Yamaha MODX8 88-Key Synthesizer

Yamaha have laid down a marker with the MODX synth. They've taken flavours from the world class flagship Montage range and incorporated them into an affordable mid-range package.

Super knob

It's safe to say they've cut down on the ridiculous amount of buttons on the MOX series of synths in favour of a more tactile approach. You'll notice the glowing 'super knob' that's hard to miss on the MODX. This works in conjunction with the touch screen to control hundreds of parameters together or separately. 

EQ on the fly with extreme ease as you can choose from over 256 presets-worth of settings in 5.67 GB's of waveform-ROM and 1 GB Flash-ROM. You'll never have to conjure up sounds there and then ever again. It's light and portable too, so you won't have any problems going from studio to stage.   

Touchscreen 

Get hands on with the 7" LCD touchscreen introduced with the Montage. Music production has never been this easy. And it's all powered by the Advanced Wave Memory 2 sample and synth engine for brilliant and emulative acoustic instruments, synth sounds and drums. The MODX also features the FM-X found on its big brother synth. This stands for Frequency Modulation, a highly expressive programmable system you'll see on the screen as well as what the AWM2 brings.

Scope of sounds

You'll have access to a massive library of sounds to customise. There are eight elements and 128 polyphony waveforms to hand through AWM2 alone and a further 88 algorithms through the FM-X engine. On top of that there are 13 stereo effects to get immersed in the breadth of the MODX. The arpeggiator can serve up eight parts simultaneously from the 10,239 arpeggio algorithms to pick from. The MODX is an ultimately customisable synth. 

In the Box

• AC Adapter

Specifications

• Motion Control Synthesis Engine / Super Knob
• AWM2: 8 Elements, 128 Polyphony (Max: Stereo/Mono Waveforms)
• FM-X: 8 Operators, 88 Algorithms, 64 Polyphony (max)
• LCD-Touchscreen 7”-Colour-Wide-VGA-TFT 
• Waveform-ROM 5.67 GB 
• 6,347 Waveforms in ROM 
• 1 GB Flash-ROM built-in 
• 640 User Performances 
• 5,120 Library Performances 
• 13 Dual Insert Effects (12 Parts + A/D Input) 
• Over 256 Preset Live Set Slots, 2,048 User & 2,048 Library Live Set Slots 
• 10,239 Arpeggios 
• Eight Arpeggio Parts simultaneously 
• Eight Scenes per Performance 
• Master keyboard functions for each Performance 
• Multichannel USB Audio Interface, 2-in/10-out