I’m really close to purchasing an MX, and was able to figure out much of its basic operation while in the store yesterday.

Got stopped, however, by the Assign knobs—I wanted to add some dramatic delay to Voice 1 and couldn’t figure out how to put that onto the Assign 1 knob. GC staff didn’t know either. and the manual, which I read online, just sends you to the Reference Manual, which isn’t exactly clear on this either.
can someone please help w/ a step-by-step to set up an insert effect for Assign 1 and 2?
thanks!

The key to detailed editing of the MX instruments lies in third party editors that you’d purchase separately (and not made by Yamaha).

so if I’m not using w/ computer I can’t line up something from one of the effects menus for Assign 1 and 2? that seems a shame....

We don’t have the editor here so I really can’t confirm that I’m afraid but ‘in general’ the nitty gritty editing is only possible with an editor in tow. Maybe contact John Melas, one of the leading third party companies, and confirm that with him?

thing is, I don’t really want to “edit” the voices, I just want to add an effect to part 1 or 2 and control it via Assign 1&2;.

I get that this board is oriented toward computer interface but still, it seems weird. and curious that the manual pretty much skips over those knob functions....

Maybe a long-term user can comment here soon but Yamaha’s stated plan with the MX was to offer basic capabilities as inexpensively as possible and then ‘allow’ for a lot more powerful applications once you hook up a computer and third party companies write s/ware for it. It’s a somewhat strange idea, to be honest, and not one that has substantially resonated with the public yet.

I’ve always interpreted the introduction of the MX as USB/MIDI controller that happened to have the luxury of containing onboard sounds. In that light I thought it was very cool, given that I’ve spent nearly as much, maybe more, for Midi controllers that did not have that option. Not a bad deal.

You can visit Yamaha’s download section and download the Vycro Editor, it’s free. This may provide answers to some of the questions you may have.

Stone

Page 52 of the Reference Manual (see this page: http://download.yamaha.com/search/product/?language=en&site=usa.yamaha.com&product_id=1716498) describes how to set your Control Assignments (Source, Destination and Depth).  I’m not sure if this is global, or if you can define which voice elements it will effect.

The XS series (S90/S70/Rack) also required computer software to do major editing.  The on-board editing allows you to edit only Common data, and perhaps the MX series is the same way.

Thanks SSquared.....that’s got to be the way to do it. back to the store I go, to see how difficult that is....

Without being too sure what you mean by the “XS” Series but Motifs and S90 models all have pretty much complete editing facilities on board. The reason to use editor software written for these units - aside from the obvious fact that they provide a more graphic UI - is more for management of your data than the programming itself, which for the most part can be done perfectly well without computer connection. The MX is quite a different kettle of fish in this regard.

moontom, hopefully you can get it figured out.

MrMotif, by ‘XS’ I was referring to the models I placed in parentheses.  As far as I can tell, there is no element level editing on the S90/S70 or Rack.  On board, it is Common parameters only.  Note, all three models have the smaller UI window.  If you know a way to edit the elements I will greatly appreciate it.  Thanks.  I could have used that ability the other day.

Since the procedure is described in the MX reference manual (page 52) then you don’t need any kind of external editor to perform it. Just follow the described steps. You may also need the MX Data List in order to find out the destinations that you can control with the knobs AS1/AS2. This setting affects the whole voice (all 8 elements) and since you are editing a voice (part), you have to store the edited voice as a new user voice (page 53). Storing only the performance is not enough to save the voice edit parameters for later recall.

If you use a third party voice editor (like John Melas) then you are able to define if the controllers affect the individual elements of the voice.

@Kostas...thanks, that’s very helpful! the key, after making changes, is storing the Voice as user voice. which I didn’t do in the store, for obvious reasons.

what I find challenging (I’m a midiot) is finding and selecting the effects options via that data list. the MX display shows some sort of code name, and really you have to know not just the names but also the depth possibilities of each individual effect.

all I want to do is basic filter stuff and delay stuff...in GC I sorta came to the conclusion that this was a bit too much of a menu dive for live playing. oddly, the Krome is similar—I’ve found it takes some doing to get the “real time” controls set up for real time use.....

thanks