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PX5S vs PC3LE 8 or MOTIf XS


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Hi i am asking myself to sell my PX5S and getting one of the Synth in the Topic Title ,,why ?

 

because i feel 128MB of samples is like having a Bread without Butter there are several Samples and Sounds inside i dont like....the Kurzweil or Motif have better selection of samples and of course a lot more of it so more room to create sounds,,,,

 

But how do they sound compared to the Px5S anybody ownes both ?

 

 

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I own a PC3K8 the big brother of the LE.  I'd honestly say if you can afford it, spend the extra money and get the K instead of the LE.

 

First off, the LE doesn't allow samples to be downloaded into it, only programs of existing internal sounds.so its expandability is very limited.  It also doesn't possess the full 9 sliders you need for KB3 organ drawbars.  And lastly the LE seems to have a history ridden with bugs some of which have bricked a few units requiring factory repairs.  That may have been solved with the latest firmware update but I wouldn't want to take the chance.

 

Anyway, I shopped around for my PC3K8 and managed to score a good deal on a store demonstrator for below list.  Even so, with taxes and extras, (pedals, ribbon controller, Kore 64 Expansion ROM) I still have well over four grand sunk into this unit but I don't regret it for a heartbeat.

 

It frankly is simply such an amazing controller and programmable keyboard I can't see myself buying a replacement for it for the next twenty years to come.

 

But on the other hand, the PX-5S is also a pretty amazing controller in its own right.  Have you considered instead just keeping the Casio and simply adding on a module like the Peavey Musebox or a Muse Receptor?  That would give you the best of all worlds, keeping the (by all acounts) phenomenal lightweight keyboard action of the PX-5S while adding sounds and samples to your heart's content simply by adding another rack module or three? 

 

Food for thought, ;)

 

Gary

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I have both,  MOXF 61 and the PX.

I was looking for a piano and a 88 notes controller that's why I bought the PX

but for me it's important to have a synth and a piano.

They do a very nice couple, you do have more sounds and more arpeggio on the MOXF.

Maybe you want a 88 notes from Yamaha, the Motif XS is a good keyboard but it's discontinue,

so you would have to buy a used one..... the keybed of the XS (88) is not that great.

 I would suggest the new cp 40 but you will spend around 2000.00$ only for a piano

and some programs from the motif library.If you want a piano/synth you will have to go with

the MOTIF XF 88, that's the best, if I had the money it would be my choice but 3,4000.00$

it's to much for me. There's the MOXF 88 same library (programs)  has the MOTIF XF, but

not a very good Keybed. ( it's not bad but surely not has good as the PX keybed ),

you can ad up to 1 GIG of samples with the flash card, so you can expand.

 

As far as Kurzweil is concern they have a good reputation but each time I try them they

leave me very cold, I personally dont like the Keybed. And NORD we call them the VOLVO

keyboard very good but much to expansive

 

As far as the synth sounds are concern there's so many soft synth out there, and good

DAW have a load of synth sounds (LOGIC,CUBASE) so  I use my axiom 49 for other synth

like Omnisphere, Sample tank (3.0 coming this month)..... I have more than enough....

but some people are allergic to soft synth and computers, I can understand that,but I had a 

very good experience with my MAC and those synths and more, for the last 10 years........

 

Padking

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You're very welcome. ;)

 

I also hear good things about the Roland Integra 7 Rack Module these days.  It's a little cheaper than the Muse and one thing I've heard about the Receptor and Musebox is that there's a bit of delay when loading a patch because of the internal HDD drive.  Not a dealbreaker in the studio but it could cause problems in a live gig.

 

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Integra7

 

Either way, whatever you decide, do your homework before you pull the trigger and drop some big bux on these things.

 

Gary :)

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 There's the MOXF 88 same library (programs)  has the MOTIF XF, but

not a very good Keybed. ( it's not bad but surely not has good as the PX keybed ),

you can ad up to 1 GIG of samples with the flash card, so you can expand.

 

 

 

I ended up buying a MOXF8 after also trying out the PX-5S and Korg Krome. IMHO, the PX keybed was a bit better than the MOXF and much better than the Krome. 

