Everything is easy, once you know how to do it. Quick examples are, learning to tie shoelaces (incredibly difficult to describe in words, literally child's play to do in the physical world... and learning to ride a bike, very easy once you fall off once or twice, but overall very easy).

First, you need to go to the Apple Store and get a Thunderbolt to FW adapter. And a 6-pin to 9-pin FW cable. That will allow you to connect your FW16E to your Thunderbolt equipped Mac.

Link to example solution:
_ 6-pin to 9-pin cable
_ Thunderbolt-to-FW Adapter

I have cubase on my Mac and understood with the FW16E board I can essentially dump the audio sequencer songs right from the keyboard (all 16 tracks) to cubase onto 16 tracks, and then add vocals there.

This is incorrect and not how this works. The tracks of your Motif XF contain only MIDI data, MIDI data is not audio. Therefore 16 MIDI tracks hardly ever equal 16 audio tracks (don't believe I've ever had that happen in the more than 16 years I've been Motif'ing with FireWire!)

The FW16E gives the Motif XF 16 bus outputs. This breaks down to the main stereo L/R plus fourteen assignable output buses. The assignables can be configured as single mono outputs or as odd/even stereo pairs. A bus is a vehicle that carries one or more passengers from one place to another along a predetermined route. The passengers here are audio signals. The predetermined route is from the XF to mono or stereo audio tracks in Cubase.

MIDI is a series of coded messages that represent a musical performance, in much the same way holes punched in a roll of paper represent a musical performance for a old style Player Piano. The data must be reinterpreted by an appropriate device to be turned back into sound (audio). MIDI, not being audio, is therefore, neither mono nor stereo. When the MIDI data is sounded (interpreted and converted to audio by the XF tone engine) it then can be mono or stereo.

Say you record piano, flute, bass and drums. Just four MIDI tracks... This can easily be turned into 10 audio tracks.
Piano (Full Concert Grand) is sampled in Stereo and will use two buses, one for the left channel, the other for the right. (FW1&2)
Bass (Velo Growl) is an acoustic bass sampled in Mono and will use a single bus. (FW3)
Flute (Sweet Flute) mono (FW4)
Drums could be stereo (most kits are sampled in stereo) but also you might opt to isolate individual drums to separate audio tracks, you can assign the individual drum sounds you use to buses, as necessary, for example:
Kick - mono (FW5)
Snare - mono (FW6)
Hi hat (closed, pedal, open) assigned to a single mono bus (FW7)
Ride Cymbal - mono (FW8)
Tom-toms - assigned and panned out across a stereo bus (FW9&10)
Percussion - assigned and panned out across a stereo bus (FW11&12)
Crash Cymbal - mono (FW13)

7 mono tracks
3 stereo tracks
10 audio tracks from just four MIDI tracks. Your mileage will vary depending on the "production" decisions you make, which can be very different from project to project, song to song.

But because of the mono-versus-stereo thing, the number of MIDI tracks rarely, if ever, equals the number of audio tracks, that is simply not how it works out. Remember, that some sounds, even if sampled in mono will require a stereo bus to record properly... For example, most of the B3 emulations in the XF are sampled in mono but run through a Stereo Insertion Effect (the Rotary Speaker Insertion Effect) so to accurately capture the Doppler effect of the Rotating Speaker effect you need to assign the B3 Parts to a stereo bus and record them to a stereo track.

Hope that helps you get started with planning out your music production. Any Part assigned to an assignable FW output is removed from the main (system) stereo out, but goes to that assignable output with its Part EQ and Dual Insertion Effect in tact.

Visit the RESOURCE section here on YamahaSynth for guides on using the FW16E with Cubase.

_ Motif XF YSFW Setup Mac w/Cubase

_ Motif XF Assigning a Mic to a FW Bus

_ Motif XF Routing Parts via FireWire

thank you for your response.
I will go to the apple store and start by getting the cables. Why do I need the 6 to 9 pin cable? I thought the FW16E was 6 pins, and the other end is presumably the adaptor to the thunderbolt, what is a 9 pin needed for? or are you saying the adaptor is a 9 pin firewire cable going to thunderbolt ?
Second question I have is do you know whether Yamaha or Steinway holds classes on how to do use this equipment (I'm in NYC). I feel like a few hours of hands-on instruction would get me what I need (and I'm happy to pay for it). I fear I will be reading manuals for the next year and not have my motif successfully dropping my songs into Cubase. I already have songs with 16 tracks used on the Motif, and as you point out clearly there are sounds that are in stereo. How does one ever get all 16 tracks from the motif to cubase if some tracks on the motif require 2 buses?
Thank you again for your help.

