Ok… I know I may get chewed for this one, but I’ve been working on this for days.  Let me just start out by saying “I understand audio”.  I know I may get flamed for saying that, but I just don’t want you to think I’m coming from a newbie point of view.  I primarily work in Pro Tools on everyday (and I love to write in Logic), but I kinda like Cubase and decided to give the AI version that comes with the Motif a try.  I have a few problems, and I’m sure they are things that I’m just overlooking, but I need some pretty straight forward answers.

Here’s my config for my Motif setup. 
Mac mini
I7
16 gigs of ram
Terrabyte drive
10.9.x
Cubase AI *which I’ll upgrade to 7.5 if I like it enough and can get things to work*
Logic x
Pro Tools 10 and 11
Waves Mercury
Maschine and more

1) when I check in Audio/Midi the firewire ports are all “greyed out”

2) not sure how to configure with Cubase-this comes because it is so new to me, and I’m just stupid when it comes to Cubase

3) How well does it work with Logic as a Midi and Audio interface using the FW16… (can i use it to its full potential?)

4) If so, (Logic), what’s the best way to set it up.  I’ve seen multiple threads, but they’re seem to be written in Chinese in my mind.  I don’t like to read a book’s worth of info just to get something going… ( I know.. my fault)

5) any simplified help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

I just want to set it up and get back to to work.  I’m a writer, producer, and engineer, but not a tech.  At least not a keyboard tech.

Nothing???

Thanks.

bigbaby987 - 16 September 2014 10:49 PM

Nothing???

Thanks.

Well with that kind of thinly-veiled insulting response, you don’t deserve an answer, man.

Go figure it out for yourself. I’m sure you can..after all, you said yourself that you “know audio”.

Perhaps your screen name is appropriately descriptive.

I’m not going down this path with you Dave.  This forum has a really bad rap for people with really snide remarks. 

If I offended you in any way in sincerely apologize.  I was extremely frustrated.

Any help is appreciated.

bigbaby987 - 17 September 2014 01:52 AM

First Dave. I thought it weird that it was looked at 29 times and nothing said.  I’m not trying to start a war with you or anyone on this forum nor will I bow down to snide remarks either.  My apologies if it came off the wrong way.  Frustration has set in.  But again, never insult me.  I handled my frustration like an adult, unfortunately you haven’t figured that out.

Yes your second post came off the wrong
way. Everyone gets frustrated, thats understandable.
But dont expect an answer after 29 or even 500
views. Did it occur to you that maybe no one
who read your post knows the answer?

Frankly I thought your second post implied
that somehow the world owes you something.
It doesnt and we dont.

Thats all I’m going to say about it.

No one owes me anything unless i pay for it.  Nonetheless, personal remarks are childish in my opinion also.

No one owes me anything unless i pay for it.  Nonetheless, personal remarks are childish in my opinion also.

bigbaby987 - 16 September 2014 04:41 PM

Ok… I know I may get chewed for this one,[...]

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I don’t do that.
http://www.motifator.com/index.php/forum/index.php/viewthread/473243/

I just noticed this thread. I’m neither familiar with Macs (I’m a “PC guy"), nor do I use Cubase. Nevertheless, I’ll try to help.

In your “config” I see no mention of an FW driver having been installed. Based on running 10.9.x, it would appear that Yamaha Steinberg FW Driver V1.7.3 for Mac OS X 10.6.8 - 10.9.x is the appropriate one. It can be downloaded here if you don’t already have it.

call yamaha support?

5pinDIN - 17 September 2014 07:09 AM

bigbaby987 - 16 September 2014 04:41 PM

Ok… I know I may get chewed for this one,[...]

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I don’t do that.
http://www.motifator.com/index.php/forum/index.php/viewthread/473243/

I just noticed this thread. I’m neither familiar with Macs (I’m a “PC guy"), nor do I use Cubase. Nevertheless, I’ll try to help.

