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stompboxjon « Great sounding patches »
Published on 10/01/12 at 13:02The Yamaha S90 XS is a 88 key synth with a stage piano as well, it has over 1000 voices as well as a built in USB drive and on board DAW controls that can either be used with a Mac or a PC (any version of Windows). At first glance looking at this board you will think that it cost way to much money for as simple as it looks. They key part of this board is that the sounds are very good, there really are no bad patches on the whole thing. It is a very good synth to have for a large genre of music. When it comes to the stage piano part of it, you can easily plug a microphone right into it and have an on stage set up right at your finger tips. I have used the Yamaha S90 XS with Reason 4 and with recording directly into Pro Tools.
UTILIZATION
Setting this synth up takes no effort at all. You can read through the manual if you need it, but I hardly ever do everything on this board from the song process. I basically used it for the sounds and maybe a few small performances for some friends. Editing the parameters of your sounds are very in depth. I won’t say it is easy because it is not, unless you are use to doing your sound editing from a keyboard. Its actually a lot different than doing it on a software synth. But after you get use to it you will be very comfortable with editing all of the parameters on the Yamaha S90 XS.
SOUNDS
When you are playing the Yamaha S90 you will love the feel of the keys, they have a nice weighted feel to them. As a player, you can really get your expressiveness out like you can sitting at a real piano. The piano sounds are very good and realistic, they are actually some of the best piano patches that I have heard coming from a synth keyboard.
OVERALL OPINION
The Yamaha S90’s sounds are the selling point for it, if you get a chance go to your local music store and see if they have this on display. You will be locked in on it for hours just messing with all of the sounds and effects. But, the fact that the price is so high almost makes it not affordable for the average “at home” musician. I do suggest purchasing this keyboard though if you can afford it. The quality of the Yamaha S90 XS is well worth every dollar that it cost. I have been using the Yamaha S90 XS since the winter of 2009, and I am still learning new stuff about it.
UTILIZATION
Setting this synth up takes no effort at all. You can read through the manual if you need it, but I hardly ever do everything on this board from the song process. I basically used it for the sounds and maybe a few small performances for some friends. Editing the parameters of your sounds are very in depth. I won’t say it is easy because it is not, unless you are use to doing your sound editing from a keyboard. Its actually a lot different than doing it on a software synth. But after you get use to it you will be very comfortable with editing all of the parameters on the Yamaha S90 XS.
SOUNDS
When you are playing the Yamaha S90 you will love the feel of the keys, they have a nice weighted feel to them. As a player, you can really get your expressiveness out like you can sitting at a real piano. The piano sounds are very good and realistic, they are actually some of the best piano patches that I have heard coming from a synth keyboard.
OVERALL OPINION
The Yamaha S90’s sounds are the selling point for it, if you get a chance go to your local music store and see if they have this on display. You will be locked in on it for hours just messing with all of the sounds and effects. But, the fact that the price is so high almost makes it not affordable for the average “at home” musician. I do suggest purchasing this keyboard though if you can afford it. The quality of the Yamaha S90 XS is well worth every dollar that it cost. I have been using the Yamaha S90 XS since the winter of 2009, and I am still learning new stuff about it.