I will go to the apple store and start by getting the cables. Why do I need the 6 to 9 pin cable? I thought the FW16E was 6 pins, and the other end is presumably the adaptor to the thunderbolt, what is a 9 pin needed for? or are you saying the adaptor is a 9 pin firewire cable going to thunderbolt ?

Yes

Second question I have is do you know whether Yamaha or Steinway holds classes on how to do use this equipment (I'm in NYC).

Steinway builds pianos... We are sure you mean Steinberg... There is a Club Cubase meeting the first Thursday of every month held at the Guitar Center in Union Square. 25 W 14th Street, Manhattan. 7pm

I feel like a few hours of hands-on instruction would get me what I need (and I'm happy to pay for it). I fear I will be reading manuals for the next year and not have my motif successfully dropping my songs into Cubase. I already have songs with 16 tracks used on the Motif, and as you point out clearly there are sounds that are in stereo. How does one ever get all 16 tracks from the motif to cubase if some tracks on the motif require 2 buses?

Clock synchronization allows you to do things in multiple passes. You can use as many as you require. Cubase can be set to be the master clock, and the XF can be set to sync to it allowing you to record using as many passes as you require. Recordings, in general, have not been done "all in one pass" since guitarist Les Paul invented multitrack recording in the 1950's.

hi. it's a slow long project getting this going... (I did figure out today that I can 'record' a song from the sequencer straight to USB and create an audio file, which is nice, but still doesn't help me add my vocal tracks)
So I got the firewire to thunderbolt connections so I can connect the motif to the mac. and I've downloaded the Yamaha Steinberg FW Driver version 1.7.4. The install said it was successful.
I might be dense ... but I can not find the download anywhere for the Motif XF Extension version 1.1.1 for Mac OS X. Is this a yamaha download? or a steinberg download? I've searched both sites and done a google search and can't seem to find the download anywhere. Help please.
Thanks

See the listing on the Official Yamaha Download site under Motif XF...

got it. thanks
on to the next step...

so near yet not quite there... not by the way I intended, but I got by 16 track fully mixed song from the motif to cubase by simply importing into cubase the audio file I had pushed to usb earlier in the day (so it's successfully there stereo l and r the way I mixed it on the motif). happy with the music. now I can't get cubase to recognize my microphone. I have an akg that I'm running through a scarlett 2i2. I know the scarlett works because I've been able to sample to the motif. can you please help me get cubase to recognize the scarlett? (I searched the internet and it seems to say for a mac you don't need a driver just plug and go).

A wrote:

so near yet not quite there... not by the way I intended, but I got by 16 track fully mixed song from the motif to cubase by simply importing into cubase the audio file I had pushed to usb earlier in the day (so it's successfully there stereo l and r the way I mixed it on the motif). happy with the music.

I guess you have given up on the better quality... Alas so much of today's music is done with the "good enough" settling for what you get. You are so close why give up?

Don't think you have given up? Trust me, you have. Recording the Motif XF out via the USB "To Device" port exports the audio at 16-bit/44.1kHz to a .wav file, and while this is decent ("good enough"), known as "CD quality", it is not the high resolution, pristine, audio achievable via the FW bus outputs... where you can get 24-bit resolution and sample rates up to 96kHz. Even at 24-bit/44.1kHz the improvement in sound is remarkable. Remarkable. Compelling. And dare I say it, worth the learning curve. So forgive us, if we don't let you "settle" for your successful USB audio file transfer.

You have the FW16E installed, you have it connected, why not just record with it? You say you have your mix the way you want on the XF, why not just output and record it to Cubase via FW? Then compare your results!
While perhaps, only trained/conditioned ears can notice the difference in sample rates, everyone hears the quality difference between 16 and 24 bit resolution! Everyone!

Now that you have the Motif XF Extension installed, Cubase will recognize the XF ports by their proper names. Recording the main stereo L/R output of the XF via FW will be easy.

Go to DEVICES > DEVICE SETUP > MIDI > MIDI PORT SETUP > in the last column "In All Midi Input" mark only "Motif XF Main"
Go to the VST AUDIO SYSTEM > make sure the Motif XF's Yamaha Steinberg FW is setup as your ASIO Device.

Go to DEVICES > VST CONNECTIONS > Select the INPUTS tab
Make sure you have AUDIO DEVICE = Yamaha Steinberg FW (Motif XF) and the DEVICE PORTs are set to "Motif XF Main L" / "Motif XF Main R"

On the main Cubase track screen create a Stereo Audio Track set to receive data from the Stereo Audio bus.

