Yamaha Keyboard Arrangers

The PSRE413 is a discontinued 61 key portable keyboard from Yamaha. It is very lightweight and is completely made out of lightweight plastic. It can be powered by an adapter or 6 AA batteries. It has a built in arpeggiator that provides 100 different patterns and beats, 5 types of master EQ, recording capability with onboard sequencer, and Performance Assistant technology. The keyboard also comes with Yamaha Education Suite and tools to help beginners learn new songs. UTILIZATION The keyboard is well laid out with it’s controls. It does have two knobs located on the left hand side of the keyboard that allow real time tweaking of different parameters to cope some syth like tones, or layer effects on the patches and Yamaha even throws in a pitch wheel. It’s extremely lightweight so traveling with the keyboard is easy. It has USB and Flash connectivity so you can download songs over the internet and learn them or use it as a MIDI controller like I do a lot of times. It works very well as a MIDI controller. It has a six track sequencer, but I don’t find it useful personally. Sometimes I’ll play along with the included drum machine as a metronome. It has the ability to set the tempo and rhythm of the drums and then cues the drum loop as soon as you start playing so you don’t have to turn on the beats and then fumble through the first few chords of the song. The keyboard has an input for a sustain pedal, and an output for a PA system with a variable master equalization section. OVERALL OPINION This keyboard has over 500 voices that can be tweaked to give a ton of tones from this thing. Some are great and some are just OK, but all could be usable for certain situations. The one I use the most is the Yamaha Portable Grand voice, which sounds very convincing as a baby grand for coming out of a cheaper electronic keyboard. There are a few string and organ patches that sound super too. There are some sounds on here like the drum and percussion patches that I find cheap and useless, but there are a few really good patches and a lot of very usable sounds in the PSR. Overall this is a decent practice keyboard for someone looking for a couple of good patches or as a starter keyboard. I like it much better than the competition in this price range like that offered from Casio. It is inexpensive and has a good basic piano sound and is touch sensitive with output for a PA. That’s all I was looking for in a starter keyboard and this fits the bill. If I could go back I would probably try to find something with weighted keys, which would cost a little more, but I feel a big jump in feel from playing this keyboard and a real piano. A lot of bells and whistles on this little guy, and some of them are pretty useful. It would make anyone a great starter piano or a great travel piano for someone who didn’t want to tote around their professional keys to small jams.

The Yamaha PSS-130 is a digital keyboard and similar to the PSS-30. A friend of mine has this at his house and I was messing around with it the other day, although I do not own one myself and do not plan on owning one either. They keyboard has 32 mini keys and a variety of cheesy sounds and rhythmic patterns. It's got two voice polyphony as well as a built in demo. It can run on batteries or a power supply although I do not know what kind for either as my friend already had working batteries in there and I didn't care to check what kind they were. UTILIZATION Using the Yamaha PSS-130 shouldn't be difficult at all, as it simply has a series of large buttons for choosing sounds and rhythms. The first section is a volume button, followed by a series of rhythms and a series of orchestral sounds. It then has a small memory bank and the demo button. That's all there is to this one, so I don't think users will be needing the manual. OVERALL OPINION The sounds you'll hear from the Yamaha PSS-130 are very cheesy, and bordering on the not useful kind of cheesy. I can see these sounds being used in some throw back electronic music, but I wouldn't use them for the kind of music I work on. It's fun to mess around with and you can get a bunch of different sounds, but none of them are anything close to a real synth sound and aren't quirky enough to be campy.

The Yamaha PSR-GX76 is a electric keyboard and is a work station lite for beginners. It’s got all sorts of features on it, but definitely is aimed at beginners. It’s got 76 keys, spanning about five octaves. It has emulations of sounds for just about every instrument imaginable, but across the board they aren’t too realistic sounding. You’ve also got a ton of built in rhythms and demos, as well as a screen that will show you what note your playing both on the keyboard and on a musical staff. UTILIZATION The feel of the Yamaha PSR-GX76 is about where you’d think it would be for a low end electronic keyboard. The keys aren’t weighted, but the keyboard is certainly more than playable. They do feel somewhat light, but for practicing or messing around, it’s just fine. Choosing sounds is easy, but getting in depth with the keyboard will take some time since there’s so much that can be done with it. I haven’t seen the manual for the PSR-GX76, so I can’t speak to it’s usefulness. OVERALL OPINION The sounds heard on the Yamaha PSR-GX76 in general are pretty cheesy and definitely not too realistic. The piano sounds are probably the best, but at least you do have every sound under the sun to choose from here. The organs don’t sound that bad either, but those interested in the PSR-GX76 should know in general that this is a beginners/kid’s instrument. There are also some pretty funny sounds on here, including the entire ‘DJ’ setting, which definitely has some funny ones to mess around with. For a cheap beginner’s electric piano, the Yamaha PSR-GX76 will definitely get the job done. Those exploring the PSR-GX76 should definitely know up front the nature of this keyboard, as it isn’t for serious players and is really just for those looking for a cheap electric keyboard option or to get your kids started on the instrument. The Yamaha PSR-GX76 is a fine practice instrument, but I wouldn’t use it outside the home in any capacity…

