- I have the Yamaha driver installed, but sadly it will never see any use in my sessions. I work in Post for television and film, and that work is exclusively at a sample rate of 48k which the MODX cannot do (but the Montage will). Transferring sound via USB with this limitation isn't going to work.

We are sure you mean the Yamaha Steinberg USB Driver. That’s correct. If you need 48kHz, the MONTAGE would have been the correct choice. Most professional DAWs can convert the sample rate, however... but it is understandable if you would rather not do this. You can work with whatever audio interface you desire.

I would like to use the MODX primarily as a tone module for midi sequencing for new compositions. I realize that I have to use a Multi Performance patch for that. I've had some luck with this method, but I cannot use the knob in most cases.

If by “the knob” you are referring to the Super Knob, we can help you there. You do not have to use a Multi Part Performance - that’s up to you.

When MIDI sequencing you have several options. There is no one single method to work.

If the Super Knob is frozen for example, you attempt to turn it but the lights don’t move and the sound does not respond, it is a Routing issue.
When working connected to a DAW to record MIDI data, it is common practice to work with Local Control = Off.
When you do this the MODX keys are disconnected from directly triggering the MODX tone generator. In order for you to hear what you’re playing you need to route the MIDI data through an active MIDI Track that is set to echo the data back to the MODX... otherwise you will not hear what you play, the Super Knob and all controllers will not work. The data is going to the track but you are not hearing it because you did not complete the circuit.

The Super Knob, in general, is programmed to work in the MODX Multi Part Performances to do things like morph between sounds, crossfade, bring in additional sounds, change effects, etc., etc., etc. It does this across multiple Parts, across multiple MIDI Channels.

The Super Knob addresses the entire Performance. It can address both Parts you are controlling directly (KBD CTRL) and those playing back MIDI data. How you choose to proceed is really up to you.

__You can build your 16-Part Performance...using Parts as you desire, but there can be only one set of Source/Destination configurations for the Performance. All Parts at the same time
__You can use multiple passes to your DAW to accomplish more flexibility. (We are talking the Les Paul method of multi-tracking. Mr.Paul pioneered multi-track recording back in the 1950s by overdubbing... one instrument, his guitar, added again and again. One voice (Mary Ford) overdubbed again and again. Treat the MODX as a separate instrument on each pass.
Another example would be “Switched on Bach” recreated with one instrument, multiple passes. You record MIDI so that you can edit (fix mistakes, tweak sounds, etc. before committing to audio. You can record as MIDI... render a temporary audio track... keep the MIDI data in muted folder as your ultimate UNDO... overdub to the temporary Audio Track. This workflow allows you to reuse your hardware without having to be a master programmer.

If setting up MIDI is difficult, remember the MODX has a built in Performance Recorder that is specifically designed to record your every move.
It is a simple process to then drag and drop your MIDI sequence into your favorite DAW for rendering to audio.

Without specific details about what you are attempting to record there are simply too many ways to proceed.
We can help you here with Cubase (since most of the basic stuff is pretty standard in terms of MIDI and Audio routing, you can translate it to the others).

Are you using Cubase Pro? (typically, the “Pro” version of DAW software offer more flexibility in workflow).
Give us an idea of what you’d like to record.