Hi guys.  Just a piano player here that joined an 80’s cover band.  I’m looking to upgrade to better keyboards and I hear the Motifs are best for replicating 80’s synth sounds. Right now I have a Korg PS60 and a Casio Privia.  I love the user friendliness of both but I need better sounds.  As of yet, I really have no use for all the extra capabilities you get by purchasing a work-station such as recording and all that crap.  I’ll probably never use those functions.  ANYWAY, my question is, what should I get?  I’ve checked out both the Motif and MOX’s at Guitar Center and listened to the reviews on U-Tube.  Would the Motif or MOX be better for on stage. Which one would be better for giving me the sounds I need and not all the stuff I’ll probably never use?  Also, I would really rather not spend $2000.00 but more like $1000.00 to $1500.00.  Should I get a used ES or a MO or what about MM?  Maybe stupid questions but hey, I’m just a piano player!

I would keep the keyboard you are comfortable with and aquire the motif a rackmountable xf to use as a slave.

Hi, mabye you should have a look at the Yamaha s70xs or s90xs. All the sounds of Motif but non of sampling and recordning (well you can do simple recording but it’s not a work-station). User friendly and very well suited for live playing.

Kind regards from Sweden!

As both a piano player and someone who played in several 80s bands back in the 80s, much would seem to depend on how important a new keyboard action is to you at the moment. The ‘Motifs’ - as opposed to MOX/Fs are of sturdier build and the 88-note models have the best weighted action of any in Yamaha’s line-up imo.

All Motifs and MOXs have a lot of the extra crap you say you don’t really need. That being the case, you could maybe also throw the S90 series into the mix, as has been suggested. These have identical voices to their Motif equivalents but do not offer sampling and recording facilities. S90XS is the ‘newest’ model (5 years old now) and is not cheap. The S90ES (9 years old) is still a great board and something you could pick up relatively inexpensively.

All models (Motif, MO and S90) offer good master/controller keyboard features, if that is of interest.

Sound-wise, there is not a lot to choose between any of these. Yamaha has remained very consistent with its waverom. On the Motif range you do have the added capability of adding new sample-based libraries, which might be a factor if you, say, want to re-create a particular vintage synth, or possibly even sample a sound effect yourself. Luckily, though, there are a number of ‘vintage’ sound libraries here on Motifator.com, most of which you can just load, i.e. without having to bother with new samples. A lot of people here play in cover bands and have found these libraries absolute life-savers.

I don’t think you can make any ‘wrong’ decision if you’re looking in this direction. It’s probably more down to how important keyboard action and feel is to you, plus available budget.

Best of luck.