The Yamaha VSS-200 is a unique digital synthesizer and sampler. It has a built in microphone that you can use to record things and play it back using the keyboard. It also has standard patches and sounds which are quite cheesy! The keyboard is fully polyphonic and doesn't have anything like pitch or modulation wheels. UTILIZATION Although I haven't gotten too in depth with the Yamaha VSS-200, using it for its basic features is quite easy. There are a lot of in depth things you can do with your samples, but I only used it for simple sampling and playback, which was all I really wanted to use it for. I've never seen a manual for the VSS-200, but if you are looking to get really in depth with this synth it wouldn't hurt to have one around as they are easily found in digital format. OVERALL OPINION While I can't say that the sound quality of the patches is anything more than cheesy, the sampling features are what really set the Yamaha VSS-200 apart from the crowd. The built in microphone makes it easy to record samples, and it has a ton of features available for manipulating this sound further. You can get some really funny sounds by recording your voice and playing it up and down the keyboard, as it will transpose the sample! It's really very fun to play around with, but I'm not much into sampling so I could only take the sound possibilities so far with the VSS-200...

This keyboard is definitely for a beginner player, yet it has some great features compared to other PSS keyboards. It is polyphonic up to 8keys, which is all dependent on which sounds and effects are used. Some of the organ sounds can be used to up to 4 note play or more while utilizing effects and auto-rhythm. Some of the 100 FM sounds on the keyboard are relatively useless for more than personal usage, but are fun none-the-less. Some of the sounds are very useful. The pianos, organs, synth bass, and strings are quite palatable. Dog barking sounds is one that has only amusement application for practical use, although I wouldn't discredit a very creative individual being able to use it effectively. The effects are a set of three: PORTEMENTO, SUSTAIN, and VIBRATO. All are quite nice, but cannot be changed in any way if used. Depending on the instrument, VIBRATO and SUSTAIN may already be added into the sound. The rhythm section offers several options, going from 'single-note' chord, although a minor chord and a major 7th requires two notes, whereas a minor 7th needs three. For multi-track recording, there is no way to separate the auto-rhythm from the drums, although the drums can be played alone. If set with the auto-rhythm ina chord position, it is possible to use the single note to create a chord. In some of the auto-chord positions, a sound will be made in addition to the auto-chord and drums. This could be useful, but is annoying if one desires to just play the auto-rhythm. This is a fun keyboard to own and play. For the market at the time, it's a very capable tool for a beginner. A musician using it professionally would encounter limitations, but I could see some very nice sounds being possible with this low-fi instrument.

This is a keyboard that can be described as an "all-in-one". If you're still studying music or if you're a music teacher, it's a good learning tool. If you're a composer, it has lots of features that help you on the composing process. If you're a band keyboard player, it has the Registration Memory, that stores all kinds of panel configs. If you like to use softsynths and/or software sequencers like SONAR and Cubase, it has a USB to Host port and a "PC Mode" to help. I think it could also have the conventional 5-prong DIN MIDI ports if you'd like to control sound modules, but modules are being outdated anyway.