As for sounds (again IMHO), both have very good piano sounds but the MOXF destroys the other PX-5S sounds. Other pluses for me were two pedal jacks, an expression pedal jack, audio over usb, and the ability to add up to a gig of your own samples. I also thought that the MOXF effects were better. Pros for the PX would be more polyphony and the cheaper price tag. 

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Add a Behringer FCB1010 MIDI Pedalboard and you have two assignable expression pedals and 10 assignable MIDI foot switches easily added to the PX-5S.

 

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FCB1010/

 

Throw on a Yamaha Motif Rack, a Roland Integra 7 Rack or a Muse Receptor and you can make it sound like musical pigs in a mudslide or any other sound you can imagine.

 

Soft synths are nice sounding enough but for myself there's just something more satisfying about simply switching on a power bar, waiting 3 seconds for the boards to power up and then being immediately able to just smack a keyboard and start playing ;)

 

Hardware R00LZ!!! :D :D :D

 

Gary

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I understand what you are saying Gary, it's a special feeling when you play on hardware synths, that's why I have

2 hardwares synth and one controller (MOXF/ PX /and Axiom to my Mac or Ipad)

 

The Integra is a sensible choice as well, but 1850.00$ for a sound module ..........I dont know.

 

There's the Korg Krome 88  nice sounds but the keybed  is terrible. (feels cheap)

 

Padking

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Then again the Integra has over 6000 sounds built in.  How much would you pay for that kind of range in soft synths, if you could even find that many?

 

But there's also the option of buying older stuff as well.  A Korg Triton Rack goes for about $500 on ebay and a used M3M module sells for around a thou.

 

Likewise various flavors of used Motif Racks can be had anywhere between $300 and about a thou as well.

 

When it comes right down to it, a good soft synth costs a fair bit of coin as well, and what's the resale value on software?  $0!

 

The other thing that bugs me about soft synths is that they are OS dependent.  What are the chances that the VSTi package you bought 10 years ago will run on tomorrow's OSes?  Personally I don't want to be stuck gambling on whether or not I can still produce the same sound ten years from now if the operating system has changed.

 

Gary

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The only thing i hate on softsynth is the 4 hours try to get a nice latency,,,,the woops why are you asking me again the serial ,,i have it in italy....the...damn my Macbook is getting hot ,,,wupppps my daughter pushed the wrong button ...damn....why does a DVD cost

800$ ? ;)

 

 

nope i will go for a used rack ....Motif or else,,,

 

;)

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I agree with what October Rust says here.

 

Advantages of Casio PX-5S over Yamaha MOXF8:

- Better acoustic piano sound

- Better keybed / piano-style action

- Better synth functions (hex layers)

- More real-time control (assignable knobs/sliders)

- Free editor/librarian tools (tools for MOXF8 cost about $180 additional and aren't fully up-to-date for the MOXF8 yet; good to go for Motif XF though)

 

Advantages of Yamaha MOXF8 over Casio PX-5S:

- Better sound quality for samples and effects (except acoustic piano)

- Better non-piano sounds for emulating other instruments (~700MB built-in sample ROM)

- Flash RAM board option ($150 for 512MB, $300 for 1GB) for loading additional sounds

- Better pedal support out-of-the-box: half-sustain, expression pedal jack, etc.

 

The MOXF8 costs about 80% more ($1,800 street instead of $1,000). So one would expect it to have some advantages. The weakest link in the MOXF8 is the Yamaha GHS keybed, which is noticeably inferior to the Casio action. Neither board has aftertouch capability.

 

Rather than junking the PX-5S, I agree with others' recommendations to add modules or another keyboard. Some people add a MOXF6 and control it with the Casio; it's identical to a MOXF8 except that it has a 61-key synth-style keybed. It sells for about $1,200 street. If you can get a Motif XF module for <$1,200, consider that as well. I wouldn't get the Motif XS module unless you can get it for a really low price, as it's a generation behind the Motif XF / MOXF and lacks flash RAM expandability. (Motif XS has on-board RAM, but you have to load samples to RAM after each power-up. It's volatile, unlike the non-volatile flash in the FL512M / FL1024M boards.)

 

I bought a MOXF8 first, but then bought a PX-5S locally while waiting for the MOXF8 to ship. I decided to keep both, as they both do different things well.

