I am looking for reasons to step up from a PSR3000 to a S900. Is there enough there to warrant stepping up? I have three recording devises, so being able to record what I do on the keyboard is not important.

Is there anyone who has gone from a PSR3000 to a S900? What are your thoughts?

John C.

Hi John,

I upgraded from the PSR-3000 to the PSR-S900 a few months ago.

Because I play only instrumental music, the sounds for the melody are very important to me.

The SA voices in the S900 are (to my ears) the very same as the Tyros2, and although there are not as many, I feel that Yamaha picked the best of the lot.

The SA Sax is so nice, I would have bought the S900 just for that one sound.

The S900 has much larger WAV ROM than the 3k and there are more dedicated buttons that were not on the 3k...Harmony/Echo, Touch, Sustain, Mono on and off, DSP Variation.

The S900 also has more styles (305 vs.240) better feeling panel buttons that have a nice non-slip rubbery surface, and an easier to read screen.

Having said all that, if the new right hand voices aren't that important to you...if you are primarily a singer or use SMF a lot, then the differences between the S900 and the PSR-3000 may not be all that substantial.

I'm sure you'll get varying opinions on whether the upgrade is considerable enough...it was for me.

Good luck with your decision.

Ian

[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 09-08-2007).]

Very well put Ian

my reasons would almost be the same

------------------
Thanks,
Mikey

Bruno,

If you do move up, I might want your 3000. I can pay about $650 - $700 max. That's about the going rate on eBay these days.

zuki

John,
not sure if you saw my post on a different thread. I had asked about the condition of your 3000. Didn't it arrive with a "problem" when you sent it to a former purchaser? Or do I have my information mixed up? If I am right, I am glad to hear that I think you are saying it is fine now.
Do you mind sharing the lowdown on what happened to the board problem-wise and repair-wise?
Thank you once again,
Jim

Jim, The PSR3000 played without any problems. I shipped it to Vilo and he could do nothing with it, When he turned it on all he saw was a dull glow in the screen.

I took to a Yamaha repair station and as Gary had said – one of the connections had come loose. It’s OK now, my cost for the repair was $50.

I have sold my KN7000 so the PSR3000 is being used every day, problem solved.

John C.

Zuki, I will accept the $700 for the PSR3000 + shipping. BUT I feel it would be wisdom to hold it just a little longer to see if any other problems show up. I do not anticipate a problem but after what happen to Vilo and I it’s a good idea to be sure.

I could send it out tomorrow, but it would be in your best interest to wait a bit. Zuki, I would hold it for you.

I need you to e-mail me your address and phone number so we can talk,
I have no other way of reaching you besides this forum.

John C.

Hi John,
I'm glad it turned out to be an inexpensive repair for you. $50 is not bad when one thinks of all the things it could have been.
Wish you all the best.
Jim

Fellow Zoners - please, those of you who have been exposed to the PSR-3000 and the S900.... can you add a few comments regarding "worth the upgrade"?

I am considering getting an S900. I have also read the "negative press" and am just wondering if they were flukes or not.

I assume that the key action on the S900 is similar to the key action on the 3000, i.e., smaller keys and no weight. I also am addicted to the Tyros 2 sounds (SA and guitars) and know the sounds w/the S900 would be substantially better. Also, are there new multipads that are unique to the S900?

Thanks to all who can share their expertise and opinions. I also appreciate the posts by those who are using the S900 and are advocates.

Randy

[This message has been edited by saxxman (edited 09-08-2007).]

Hi Randy

Wow, you're thinking the SA voices are going to be better on the S900 than the Tyros 2? I'm wondering where you got that impression.

I haven't had the chance to try out an S900 yet, but, I can't imagine them being better. No question it is a super instrument, but I don't really expect that to be the case.

It'll be interesting to hear what the people have to say that have seen/owned both on that.

How about it, mikey_maestro, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this )

Best
Scott

PS, I'm looking forward to trying one out also.

Randy, the dealer in Mobile is the closest to us as far as I know that carries this stuff. It shows they'll have it in mid-September.