When purchasing this keyboard I was looking for an instrument that could run a live show I was putting together without any other equipment. I wanted to perform from the keyboard as well as be supported with a realistic, or at least sympathetic accompaniment. What I was not expecting was to be pleasantly surprised at how this instrument not only ticked all the boxes I wanted but also provided inspiration for taking the show further. The S950 is a 61-key keyboard workstation with features and options too numerous for a single review. The connections are basic: output L & R, foot pedal input, MIDI, USB B and USB A as well as a mic input (more on this later). In addition there is a video output, primarily designed for showing the lyrics when running karaoke tracks - something this reviewer has yet to enjoy… The main panel is a sea of buttons and a few knobs, the colour display being the centre of the keyboard’s universe. All functions are designed to be accessible with as few presses as possible and, for the most part, the screen is clear about where you should go next. There are getting on for 1000 voices built in to the unit, several of them the same as those on the Tyros 4. Four of these voices can be played at the same time, two each side of the split point. In addition there are over 400 accompaniment styles, each with four variations, a set of fills and three intros and three endings. On top of all that there are a raft of multi pad sets, some of which are one-shot, others of which are MIDI based - they play along to your chord selection - and you can also play your own .wav files directly from a USB stick. With the addition of a sequencer, many many effects, a vocal harmoniser, USB audio playback and full one-touch registration memory this keyboard provides infinite flexibility only really limited by your imagination and your understanding of how the keyboard works. UTILIZATION Within moments of turning the S950 on you realise it is quite a significant instrument. The styling is perhaps a little dated, a little too much like the much cheaper members of the PSR family. However, the sound and the functionality defy the initial impression. Even just working through the accompaniment styles it is clear that a lot of thought and time has been put into the creation of each style. When using the linked one touch setting, each change of accompaniment variation changes the matching sounds. Mostly these are sympathetic and useful, occasionally they are surprising but rarely awful. This option can be disabled and you can select your own sounds as you play. The registration memories are very useful for storing the entire keyboard exactly as it is and seamlessly working from one setting to the next. When changing registration during a performance the S950 waits for the next bar to complete before changing style, ensuring that the transition is seamless. It should be noted that sometimes it would be nice to select between the change lead voice now or at the bar end during performance rather than having to set it from inside the settings menus. All the important sounds are excellent. Yamaha have done a great job with many of their Super Articulation sounds and Mega Voices. I have found the creation of my own variants of the stock sounds easy to do and it takes very little time to build up sound combinations which can then be recalled with a single registration button. The USB stick functionality I would regard as essential. My S950 has a stick plugged in the entire time and I play .wav files and .mp3 files directly from it during performance, as well as select the registrations from the same source. In addition, there are many kind people who have uploaded style files and registrations to the internet and after a weekend of collecting I have several thousand named styles and sounds available to me simply by browsing the clear, colour screen. The Yamaha Music Finder I have found slightly less useful due to the nature of the songs contained within it. When playing some of the styles it is sometimes disappointing to hear a particular song into immediately come to mind. Should I wish to play that song then the style would be perfect. However, if I want to play a similar song I find I cannot use that style because it sounds too much like the song it was based on. These styles have therefore remained ‘on the shelf’ as they are too recognisable. The real power of the instrument comes with practicing swift navigation. Once you have configured your registrations and multi pads as you desire it is then a matter of pressing the right button at the right time (something the Yamaha demonstrators have nailed). Sometimes this can mean that you have to tweak your settings somewhat in order to allow things to happen without delay. One obvious example of this is when using multi pads that play .wav files. Then changing to one of these sets the S950 needs about half a second to check that all the files are where it expects them to be. This does not stop the playing of a style or inhibit any function but it does mean that if this takes longer than the remainder of the bar you are currently playing it will be another bar before the change actually takes place. Again, practice makes perfect in this. Another minor issue is that I would like the multi pads to be a mixture of .wav files, one-shots and MIDI-based. Sadly you can only have one type of multi pad on the go at once. I find this a little restricting since I might like, for example, to play a .wav and have a nice trance arpeggio playing at the same time. Generally editing of anything is simply a matter of pressing the function you are interested in and following the prompts on screen. The deeper you get I will admit the more lost you can become. I suspect this is the nature of all complex instruments like this. I believe Yamaha have pitched it about right in regards to having the most-used functions on the ‘outside’ and the details on the ‘inside’. I have downloaded the reference manual for the S950 and it contains every possible piece of information about the keyboard. This, with a little help from the online community, has meant that I have not found anything it can’t do yet. The sequencer works acceptably, although I find it a little clumsy to edit - being used to a DAW environment. I have therefore used this rarely, preferring to run backing tracks off the USB stick instead. Connection to my DAW is easy via the USB B socket. My MacBook Pro found the keyboard immediately and it works faultlessly. The only negative I have found is that the octave up and octave down buttons do not transpose the keyboard over MIDI. This is a small irritation but does mean that if I want to play off the end of the 61 keys I have to transpose the keyboard up or down 12 semitones with 12 presses of the transpose button instead. The mic input is a nice feature although I would have preferred an XLR socket. I appreciate that this doubles as an instrument socket but still… Having purchased a 1/4” to XLR mic lead I have experimented with the various vocal effects. All do exactly what they say on the tin and the harmony-based patches are very effective and match the chords being performed. OVERALL OPINION Before I purchased the S950 I had considered the Tyros 4. However, I suspected that everything I was going to need was contained in this instrument and I was not disappointed. I primarily use my S950 for live work and do all my sequencing within a Mac-based DAW. Although there is clearly a limit to the number of sounds and styles in this keyboard I have yet to be restricted by this. I find there is always something near to what I am looking for and it is just a matter of tweaking an existing sound or mixing two sounds together. Styles can be created from scratch or based on an existing style and it is made as easy as possible given the controls and the screen built in to the keyboard. I would love Yamaha to release a style editor app and I am not the first to wish for this. Overall it is an excellent keyboard, I use it daily for all sorts of things I never would have considered. For the price I might have liked more metal than plastic, especially on the body itself. I purchased a Swan Flight case immediately and know that the keyboard would never have survived gigging without it. Likewise, I have to convince myself that the buttons will all last, none have shown wear and tear yet but they feel a little Spectrum 48 to my fingers. In addition, the LEDs showing which functions are lit are virtually invisible in direct sunlight. I know I should expect this but I had a scary moment on stage when the sun came out and I had no idea what settings were set. Just worth mentioning to help anyone else prepare for this eventuality. These minor faults aside I can see me using this instrument for years to come. I love sitting down at it last thing at night and noodling away for no reason and then discovering a new tune appearing from under my fingers without any apparent effort on my part. Worth the purchase for that alone.

