Yamaha Motif -vs.- Korg Triton (Which would you choose?)

[thepooch]

Which of these two keyboards (or sound modules)would you buy, and why? Please be as detailed as possible. I'm hearing from many that the Motif would demolish the Triton, but no one ever gives me the reason why.

Music Genre: Rap & Hip Hop

I would just buy the Motif just because of the hype, but my producer's already saving up for the sound module. We both make beats, so I was leaning towards the Triton for a different sound than my producer's. I figured, why should a "group" buy two of the same items? So in this predicament, what keyboard would you go with?

Thanx to those reply, it's very much appreciated!

 

[Paladyne]

I have owned both. Go Motif. The Triton is played out.

 

[thepooch]

Like right after I posted this topic, I looked at a topic lower than mine, someone was speaking of the yamaha motif, so I clicked on it. And another guy said the same thing, the motif kills the triton. I'm sorta convinced about the motif, but I'm still looking for replies. If I would buy the motif, which one would most likely serve my needs, the Motif6 or the ES6? I'm trying to find the difference.

 

[by]

I've not tried the motif, but alot of experience with the triton: I wouldn't recommend it, especially for it's sounds.

 

[Mario-C.]

the motif ES is even more powerful...

 

[MisterBlue]

A keyboardplayer that I am working with owns both a Triton and a Karma and I just think that these machines sound somewhat thin and "plastic-like". It's like an extreme "smiley curve" EQ engaged all the time, boosting high and low end only (and my friend hasn't done any EQ'ing).
We have repeatedly tried and record stuff with those units but I usually end up replacing the tracks with Roland JV, GigaStudio or VST synth sounds.

I haven't really used the Motif but I personally would not put the Korg stuff on top of my list.

MisterBlue.

 

[B3GrooverTheShill]

If you can, go to a music store that has both and play them. I think you'll agree the sounds on the Motif are far more realistic, punchier, meatier, and just better than the Triton.

Never been a Korg fan myself... I've always had Yammy's...

 

[pandamonkey]

Hey,
I too have been lusting for a Motif rack. I chose the rack for the cost difference and some of the features that differ from the the full keyboard versions. We have discussed these differences in the past here at R.O. but in a nutshell, I also want the rack version because it comes with a lot more preset sounds and drum kits. You do not get any sampling capabilities on the rack version however.
As far as the Korg is concerned, I have not used one but there is no denying that it seems to be a staple these days in a lot of hip hop producer's studios.
Good luck,
mIchAEl

 

[Babygrand]

The motif ES has 4band EQ on every channel, that's
a plus. it sounds great.it also supports mlan thats
16 digital outputs.but the triton extrem keyboard will be out soon to so......

 

[Linwood]

I've got both. I would choose the motif first because I like the Rhodes, Wurli, and piano patches better on it. They seem to sit better in a mix, as well. Everything is punchier on it. I do like the Triton though, but if I had to choose only one, I'd go with the motif, hands down. It's hard to explain. It's like: I've got a bose system in one car and a jbl system in the other. I prefer to drive the one with the jbl's. To me it's "punchier" ( or mo punchy).tighter

 

[Death addeR]

I've recently been checking out these things as well... as a question to the people who recommended the motiff, what type of music do you guys listen to? From my (albeit small) experience with that keyboard or most of yamaha's stuff, I always get the feeling they are geared towards older gentlemen that listen to "classical" music... I don't know exactly why, but I've never really liked the sound (at least in a pop/rap/dance/etc. context)... even the sounds that are geared towards those genres...

The triton is okay, but I agree the sounds are somewhat small and plastic... I had thought about replacing my xv-5050 with one, but quickly changed my mind... however, there is a new one that is coming out (Triton Extreme), and it uses a real tube... dunno if this is a gimmic or would really help...

The_Pooch: If you don't mind me asking, is there any particular reason you are only considering these two models? ... either way, the best advice is always to go check them out yourself if at all possible... I've been doing this more and more lately, and very happy about it...

 

[MisterBlue]

Some good points bought forward.

Yes, I tend to look for more "classical sounds", I am not into Hip-Hop or Dance/Trance/Fance stuff. The stuff I am producing is Rock/Pop that is usually in the Matchbox 20 / Goo Goo Dolls, Vertical Horizon kind of corner.

Up to this point I am a Roland person. My workhorse for synth sounds is a JV-1010 and it is a fantastic value for the money. I need to spend more time with the higher end XV models - I might be missing something good.

Anyway, I agree with considering more and different units and going to try them out yourself. If possible do it in your familiar environment and use them in a mix. Some of the units sound great by themselves but don't really work well in a full mix.

MisterBlue.

 

[Death addeR]

In all fairness, I went to check out some of the latest mp3's of the ES8 motiff... and, actually, there are some pretty cool sounds for the genre's I mentioned in my previous post... most of my experience while playing with them in stores and casually listening to mp3's of older models were of the above, but I may have been to quick to judge here...

mostly my point is that.. for example, if I went to college and asked "what's a good keyboard for rave music," they would probably tell me yamaha or maybe roland/korg... but if I asked people that wrote music like that all the time, then really an access virus or waldorf q+ or something else (plus a sampler) would be more appropriate... the motiff may be the most appropriate thing for rap, or may not...
[/edit]

 

[Paladyne]

I bought the Triton about 5 years ago, mostly to compose R&B with. I never used it on a song because it all sounded sterile.(sampling a few notes from a cd and popping them into my MPC was better for me.) I bought the Motif about two years ago, for the rhodes, piano and string sounds, also for RnB. I used that on a regular basis for quite sometime. You can hear the wood in the piano, even tho there is no wood. The Rhodes are reaaaaally good, they sound very similar to my 1978 Fender Rhodes.

