Does MOTIF XF sound better than MONTAGE M and MODX M? Yamaha analog audio comparison part 1/3

Since the Yamaha MOTIF XF was superceded by the MONTAGE in 2016, I have seen a steady drip of online comments from people saying that the analog outputs on the MOTIF XF sound 'better', 'warmer' etc. than those on its modern decendants. Personally, I find this difficult to believe, as the 'Pure Analog Circuit' system on MONTAGE is absolutely fantastic. I suspect that the MONTAGE output could be made to sound like MOTIF XF with a little EQ to make it... less good(?), but as I have a MOTIF XF, a MONTAGE M and a MODX M available to me right now, it seemed like a good idea to have each synth play exactly the same sounds in order to settle this question once and for all. Could it be that the new low-cost superstar MODX M has better analog outputs than MOTIF XF, or does the old board have some kind of special sauce that has been lost on the new models? As all of the MOTIF XF sounds are available in MONTAGE and MODX (and of course in MONTAGE M and MODX M too), we can directly compare what they do with the same sounds. Of course, none of these performances make use of FM-X or AN-X, and they only use FX that was available in MOTIF XF back in 2010, so you are definitely not hearing MONTAGE and MODX at their best, but for a scientific analog audio output comparison, this is what we have. What you will hear is the auditions from the MONTAGE for each of the selected MOTIF XF sounds, recorded as MIDI and played back on each synth to avoid any unwanted variables like keybed quality and responsiveness. Before recording, the master volume of each synth was precisely matched using an accurate noise meter, then I recorded each synth using its main analog outputs over a short high quality cable run to the same audio interface. This is the first of three videos comparing MOTIF XF with MONTAGE M and MODX M. Here, I will play through the 'Best of MOTIF XF' live set that shipped with an early MONTAGE firmware version. Chapter markers are included so you can jump directly to a specific performance if you wish. 00:00 Introduction 01:42 Piano Electro 03:21 Orchestra Del Mar 05:55 Son of Mars 08:09 Sprinkler 10:15 Yamaha Concerto 12:04 Worship Center 13:53 Angel Pad 15:49 Crying Scene 18:48 Inner Wind 19:50 Just Relax 22:37 Secret Film 24:42 Kogarashi 26:32 Electrix 28:32 Triathlon 29:29 Movie Strings 31:15 Plutonium Freezer