In your “config” I see no mention of an FW driver having been installed. Based on running 10.9.x, it would appear that Yamaha Steinberg FW Driver V1.7.3 for Mac OS X 10.6.8 - 10.9.x is the appropriate one. It can be downloaded here if you don’t already have it.

Thanks 5Din.  I had previously installed the FW driver, editor, but I didn’t install the extension.  Will that help?

Thank you again for your response.

chasmanian - 17 September 2014 08:43 AM

call yamaha support?

Chasmanian i think I’m going to do that today.

Thanks again for you reply.

I honestly appreciate it.

bigbaby987 - 17 September 2014 11:18 AM

Thanks 5Din.  I had previously installed the FW driver, editor, but I didn’t install the extension.  Will that help?

Have you seen this support article?
http://www.motifator.com/index.php/support/view/motif_xf_ysfw_setup_mac_with_cubase
It should help.
 

bigbaby987 -

Thank you again for your response.

You’re welcome.

Sorry you got off to a rather bad start there but while this forum can be, well, let’s say forthright, it is also extremely helpful and has provided a ton of free support to people over the past 12 years or more. We do all most certainly understand frustration but if the initial question had been couched a touch more, let’s say, openly, then maybe you’d have got a better initial response.

Moving along… there are a great many tutorials / articles on using Motif XS/XF with both Cubase and other DAWs. We’d recommend them as the best place to start as your main problem sounds very ‘fundamental’. Once… the right driver/extension is installed..? you’re hooking it up as it needs to...?  you’ve checked cabling… etc etc then you’ll be quickly up and running. A lot of people use Motif with a DAW and while nothing in audio is ever that ‘simple’ there is a logic and a good workflow can definitely be established.

It’s a little tough to troubleshoot someone’s particular rig without knowing or being able to see exactly how you have everything set. This forum is, I venture to suggest, pretty spot-on when it comes to handling issues internal to Motif. Once you add in other components then the number of moving parts and variables can go into orbit. Our best suggestion would be to look at the relevant articles on this topic and also look at (or search on) forum threads both in this and the Steinberg forum. Once you’ve done this then a) it’s almost certain you will discover something different you need to do and b) you will then be in a much better position to ask specific questions and get specific help.

Again, sorry your thread got off to a bit of a rocky start but hang in there; we will help get you not only up and running but also creating some great music once that happens.

No worries.  Honestly, I’m not mad at anyone-Dave included.  I did get a chance to talk to Yamaha today and well.. it was fairly enlightening.  I did discover new things about the XF that helped me along the way. 

We checked to see if I had the latest drivers and everything-which I did.  However, when we looked at the FW interface in the Audio/Midi setup, we still couldn’t understand why the channels were greyed out, and inside Cubase under “Connections” everything except for the main L&R;were “inactive”.  I’m still investigating the issue.

I’ll give you a reason to laugh at me though.  I had to unplug the main outs of the board and eventually had to reconnect them with the Yamaha tech on the phone.  Then.... NO SOUND… I sat there with my heart beating through my chest, and couldn’t figure out why I was getting no sound.  I plugged up the headphones, and SOUND!  Wait.... something smells fishy.  So we factory reset the board and still nothing. We plug one of the monitors into the headphone jack.  Sound!  So as I was returning the output cable back to where I had it, I noticed that I had them plugged into the AD inputs!!!!!!  WHAT AN IDIOT, RIGHT!!  Wasn’t used to those connections in that spot-huh?  I say all that to let you know I’m not perfect, and when it comes to this board, I’m a complete newbie.  So again, if I offended anyone in any of my previous posts, I apologize.  (As long as we don’t make it personal, I’m all good)

Thanks again and MrMotif, I’m reading as much as I can, along with the manual.  It really is pretty well written.

Thanks for your gracious and self-deprecating post! We’ve all plugged crazy things into crazy places, don’t worry. The angle of all the rear panel jacks alone makes it almost impossible to plug anything in at all unless you’re a giraffe.