To synchronize clocks... Set Cubase as master clock
Go to TRANSPORT > PROJECT SYNCHRONIZATION SETTINGS > MIDI OUT > DESTINATION = "Motif XF Main"

Set the Motif XF as slave to this clock
[UTILITY] > [F5] CONTROL > [SF2] MIDI > set MIDI SYNC = "auto"
Set SEQUENCER CONTROL = In
This will allow the XF to be started and stopped automatically from Cubase.

Set the project tempo in Cubase.

You can now record the audio via FW from the XF to your Cubase Project. This will create a higher resolution picture of your data, so even if later your final production is CD quality, your music will benefit from this higher resolution. It's like taking a high resolution photograph initially, even if it it is posted in the grainy resolution of a newspaper, the higher the resolution of the original picture the better it translates in lower resolution situations. Cubase allows you to set your project in up to 32-bit floating point resolution (and while it may never sound that good ever again... It is the preferred working resolution of the Cubase pros)

Go to PROJECT > PROJECT SETUP...
To view the attributes of your current project.

now I can't get cubase to recognize my microphone. I have an akg that I'm running through a scarlett 2i2. I know the scarlett works because I've been able to sample to the motif. can you please help me get cubase to recognize the scarlett? (I searched the internet and it seems to say for a mac you don't need a driver just plug and go).

No, sorry. We cannot give you support on getting this part to work, because we don't know the unit or anything about its need or lack thereof a driver. Any dynamic (non phantom powered) microphone can be recorded through the XF - the AD Input Part of the XF can be routed to a FW bus same as any of the XF's internal synth Parts. It can be assigned dual Insertion Effects and routed on its own bus to Cubase. Please see the following short article on touting a microphone via FW:

Motif XF Assigning a Mic to a FW bus

thanks for the response. I can definitely tell the difference between what comes straight out of the motif from the sequencer vs. what was pushed to USB. I just needed to make some progress or I was going to pull my hair out. Progress made... I was also able to get the mic to work and record in cubase, although now I'm struggling with why it sounds stereo when connected, but only records mono... argh. I haven't give up on the higher quality solution I assure you (my wife told me this morning I can return the two cables I bought and I said naw I'll hang onto them because I might still want to try to get this to work the way it was intended), just needed to get a small win. Thanks again. Will give the more technically advanced approach a try when I have more patience...

Hello,

I'm currently contemplating getting a 'Fully Loaded' Motif XF7 if I can get one at a blowout price, but there is one thing unclear:

Does the FW16E carry MIDI as well? Or do you still need to have the USB connected to have both audio and MIDI going to and fro?

Eventually, I want to be able to connect the laptop with just one cable for live use. Having to use both the USB and FW/Thunderbolt cable seems unnecessarily convoluted.

The owner's manual says USB carries MIDI only.

Thanks.

Does the FW16E carry MIDI as well?

Yes, it does. It carries both MIDI and audio bi-directionally. The FW16E is a 16-in/6-out audio interface, plus it communicates on multi-MIDI ports. The MAIN MIDI port is for the Motif XF music note performance, tempo, controllers; the REMOTE MIDI port allows you to use the front panel of the XF has a control surface for Cubase, Logic Pro, Sonar, Digital Performer, Pro Tools; the third MIDI Port is a "thru" In/Out port that allows you to connect one external MIDI device using the 5-pin MIDI jacks on the back panel... It can send data into and receive data from the computer (the signal literally passes through the XF.

What you can do with the IEEE1394/FW connection (FW16E)
You can integrate the MOTIF XF with DAW software on a computer by connecting the FW16E-equipped MOTIF XF to a computer.
• Transfer data of multiple audio channels between the MOTIF XF and the computer (up to 16 audio bus outputs from the MOTIF XF to the computer and up to 6 audio buses from the computer to the MOTIF XF)
• Simultaneously record to the sequence software (a) your performance on the MOTIF XF and (b) the performance of the computer sequence software that uses the MOTIF XF as a MIDI tone generator
• Monitor via the MOTIF XF the audio output from the computer and the audio output from the MOTIF XF
• Use Cubase together with the MOTIF XF and take advantage of a variety of convenient functions in that DAW program (Remote Control, Sound Browser/librarian function, etc.)

Bad Mister wrote:

Does the FW16E carry MIDI as well?

Yes, it does.

Thanks!

So, these limitations notwithstanding, I should be able to use the XF7 as a MIDI controller/audio interface with just a Thunderbolt->FW cable/adapter?

Yes, no problem. Sorry for the quick short answer - I've filled in some details above.

Thanks again. And I did find mention of it in the OM shortly after you posted. Must have missed that the first time around, my bad.

Actually, if it's essentially mLAN, I should have known all along.