Yamaha psr sx 900 Alternatives

[chongjasmine]

I am looking to buy yamaha psr sx 900. Before I buy, I will like to know some alternatives within the similar price range so that my options will be bigger. Things I look for are voices/tones, the more the merrier.

 

[anotherscott]

The main competitor is probably the Korg PA1000. Both boards are arrangers, which have extensive auto-accompaniment capabilities. If you don't care about that, but just want lots of voices/tones, there are numerous other possibilities.

 

[Biggles]

At the price point of the SX900 there it only the Korg Pa1000.

There is no other quality Arrangers available on the market other than those by Yamaha and Korg, there is a manufacturer called Ketron but as I have never seen or heard one of their keyboards I cannot comment on it.

Me, I would have the Korg over the Yamaha anyday, its sounds are more suited to my ears and turn on the Eq and the keyboard comes alive.

It has MIDI to Style convertor onboard, it is designed around the use of Songbook (Registrations set up for specific songs), has a vast library of free Styles available and there is a great support network here, on Korg Forums and via Korg UK’s free webinar series.

 

[chongjasmine]

Any casio alternative?

 

[Biggles]

Not at the price point of the SX900.

The highest cost Casio Arrangers are the 61 key CT X7000 and the 76 key WK7600 both around £400.

Casio have a Digital Piano with arranger features in the PX-S3100 plus there are new versions of this but more up market and I have not seen their specs.

Korg have a Pa700 and Yamaha a PSR SX700 at c£1000

Then there is new kid on the block with Medeli AKX10 with supposedly similar features to the Korg and Yamaha models but at £650.

There are of course the mega bucks Yamaha Genos and Korg’s brand new Pa5X with the Korg being £4000 for the 76 key version.

 

[joner4567]

Is a SX900 for me ?
I Used to have PSR 9000 . then T5 then a Genos.
I am a basic player and never used hardly any of the Genos functions .
I would Just pull up a style and tinkle along , so i sold it because it seemed a waste to have all that tech and have not got a clue.
Now 9 months later ,i have the itch again .
What i am looking for is a simple keyboard that has styles but it does have to have good sound quality as the Genos.
I would use a separate amp / speakers anyway.

 

[anotherscott]

What i am looking for is a simple keyboard that has styles but it does have to have good sound quality as the Genos.
I would use a separate amp / speakers anyway.

Budget?

 

[joner4567]

About £1500

 

[Biggles]

At that budget you only have two choices:-

Korg Pa1000

Yamaha PSR SX900

There are no others, me, I would choose the Korg anyday.

All Korg’s come with a rich sound and nothing like the screeching and harsh brass that Yamaha’s have. Turn on the Eq and the Korg becomes vibrant and alive.

Save the chosen Style, to a user bank and modify it to suit what you want it to sound like for a specific song, then save it to Songbook then whenever you want to play that song call it up. It really is that easy with a Korg.

With the Korg Pa1000 you may find that the onboard sound is as good as you want.

 

[joner4567]

Thanks , I think I will give the korg a try.
Always been with Yamaha since the 90s so it will be nice to learn a new make of keyboard.

 

[joner4567]

I just found local to me a Korg Kronos 2 for a little more money.
Would this one sound as good as the pa 1000 .
Being as the Kronos is a few years older now

 

[anotherscott]

I just found local to me a Korg Kronos 2 for a little more money.
Would this one sound as good as the pa 1000 .
Being as the Kronos is a few years older now

This gets back to what I said in post #2, the first question to answer is whether or not you need an arranger (something that does auto accompaniment with a wide range of selectable styles and the buttons to switch sections, etc.). If you do, it's mostly PA1000 and PSR-SX900. If you don't need that, there are lots of options, and yes, Kronos (any version) would be a strong choice. Which sounds "better" may vary with which sound you choose and your subjective evaluation, but as a whole, I'd say Kronos sounds better than PA1000, e.g. for piano, EP, organ, analog-style synth. Some of the orchestral sounds are a tougher call.

 

[joner4567]

Thanks for advice..again.
Thinking about it ,that's why I sold the Genos. Too much tech for me....
I better keep it simple.
Click and play.

