Hey Donny,

As I { we } mentioned above , you are so right that "you really should play one first"

Like I said , my friend , I would really like to.

The Pa800 / E-80 , I have tried the Tyros and S900 , so I know those KB`s.

It`s the Korg and Roland , that have so far eluded me .

Thanks for your thoughts !!

Later,
Gary

Its funny how people see things diferently. The pianos are the best feature of the E80 but that Jazzhoove reviewer thought it was too muddy ! Also he said that the keyboard had too many funk styles .....Are youi kidding me ???? That was the thing that made the E80 jump out at me and caused me to salivate. This is not an oompah ooompah arranger keyboard. It had some sizzling contemporary styles on it. If you like stevie wonder, earth wind and fire, luther vandross etc then you will wet yourself with this instrument!

The reiewer failed to mention the virtual lack of sound editing features on the E80 although he did mention some of the limitations of the sequencer.

What exactly are you looking for Jedi ? Maybe i have missed it.

How would you like to use your instrument ?

Do you write your own material, play midi files, are you into the editing and sound shaping aspects ? Would you like to explore sampling and creating loops and styles. It really will help point you in the right direction.

Hi Spalding,

Thank you for your interest and help !!

Mostly I enjoy playing ! I like some of the old stuff , like Pink Floyd / Supertramp / Alan Parsons / Steely Dan / Yes / Procol Harem , stuff like that.

I cut my teeth on and old Hammond about 40 years ago and have been playing Hammond organs off and on ever since, and I also have played guitar ( blues ~ classical ).

I would also like to be able to rearrange styles as well as compose.

Computer sequencing , a little , but would be buying at some point a good notation software program.

The Roland , has got my eye because of the guitar parts it can do , and I also like the piano very much , although my playing needs much work , compared to my organ style of playing.

Whiter Shade of Pale , is a classic that I really enjoy doing on a good organ , where as a song like Rudy ( Supertramp ) , I enjoy playing on a piano.

So as you can see , my interest are not solely with one thing , if they were a synth might be the way to go.

The other really huge factor for me is quality , for some reason , if the board is bad , my playing lacks all it could be ( my bad , I should be able to over come that ).

Well , thats about it , I have played Roland pianos ( I know an E-80 is not going to have the same action as a piano with weighted hammer action keys) , but where I have played organ way more than piano , I really think a good synth action for me is the best way to go. ( I must admit , I really liked a Roland electric piano I played at my local GS , forgot what model , but the keys were so balanced , they were just about perfect ! )

Also I liked very much the synth action of the Tyros

Thanks again for your help , and that is the rest of the story !!

Take care,
Gary

Hi Guys - in response to Scott's questions, I upgraded to the S900 from the 3000 because I was only really keeping the 3000 as a backup for the T2. I am gigging w/the T2 (backing up a singer) and I also use it on my solo sax gigs to break from the horn playing.

I thought about the scenario if my T2 went south and all the hassles I'd have trying to get the songs I am doing, registrations, and settings working on the 3000. It would be a lot of work and many of the sounds I like were missing. And when I heard the sounds on the S900, I realized the S900 would be a great backup board. For what I got for my 3K, I only had to add a couple hundred to replace it w/the S900.

So, for me, the motivation was not that I didn't care for the 3000, it was more that I am addicted to the T2 voices. Having said that, since the S900 has a subset of the T2 SA voices, there was some adjustment needed. However, for what I really wanted (guitars vice the sax since I am playing sax on gigs), the S900 has a great array of SA guitars. The other motivation was the T2's lack of speakers. I have played the S900 on a couple gigs (even outside under a covered deck) with no amplification other than the on-board speakers, and it worked great.

As I said in another post, the biggest surprise I got was when I plugged in my USB stick (which worked fine w/the T2). The S900 couldn't initially read the styles I had on the USB because I had them in 2 directories (A-M and N-Z). There were apparently too many, so I refiled them in smaller directories and all is well again.

From the standpoint of the SA sounds, I can't tell the difference between the T2 and the S900. Of the SA voices, I am using mostly guitars and they sound terrific on both.

Randy

Hi Randy

That's a great report on the S900 from an excellent musician. I am wanting to give it a test also.

How about the non-SA voices that are the same as the 3000 and T2. How would you rate that aspect. Just curious, I know we all hear a little differently, but I'd be curious to get your input on it.

Interesting the built in speakers are good enough to play a gig on. Every once in a while, I think about onboard speakers, and how important they might be. Occasionally I'll get in a place where the acoustics make it kind of difficult to hear what I'm really doing. This was especially so when playing with a 10 piece, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy type band recently.

