I currently have all of Inspiration In A Flash installed on my XF in USR2, USR3, and USR4 (and a 512 MB flash card). This means I don't have easy access to the original voices that were in those banks.

This is not a true statement. And because it is not, you do not have to worry about swapping Voices in and out (not for the original Voices that occupied USER 2, USER 3 and USER 4... here's why:

The Voices that originally occupied USER 2, USER 3 and USER 4 were "placeholder" Voices selected from the PRESET 1 - PRESET 8 Banks. Every Voice that originally occupied the USER 2, 3 and 4 Banks appears elsewhere in your Motif XF Preset Library. Only USER 1 contained any unique content.

Managing and Auditioning Voices
Your question is a valid one if you are considering Auditioning other libraries... lets use as an example a third party Library; say you want to audition the Organ Voices in DCP's Bee'sKnees Voice library. Auditioning Voices can easily be done without actually LOADING a FILE. The Motif XF allows you to AUDITION VOICES directly from the EDIT BUFFER without destructively replacing any USER VOICE bank location.

You basically can use the EDITOR to open the VOICE and bulk it to the Motif XF's Edit Buffer... here you can play it, edit it, do whatever you want to it - if you decide it is not right, simply Audition another or move away, and nothing was destructively changed. If you decide it is right, then you can press [STORE] and direct it to an appropriate USER Bank location (overwriting the contents at that location).

There are three different methods available to Motif XF users:

1 _ Using the Yamaha Motif XF Editor to Audition Voices
You can use the Yamaha Motif XF Editor Standalone/VST to AUDITION Voices as explained in the following article:

Auditioning Voices from Files Using the Motif XF Editor

2 _ Using the Melas Total Librarian to Audition Voices
You can also use the Melas Total Librarian for this same type of Auditioning:
Use the Melas Total Librarian to open the FILE that contains the VOICEs you wish to AUDITION
Go to FILE > IMPORT NATIVE FILE
Select the Banks you wish to import to the Librarian
The USER banks can be selected on the computer screen - in the right pane you see a list of the individual names
When you double click on a VOICE Name it will send that data to the EDIT BUFFER of the Motif XF, where you can audition it, edit, and decide if you want to Store it or audition another.

3 _ Using Cubase SOUND BROWSER
The Sound Browser gives you access to all of the Voices you accumulate overtime in one Librarian - rather than having to know which FILE the VOICE is in, the SOUND BROWSER can contain every single Voice, from every library, all in one easy to use directory (you can search by Category and even rank your own). Even if you have overwritten your "Inspiration In a Flash" USER Voice Banks (USER 2, USER 3 and USER 4) you can restore data from your SOUND BROWSER - the fact that your Voices use custom Waveforms and Samples does not matter - it still takes only seconds to audition any VOICE. Because data installed into the SOUND BROWSER "knows" where to find the Waveform and Samples (no waiting). Even for libraries that have samples.

Adding Voice Libraries to Cubase as VST Preset

The article focuses on how to place your VOICES in the SOUND BROWSER - recalling them is similar to the two methods above, when you select a VOICE in the Sound Browser it is bulked to the EDIT BUFFER of the Motif XF hardware where you can play it, edit it, and decide if you want to keep or discard it.

Extra Credit
USER 1 (the Bank that starts with the "Natural S6 Grand") are 128 additional Voices (over what was the basic Motif XS library). And can be restored in a special Factory Set... in other words, say you wanted to load 128 new Voices into your Motif XF... and you don't want to overwrite your Inspiration in a Flash data... You can load using "1 BANK VOICE" and direct the load to USER 1... You can perform a Factory Set that only overwrites the 128 Voices in USER 1 and the first 8 Drum Kits in the User Drum Bank.
Press [UTILITY]
Press [JOB]
Clear the box that will load "ALL" four USER Banks and the USER DRUM Bank, notice now you are set to load just the USER 1 (A01-H16) and UDR (A01-A08)

This makes USER 1 Bank the perfect place to actually LOAD data to audition - because resetting the unique Voices to USER 1 is quick and easy...

Hope that helps.

Excellent stuff!

I spent today following your directions about managing voices using Cubase. I learned a lot.

When I click on the "cube" in the Motif Editor VST and do a Load Preset, my window doesn't look quite like yours. It looks like this:

Should I be seeing that doubled folder (red circle)? Is it an indication of some problem in my setup?

You should be seeing the folders as you have created them. There was a Folder named "Motif XF VST" which contains all the PRESET1 - PRESET8, and PRESET DRUM Voices in it as "VST Presets". It was created and occupied when you installed the "Yamaha Motif XF Editor Standalone/VST version 1.6.x." You created a SubFolder with the same name as the default folder you were given. You can create subFolders as you desire/require.

You might want to get a bit more descriptive with the SubFolder names, as it can help you define/refine your search when looking for something. Place items in folders as makes sense for you to find them later...

I, for example, created a SubFolder to the main "Motif XF VST" folder, that I named accordingly, to hold my multi-timbral SONG MIXING setups... I keep the single Voices in the one top-level folder; in the SubFolder I keep a backup of every multi-timbral MIXING setup, by Song Title, since Mixing programs store all settings and even any customized Mixing Voices.

You can create a network of subFolders as you see fit, I just recommend you name them for what they contain. You can narrow your search by limiting your Search to particular Folders. When I'm looking for a multi-timbral MIXING setup I can eliminate all single Voices from my search and simply search a SubFolder that only contains 16 Part setups. (remember Mixing setups can be used as real time "live" stage setups in addition to their traditional role as for sequences). So organizing them separately made sense to me.

Hope that helps.

Unfortunately, I don't think that's the problem. My VST presets are stored on my machine in:

C:UsersMichael TrigoboffAppDataRoamingVST3 PresetsYamaha CorporationMOTIF XF VST

There are no subfolders under MOTIF XF VST (and especially not another one with the same name), just all of the .vstpreset files.

I never provided the name for folder MOTIF XF VST. I suspect that the VST Editor did it for me.

Update:
Here's a possible clue to what's going on. When I uncheck either of the two folders, this dialogue comes up:

It shows three locations that contain the VST presets. The one under "Documents" is empty. The one under "ProgramData" has 1353 .vstpreset files. The one under "AppDataRoaming" has 381 .vstpreset files.

Update 2:
I added test items to each of the three locations, and they all show up when I click the "cube" in the VST Editor. Apparently all three locations are being used by the software.

I'm hoping someone knows what the deal is. I sure don't…

You are looking through the backend of the software - you can email Steinberg through your MySteinberg Account if that is what you want to do... Or I suggest try going into the MEDIA BAY and look at the frontend - how the external folder hierarchy works is not really something I want to deal with in the librarian/media browser...

Also try looking in the Steinberg Cubase 7.5 Documentation (Operation Manual under "MediaBay") It will tell you everything you need to know about operating the Sound Browser from the frontend. (Use the light switch on the wall, don't go to the fusebox in the basement to simply create, delete and rearrange folders in your MEDIA BAY...)

You mean, try approaching it like a musician instead of like a software engineer? 🙂

Sounds like good advice…

You mean, try approaching it like a musician instead of like a software engineer? 🙂

Exactly, although I understand your approach, I believe approaching the software from the front-end will be more rewarding. Certainly more fun... Then if you'd like sneak a peek behind the curtain...