[NAMM] 3 new Yamaha PSR keyboards

With the PSR-S series, Yamaha debuts new features to mix, control and play hundreds of voices and styles. Intended for both beginners and experimented players, the three PSR-S670, PSR-S770 and PSR-S970 arranger keyboards feature 10 DJ Styles, which are pre-programmed chord progressions that gives the player the ability to play melodic phrases, trigger additional audio samples from the new multipads and use the live controllers and built-in arpeggiator along with these melodic styles.

The PSR-S670 features a 61 Organ-type keyboard (5 octaves) with 5 responses, pitch bend and modulation wheels, a 4.3” LCD display (320 × 240), 2 assignable multifunction controllers (filter, envelope, arpeggios, track mute or retrigger), an audio recorder and player (80 minutes/song max in 16-bit / 44.1 kHz stereo WAV format), multi-pads with Audio Link feature, a 16-track sequencer with a Style Creator and a wireless connection for iOS devices (via optional adapter). 2×15W speakers and a 32 MB memory for Voice and Style expansion packs are also included and the Expansion Manager software (v.2.3 and later) can be used to create ensembles featuring the content from different packs or even your own sounds created from audio samples.

The PSR-670 offers 416 Voices, including 11 Mega Voices, 19 Sweet! Voices, 28 Cool Voices! and 19 Live! Voices ; 34 drum kits / SFX and 480 XG voices, an effect section with multiple reverbs (47 presets/3 user), chorus (74 presets/3 user), DSP (283 presets/10 user), master compressor (5 + 2 presets), master EQ (5+2) and arp. Add to this 230 Styles (208 Pro, 12 Session and 10 DJ), 4 presets songs, 128 voices of polyphony, metronome with tap tempo, +/- 12 semitone and octave transpose, tuning and 9 types of scales, and you’ll have a versatile arranger keyboard for the stage. The keyboard also include USB ports, headphone output, volume and sustain pedal inputs, aux input and two line outputs.

The PSR-S670 will be available in September for the suggested retail price of 732 € / $999. More info at usa.yamaha.com. 

The PSR-S770 and PSR-S970 also feature the Live Control, Style Creator and DJ Styles as well as the Drum Setup that allows for editing all the settings of the current kit, as well as an arpeggiator with a library that include a variety of rhythmic arps and melodic patterns, a 16-track sequencer, the same multi-pads, EQ, compressor, DSP effect section and they can be customized via the Yamaha Expansion Manager.

The PSR-770 has 61 velocity sensitive keys, a 7” 16/9 color display, pitch bend and modulation wheels, two 15W speakers, aux input, headphone out, line out, MIDI I/O, MIDI USB port, sustain pedal input and a mic input. It support 128 voices of polyphony and includes 830 voices, 36 drum kits, 480 XG voice and 360 rhythms/styles. You can also edit the audio files with time stretch, pitch shift and vocal cancel features and apply DSP effects to the voice (or the miked instrument). Street price of this keyboard is 1,130.40 €.

Last, the PSR-S970 offer the same features as the S770, but you’ll be able to choose between 989 voices, 41 drum kits and 480 XG Voices, as well as 450 rhythms/styles and an additional RGB output. A VH2 vocal harmonizer and a vocoder are available and the memory capacity for expansion slots is 512 MB. The PSR-S970 retails for 1,992.20 € / $2,499.