MX49 Music Production Synthesizer, Black

I got this specifically as a second keyboard for live performance, to avoid the dreaded mid-song patch changes on my Yamaha MOXF6. I am TIRED of switching a single keyboard from a piano to an organ and back again! The four octave size was perfect for what I needed, I prefer synth action to weighted, and I knew the user interface would be familiar. If you've played any Yamaha synths from the last many years, it's easy to get going with just a skim through the manual. Given this was originally released in 2012, the sounds are decent but not stellar. A small number have annoying ticks or minor glitches in them, the few mellotrons included have way too much low-end noise, and some of the underlying samples are looped a little too tightly. Due to the looping to save raw wave memory and keep the cost down, some of the voices sound a little weird soloed, but fine in an ensemble context. There is no good brooding rock 'n' roll B3 organ in here. The build feels a little flimsy compared to my MOXF6, and the keyboard is that "narrow-guage full-size" type that Yamaha uses for its cheaper instruments. All that said, I got this bundled with an MX49 gig bag for well under $500 via Amazon Prime, and it is fitting into my rig exactly as expected. Pianos, organs, electric pianos, strings, brass and woodwinds are all by and large excellent, though of course not as good as the much more expensive MOXF6. There are some decent synth sounds, though I wish there were more diversity. The drums are perfectly fine (but again, not stellar). Once I got used to the keyboard, the real musicality of the instrument started to become apparent. After spending one day with the MX49, it's pretty much what I expected it to be and it's perfect for my peculiar needs. For other needs, this would be a decent first synth if you can live with four octaves. It is simply amazing you can get an instrument that sounds this good for less than $500, with a gig bag to boot. I remember paying that for a Casio CZ-101 in 1984 dollars! If you can afford an MOXF6 or something comparable, though, start there instead... UPDATE: in the last few days I have been exploring the layer function, which couldn't be easier to use. Press the "LAYER" button, cursor down to the 2nd patch in the display (which is inaudible without layer turned on) and pick whatever patch you want. The sounds on this MX49 are organized very intuitively, so if you have a Rock Grand Piano as your primary patch and want to layer it with the "String Quartet," it couldn't be easier to find. Whichever of the two voices the cursor is on in the display is the voice the knob parameters like volume, pan, attack, decay, etc. apply to. This couldn't be easier for on-the-fly layering & tweaking during live performance, jamming or songwriting. This is a feature I plan on using a lot in the future...

We’re to start at this synth keyboard. Has a lot to offer and the sounds are very nice out of these mx series Yamahas. They don’t disappoint check them out at all local music stores if available.

There should be more synths like this MX49 and Korg Kross 2. A joy to perform with. Additional sounds are available for free, and make sure to make use of MX Tools by Mr. Melas to edit the tones down to waveform level. Connect ot a computer with USB, and audio plays on the keyboard, practice along silently using headphones. Takes a whole lot of tasks from the computer away like effects, mixing, EQ, thus unburdening the computer.. I recommend read the manuals that come with it, and buy two of these instead of one 61 or 88 keys, switching between upper and lower and splitting is easier than plugging it in. Saves/loads from USB pen drive and USB connection both, and also makes a heck of a MIDI controller. Does have the the standard 5 pins DIN for in/out, through is missing though. Instead of getting a flight case, I took the factory bag, cost about $125 extra. The bag comes in blue only, while the keyboard can be black, blue, or white. AND, don't forget to download the free B.O.M.B version 2 for free: Best of Motif Banks. Making/saving/exporting sounds and songs are easy, system file format is .A5X Sounds from certain S series synths can be edited and loaded in it.

You can’t beat the value for your money here. I have a Korg Kronos I use for the acoustic piano patches but honestly the feel of the keys is great for anything else. I thought it would feel cheap but actually the non-piano sounds come to life with these keys. Wonderful sounds. I recommend connecting it to a MIDI controller to take full advantage of accessing all of the voices simultaneously in a “combi”. The Kronos is perfect for this. The acoustic and electric pianos and 80s sounds are absolutely inspiring. The strings are really beautiful - on par with Korg but a different texture completely. The bass sounds are a nice addition too. For the money, geez what are you waiting for? I owned the original Motif. This is the best of those sounds in a nice, small light package. For that reason I actually prefer this to the original. I almost didn’t buy it though because I read reviews that the sound quality was inferior to the old Motif. I just don’t hear it. I’ve been playing keyboard for years and now tried software sounds so I know high definition audio when I hear it. To me the responsiveness and ready to go-ness of a piece of hardware like this is unbeatable. No latency and the sounds still hold up against any other expensive software libraries. If you’re like me you’re going to end up converting files to mp3 to share your music online anyway. Any tiny difference in quality will definitely not be noticeable there to even the pickiest of listeners.

I bought this as a gift! And no complain! He utilizes it for commercial events and lots of praises! No issues at all!