when Steinberg invented VST (Virtual Studio Technology) part of what it introduced was a method to integrate external hardware (both synthesizers and effect processors) into the world of computer-based recording. It is merely a matter of signal routing and advanced delay time compensation. When you have all your data generated by the computer it is doing everything and it's CPU is running near capacity. Every band of EQ, every little thing you add uses a bit more CPU muscle.

Integrating external hardware has clear advantages, but had some traditional disadvantages... This has been addressed.

For some time external devices recorded MIDI data to a computer DAW, like Cubase, and all you could do was play it back to the hardware. You couldn't use any of the effect processing plug-ins on the computer, because MIDI data is not audio, so you cannot process it as you would a soft synth. This, because of the signal routing situation. In the typical situation your external hardware communicates MIDI to the sequencer, the audio it sends back in is not able to receive the same benefit of processing until printed as audio. It simply is printed directly to an audio track.

Well VST routing fixes this issue for external hardware.

Soft synths are software programs running on the same computer running the DAW. It generates the audio and returns it inside the computer to Cubase. It is called "virtual audio" because although you hear it, it is not actually recorded as a Wave. It is simply 'monitored' through the so called "VST Audio Lane". Due to this internal routing scheme, you can EQ it, process it with plugin effects... It does not get rendered to an actual audio Wave until MIXDOWN. So your recorded data remains in Midi form (where you can edit it, and "change your mind" about your performance).

External VST routing allows DAW MIDI Tracks to be routed OUT to the external hardware synth, and yet the audio that is "returned" is returned through the VST Audio Lane, exactly like a soft synth would be. The audio remains "virtual", meaning you can EQ it and process it exactly as you would any soft synth - and your performance remains MIDI data, with the same level of "change your mind" available for your external synth. In order to render it as a permanent audio wave you use use the Export Audio Mixdown feature, to render the data to real audio, the data is transferred in real time. The Motif XF is still the synth engine creating the sound.

So the routing issue is solved. But the VST integration goes beyond that. Cubase can "remember" all of your Motif XF Voices and/or Mixing setups, including any custom edits you've done. With the Motif XF you can load 512 Normal User Voices and 32 User Drum Kits at a time in the internal Motif XF's internal memory. With the integration of Cubase's MediaBay, you can keep every Motif XF sound you own just one click away. I have literally hundreds and hundreds of Voices in my Motif XF VST PREST folder. It's huge!!!!

When I'm looking for an electric piano for a Motif XF session, I no longer have to hunt through a pile of USB thumb drives looking for different electric piano sounds ... I have about 1100 Electric Piano Voices, ranked and categorized in my Cubase MediaBay Sound Browser. (I can even leave notes to myself about on which projects I used a certain sound). I simply click on a file name .. It is bulked to the edit buffer of the Motif XF... Where I can immediately audition it. I can store it and try it out, in context of the project.

Now mind you, I can have access to *every* Voice I own for my Motif XF, even those I have purchased with custom Waveform/Samples installed on my Flash Board. Once you install data to your Flash Board make a VST Preset of that library; this gives you access in just one click! You can organize every Voice you encounter for your Motif XF and keep it in the Cubase Sound Browser. No waiting for them to load, you simply click and in three seconds you are playing that sound! This may not be a big deal when you first get your Motif XF, but over time you wind up with more Voices than be loaded in to memory at one time.

Integration means, your Motif XF sound library is in permanent residence on your computer, in your DAW, Cubase, READY TO GO, and through the magic of "bulk dump", you are a click or two away from getting access to any sound. So beyond the Midi and audio routing situation with its unlimited UNDO... You have the library integration feature.

Integration means locking in your own templates, and organizing the software and hardware so that you can operate the software without a mouse. Now this is not for everyone but I find it useful. When I'm ready to record on computer I have two "hats". My engineer hat that works with the technology, arms tracks, sets levels, does the utility stuff to setup. And I have my musician hat that means I want to forget about everything and concentrate on playing. The REMOTE CONTROL SURFACE function means I can put down the mouse and completely operate Cubase from the front panel of the Motif XF.

What I want to do and what I use it most for is when I'm trying to perform a difficult passage or do an intricate emulation of some acoustic part. I'm going to be working, rehearsing rewinding, punching in and out, arming tracks, playing back, soloing, muting, rewinding trying again... Etc. I can do these movements without ever touching a mouse. I can operate everything from the front panel of the Motif XF. In my studio the computer is not where I can reach it so these front-panel 'remote' controls are a blessing. I don't use it all the time, just when I'm working alone and don't want the distraction of having to pick up a mouse. I just want to jump back, punch in and do it again, without spinning my chair around! That's integration of workflow.

Because the Motif XF with the FW16E can be a midi and audio interface for your computer, you can use it bring in other devices and record them to your computer... Even process them with your on board effects. The hardware effects on the Motif XF are world class emulations of classic effects and are trickled down from Yamaha's high end digital mixers, some are especially developed for synthesizers. The VCM EQs on board are also boutique quality. So having the Motif XF as an audio processor not only takes a huge burden off the computer, it has a three band PART EQ for each and every Part; in order to open that many bands of EQ on your computer would have your CPU seeing red (literally)...

So your integaration is complete when you realize, that the computer will keep track (pun intended) of every sound you use, every EQ setting you make, every tweak you make, and keep it in one place - bundled in the one Project file. When next you open this project, Cubase will tell you what synth you had connected, it will also restore everything back to how it was when you put the project away. Everything comes back, it's truly, total recall!

Wow.... Excellent info I can use. Very appreciative for the detail and depth of this explanation.