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MOXF Series Music Production Synthesizers
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Topic starter
Hello.
I am the proud owner of a new MOXF. I know I am late to the party but I want to share my setup experience with regard to sound setup and how this can hugely improve your appreciation for the sound quality it produces.
Now I want to preface this with the following statement. What I am going to talk about might seem obvious to most of you but before I made my purchase. I saw all the comments about how the sound quality is (terrible, flat, output not hot enough, not a MOTIF XF, mine does not sound as good as the demo on youtube = its a scam, etc...).
When I first started my MOXF. the sound was good but not what I was expecting. It sounded Flat and constrained and I started using the preamp, compressor and EQ in my mixer to bring it more to my taste.
Then I remembered all the MEQ setup I did on my MOTIF ES Rack and I went into the setting menu to find the Master EQ setup. Now I think this should be the First thing put in the user manual or on a side sheet with "STOP do this setup first when first using your synth"
For those who want to try it do: press Utility/Output then set the L&R gain to +6db (this will double the volume of your analog output) then press Voice/MEQ and in the EQ screen you will see all the gains are set to 0. this is the default point that is meant to be tuned. for the sake of the exercise set all the gains to +6 (6db) now exit the utility menu and play the keyboard. it is a completely different beast. Just with those settings.
Next. I have to say I like the keyboard on this synth. it is very comfortable for a mid-grade synth action. One thing is that my style a play is somewhat on the lighter side and with the default setting of the velocity I would be hitting the keys harder than comfortable for me. Once again, that can be tuned. You want to setup the keybed to work for you. I updated the Velocity sensitivity of the keyboard by doing: press Utility/KBD then select "Velcurve" and set it to what feels more comfortable to you (I use Wide) . Now play the sounds, Whoa. the response and dynamic range is excellent.
Finally another step to improve the sound is the voice presets. Once again they are just starting point that can be useful in a quick setup but that are meant to be tuned. if anything there is Voice EQ. Just as an example. Select bank 1 voice 1, the concert grand. Then press effects/output and set the volume to 127. The volume of the individual voices are set lower so that they can fit in a performance or multi without dealing with mixing level. When performing a single voice push its level to MAX. Finally press EQ and set all the gains to +6. Now play the Sound. It is at another level of quality (ie. incredible).
I hope this will help somebody else to enjoy the MOXF to its full potential.
Posted : 19/11/2017 7:00 pm
VERY helpful!
Another tip I found is:
Change EQ settings to get sounds a little more bright: in Master EQ: change MID Freq to 5,6K, and GAIN +12 - and add more reverb.
And:
However for some sounds I like to turn it on and select an effect called "isolator" and a pre-set called "Near"; it sounds very bright so I needed to lower a bit the highs region. See page 107 of the MOXF6/MOXF8 Data List PDF file.
https://asia-latinamerica-mea.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/2/330242/moxf6moxf8_en_dl_a0.pdf
You can also check the effect called Multi Band Comp and a preset called Maximizer, same page
Try that and let me know!
Posted : 19/11/2017 8:27 pm
Topic starter
Thank you !
This MEQ setting really brighten the output and makes the grand piano really cut in a mix. You do not want to do too much though or it starts sounding like the old M1 piano (unless that is what you are looking for 🙂 ).
Obviously, this setting applies to the Voices MEQ. I found out that performances are also set by default with very little gain in the EQ. Increasing that gain will also change the quality and presence of the sound in a huge way.
It feels that the YAMAHA engineers set the default EQ very conservatively because they did not know the environment where the instrument would be used. The problem is that customers evaluating the MOXF in a less than good music stores might get the wrong impression about the sound quality of the MOXF. It is outstanding for a product in its price range.
Posted : 21/11/2017 11:16 pm
What Yamaha should do is the same that every TV manufacturer does - and give the MOXF, etc. a few MODE choices.
TV manufacturers give their TVs what is called a STORE mode - in which the TV is configured bright and vividly to really show off what the TV can do on the stores showroom floor.
Yamaha should configure their keyboards much the same way - with one mode that is optimized so that it sounds like their video demos, etc.
Posted : 21/11/2017 11:36 pm
It feels that the YAMAHA engineers set the default EQ very conservatively because they did not know the environment where the instrument would be used. The problem is that customers evaluating the MOXF in a less than good music stores might get the wrong impression about the sound quality of the MOXF. It is outstanding for a product in its price range.
YAMAHA engineers provide our Synthesizers with more EQ than you find in most competing Synthesizers. Knowing which EQs are for the instrument sound itself, which EQs are for the Effects, and which EQ to use to compensate for the room you are in, is really a matter for the user (and our challenge here in our “Learn” section here on the website)
EQ for the room environment is impossible for anyone not in that room to do, you have to be there in order to know (hear) what you must compensate for. And certainly no engineer can EQ a sound for a dreaded keyboard amp with a blown piezo, aimed directly at the customer’s shins ...(typical worst case store display scenario). We try to educate store owners and in-store sales people that a potential MOXF customer is likely to either perform “live” - in which case a small PA System is appropriate, or they have a home studio, in which case a pair of studio monitors is appropriate. We tell them the least ( and we mean the absolute “least”) they could do is plug it in mono into a keyboard amp. We encourage them to do better!
The better the sound system, the better you’ll hear the quality built-in to the instrument.
We recognize that when the synth is setup with a sound system that can reproduce full range (and oddly), when aimed at the player’s ears, it makes a difference in sales. Most stores have been convinced of this (either by us, or simply by their own observation).
If you can’t get to hear the synth in stereo at your local music store... you may want to point out to the store manager that you brought both of your ears to hear the keyboard. Or request (or bring) your own headphones. I’m a big believer in using both ears! Ask, I bet they accommodate you!
For an in depth look at EQUALIZERS like those found inside your Yamaha Synthesizer ... their general and specific use, please see the following three part series, by yours truly...
Equalizers I
Equalizers II
Equalizers III
Thanks for your thoughts!
Hope that helps...
Posted : 22/11/2017 11:03 am