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Here in the frozen northern wastelands I'm using the PX5s for its own voices and as a controller for a rack motif ES. Got the Yamaha on ebay for less than $400, pretty much new condition. Reasonable polyphony, ass-kicking organs,great arps, fabulous electric pianos, very useable strings. The casio acoustic pianos are better. The PX5s sliders needed no setting up to work on the yammy. I have to say there are not many actions that measure up to the casio.

 

PS my battery holder holds exactly one laser guided water-balloon.

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If you are on a ''budget''  (aren't we all) you should give a look to the MX61/49 from Yamaha, they have +1000 sounds from the

motif library, performances, arps , 128 notes polyphony......and a great price $699/$499. there's a special

presently - $200/$100. It's sounds  very good, there's some review on the web....

 

Padking

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OK, I did some more research. The special that Padking mentioned appears to be limited to Canada, offering a C$100 rebate on the MX49 and a C$200 rebate on the MX61. The keyboards themselves are still selling close to their usual street price (US$499 for the MX-49, US$699 for the MX-61). In the US, the only promo I could find was a US$25 rebate for the MX49, nothing for the MX61.

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Wow ! I did not verify where that offer was available, I am from Laval (Montréal) and 99 % of

price cut is issue or available in the states. That's to bad, I hate when the price is dictated by frontiers,

Maybe it's possible to buy on the Web.

 

I don't know if stores like Steve music  or Long&McQuad stores ship in the State ? 

 

I am considering selling my MOXF and buy a MX49 and a Korg Taktile (Triton) so

I would have parts of Motif and Triton library, for almost the same price.

 

Padking

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61 Version goes for 649 Euro here in Germany of course the Drums are very deep and the Arpeggio and Sequencer seems to have more usable stuff then the PX5 i still can´t get in friendship with the Arpeggio and Phrases they looks like beeing made really fast....7

 

5 drum phrases with strong intro ,..no very nice bass patches no i don´t like the arpeggiator patches inside the PX5 ,,,

 

also Guitars & Strings seems to be very nice on it ,,,

#

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For less money  you could pick up a Ketron SD1000 or SD4 module over in Europe.

 

http://www.ketronmusic.co.uk/

 

 

 

 

They seem to be quite popular over in Europe but not so much so here in the Americas.  A lot cheaper in Europe than here as well.

 

Might be a good, economical investment on some improved sounds without taking up too much room in your studio.

 

Gary

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Padking -

 

If you already have a MOXF and PX-5S, you should have the best of both the Yamaha and Casio worlds. I wouldn't recommend selling the MOXF to 'downgrade' to two lower-end keyboards. Besides, selling used means taking about a 20-50% hit right away, because no one will pay at or near the 'new' price for a used instrument.

 

The MOXF is more durable and capable than the MX49/61. I've seen threads that criticize the MX61 action as being flimsy and lacking an accurate piano feel. The MOXF6 has a good synth-style action; the MOXF8 has the Yamaha GHS action, which, while not as good as the Casio PX-5S action, is more like a piano than any synth-style action. The MOXF is based on the Motif XF engine and sounds, whereas the MX49/61 are based on the older Motif XS engine.

 

I'd say to max out what you can do on the PX-5S and MOXF6/8 and then look at your next upgrade (such as something Korg Triton-based). During the long while it takes to learn about everything you can do with those two boards, that should give you time to save up for your next piece of gear.

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I have the perfect setup for you, all those Motif sounds and the PX 5S as well.  Check out the Yamaha MX 49 or 61 super light and the sounds of the Motif 128 note polyphony. the 49 weights 8 pounds!  There is an editor so you can dig in behind the Motif and mod things to a higher level than the front panel And the price, the 61 is RRP of $699 in the US and the 49 is cheaper.  Alot less than the full Motif. 

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You are repeating my post Shaneblyth ???

 

I understand piano_71 I just came back from the music store, I played on the MX61 for about

a hour. As far as the sounds are concern, no problem, but there is a major problem for me, I wasn't

aware that the the keybed  was not standard, it's smaller, it's really a ''portable synth'' to bad

it sound's great, but I can't get use to those small keys.

 

So I am going to follow your advise and keep my MOXF for now.

 

Padking

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