Yamaha MOX6 61-key Synthesizer Workstation Reviews

I've been wanting some type of workstation for my setup for the longest. The MOX6 is beyond what I hoped it would be the sounds are fantastic!

This only my second Yamaha, first being strictly a CP33 piano-which I did not like very much. But this thing- wow. Yes its being replaced with a newer model hence the great price. . I've used Korg and Roland synths. They are good with many great sounds. However-I needed a board to use in live performance that I could use as part of a band, or, as a solo all in one. The MOX6 excels. The sheer number of canned arps and bass lines plus the fact I can play the upper range as piano layers while the board is smart enough to follow with bass riffs is stellar. I can switch arps for drum patterns in mid performance with no hiccups. I am still learning this rig and the manual is ok for starting it up but you really need the extra download documents to fully begin to realize the potential. I do not use the DAW setup and maybe never will. Who cares. And who needs an arranger keyboard when I have this! Now I wish I'd gotten the 88 key model. However, this one is very portable. I love it. Korg, I love you and you are easier to dig into and the touch screen is fantastic..but for out of the box playing the MOX is the one.

This instrument is wired so thoroughly that as an amateur I sound like a pro

For the price, this keyboard cannot be beat. It is great for playing live, although it would have been nice if the faders had carried over from the previous generation. My main reason for buying this keyboard, is for playing live, but I also use it in the studio. The sound set of the keyboard is very versatile, and of high quality. I also own a Roland Fantom X and a Korg Triton. Of the 3, the MoX has the best sounds. My 4 main sounds are piano, pad, organ, and Wurlitzer piano. Performance mode lets me switch back and forth, as well as combine them on the fly. To my surprise, the keyboard is quite user friendly.

Been a long time since I bought a pro synth. The acoustic guitar sounds are killer - the "Steel Slide Velo" patch alone has provided me with many hours of joy. Lots of really good electric pianos, good acoustic pianos, the synth engine is powerful.

The ability to attach a laptop via USB only, trigger soft synths on that laptop, then have their sound from that soft synth come back through the MOX to your amp makes things very nice (still discovering things).

This is one powerful keyboard. I have several samplers and the sound of the MOX is better then some of my sampled sounds. The Piano sounds are wonderful, the Organs are great, the Guitars, the Flutes, and there is a solo Violin that will make you cry. I cant say enough about it. Oh, and its 15LBS. I havn't moved it much, but I suggest a decent hard case for it, if your giging with it. May be a little delicate. Keyboard is very playable. Again its a GREAT sound.

This is simply a fantastic instrument, and for the price a true bargain! I can't imagine what reason there could possibly be for buying anything else! The MOX6 has tons of truly GREAT sounds, as well as useful, totally tweakable, patterns and arps. I have yet to find it lacking something that I would need (or want!). It leaves nothing to be desired, as far as I'm concerned. Great board at a great price. Just great!

I bought a MOXF6 that was returned which took 400 off the original price, great deal. The sounds and arpeggios are really great and the possibilities with what you can do seem almost endless. But, this is not one of those keyboards that is so obvious with the controls that you will figure it out on your own. The reference manual is not user friendly and hard to grasp. I finally found a DVD on the previous generation MOX model that Phil Clenendin narrates and shows you how to navigate the many functions and sub menus. Thanks to him I'm starting to understand through repeated watching how to use this thing. Coming from a Roland Juno G and before that a Roland XP-60 they were a breeze and I used to fly around the keyboard with creating compositions. I definitely recommend this keyboard but be prepared to go to school and study to finally grasp what it can do.

This is a very good keyboard. It is just what I need by me being a songwriter. The sounds are mind blowing

Well, what else can be said about this keyboard that hasn't already been said. I am a Korg guy, but made the switch after testing one out at a local musical store. Since this is my first Yamaha keyboard, it took a little time to getting used to the interface, but it was not at all bad. In my opinion, the wow factor comes in when I begin to listen to the sounds that this thing produced. In addition, the keyboard is so light that it makes moving it around in the house so much easier than others that I owned. Now, if I can only find additional/independent sound banks, similar to Korg products, for this keyboard.

This keyboard also came with an unbeatable service that I received from Sweetwater ( Thank you Nick! ) which make it an absolute pleasant experience that I will surely continue to do so in the future.

Awesome piece of kit. Ordered!

The Yamaha MOX6 is perfect for my gigging needs. It is light weight and sounds great. I do wish that it had aftertouch and a standard power cord instead of an adapter. However, overall, it is wonderful and it is my go-to keyboard of choice at this time!

Awesome keyboard, lots of extras and effects! perfect for the at home player like myself and quite the step up from my last keyboard! Many thanks Yamaha!

