I must be one of those novices that like to piddle about at home that Mike talks about.
I only started on piano as recently as 1932 and have been playing for money since 1940 or thereabouts, so what do I know? Although, as I said previously I bought the DGX 505 as a practice instrument to save setting Tyros up between gigs I would also be quite happy to use it "on the job" if circumstances made it necessary.
I know that it does not have a true piano keyboard touch BUT that suits me fine.
It is similar enough to the Tyros not to confuse my poor old fingers and even poorer old brain. I have played it through both of the amp set-ups that I use through the headphone socket and it does not sound a lot different to Tyros. Certainly the public would not notice it. True it does not have many of the features of Tyros but what the hell do you expect for 400 quid. (Pounds, for non-Brits).

I am sure Rikki that when you get yours you will be as happy as I am.

All the best...Trevor

Hi Scott,
the clavinova definitely has inputs, I've been running my laptop & software through it.

I've actually got a pair of Tannoy speakers which I used to run through a Harmon Kardon amp. I may have to get a new amp as I don't think I'll be able to part my son from it ( haahaa) We'll be moving soon to our holiday house up the coast, and I'll finally have a music room where I can set everything up including my stereo.

Hubby is improving gradually, which is a real releif. (Thank you for asking) Now all I have to do is help him find a hobby, so that I can get on with mine ( haahaa)

best wishes
Rikki

Thanks Trevor,
actually it will be intersting to compare the sounds between it and my Clavinova (clp170) The Clav's got the full 480 xg sounds plus some beautiful piano's, strings etc
whereas the dgx has 361 xg lite voices
plus 121 normal voices
plus some cool , sweet & live voices

I'm hoping the xg sets in both instruments sound reasonably similar which would be a bit of a bonus in my style editing endevours ( I know I can't edit styles in the dgx , but I do edit styles via OMB arranger software).

Anyway , hopefully it's only going to be a few more days till I get it.

best wishes
Rikki

Rikki,
I'm just being nosey. If your clavinova has XG and inputs, why are you trying to go the software route to play the XG voices? Why not MIDI up OMB/computer with your Clavinova? You wouldn't have to tweak the drums, or the styles at all. It would play correctly, right out of the box.
I would expect XG light on the DG305 to be similar to the Clavinova.
Starkeeper

Hi Starkeeper,
a lot of of the psr styles play reasonably well with the clavinova xg voices
(they need a bit of tweaking here & there )and I do use omb with the clav's xg voices.

The softsynth etc is basically a long term project for me.
I have a bad habit of regularly changing keyboards ( which I'm hoping to stop).
I figured if I do end up tempted again, I'll still have the softsynth & omb software. So any work I've put into the system, won't go totally to waste.

best wishes
Rikki



[QUOTE]Originally posted by Starkeeper:
[B]Rikki,

Just got a DGX-305. I bought it because I need an arranger to use on gigs, and I didn't want anything expensive that I had to guard with my life. After playing around with this thing I came to one conclusion. This thing is awsome!!! It costs nothing, and sounds great! The onboard speakers, are to weak to show the true potensial of the voices in this machine. I hooked it up to my PA system, and man it rocked! The SMF arranging feature is great! It's real easy to use, and it is a lot of instrument for it's price. Only two things that disappoints me. I wished that you could load more than one style at a time from the SmartMedia card. Or that you could play the styles directly from the card. Because in a live situation loading styles to memory takes to long. And I wished it had a "Drum & Bass" setting, so that you could switch off the "fluff" in the comp if needed. Other that that it's awsome!

Doc-Z

Doc,
I also have a DGX-305 which I think is a great value for the money too. I put a 64 meg SmartMedia card in it which I got for next to nothing on e-bay. It is just my home keyboard.
As you say, it seems you can only have one user style which is disappointing. You can have 900+ midi files loaded. I am not happy with the two main Grand Live! and Warm Grand Live! piano voices. They sound great in the middle registars but the upper scales sound "thin"(I don't know if that's the word) and dull to me. Luckily, the third voice which is the regular Grand voice sounds great to me in all octaves and that's what I usually use. I find that I need to have the panel-sustain on most of the time or the sound decays too fast for me. I use a pedal sustain as well sometimes. The keyboard action is more like a piano then the keyboard I was used to. All in all, I like it.
Chuck

Quote

"Plus GEM skyrocketed their prices if you've noticed. The Genesys PRO (61 Key) is listed on GEM's web site factory direct for $5,199.99"

GEM also sells to distributors and I would guess it's their policy not to undercut their distributor prices

Quote

"Maybe that's why GEM personnel seem to be taking a back seat to posting here on the SZ anymore. They're either too embarrassed at what their Employer is charging for their Keyboards or they're sniffing out other Forums to see if members there have 'muchos de dinero', i.e. "deep, and I mean deeeeeepppppp - pockets". "

I have had a total of 3 Gem products and have gotten teriffic suport. I can assure you there are some decent prices out there. I think so much Buzz is going on about the Tyros 2 VS Korg Roland Etc that a lot of posting will not get much air time -Just a guess.

Quote

" I do like the concept of their Instrument Of Praise Keyboard though. But at $3,199.95 they should throw in the kitchen sink if it's not already in there. And it doesn't help matters when you want to check it out and the links are broken. Arrrgh!!!! "

The broken links are a NO No, This they should be bugged about and I will do just that .

I will also tell you I got good deal on my Gensys XP and I bought it fom a GEM distributor. All else being equal my experience has been a very high build quality in their products - So Far anyway.

I've had Yamaha PSR2000, Kurzweil K2600s, Technics KN7000 for comparison.

Jerry

I am new to MIDI.
How do I import new styles from a SmartMedia card into my Yamaha DGX 505?

Where can I obtain sample style files to try it out?

MikeR

Hi

I dont know how to import styles from SmartMedia cards; but I know where to find styles!

Try the sites listed at http://www.jososoft.dk/yamaha/stylesites.htm

Regards
Jørgen

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