The PSR-A2000 is a 61 key synth that has built in speakers and it is made by Yamaha. It comes with some simple effects, Chorus, Reverb, and DSP but total there are over 400 effects on the PSR-A2000. It has 500+ voices and over 30 drum kits. The drum kits are decent but there are only about 4 of them which I would ever use because some of them don’t sound as rich as I like my drums to sound and they involve too much EQ and attention to make them work for me. There are also SFX kits on the PSR-A2000 and they have some really cool sounds that you can use for your effects and transitions. UTILIZATION Setting up the PSR-A2000 was not very easy, it does require reading the manual to get the swing of things. I recommend browsing through the manual first and then coming back to it if you need it later. OVERALL OPINION The value for the price of the PSR-A2000 is solid. It cost 1400 bucks and I feel that is spot on for what it offers. The thing that surprised me about the PSR-A2000 was the speaker system. The speaker system sounds great, it produces a full and rich sound that travels far. Though this is not a gigging synth per say, but you could definitely use it for one if you wanted to because it is not too heavy and the on board speaker system is better than a lot of Yamaha’s more expensive keyboards and digital piano’s. There are a lot of options to choose from when working on the PSR-A2000, you can edit all of your parameters and add sound effects easy and all in real time. I have been using this keyboard for a few weeks now and I am getting some pretty unique sounds from it. The sounds and presets are different from all of the other Yamaha synths.

I aquired the Portable grand through an ad I saw and display at my local sam's club. I sat down and played on it. After playing keyboard for years on such equipment as Oberheim, Casio, Korg, and other yamaha products, I certainly enjoyed the quality of the portable grand's sound and function. I paid $750.00. The touch sensitive keys. Built in sequencer, education suite for my kids to learn, hi-fi speakers and the data base of realistic instrument sounds. The low cost. Nothing Sturdy wood and plastic. i like to play hard sometimes like on a real upright piano, and the portable grand can stand up and handle the hits. there is absolutely no shaking, that makes you look like a maniac beating on the keyboard. the Portable Grand DGX-500 by Yamaha is the best toch-sensitive and polyphonic keyboard I have bought. It's quality rates up there with the more expensive keyboards without the high price. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Keyboard with 76 keys that allows you to play different sampled instruments: 2 pianos, 2 harpsichords, 2 e-pianos (including a Rhodes or a similar sounding one), 2 organs, and a vibraphone. Basic connections: 1 midi in, 1 midi out and a jack headphone output. You can also plug in a pedal. USE The keyboard itself is pretty pleasant when you are used to entry-level synths and cheap MIDI controllers. The low keys are "heavier" than the high keys. Overall it's nice to play with it. The manual is well done and it's indispensable, given the amount of settings (transpose, reverb...) that are accessed with key combinations. The interface would've been better with more buttons per function, but you can nevertheless find your way, especially since the keyboard saves your settings. OVERALL OPINION It's weird, because the reviews I've read about its sounds are quite contradictory... In my view, I think they are fine, generally speaking. There are obviously certain unusable instruments (the first e-piano and the awful violins), but the two acoustic pianos are expressive and the vibraphone sounds quite all right (it's an instrument that's very easy to sample since it doesn't have to many nuances that need to be taken into account). The Rhodes is okay as well, but you shouldn't expect to get the sound of a $2000 instrument with a $300 one. The sound improves and gains warmth with a bit of reverb. The keyboard has a built-in amplifier with two speakers (one on each side). It produces a sound that's all right to start out, but it's obvious that anybody that has an amp will eventually end up plugging it in. The speakers add to the overall size of the keyboard, which, as a consequence, seems quite long!

