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Use the faders to tweak parameters on the fly during playback.

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Elementary

Anyone willing to dig deep and get their hands dirty will be happy to know that beneath the glossy exterior lies a powerful sound engine. Each single voice consists of up to eight Elements that use PCM waveforms as the basic building block.

Elements can take advantage of keyboard scaling, splits, zones and velocity crossfading, which is one of the tricks used to create interesting articulations in conjunction with the arps. With all these resources available at the Element level, it’s easy to see how this can build up to some impressively large and complex sounds when they’re combined into a single voice.

Another set of editing parameters are available at voice level including a more complex LFO (which can also be routed to the effects), EQ and a whole bunch of FX including the new stomp box style VCM effects. It’s safe to say that this Yamaha has really got the lot.

Mind you, given that Yamaha have some amazing synth technology in their portfolio, would it be too much for them to include any Virtual Analogue, FM or VL physical modelling into their flagship?

Main sequence start

The sequencer has been improved with the addition of several workflow tweaks designed to speed up the recording process. The main one is the Direct Recording from Performance mode, which stores all the voice and effects settings along with the MIDI data, saving you the need to copy it all over manually.

In what seems like an odd move, Yamaha have abandoned the use of expansion boards with the XS. It’s not clear what they’re going to do instead, but in the meantime, new sounds can be had with the sampling option.

That said, since the XS doesn’t ship with any RAM, it’s up to the user to install it up to the 1GB limit. It’s also necessary to have a USB drive or computer connected if you want to store the recordings as they aren’t retained during power down. The XS has a pair of quarter-inch inputs on the rear for stereo recordings, and audio can be incorporated into sequenced patterns or used in place of the PCM waveforms to create new voices. All the basic trim and loop functions are available and easy to use thanks to the screen.

The XS also has a sample slice feature similar to ReCycle!, which can be applied to recordings. This locks them into the tempo and automatically time-stretches to fit the changes, which is eminently useful on beats and rhythms.

Final countdown

The XS is an expensive machine - it’s taken several steps forward in terms of computer integration and file management, but that might not be the kind of carrot that workstation buyers are enticed by. At the core is a top-class selection of presets, and it’s sonically very capable in areas such as real instrument emulations and deep evocative pads.

It’s brimming with features, both for live players, and composers, but potential buyers need to examine their needs and compare to the other choices in the workstation market before throwing down their cash.