Great product. Moving from my old Roland XP, the sounds are great and the feel is similar. The Arpeggiaters are too much fun. The DAW interface adds an unbelievable amount of flexibility, especially if you are a Cubase user. Great portability, and logical arrangement of buttons makes it an easy fit in the studio, home and at the bar.

I would have given the Yamaha MOX6 5 stars because the sounds are excellent; however, the cons are there are way too many hip-hop and trance/electronica sounds that I personally do not care for. Also, the keyboard feels cheap. On the pro side, through my Roland CM-220 speakers it sounds outstanding. Also, very cool ethereal, new age, keyboard, and orchestral sounds that I LOVE. I wish Yamaha made two versions: (1) hip hop/dance and (2) orchestral/new age.

I loved this keyboard. It looks good and it sounds great unbelievable keyboard in this weight. .Son of Motif XF! Thank u sweet water

I liked that the MOX6 keyboard was light for carrying around. The sounds are are generally of good quality. The keybed's touch response is what really deters from it being a good keyboard. The keybed is worse than the old PSR keyboard I used to own. I'm finding it hard to get used the cheap touch response. But what can you expect these days for 1000 bucks. The interface is easy to use and it is easy to manipulate the voices real-time using the 8 knobs. It is easy to find voices and the voices are organized nicely. I didn't find the manual very easy to use and that it only covered the most simple of operations. If you like to tweak, don't expect much help. The really weak emulations are the organs and the synths. It would have been nice to be able to tweak the drawbars a little. And the leslie emulation is very poor. The synth patches are weak and not of the kind that I use. Overall, I wanted a kick around keyboard for practice with half decent sounds. This filled the bill.

I just cannot believe the filter steps... it really makes this thing suck for modern electronic music. :(

Has some nice sounds though, but if you're looking for smooth and creamy sound design, look elsewhere.

The pro's; incredible guitar & drum samples,the best I've ever heard in a hardware workstation.
Even though I'm brand new to Yamaha,the sequencer is fairly straight forward & the effects are exceptional.
The arpeggios are phenomenal,the bass sounds are impressive and the ethnic,brass,woodwind & strings are astonishingly good.

The con's; the key-bed does not have true semi-weighted action,as it has a flimsy feel to them and the keys are too small.
A built in audio interface sounds wonderful in theory,but here is the reality...you will constantly find yourself digging through sub menus to find the appropriate setting to suit your particular DAW and if you don't have Cubase,Digital Performer,Logic or Sonar,then don't even bother purchasing this keyboard if you plan on integrating it with a DAW.

If you're brand new to Yamaha and you are not intimately familiar with Cubase,you will never be able to figure out how to set up your MOX with the included Cubase AI5(unless of course you live on the Motifator forum,contact Steinberg support on a regular basis and buy the DVD tutorial...& then maybe you might get sorted out).
Cubase AI5 is one of the worst experiences I've ever dealt with(the other,being NI K-6).
Even the sound designer that works for Yamaha,warned me to stay away from Cubase and after 3 weeks of pulling my hair out,I took his advice.
I should also warn you again,about the audio interface,which is that the audio output is very weak,as once you record an audio track to your DAW,you really have to crank up the volume in your DAW to hear it.
Here's another really sad aspect of the interface; it does not have 48V phantom power and if you ever plan on listening to the audio on your PC without having the MOX6 turned on,you will need a PC that has an HDMI output.
I have both the Presonus S1 and Reason 6 and the MOX6 is virtually useless as a viable PC recording tool.
I can't use any of the DAW Remote functions on this keyboard,because of the DAWS that I have...what a terrible waste of resources.
Personally,I think Yamaha wasted their production budget on including an audio interface,as they should of put the expense towards adding more insert effects.
One more thing you should know...if you want to transfer your midi data from the MOX6's sequencer to Cubase,you need to send the song information to a USB stick,shut off your MOX and then plug in the USB stick to your PC and THEN you can send your song to your DAW...makes you wonder why Yamaha even bothered to create an audio/midi driver,doesn't it?

+ great guitar & piano patches

- stock sounds hit or miss, not as great as anticipated, too much menu diving to change anything, definitely not a user friendly interface, plays like a Casio toy, definitely not pro level for the price

The MOX is loaded with capabilities and the Motif sounds at a good price if you can live with the restricting interface. The 6 only weighs 15lbs and the 8 35(?). I think adding at least 10lbs using heavier plastic in the body would have made more sense. I could see it cracking if you bumped into it with other equipment. The two men in promotional videos on Youtube are the only people that really know how to use it. The owner manual is inadequate and without a tutorial. Yamaha tech support is nice but not very helpful and dodges user questions. If you are unfamiliar with Yamaha, good luck and patience be with you!