I sold my Motif to buy new monitors because of a tragic accident in moving.(my tannoys got smashed!!!) I sold my Triton years ago. If the opportunity arrose to purchase another Motif, or a Motif rack for a decent price, I would heavily consider getting another one.

Also, I must say that the synth sounds in the motif are also top notch.(I compose a lot of electronica stuff, I also have a Nord Lead 3, and sometimes the Motif took top seat even over that just for synth noises.) Very warm, very analog synth sounding.

Another GREAT keyboard for Piano, B3 and Rhodes is the Nord Electro. It only hase like 6 sounds in it, but they are VERY convincing sounds. I guess they modeled some reeeeealy good instraments. I think they go for about 1,200. I wish I had one of these babys. <Closest to a realy piano, at least that I have heard.

OOOH, if you are capable of using VST plugins, there is an excellent program called,"The Grand". Once again, very convincing.

 

[Paladyne]

http://www.clavia.se/MP3s/index.htm

you can check out some of the clavia/Nord sounds here.

 

[Vim]

hi there, i think that as a Korg User i have had considerable success with the Triton. I have had more fun with a Triton then with any thing Yamaha or Roland put together. People will give various opinions about different products. I have A/B'd the motif and the triton and the fantom and to me there is no clear winner as far as the sounds go.

If sounds good straight out of the box were a criteria then it has to be the Triton Studio. If you want good synth and organ sounds you gotta use the Triton Studio/Extreme - even for hip hop and rap the drum sounds are exceptionally good and programmed with alot of finese. If you want good pianos and strings and choirs then go for a Roland Fantom or XV module, if you want brass and EP / rhodes then you're better off with the Motif though both the fantom and the triton studio have very good samples as well - after some tweaking.

As far as user friendliness - hands down the Triton. Midi implementation - close between Roland Fantom/XV modules and Korg Triton Studio in favour of the studio (don't get me started on the Motif

 

[thepooch]

I searching for a different sound, real sounds as well like brass, strings and things, but mainly synths. My producer would probably love the Motif, cause he loves to use brass, strings, bells, and whistles. I like things like that too, but I wanted to bring something new to the table.

Now Listen:
Don't throw stones and spears at me for contemplating about this, but the main thing that I'm looking for are real drums (I'm mean like a kick in the chest bass, a thick strong snare, basslines to die for, and ect.) So I've been lately considering an MPC.
:td: Move

Or better yet, save up for both and get them? Unnecessary? Which one is unnecessary if so?

These are the kind of beats I'm looking forward to make. Click on the MPC site below, and click the below beat list as follows.

MPC Sounds
Go to this website and click on:

Neptunian Drumz 1
Neptunian Drumz 2
Intergalactic HipHop 1
Telephone Filtered Drumz 1

 

[dabmeister music]

Hey Pooch, I own a MPC4000 and the drums kicka**. Have you checked out the MPC1000? It's very inexpensive & I guess the drums sound as good as the 4000. But try to avoid the entry level units. The 4000 comes in different configurations, ie: w/60gig HD, CD-R, USB & optional card/board I/Os. Now I'm not sure how the 1000 comes configured, but it should get you going as far as beats/sequences are concerned if you had to go that route.

 

[popcorn]

Hi Pooch,

Well I am playng synths from 80's,classical piano from 70's!
The best ever things made fore live are MPCs,Alesis MMT8 and Triton.
I own Yamaha and Korg stuff from years-now!
Korg is more close to ideal understanding of musician soul-you can do everything so easy with Touch screen.I am comparing Triton and Trinity with these old Emu's and Ensoniq,also Kurzweil which are so easy to play on!Yamaha is hell with all these menus and hidden secrets...It was all the time!

So if you need a synth for live -still Korgs are the kings!

About the sounds:
We are producing house music and now our EP from 2003 is in the DJ charts-well there are 2%Yamahas,Korgs and even Juno's,80% live playng on almost everything/guitars ,perc.../ and 18% Delays!

If you want sounds -go software-you will be never satisfied!It is coming from the way you questioning!I'm still using Juno 106 in our decent projects!But at the and more than 30plug-insand outboard are applied)

At last for classical music,also rock -Motiff is the best!

Peace!

Donny

 

[dabmeister music]

I'm also looking at the Motif rack. Most of if not all of my hardware synths are rack modules. I use a Kurzweil K2500RS for some acoustic piano, rhodes & strings. The Triton rack for synth sounds & a Ensoniq ASR-10 using vintage Jeff Lorbers' bass collection. And a Roland JV-1080 for some extra bass, clav & other stuff. I'll use the TC Helicon Voiceprism for some sythnthy vocals or vocoding. I do have some other stuff that I don't use that much anymore 'cause it's a little old and does'nt sound as good.