twaddle
Max Output Level: -55.5 dBFS
- Total Posts : 1967
- Joined: 2004/07/28 15:46:48
- Location: Bristol UK
- Status: offline
Yamaha PLG-150 users
Just wondering how many people are still using these and how good were (are) they compared
to what's on offer today. Do the sounds still cut it?
See some going cheap and since I've managed to hold on to my SW1k was thinking of getting one. I'd love to hear the sounds for myself though. What was so special about the PLG.
Which sounds in particular stood out. I still think the strings on my SW1k are better than most I've heard. I don't need any more drums though having just bought BFD2.
Cheers
Steve
If anyone has some music made with this card I'd like to hear it.
soundcloud SoundClick Myspace Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R, Intel i7 930, 3.40Ghz, 12GB Corsair DDR3 1TB WD SATA 6Gb X 2 Emu- 0404 PCIe Sonar X1d Expanded BFD3 + BFD2 + BFD Eco Dual boot windows 7, 32 & 64bit
|
Fog
Max Output Level: 0 dBFS
- Total Posts : 12302
- Joined: 2008/02/27 21:53:35
- Location: UK
- Status: offline
RE: Yamaha PLG-150 users
2008/11/06 06:21:53
(permalink)
I've used a plg-an1x for yeeeeeeeears whats so special about it? lots really.. you can do decent emulations of prophet 5 and that cs1x (the blue keyboard they made) ? one of the yamaha keyboards... and it's taking NO cpu power.. and of course tweak it in real time. I have a preset list Reggie did for cubase , that I should port to sonar..errm it's 2 banks of sounds . 128 in each + a user bank where you can make up your own sounds. when I bought it , card was hhmm £130 if memory recalls.. remember it's only got 5 note poly... so if you want to run multiple instances you will have to bounce to audio and mute the other channel. as for the strings on sw1k... bank 40 patch 50  if you buy one.. you need to set the bank to 4608 and 4609 to access the main banks , and it only runs via midi channel 1 of sw1000-1 there is also a plg-an editor to tweak the sounds you can probably still download off the yamaha site.
post edited by Fog - 2008/11/06 06:28:38
|
ducatibruce2
Max Output Level: -79 dBFS
- Total Posts : 557
- Joined: 2008/10/05 09:04:31
- Location: Tasdemonia, Oz
- Status: offline
RE: Yamaha PLG-150 users
2008/11/06 06:37:48
(permalink)
I've got a pair of VLs in my Motif ES rack & an AN in the drawer. What's good about these - they're modelling boards & can do fun stuff. What's bad about 'em - the documentation is way out of date, sometimes dangerously so if used in a synth later than the documentation. motifator.com is your friend with these boards. IIRC XP is it, no Vista support (I think) definitely no 64bit support/drivers/editors. Demo/Sample of the VL http://files.keyfax.com/PLG_Demos/vl_demo.mp3 Demo/sample of the AN http://files.keyfax.com/PLG_Demos/an_solo.mp3 Both these are official Yamaha demos using presets if memory serves. More info (including the demo/samples) on all the boards here http://www.motifator.com/mart/mainframeExpansionBoards.htm I'm keeping an eye out for a cheap AN board & a runout/EOL special on another rack to house the ANs.
S8.5.3PE & X1d P Exp & X2P, Q6600 @3Ghz, 4GB DDR2, XP SP3 With Knobs: 2 x Yamaha i88x mlan (ASIO), RS7000, Motif ESR, Roland SI24, VSynth XT, Varios, Fantom XR, JunoD, HPD10, Korg PadKontrol No knobs: P5, DimPro, Rapture, Z3ta+, IK stuff, ReCycle, Komplete8
|
Fog
Max Output Level: 0 dBFS
- Total Posts : 12302
- Joined: 2008/02/27 21:53:35
- Location: UK
- Status: offline
RE: Yamaha PLG-150 users
2008/11/06 06:55:11
(permalink)
Bruce they are classed as legacy I guess now , so thats part of the issue. I use xp / dual core and it works ok.. you probably can run it in vista , but the 32 bit.. and only the midi side of the card that it's plugged into. trying to use the asio side of the card is a nightmare since the drivers are so old for the sw1000 now..