The Yamaha PSR-E203 is a digital keyboard with built in speakers that is designed for beginners and those interested in getting their feet wet with digital keyboards but don’t want to spend too much money at all. The keyboard of the Yamaha PSR-E203 spans about four and a half octaves and has ¼ inch output connections for sustain as well as to send the signal to another speaker or wherever else you’d like to send it. UTILIZATION The configuration of the Yamaha PSR-E203 is incredibly simple to follow, as it is designed for beginners who have no prior knowledge about keyboards. While there are a lot of handy features in addition to the wide array of tones, including demo songs, a nice screen that shows you which keys are being played on the keyboard in music notation, and a great sounding reverb effect. Whether you know what you are doing or not, figuring out the Yamaha PSR-E203 won’t take long if you play around with it for a little while. The manual for the Yamaha PSR-E203 seems complete and thorough, but I never used it too much because the keyboard is easy enough to use that I never needed it. OVERALL OPINION I’ve had the Yamaha PSR-E203 for about a year or two and have found that it is more than adequate for the beginner who wants to learn how to play the piano but doesn’t want to spend any decent amount of money. The Yamaha PSR-E203 has all features that a beginner needs with all sorts of different electric and acoustic piano sounds, as well as organ sounds, synth sounds and all sorts of emulations of woodwinds, brass, stringed, and percussion instruments. Its ease of use makes it the perfect candidate to be a beginner’s keyboard. I would highly recommend this for anyone who wants to learn the instrument. The Yamaha PSR-E203 won’t really exceed expectations, as the sounds are the most realistic, but the price makes up for where it might lack in tone. Overall, the perfect keyboard to mess around with and to get acquainted with the wonders of the digital keyboard.

There are a gazillion different PSR models and Yamaha has been making them for many years. This particular model is old but when I play the newer models in the local music store they don't seem that much different in terms of sound or features. These things are everywhere and they can be gotten cheap. They are inexpensive light weight non-professional keyboards that feature the usual array of sounds and functions you typically find in these type keyboards. Here is a list of some of the features. Yamaha"s great piano sound for inexpensive keyboards, tons of AMW and GM sounds, effects, multi track sequencer, auto rhythms with section options and fills, one note and chord type auto accompaniment, loads of auto styles, midi in/out, damper pedal out, built in speakers, line outs etc. However there is no expression or bend wheel. UTILIZATION These keyboards are remarkably fun and useful. The main drawback is that the interface (at least on this particular model) can be very cumbersome and hard to read. It uses yellow words and numbers on top of a silver background and its very difficult to see unless you are in well lit surroundings. Accessing some functions via the multi function buttons and menus can be a real chore. However there is a useful dial for accessing items and there is a nice one touch button that allows the user to instantly return to the basic piano sound from anywhere. However the keyboard actually does a lot and I guess you would have to be an engineer to figure out how to access all this stuff in a small space. OVERALL OPINION The sound output by this keyboard is not of professional quality and there is some low level background noise. However the sounds are remarkably good especially the piano sound for such a cheap keyboard. Personally I have had a lot of fun with mine and I like the fact the you can move it around easily or stand it up on its end and store it in the corner. I play mine for fun and to write melodies with. Some of the rhythms are very fun and useful too. If you are interested in an inexpensive keyboard I would definitely look at any Yamaha brand PSR. There are tons of em out there so there is no reason to pay a lot for one. The piano sound is probably unbeatable in this price range.