I'll see what it's like first hand. Then I'll get their "very best price" for me, and chuckle inside as they give me MAP price, then leave and if I like it, buy it somewhere else
http://www.andysmusiconline.com/categories/yamaha-portable-keyboards/3.html




[This message has been edited by Scott Langholff (edited 09-09-2007).]

Hi Randy, I 've spent only a little while on the 3000 and that was a couple of years ago. I really can not fairly compare them, But I do own and thoroughly enjoy the S-900. I had read someplace before that there are new and improved multipads in the S900 vs the 3000. I can say the pads are better than on the 2100. I haven't played with the pads much yet but have played and listened to them and like how well they sound and blend into the styles. I want to find out how editable the pads are as far as tweaking the sounds. I've never messed with multipads in that way yet and have no idea what is or isn't possible.
Best of luck to you in your decision.
I'm happy with mine.
Jim

[This message has been edited by OldNewb (edited 09-09-2007).]

[This message has been edited by OldNewb (edited 09-09-2007).]

Do searches on SZ for S900 as there have been quite a few posts about it, also look at the Blackpool Keyboard Festival Report which I did earlier in the year.
Hope this helps

Bill

Thanks Guys. Scott L, yes, I realize the voices will be the same as they are on the Tyros 2 (albeit a subset of them). I meant in my post that the because the voices are the T2 sounds, they will be better than the 3000.

The only thing that has me the slightest bit leary at this point are the reliability discussions. Hopefully, all the "out of the box" bugs have been addressed before shipment now that a few folks have had issues.

By the way Scott L - I made a special trip to a dealer up around the DC area. When I called them, they said they had the S900. When I went in, the S900 was on a bottom rack under some other keyboards. They were demoing some second-hand ARP-like synth and the demo went on way too long (like 30 minutes). I guess it really wasn't a demo, it was some kids in there and the salesman was accomodating their fun. I guess he thought he had the sale locked in. No one even asked me if they could help me. I crawled my way back to the S900 and there was no power cable despite the fact that all the other older/used boards had power cables on them. Even if they had a cable available, I wouldn't have been able to hear anything from all the rocky synth stuff filling the air. So, I just walked out. Goes to show you that (thankfully only in certain stores) when an old fart like me walks in, they just think we're looking at their wallpaper.

Thanks again to all.

Randy

Randy its like that in most music stores nowadays. 30/45 day online return looks more apealing every day.

Donny - you're right. What those people didn't realize is that I was prepared to make a purchase. So maybe they sold their used synth thing for $250. They didn't say a word to me and I was crawling in around their racks for over 30 minutes. What a way to run a business. No wonder the arranger market is so dormant.

Randy

Hi Ian,
thank you for your view on the psr s900.
I've sort of been considering upgrading from my psr1500 which I bought as a stopgap till the s900/s700 was released (or something better came along.)
I don't sing either, so melody voices are very important to me.
Have to try & get to see one next time we make a trip to Sydney.

best wishes
Rikki
[QUOTE]Originally posted by ianmcnll:
[B]

You're very welcome, Rikki...glad to help.

Ian

Ian and Jim - Ditto Rikki's comments. Thanks to you guys too for your inputs on this. I have read your posts with interest and am glad we have guys like you on the SZ who can give us the pros and the cons of the new boards.

I have a Tyros 2 and a PSR-3000. My PSR-3000 has been in its case for months. I took it out today and checked it out, and immediately noticed I missed my SA voices and the cool guitars. It (3K) is a terrific board too. But I've spent a lot of time tweaking registrations on my T2 and it would be a big advantage to be able to just take a thumb drive and transport all my T2 registrations and song settings to the S900. So I am teetering on the edge of S900 migration (for the PSR-3000).

Thanks again to John C. for initiating this post. And also thanks very much to all the folks on here who are so willing to share and comment and help those of us who need advice to make more informed decisions.

Randy


[This message has been edited by saxxman (edited 09-09-2007).]