REVIEWED
Y
amaha MOX6 YAMAHAMOX6
This portable yet powerful music production workstation keyboard could well become the proud centerpiece of your live or home studio rig…
Words: Tim Slater
A keyboard with tons of features needn’t necessarily be something for less experienced keyboard players to be wary of. The Yamaha MOX6 is designed to function as a portable and user- friendly performance keyboard synthesizer that also doubles as a one-stop-shop digital music production workstation. A built-in USB audio interface means that the MOX6 will hook up directly to a computer, allowing the mOX6 to control soft synths in your DAW as well as functioning as a stand-alone keyboard synth. The MOX even comes bundled with Steinberg Cubase A1 DAW software, forming a complete package.
As a performance-oriented
keyboard the MOX6 comes stuffed to the gunnels with over a thousand top-notch sounds that are directly transferred over from Yamaha’s super-powerful MOTIF XS workstation and its highly intuitive split/multi-layering keyboard takes
YAMAHA MOX6
SRP £1051.00
All prices include VAT CONT
ACT
Yamaha UK T:
0844 811 1116 W:
www.yamahasynth.com
Construction Firing up the keyboard, the whole thing is ready to go within about six seconds. The improved load-time on powering up conveys a pleasing sense that this keyboard should make a very proficient live instrument. On this point, Yamaha make a big deal out of the fact that the MOX6 only weighs-in at 7kg (that’s approximately 15lbs in old money!), which in many respects is a real boon for any keyboard that is geared towards live performance. This keyboard is definitely very light indeed (it travelled upstairs to my project studio with no hint of back strain) and the chassis even includes a couple of handy grips that make it easy to lift. Build-quality wise, the only factor possibly letting the MOX6 down is that it’s plastic main outer shell feels a bit thin. This keyboard’s agreeable weight notwithstanding,
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the guess work out of choosing suitable backing instruments for your lead sound, whether it be piano, strings or any other tones contained within this Yamaha’s impressive sonic treasure trove.
The MOX6 faces has some pretty
stiff competition from the likes of the new Roland Juno-Gi but if you are already a Yamaha user or maybe a relative newcomer to keyboards or synthesis in general and your ears are not yet ‘tuned ‘ to the distinctive sound of one particular brand of keyboard or another, then the MOX6 seems like a very good jumping off point. Its hardly an ‘entry level’ priced instrument but then you do get one heck of a lot for your money.
some serious semi-professional users still might feel that a proper hard- shell road case would be a worthwhile investment. The 61 keys’ sprung semi-weighted action demonstrates the firm yet responsive touch typical of most modern keyboards but it might be more useful if the location of the MOX6’s rear-mounted MIDI, USB, headphone and standard ¼-inch jack I/O were more clearly indicated. As it is, the player almost has to lean over the back of the keyboard to find the inputs and outputs, which is annoying enough in a well-lit home studio but could be a positive nightmare on a darkened stage.
In Use Large and easily accessible transport buttons are also complimented by two rows of nice and chunky retro-style twiddley knobs whose functions can be assigned to control various parameters including the filters, arpeggio tempo and EQ. The MOX6 will reward even the most
techno-phobic one finger key prodder with a powerful and inspiring pallet of rich synthesizer tones. The clean control panel reflects this keyboard’s user-friendly design that hinges on a very comprehensive and well-conceived features set that that experienced keyboard players should find a breeze whilst not scaring the beejezus out of newbies! The keyboard Split takes the guesswork out of selecting the most appropriate backing for your main sound by choosing what it thinks is the most appropriate, easily editable should the user decide that they want to override the Yamaha’s suggested tones. The layering function fattens up the sound by stacking up multiple tones; a piano part layered on top of lush-sounding strings is a typical example and the MOX6 offers multiple options for creating custom layers. There is also an excellent and versatile Vocoder and a facility to record in both real and step time. PM
SHOULD I BUY ONE?
The Yamaha MOX6 is definitely a very inspiring and great sounding synth whose myriad of extra features make it feel like excellent value. It’s slightly fragile feel notwithstanding; its forgiving weight, versatility and user-friendly design make this a great live keyboard for the semi-professional solo artist or band. The DAW integration and seamless USB interface also add extra value; the Yamaha MOX6 definitely feel like the complete package.
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