Has anyone noticed some very noisy, crackly sounding rhythm patterns on the MX series?  In particular, check out the noisy sounds coming from these patterns:

1) Pattern #109 - Hip Break 2
2) Pattern #132 - Ambient (this one is actually used in the MXCategory Demo Song!)
3) Pattern #139 - Big Beat 1
4) Pattern #140 - Big Beat 2
5) Pattern #144 - Lo Beat 1
6) Pattern #145 - Lo Beat 2

There may be others that contain some undesirable crackling sounds, but these 6 appear to be quite obviously bad.  Amazingly, the Ambient pattern is actually showcased in the first DEMO song on the instrument - not a very good way to sell the product in my mind.  Has anyone else noticed this flaw or is it just me??  I thought at first that maybe I had a defective unit, but I went to the music store and tried out the MX49 display unit and it had the same noisy rhythm patterns.  Let me know if you notice the same behavior on your instrument.

Since nobody else has replied to your post, I’ll attempt to address your concern.

I don’t have an MX - I own a Motif XS and an XF. When there have been questions about noise with some of the Presets in those models, it usually turns out the user is unaware of intentional noise included as an effect. The XS and XF have three “Lo-Fi” Category effects, “Lo-Fi”, “Noisy”, and “Digital Turntable” - the MX includes the latter two.

I can’t comment on the Rhythm Patterns you listed, since they aren’t found in the XS or XF. However, since you determined that the noise is not unique to your particular MX, it might be that what you’re hearing is intended.

All of the MX rhythm patterns that I noted as being noisy use the same drum kit:

Drum Kit #031: Break Kit

I have isolated the crackly noisy percussion sounds to three of the percussion voices in this drum kit:

1). Note B0: Bass Drum Break 2
2). Note D1: Snare Drum Break 3
3). Note E1: Snare Drum Break 2

All of the other percussion voices in this drum kit sound relatively clean except for these three, which are extremely crackly noisy sounding.  Just trigger one of these three notes and you will understand what I’m talking about.  I guarantee that this was not the desired intent for these three percussion voices.  My MX49 is running Firmware Version 1.02.  I would like to hear from other MX users running the same or different firmware versions if they are experiencing the same behavior.  Surely there are other MX users out there that are reading these posts?  Please check this out on your instrument and let me know.  This may be an issue that needs to be reported to Yamaha support.

prschrier - 07 February 2016 06:40 PM

All of the MX rhythm patterns that I noted as being noisy use the same drum kit:

Drum Kit #031: Break Kit

I have isolated the crackly noisy percussion sounds to three of the percussion voices in this drum kit:

1). Note B0: Bass Drum Break 2
2). Note D1: Snare Drum Break 3
3). Note E1: Snare Drum Break 2

All of the other percussion voices in this drum kit sound relatively clean except for these three, which are extremely crackly noisy sounding.  Just trigger one of these three notes and you will understand what I’m talking about.

Thanks for taking the time to further explain what you’re hearing. The Motif XS and XF have the same Break Kit - it’s PDR 32. There are the same samples for B0, D1, and E1, complete with noise (I verified that on my own Motifs). The Break Kit is also found in the ES/MO at PDR 29, and the MOX/MOXF at PDR 32, with the same named samples at B0/D1/E1.

 

prschrier -

I guarantee that this was not the desired intent for these three percussion voices.  My MX49 is running Firmware Version 1.02.  I would like to hear from other MX users running the same or different firmware versions if they are experiencing the same behavior.  Surely there are other MX users out there that are reading these posts?  Please check this out on your instrument and let me know.  This may be an issue that needs to be reported to Yamaha support.

You can try to make a case for this not to be intentional, but I don’t think you’ll have much success. It has nothing to do with firmware version. Those samples are found in many Motif-family models, and having some noisy samples in a Break Kit is hardly surprising. Perhaps you’re not aware of it, but that’s actually considered desirable for some purposes.

Some musicians pay good money to get less than perfect drum samples:
http://www.futureloops.com/product-dustybreaksvintagedrums.php

I’d appreciate other owners (MX and otherwise) checking in, to confirm what I said.

Hopefully it would put prschrier at ease, that his MX isn’t malfunctioning.

5PinDin,
Thanks for replying to my post.
I can understand that some noise (like vinyl noise, for instance) might be desirable on a drum sample, and I did review the “dusty” drum pattern samples that you referenced, but I can tell you that these three EXTREMELY crackly samples in the MX49 Break Kit are really over the top and not in any way desirable sounding.  When I listen to drums of the first DEMO on the MX49 using the Ambient rhythm pattern, it sounds like listening to a pair of blown speaker cones.  That’s why I am not so sure that these three drum samples are what Yamaha had intended and might actually be a defect in one of the MX firmware releases.  It would really be great if we could get some feedback from other MX users who can listen to these drum samples first hand on their instruments and provide their comments.  Surely there is more than one active MX user on this forum?

I own both a MOXF and a MX, and I’m totally sure that the “noisy” and “crackly” sound is intentional. Some sounds of that drumkit are applied lo-fi effects to intentionally drop their sound quality. Lowering the sound quality is a quite common resource in EDM (electronic dance music) and it’s actually used for artistic purposes. You may like it or not, but it’s not a defect of your unit.

Don’t use that drumkit if you don’t like it ;)

ShadowFax,
Thanks for the reply - can you tell me what firmware version you are running on your MX?

I’m using v1.01 (the latest version, I think).

Actually, the latest version of MX firmware is V 1.02.  This is the version that I have on my MX49.  I don’t know what changes were made between V 1.01 and V 1.02 - that’s why I’m trying to get feedback from other MX owners.  There may have been some unexpected (and possibly undesirable) changes that found their way into the latest firmware version.  I’d like to hear other MX owners with these two firmware versions weigh in on this topic.

In Yamaha support page, the latest version is 1.01 Anyone to know where to find 1.02 version?