Yamaha XS quick review

[GregC]

The XS is being returned to stores at a ' high rate ' ?

Do you work at GC main office or sam Ash accounting ?

I know of 1 ding-a-ling returning his XS but so what ? The same 3 characters on Mofo-Tator harp on the LCD or the green metallic color but so what ?

GregC

[Silver Dragon Sound]

I actually know 4 people that have returned the Motif XS. The manager the local guitar center told me that in a conversation he had with corporate that the XS has been selling very well and in many places they are currently out of stock, but that there is also a concern as an unusually high number are being returned within the allowed window. If you go to the MP forum there are a people over there that have also returned it.

I don't have issues with it personally and think its a pretty darn good keyboard, like I said in my previous post, I'm just curious why so many people seem to be buying it and returning it.

[GregC]

ok, thats a fair comment

If 1000 XS have sold and 40 were returned , thats a low return rate

I am not arguing, its that its impossible to get the full picture.

I suppose you can accept what GC is telling you but I am inclined to get more data. easy return priveledges generate more sales, as we know, but encourages a higher return number

My answer to your anecdotal question is that the XS impulse buyers are
' renting ' the XS for a month then returning it to avoid payment and/or going onto the next ' big ' thing like the M3

GregC

[Silver Dragon Sound]

"My answer to your anecdotal question is that the XS impulse buyers are renting ' the XS for a month then returning it to avoid payment and/or going onto the next ' big ' thing like the M3"


Greg that's what I was thinking too. I seriously don't understand why people would do it. If I had a board where I really liked the sounds and enjoyed playing it why would I return it? The Motif XS is a very good sounding board and does target a specific type of user. The reviews from people all seem to positive which makes it more puzzling for me. I mean its not like the Alesis Fusion where people had a damn good reason to return it.

[GregC]

thats cool, I thought we are mostly on the same page

GC makes it easy for folks to buy/return.

Its not difficult for me to demo a board like the XS at a store a few times in addition to reading up on it. This is 95 % of my decision process.

But everyone is different, I suppose, and some might be more emotional in addition to being quirky. No accounting for them

GregC

[starship]

initially when juno-g was released, it was returned at a relatively high rate because of the sustain pedal bug and some other minor bugs. with the release of new os, everything changed, and the juno-g sounds good as ever.

i feel that motif xs will sell well after an initial period of returns.

[Sirgin]

Hi, this is the perfect topic for my question actually:

I'm gonna buy a workstation of around €2000 which puts the Fantom-X and Motif XS in my possibilities...

Now my question: is it wise to buy either one of those? Because you see, the Fantom-X is 3 years old meaning Roland is gonna come out with a successor (i don't know if that's the right word but you know what i mean) somewhere soon...

I just don't want to buy a Fantom-X or Motif XS now and have to realise that within 6 months from now Roland is gonna come out with a new workstation that blows everything else away....

Can you guys help me out? Thanks.

[tom moon]

because I was concerned about the "ease of use" factor

it's a very deep keyboard (heck so is the fantom x I play, and ditto the korgs) and yet in my brief time demoing the thing I was able to navigate sounds/arps easily but could not unlock the secrets of either the pattern sequencer or the "full" sequencer. had similar problems with the original motif. basically didn't want to be spending a bunch of time reading the manual rather than making music.

so that might explain some of the return activity.

it's gonna sound silly but I had just as much fun on the MM6 with the terrible keybed....

[SammyJames]

Now why would that sound silly? I have had fun on MicroKorg 700 keyboards, and have had no fun playing Access Virus keyboards. The simpler the better.

- Sammy

"I don't suffer from insanity; I love every minute of it!"

http://www.sammyjames.com/music.htm

[Migamix]

went to local GC today...
4 prev used keyboards...
-1 older alesis
-1 older looking juno
-2 new looking 61 key yamaha xs'

kinda scared me...so i wouldn't get one...even new, until i spent more time finding its problems that its positives...eventually un-selling me from ever getting one

[djchris]

Hey all... I still have my ES6 due to its great sounds. It's not really in competetion with my X7; it complements it, and stacked they make an incredible pad! Anyhow, I returned an XS when I bought my X7; the XS sounds about the same as my ES, and...

* Slow display!
* Slow navigation
* Slow save / load
* Horrible expansion possibilities

Rotten polyphony on a lot of patches; many are show-off patches that use 8 elements, not all vel-switched. It's a lot of dough for an ES with a cool but slow screen, and a very slightly improved piano. My GC saleman stated that he has had returns on 20-25% of the XS's, and steers people clear of them to avoid chargebacks in his check. Later...

Chris

[ahfei]

Who knows they bought it in the first place just to steal the "high quality preset" and then returned it!!! Nah, I'm just being sarcastic.

Owning one, i dont think Motif XS8 is too deep, in fact people who never play paino like me can use it just by reading few pages of the manual!