Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Yamaha MM8 or MO8 - forgotten instruments?

When someone is lloking for lightweight board, he usually consider Yamaha 85, or Roland fp-4/300sx/300gx.
What about Yamaha MM8? It's 15,6 kg and has 418 tones! Have you played it?

Yamaha MM8 was introduced in 2008, it's supposed to be "mini motif", but see poor reviews here http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Keyboard+And+MIDI/product/Yamaha/MM6+(Mini+Motif)/10/1

keyboard: 88 Graded Hammer Standard (Initial touch)
tones: 418 normal + 22 drum kits + GM2
polyphony: 32
weight: 15,6 kg (!!)
price: 1000$


Yamaha MO8 was introduced in 2006, it has good reviews at http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Keyboard+And+MIDI/product/Yamaha/MO8/10/1

keyboard: 88 Balanced Hammer Effect (Initial Touch)
tones: 512 normal + 64 drum kits + GM2
polyphony: 64
weight: 21 kg
price: 1500$

I can see MO8 is much closer to the Motif. But I wonder what about MM8? Maybe it's good idea as a controller, and it has a plenty of sounds. Almost never discussed on this forum: can it be used onstage with it's sounds? Have you tried it?

I've only ever tried these boards in Guitar Center and so cannot speak with any real authority, but for me the MO board is far superior in terms of sound quality to the MM. I think I would be happy to use the MO8 for pianos and electric pianos in a live situation.

The polyphony on the MM8 is too low and the construction felt flimsy. However, the MM8's front panel seemed easier and more intuitive to use. It may be my age, but I found the MM8 confusing. I expect a little time with the manual would sort that out, though.

To be honest, I thought that the MO8 (which I've seen as low as $1335) is a credible alternative to the S90ES if you're wanting to save a few pennies.

Also, if you tried feel of the keyboards - tell me something. Graded Hammer Standard from MM8 seems to be the same as in Yamaha P-85 - graded, full, but I don't like this keyboard very much, compared to other models.

What about MO8 keyboard? Is it fully weighted? What does "initial touch" mean?

If I can find good pianos, e.pianos, synth sounds, and average organ sound on MO8, maybe I'll consider it. And it also has a sequencer! Even 1500$ is good price - Roland 300GX is a about that price.

Many of the sounds on the MM series of synths are based on the E Series of PSR keyboards, far far short of the quality of Motif sounds. Indeed, also far short of the P Series Piano sounds or the PSR S Series arranger keyboards.

They're not really "forgotten" instruments, I think it's just a thing where they aren't mentioned because they aren't digital pianos. The P series and from Yamaha and the FP series from Roland (in addition to the Casio Privias, Kawai MP, etc) are all digital pianos and this is a digital piano forum after all.

Also, you guys are absolutely correct, the MO series is definitely a more advanced and better sounding instrument than the MM series. They are really apples and oranges though. The MO series is essentially a Motif ES with some features stripped away. The MM is more of an entry-level arranger, more comparable with the Yamaha PSR series, the various Casios (WK series I believe), and all of the other inexpensive little keyboards that you might find in a Wal-Mart or Sam's Club. Yes, some of its samples come from the Motif, but this is more or less just a marketing tool; the MM is not a representation of the sound quality you'd get from a Motif or even a MO. While it may have some of the raw waveforms, it is what you can do with the waveforms that set a professional instrument apart from entry-level ones. The MM is not a Motif!

As far as using the MM8 as a controller or a gig instrument, there's a couple of things to keep in mind. I would say that if you just want to hook it up to a sound module or another keyboard and use it's keys to controll the other synth, you may be OK (in fact, I use my Casio PX320 this way). But if you're looking for complex zone control and controlling multiple synths, etc, I'd look somewhere else (the MO would be a better fit for this). Either way, the action is the most important thing when you talk about controllers, and I can't comment on this since I've never laid my hands on one.

As far as live playing, I think the sounds of the MM8 would be more than good enough for live mix context. Having seen Bert's youtube demo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E_bDg5ak9w) and other online demos, the thing sounds pretty darn good! But I'm pretty sure the MM's are mostly plastic, so that would hurt their roadworthiness substantially. The MO would be sturdier and more rugged, and the top of the line 'boards like the Motif would proabably be even more robust.

I must try this MO8 out!

MM is pretty bad, not worth considering. MO8 is ok but the piano sounds are not nearly as good as in most DP's if this is what you are after. The keyboard feels ok.
You should probably try to check out Kawai MP5, it sounds and feels much better to me personally and it's less expensive.

MO8 is from 2005, so maybe this summer Yamaha will introduce something new...

I am quoting myself but I met this webpage http://www.yamaha.com/moheadphones/overview.asp and I find it suspicious: maybe Yamaha want to replace this model and that's why we have this proposition? It's the same with MM8. Or maybe they simply don't sell out quickly...