Yamaha Motif - Digi 002r - distortion when recording

[Illumination]

hey all,
I'm recording a Yamaha Motif 8 keyboard and experiencing some distortion when it hits the inputs of my Digi 002r. I'm coming out of the Motif stereo 1/4 inch into digi002 inputs 3-4. This only happens with B3 organ-esque patches, most every other patch (piano/vibes etc...) sounds just fine. I've tried turning the volume down on the keyboard as well as turning the 002r's pre-amps down, but that damn organ patch still distorts when i start playing harder. any ideas? the motif does have an optical output... would that send audio to the 002's optical input with better quality?

[CME]

I might plug into one of the line inputs (5-8) and see if that helps. There should be a way to switch between +4 and -10 levels. On my 002 mixer it's a slider switch, but I'm not sure on the rack version. And I'm guessing it'll be the +4 you'll need. Hope that helps.

[Illumination]

eh... no go :-(
weirdest thing...
a friend has a motif rack module with basically the same sounding patches as the board, so i may try using that to see if it sounds better.

[accession]

Does it distort through headphones plugged directly into the Motif?

[flommer]

Is it an unpleasant digital distortion, or crunchy overdrive? Maybe it is just in the patch. Try digging into the Motif's patch editor..

You should probably be using inputs 5-8, not 1-4. Yes, you can connect with the optical output. Try it and see if the distortion is still there.. The headphone test should also determine if the distortion is coming from the Motif or the 002..