Welcome here!
1. You're right, output volumes of preset voices have different levels. To adjust them permanently to your needs, you'll have to edit them and save the results in some user locations, presets are not overwritable. Another possibility is to include some voices in a performance and balance the output levels within it.
3. You'll have to get a flash ram card to use every sound library containing waveforms not included in the Moxf ROM. E.g. "classic keys" from DCP productions does not require any flash, "Inspiration in a flash" does. They all save voices and sometimes performances in user locations, so you are warned that you may overwrite some of them you programmed yourself and saved in those locations.
4. Performance locations are all user locations, so you may overwrite them with yours. Just for the records, I have overwritten almost all of them with performance I use in live gigs.

I have no answer for 2 and 5, as I use the moxf more as a "steroids piano and multitimbral synth" than a workstation.
But you'll get here a bunch of answer from people far more expert than myself. Just wait!

Thanks....appreciate any help I can get. I am fairly accomplished as a musician......well used to be at least long time ago. Played in my youth and then work and family got in way. just retired and trying to get back into it seriously. I have Technics piano which is digital but it is just that.... a digital piano. Trying to understand all the technology available on the workstation itself. Not even ready to get into Cubase or other daw yet. Powerful but giving me a headache. Spending a lot of time on boards looking for things. Any recommendation on boards to consult also appreciated. Just joined Facebook group for Yamaha MOXF English speaking. That and this forum plus some stuff on youtube appear to be best places so far.

Related to question 3 above.....when you import a .x3a file that you got say from the web, can you control what user voice it overwrites?

Yes, you can. The .X3A file type is a Motif XF "All" data file. If you select FILE TYPE = "All" then it will load and replace all user data. But if you want to load just specific Voices from within an All data file, you should set the FILE TYPE = "Voice".
Press [FILE]
Press [F3] Load
Set FILE TYPE = voice

By doing so, when you highlight that .X3A file, you open it and explore the individual Voices. You will see that the Motif XF has four USER Folders and one Drum User folder. You can select a Folder, enter it to view a list of 128 Voices in each User folder and 32 Kits in the UserDrum folder.

You can select an individual Voice, then target a location in your MOXF's User 1, 2 or 3 Bank; or UDR if a drum Kit.

Additionally, if you set the FILE TYPE = "1 Bank Voice", you will be able to load an entire Bank of 128 normal User, or the Bank of 32 Kits, in one operation. Again you would set the File Type, then highlight the "All" file, it will open, select the Motif XF Bank you wish to load, set the target you wish to overwrite... and execute.

Thanks. I will just have to try it and see what happens.....Guess I can always do a factory reset if i mess up. As I understand all the user voices are duplicates of voices stored elsewhere. Performances though do not exist elsewhere.

Got some more questions will start a new discussion for them.

Mike

Performances are a combination of up to four Voices. They are made from the MOXF Preset Voices... a Voice when placed in a Performance occupies a “Part”... a set of parameters applied to this Voice. Each “Part” of a Performance contains a MOXF Preset Voice from the Preset normal Banks 1-9, and/or the Preset Drum Bank.

All Performances are in User memory... the factory Performances can be restored by executing a “Factory Set” - Returns the User settings the MOXF to out of the box condition (does not affect Flash memory, however). You can also restore any single Performance by loading the data from an ALL data File Type (.X6A). By setting the File Type = “Performance” you can open an ALL File and load any single Performance back into memory.

Basically, you cannot lose anything permanently, so feel free to experiment. If you create something original that you like be sure to press the [STORE] button and write it into MOXF internal memory. Then for long term storage you want to create a FILE to a USB stick. It is the STORED data that gets SAVED to the USB stick File.

Bad Mister wrote:

Yes, you can. The .X3A file type is a Motif XF "All" data file. If you select FILE TYPE = "All" then it will load and replace all user data. But if you want to load just specific Voices from within an All data file, you should set the FILE TYPE = "Voice".
Press [FILE]
Press [F3] Load
Set FILE TYPE = voice

By doing so, when you highlight that .X3A file, you open it and explore the individual Voices. You will see that the Motif XF has four USER Folders and one Drum User folder. You can select a Folder, enter it to view a list of 128 Voices in each User folder and 32 Kits in the UserDrum folder.

You can select an individual Voice, then target a location in your MOXF's User 1, 2 or 3 Bank; or UDR if a drum Kit.

Additionally, if you set the FILE TYPE = "1 Bank Voice", you will be able to load an entire Bank of 128 normal User, or the Bank of 32 Kits, in one operation. Again you would set the File Type, then highlight the "All" file, it will open, select the Motif XF Bank you wish to load, set the target you wish to overwrite... and execute.

Been trying the above but get the error after while "No Flash Memory Installed or Module is Unformatted". I was under the impression I could write voices to the USR banks. I have tried some files I found CP_1 Piano, EDM_Expansion, UJ_Voice. I have tried using Bank Voice and single Voice. I can see the files. It shows me them and I can choose where I want to put them individually in Voice mode or in which user bank with Bank Voice but hit execute wait a minute or two and get the error message. No files have been transferred. I have not tried ALL yet.

I think I finally understand. Voices can be written to the User Banks but samples and waveforms cannot. Unless the samples and waveforms used in the voices already exist from the factory, you need the expansion to load the additional voices.