Sorry, one last question:

has Yamaha committed to maintain OSX/Windows driver support once the Motif is discontinued?

I'd hate to get one now and have its functionality handicapped by a future OS update...

Yes, of course. Believe it or not, most of the employees at the company (from the "big boss" on down) are musicians. The company eats, sleeps and dreams music. It started as a musical instrument company in 1887 and has been committed to the same ever since. We are very sensitive to just how long musicians tend to keep their instruments... and whether it is acoustic or electronic, the commitment is the same.

And while I cannot predict what Apple and Microsoft will do with their operating systems in the future, you can anticipate that Yamaha will do what it has to to meet the needs of our customers... To the best of our ability.

you helped me last year getting set up with my new Motif... I pushed out my first EP a few weeks back.
Music entirely done on the Motif. Truly an incredible piece of technology.
Just wanted to say thanks!
a little testimonial at andreasspitzer.com

It’s so unfortunate that such a fine instrument is so geeky to work with in the production/recording arena. It’s working language is a very deviant language to assimilate to. I've owned my motif xf since 2012. And most often it is only valuable to me as a vst controller for virtual instruments inside my DAW. I use Pro Tools. Most information you can dig up on the motifs operability is incomplete. I don’t get usable direct answers to basic question when searched for, it’s like a conspiracy of sorts. If I ask how to connect A to B to result in C, My answers usually go yes/no it can be done. Then a blurb from the manual (which I’ve already tried to decipher) and a kiss good bye. And I’m left with “well what about my question” So I surmise that the only audio outputs are the holes in the back of the unit. All else is sales hype. 16 FW sums to two L&R output on the back. No other way to audio out of the motif period. The only midi that reaches my computer is controller data, key note and pitch bend information. The sound patches are inaccessible to the outside world, they exist only inside the motif in digital form. Now watch if I get a response at all it will be “well what are you trying to do?” My answer is what every songwriter/mix engineer/producer wants at this price point. I want 8 stereo or 16 mono midi and /or audio over fw straight into the DAW of my choice. And please take away the goose hunt for straightforward information. By the time I get finished hunting I am exhausted and creative moment has vanished.

Eric wrote:

It’s so unfortunate that such a fine instrument is so geeky to work with in the production/recording arena. It’s working language is a very deviant language to assimilate to. I've owned my motif xf since 2012. And most often it is only valuable to me as a vst controller for virtual instruments inside my DAW. I use Pro Tools. Most information you can dig up on the motifs operability is incomplete. I don’t get usable direct answers to basic question when searched for, it’s like a conspiracy of sorts. If I ask how to connect A to B to result in C, My answers usually go yes/no it can be done. Then a blurb from the manual (which I’ve already tried to decipher) and a kiss good bye. And I’m left with “well what about my question” So I surmise that the only audio outputs are the holes in the back of the unit. All else is sales hype. 16 FW sums to two L&R output on the back. No other way to audio out of the motif period. The only midi that reaches my computer is controller data, key note and pitch bend information. The sound patches are inaccessible to the outside world, they exist only inside the motif in digital form. Now watch if I get a response at all it will be “well what are you trying to do?” My answer is what every songwriter/mix engineer/producer wants at this price point. I want 8 stereo or 16 mono midi and /or audio over fw straight into the DAW of my choice. And please take away the goose hunt for straightforward information. By the time I get finished hunting I am exhausted and creative moment has vanished.

Now, I'm exhausted!

Since you use VST are we to assume you've downloaded and installed the Motif XF Editor Stsnalone/VST and are using it to control the XF in the computer environment. If so, simply select an instrument for each of the Song or Pattern MIXING Parts. On the same line in the Editor as the Part you can select a FW Output assignment... under "OUTPUT SELECT".

You are given 16 FW Assignable outputs. They are configured "Main L&R" plus fourteen FireWire outputs, FW1-14. The Assignable FW are configurable in odd/even pairs (1&2, 3&4, etc) or as individual mono buses (FW 1, FW 2, etc). If you want to send eight stereo pairs at a time to your DAW, you can by assigning them (OUTPUT SELECT) per Part.

If you are not using the Editor, the same can be accomplished in the screen of the Motif XF on a per Part basis.

Instead of complaining about what you normally get, you should start your own thread. Include what computer type and operating system you are using, and what DAW and version. Actually, routing Parts to Outputs is not difficult.

You do need to know enough about your DAW to create a Stereo Input for each Stereo Output you activate in the XF. Once you've configured you system, you can save it, so it's really only complicated that first time.
You do need to download and install the Yamaha Steinberg FW driver for your particular computer type and operating system. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of song writers, musicians, mix engineers and producers using the XF successfully via FW, I don't see why you can't - what for they know that you don't?