for that. I would trade in my old Triton etc.
I haven't owned a Yamaha since 1994 ! I suspect the XS is quite an improvement on my old W7 ... which I still have (god knows why!)
Daz.

OK, the new Mo's review & M3/MoXS head-to-head coming up ... Grab a beer!
http://it-review.net/index.php?option=c ... 0&Itemid=1

[Daz]

Thank you darling ... I look forward to reading that later with a cold Corona.

[7thsense]

512 programs in the M3? huge mistake, no competition for the fantom x, heck the Triton extreme will appeal to more folks.

[chu_po_ming]

...

[Jaylaca]

512 programs in the M3? huge mistake, no competition for the fantom x, heck the Triton extreme will appeal to more folks.

You know, call me old fashioned, but.... How the hell is this a problem? Plus it's misleading. I say you're ill-informed.

I'd rather 128 awesome, well implemented, useable programs than 1000 patches that sound similar and bland.

First of all here are the specs from Korg.com

Programs
1,664 user locations, 640 preloaded (512 EDS+128 RADIAS) (with EXB-RADIAS option installed)
Combinations
1,792 user locations, 384 preloaded
Drumkits
144 user locations, 32 preloaded
GM
256 GM2 programs, 9 GM2 drum kits

And why pit board against board based on # of preset locations? What about sounds, features, integration, synthesis, layout, expansion, etc?

Secondly,
You can save banks to disk or flashsticks via USB. So that's not a problem. I'm sure you can cherry pick sounds from saved 'banks'. and fill up the user locations with favorites.

The DAW integration allows the M3 to open up as a PLUGIN in any DAW. Then all the sounds are saved with the Session. Again, very amazing feature.

Somehow this post just annoyed me.... . Can you tell?