the rack your on about , is it the kenton plugstation? I was tempted to buy one, but they were really expensive at the time
|
ducatibruce2
Max Output Level: -79 dBFS
- Total Posts : 557
- Joined: 2008/10/05 09:04:31
- Location: Tasdemonia, Oz
- Status: offline
RE: Yamaha PLG-150 users
2008/11/06 07:32:16
(permalink)
A Motif ES rack ~ you can run the PLGs in most of the Motifs up to (but not including) the XS.
It makes them a little less legacy as the OS issues are confined to the editor/librarian software. So a dual boot setup where you do the editing/setup of the PLG in XP and then reboot the PC into another, later OS for your DAW leaves the setting intact in the Motif.
That's the plan anyway - havent actually tested it.
With the new XS rack out, prices are dropping on the out of date ES racks (& as noted above the PLGs too)
S8.5.3PE & X1d P Exp & X2P, Q6600 @3Ghz, 4GB DDR2, XP SP3 With Knobs: 2 x Yamaha i88x mlan (ASIO), RS7000, Motif ESR, Roland SI24, VSynth XT, Varios, Fantom XR, JunoD, HPD10, Korg PadKontrol No knobs: P5, DimPro, Rapture, Z3ta+, IK stuff, ReCycle, Komplete8
|
JavaMan
Max Output Level: -83 dBFS
- Total Posts : 372
- Joined: 2005/01/11 15:21:09
- Status: offline
RE: Yamaha PLG-150 users
2008/11/06 11:00:28
(permalink)
You'll probablly get more hits and responses at the Motifator.com forum. And probably a lot of good archived info.
|
kwgm
Max Output Level: -52.5 dBFS
- Total Posts : 2271
- Joined: 2006/10/12 00:14:20
- Status: offline
RE: Yamaha PLG-150 users
2008/11/06 11:04:28
(permalink)
There's two kind of PLG cards. There's maybe 5 or 6 sample cards, like the piano samples, the drum cards, etc. I have no experience with these, and no interest in more samples. After almost 3 years, I'm still learning more about the built-in samples of my S90ES.
The ones to get are the synthesizers on a card. There's three of them.
- PLG150AN has a 5 voice analog synth.
- PLG150DX is a 6 operator FM synth, identical to the DX7.
- PLG150VL is a modeling synth, that does pipes, strings, horns, reeds, etc.
These are great synths, and with them you get a synth within a synth. It's an amazing technology, really.
You can't edit with the Motif/S90 panel controls -- they don't work that way. You have to use software editors, available from Yamaha and made for the job. These editors are old, and they're just like working with a Windows 95 program, if you remember what that's like, but they run on Windows XP and they're stable. You create a bank of presets and upload them to the card like a MIDI file using this software. You can also buy pre-made sounds for these cards from Keyfax.
There's one other PLG card -- the PLG100XG. This card does Yamaha XG -- their extension to GM. With the XG card in your Motif/S90, your synth becomes a 32-voice synth, playable from Sonar, and you've added another 400+ Voices to your Motif/S90. While some of the sounds on this card are still interesting, the great ES ROM Voices, and Kontakt sample sets from East-West and others have made the XG card obsolete.
