Help choose the first keyboard (Yamaha PSR SX600 or something else?)

[rdstnv]

Hi everyone,

Been doing a little research lately trying to find the right synth for myself. Never had a keyboard before so need an advice.
I want it for home songwriting only and expect to make simple arrangements/demo songs (either in MIDI or in WAV/MP3) which I can elaborate on later, maybe in a DAW.

I don't care that much about the sound quality, but I do want some customization options meaning: creating or adding new styles, editing the existing ones, adding new sounds/voices etc.

I like what PSR SX600 has to offer but would like an opinion on how well it actually can do (or not) those things.
Also very much like the description of Korg PA600/700, but the former is a bit old model nowadays I guess and the latter is a bit over the budget (which is about 1000$).

Which would be the better choice in my situation?
Or maybe there are other brands I should look into?

 

[Biggles]

Welcome.

The SX600 is certainly the newest model by a good few years and it is 3 years + since Korg updating the operating system of their Pa600.

For an Arranger you are limited in available models with the SX600 probably being the better choice at its price point.

With a bigger budget you then only have the Yamaha SX700 and Korg Pa700, and that is it. At this price point to me it is a no brainer, despite being released in mid 2017 the Korg Pa700 is imo the better model in all aspects.

The Korg records to MP3 and its system is far more user friendly that the Yamaha system but that has the advantage if recording to WAV.

Whatever you choose you will have a steep learning curve to gain an in depth knowledge of the operating system.

 

[rdstnv]

Welcome.

The SX600 is certainly the newest model by a good few years and it is 3 years + since Korg updating the operating system of their Pa600.

For an Arranger you are limited in available models with the SX600 probably being the better choice at its price point.

With a bigger budget you then only have the Yamaha SX700 and Korg Pa700, and that is it. At this price point to me it is a no brainer, despite being released in mid 2017 the Korg Pa700 is imo the better model in all aspects.

The Korg records to MP3 and its system is far more user friendly that the Yamaha system but that has the advantage if recording to WAV.

Whatever you choose you will have a steep learning curve to gain an in depth knowledge of the operating system.

Thank you, Biggles

I thought so that there is not much choice in this category.

Leaning towards PA700 more and more, just not sure whether I need that many options right now, being an amateur.

On the other hand SX600 might not fully provide all the options I need.
It does have a style creator but if I understand correctly you can't edit onboard voices and it doesn't have much memory in it for external samples, contrary to PA700, am I right?

 

[SeaGtGruff]

What do you mean by "edit onboard voices"?

 

[Biggles]

I cannot advise on the SX as I have only briefly played them and being openbwith you, the piano sounds are good the others voices are not to my taste hence I have not looked at them any further. It is a personal choice thought and they may suit you, I usually suggest watching the manufacturers Get You Started video series for any keyboard of interest, then get hands on.

With the Korg 700 you can edit the parameters of the onboard voices and save them to user locations, sounds can only be saved onboard and not to USB memory but Songbook entries can. There is a reasonable amount of onboard memory but at this price level if you are expecting masses of memory, you will be disappointed. Additional sounds can be added but in my two years of ownership I only really added one piano sound that I used regularly so with the others it is a case of developing a management process.

Korg has their Bonusware site where free Style and Sound packs are available for free. A sound pack of the original classic Triton is available on this site but it uses a smaller sample size v the original however even then I found them perfectly acceptable.

I understand Yamaha have something similar to the Korg Bonusware site.