amaha have kept the cost, size and weight of the MOX6 to a minimum in several ways. Most obviously, the construction is almost entirely of plastic. Despite this, it feels sturdy enough, without too much of the plasticky ‘creaking’ feeling you might expect. The synth-action keyboard has a shortened front-to-back scale and no aftertouch, there is no ribbon controller, the monochrome LCD display has the same 240 x 60 pixel dimensions as that of the Motif ES, and the real-time controllers comprise only eight knobs and no sliders.
There are a few economic concessions to the MOX’s internal workings compared to the XS. The biggest cutbacks are the absence of any sampling facilities and the halving of the maximum polyphony to 64 notes. The number of Insert effects available in song and mixer (ie. multitimbral) modes has also been reduced from eight to three. While these limitations obviously restrict how much the MOX can do at once, the whole point of the MOX is that tracks can be rendered as audio direct to your DAW, and their MIDI tracks archived. Insert effects can be reassigned as and when instruments require them, and those instruments rendered to audio. It’s not all about cutbacks, though: 87 new arpeggios bring the total to 6720, the sequencer’s capacity has been almost doubled, to 226,000 notes, and the Favourites category has its own dedicated button for quick recall of frequently used Voices.
True portability implies something you could easily use on a bus or a plane, which clearly isn’t possible in the case of the MOX. However, the MOX6 is certainly light enough to carry around in a gig bag along with a laptop without too much hassle, making an ideal combo for hotel-room writing sessions, recording band rehearsals, or capturing moments of inspiration just about anywhere there’s a mains supply to hand. The MOX is, of course, a highly capable synth in its own right, equally at home as a principal part of an on-stage keyboard rig or in any recording situation — and one your roadie will appreciate, too.