Yamaha Motif

Though containing half the polyphony and fewer preset sound programs, these models contain all the MOTIF ES sample sets, along with arpeggios and a song and pattern sequencer.

Lacking are the professional MOTIF ES features such as mLAN connectivity, Yamaha PLG integration, sampling and multiple foot controllers.

The XS versions were announced at the NAMM Show in 2007: MOTIF has a mLAN connection for transferring MIDI and sound to a PC.

The MoXF series contains all the MOTIF XF WaveROM, polyphony and voice presets, along with arpeggios and a song and pattern sequencer.

It features one slot for a flash memory board (versus 2 on the flagship XF), allowing users to load additional sample libraries from third-party sources.

These slots allow the user to augment the instrument's soundset through the purchase of Yamaha PLG Expansion Boards.

The MOTIF Classic featured 4MB of onboard sampling RAM, which could be increased to 64MB with the purchase of third party memory sticks.

The ES models featured several improvements over the original MOTIFs, including twice the polyphony with faster envelopes, a DSP effects engine (up to 8 tracks in sequencer mode can use independent dual insert effects), USB mass storage support, 8x sample RAM expansion (up to 512 MB via twin DIMM modules), improved acoustic piano sound, and twice the storage amount for user sounds.

Some improvements over the previous ES series were: The MOTIF XS is not compatible with the Yamaha PLG expansion cards.

Once initially loaded into the XF, the user doesn't have to reload sample data every time they power up the keyboard.

Notable users of the keyboard include Stevie Wonder, Thomas Dolby, Gary Numan, Ron Mael, Billy Currie, Craig Burrows, Alan Parsons, John Foxx, George Duke and Mark Ronson.