The ones to get are the AN, DX, and VL, imho.
|
DaveSchuler
Max Output Level: -89 dBFS
- Total Posts : 52
- Joined: 2007/08/21 07:43:04
- Status: offline
RE: Yamaha PLG-150 users
2009/04/12 03:20:38
(permalink)
Does anyone know of an existing instrument definition file for these cards?
|
ducatibruce2
Max Output Level: -79 dBFS
- Total Posts : 557
- Joined: 2008/10/05 09:04:31
- Location: Tasdemonia, Oz
- Status: offline
RE: Yamaha PLG-150 users
2009/04/12 05:06:48
(permalink)
I have a zip file called 166809-Instrument Defns.zip that has ins files for each of the PLG cards. The comments in the INS files indicate that they were done by Brad Weber over at the motifator.com forums (he's a mod there I think). From memory I got the link from a forum post there - but cant currently find it. The INS files Ive used from the zip are accurate - though I cant speak for the others. Try posting a request over there http://www.motifator.com/index.php/forum - if all else fails PM me & I'll email you a copy
S8.5.3PE & X1d P Exp & X2P, Q6600 @3Ghz, 4GB DDR2, XP SP3 With Knobs: 2 x Yamaha i88x mlan (ASIO), RS7000, Motif ESR, Roland SI24, VSynth XT, Varios, Fantom XR, JunoD, HPD10, Korg PadKontrol No knobs: P5, DimPro, Rapture, Z3ta+, IK stuff, ReCycle, Komplete8
|
Blades
Max Output Level: -43 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3246
- Joined: 2003/11/06 08:22:52
- Location: Georgia
- Status: offline
RE: Yamaha PLG-150 users
2009/04/12 11:53:51
(permalink)
I still have the PLG150pf Piano, AN analog, and the not-so-exciting VH card. I also have a Plugstation, which connects directly to the sw1000xg (which I also still have) and lets you access up to four PLG cards at once. the analog card has some great sounds - though you may be able to get a lot of better things with as much is available these days, but it's still pretty cool. The Piano card, which has some acoustic, and some electric pianos has some good stuff on it. If you have something like the Amber module in Sonar, you are probably better off with that for the acoustic side, but there are a lot of really good electric piano sounds on there. If I had the extra card for the Plugstation that let you use it without the SW1000, I'd probably still use this piano card, and maybe the AN card as well - cause I had some decent sounds. You can use XGPad (http://xgpad.com/) to edit the sw1000xg and the plugin cards, including if they are plugged into the plugstation. It's now freeware and it's really a pretty cool program that runs well alongside Sonar (at least it used to back when). I don't know if this works in Vista or not - but its free, so why not give it a shot. I also still have a DSPFactory card or two along with the license for c-console to control them and a few of of the external plugin interfaces for them (that go in the drive bays). Anyone want to buy all this stuff? It's sitting on a shelf waiting to be sold and I just haven't gotten it all together to do so - Don't really know what it's worth these days. You can still get the plugstation here: http://www.kentonuk.com/products/plugstation.shtml - and it's still going for 250 (pounds) if the pdf price list can be believed. I couldn't find where you could actually order the product at this point.
|
Fog
Max Output Level: 0 dBFS
- Total Posts : 12302
- Joined: 2008/02/27 21:53:35
- Location: UK
- Status: offline
RE: Yamaha PLG-150 users
2009/04/12 12:22:01
(permalink)
blades I spoke to Kenton maybe a year or 2 ago.. they don't do the product any more or had it in stock, they are based the other side of London. It's basically a discontinued product. I was tempted to buy one originally , but the price for me was a bit too much. I'd still like to get an mu100r , but they are pretty impossible to find. as I'm sure you know they do the x-y-z system.. I am thinking of chucking my DSP factory card on ebay.. just the card, but haven't.
post edited by Fog - 2009/04/12 12:30:08
|
Blades
Max Output Level: -43 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3246
- Joined: 2003/11/06 08:22:52
- Location: Georgia
- Status: offline
RE: Yamaha PLG-150 users
2009/04/12 21:25:49
(permalink)
Yeah, Fog. I have the X config only. So it's useless to me without the sw1000xg installed. And with Sample Tank and Dimension and Sonik Synth 2 and Wusikstation, I have so many more sounds than I need that are better for my purposes anyway, I can't justify the legacy stuff in my machine. Heck, I don't even know if it would work in my cirrent (sorry for the pun) motherboard (voltage joke, I guess).
|