 

[anotherscott]

Yeah, Kronos is not a simple board. Particularly if you want to play to automatically generated backing tracks, stick with an arranger. Kronos does have something called KARMA which can do interesting things with backings, and it has a very capable sequencer where you can create your own backing tracks from scratch, but neither are nearly as simple as hitting a button marked "Bossa Nova" and being able to have a fully formed bossa nova backing track that will follow your playing. That's the kind of thing an arranger gives you, it's what they're made for.

 

[anotherscott]

One more thought... while I happen to prefer the Korg PA1000 to the Yamaha PSR-SX900 (I think it's simply the more capable board overall), I think the Yamaha probably has the simpler operational interface, at least based on the manual and what I've seen online (I haven't actually gotten my hands on that one). Sonically, I prefer some sounds on one, some on the other, and that will pretty much always be somewhat subjective. There are some youtube videos where you can compare some of the sounds.

 

[joner4567]

One more thought... while I happen to prefer the Korg PA1000 to the Yamaha PSR-SX900 (I think it's simply the more capable board overall), I think the Yamaha probably has the simpler operational interface, at least based on the manual and what I've seen online (I haven't actually gotten my hands on that one). Sonically, I prefer some sounds on one, some on the other, and that will pretty much always be somewhat subjective. There are some youtube videos where you can compare some of the sounds.

Yes, thanks, I am on you tube now listening through a good system so I can try and judge the sound quality.
Problem is with me , I tend to be taken in by ,if was really expensive when new then it must be amazing and it looks impressive.
Thing is , I really don't understand half of it !
So, I'm sticking to click and play.
I'm too old to learn programming now.
Thanks for putting me straight.

 

[anotherscott]

I'm going to throw a little curve here... If your focus is on simplicity and you don't want to be overwhelmed, you might find even a lower cost model will do what you need. Maybe it won't have the same quality/quantity of sounds, but if the simplicity makes the board more enjoyable... well, an okay sounding board you actually like to use is a whole lot better than a better sounding board that you don't. So, in that spirit, check out this video:

And if you later decide you do want something with the sounds/features of one of those higher priced models after all, these being so inexpensive to begin with, you won't take a huge loss (in absolute dollars) if you choose to trade it in or sell it if and when you're ready to upgrade. But otherwise my concern would be that even the PSR-SX900 and PA1000 won't necessarily be simpler than the Genos you found too complicated, and so you might find those frustrating as well.

Also, besides looking for videos to compare the sounds, you might also want to look for tutorial videos that walk you through the operations, to compare them from that usage perspective, too.

 

[Biggles]

If you like the sounds of the Korg do remember what I wrote in that out if the box the sounds are rich and mellow, turn on the Eq and they become vibrant andcalive.

Hence the reviews are most likely with an out of the box setting.

There are a whole host of webinars available to view and whilst they are produced on the Pa4X the sounds and especially the OS are very similar.

https://www.crowdcast.io/korgworld

These are produced by Korg UK staff.

On the 1st October there is another Webinar at 17:00 BST which is UK Summer time.

 

[joner4567]

Found a psr sx900 bought for 1 k.
It does seem a lot simpler than the Genos ,and less moneys worth lying around.
I had a unused REL quake small powered sub and this puts a better realistic sound in.
One thing I can't work out , how to control the level of the style or rhythm compared to playing the melody.
I can adjust it in EQ settings but as soon as I change to different style it reverts back to so loud that I cannot hear the right hand.
Even turning down sub.
Is there a fixed or master adjustment...

 

[Thomas Karlmann]

One more thought... while I happen to prefer the Korg PA1000 to the Yamaha PSR-SX900 (I think it's simply the more capable board overall), I think the Yamaha probably has the simpler operational interface, at least based on the manual and what I've seen online (I haven't actually gotten my hands on that one). Sonically, I prefer some sounds on one, some on the other, and that will pretty much always be somewhat subjective. There are some youtube videos where you can compare some of the sounds.

If you EVER need to get into Vocals, the sx900 far exceeds the Pa-1000.