Who's the singer? I may know him/her?

Just happened to remember hearing you play sax at the Seville. So very nice and tastey. Sorry I missed you the last time but Joe Occhipinti had me booked that night.

Scott

Hi Jedi. This is just a quick post and i may give a more detailed one later.

All of the top end arrangers facilitate modifying and creating your own styles so that doesnt help narrow your choice down. The kinds of styles of music that you have mentioned should be pretty much avaiolable as arranger styles on all the top end arrangers again.

However there are some things that jumped out at me.

You dont seem to do much sequencing onboard the instrument and you seem to do your song creation using a computer so a fully fledged onboard sequencer is overkill for you.

You say that you are an organist at heart and so i guess credible organ sounds are going to be fairly important to you ?

Now once again all the top end arrangers have decent organ sounds but there are some that give you live realtime performance control that others do not.

Can i point you back to the Roland E80 as although the internal speakers still have yet to prove themselves (at least to me) if that can be overcome the organs are exceelent and the keyboard has physical sliders on it which gives you real time control over the drawbars of your organ sounds.The Pa800 has some very good organs which can be modified by the touch screen but i doubt very much if this is going to be useful in a live play setting. Also the PA1X has this feature.

The Roland also has an excellent piano whcih has to be heard through headphones or external amplification for you to appreciate the quality of it.

Now the features i have emphasised are based upon my experience of the instruments i have played. If live playing and control/flexibility in live play is important to you then this will help narrow your choices down.

Hi Jedi. This is just a quick post and i may give a more detailed one later.

All of the top end arrangers facilitate modifying and creating your own styles so that doesnt help narrow your choice down. The kinds of styles of music that you have mentioned should be pretty much avaiolable as arranger styles on all the top end arrangers again.

However there are some things that jumped out at me.

You dont seem to do much sequencing onboard the instrument and you seem to do your song creation using a computer so a fully fledged onboard sequencer is overkill for you.

You say that you are an organist at heart and so i guess credible organ sounds are going to be fairly important to you ?

Now once again all the top end arrangers have decent organ sounds but there are some that give you live realtime performance control that others do not.

Can i point you back to the Roland E80 as although the internal speakers still have yet to prove themselves (at least to me) if that can be overcome the organs are exceelent and the keyboard has physical sliders on it which gives you real time control over the drawbars of your organ sounds.The Pa800 has some very good organs which can be modified by the touch screen but i doubt very much if this is going to be useful in a live play setting. Also the PA1X has this feature.

The Roland also has an excellent piano whcih has to be heard through headphones or external amplification for you to appreciate the quality of it.

Now the features i have emphasised are based upon my experience of the instruments i have played. If live playing and control/flexibility in live play is important to you then this will help narrow your choices down.

Hi Scott,
I got to see the Pa800 at Sam Ash, it’s a good keyboard, It’s a good keyboard.

My reasons for buying the S900 is:
1-The price – the Pa800 is not their flagship model and it almost twice the price, just a little less then some of the top models. it is smallest price I have paid for a keyboard in years.

2-Staying with Yamaha meant that I did not have to go through another learning curve. It also meant I could carry most of my information over to the S900.

3-Yamaha has never failed me and they have so much available from styles to tech help.

4-Now that I have it and I have played and recorded on it I am well pleased. When I did A/B with the Tyros2 and the Psr3k, there was a noticeable difference. The S900 has closed the gap substantially. It has speakers –good ones—I can record and play or sing against my own voice. It records audio on to a memory stick. (USB) (Take it with you.)

It is not another KN2600, I know you were not pleased with that one.

Hey, go buy one, at a great price, if it follows the 3K, you’ll get most of you investment back. Scott I bought the S900 as a step up to a future Tyros3 or whatever comes out with to replace the T2, I am now not to sure that I will not be staying with the S900. It’s a great keyboard, It’s like a friend, it has speakers, no fussing to hook it up, I can hear myself well and it’s light and it is small. Amen!

John C.

Scott - I agree totally w/John. I don't notice any difference between the T2 and S900 voices. The speakers are a great feature. Here's another reason I moved up:

I also have an old Roland U-20. I bought several voice cards (strings, pianos, and guitars) for the U-20 and they all cost over $100. So I looked at it this way: If the 3000 was a workstation and I had the opportunity to upgrade the voices for a couple hundred bucks, it would have been worth it. With the S900 I also added speakers and dropped some weight (over the T2) in the proposition.

My plan is to eventually use the S900 for the majority of my gigs. Just haven't gotten all the registrations organized yet to do that.

Have a great weekend y'all!
Randy