Went grocery shopping at BJ's Wholesale Club today and though it was hard to believe, they're already put their Christmas stuff on teh shelves. This included several inexpensive keyboards, both Yamaha and Casio. Sitting there nice and pretty was a brand new Yamaha DGX-505 for $550. This included a custom wooden stand, piano bench, and all the goodies.



The irony of all this the keys, which are the size and weight that Uncle Dave was looking for. Additionally, it has USB and Smart Media card storage capability, 76 keys and lots of other neat features. However, Dave will not like the polyphony, which is just 32 notes. The built in speakers are large, sounded great and after a few minutes of playing, I had a crowd of onlookers standing behind me and asking questions about the board that I could not answer.

Here are the specifications:
Keyboard 88 Lightly weighted, Piano-type Keys (A-1 - C7) with Touch Response
Display Large Backlit bitmapped LCD displays lyrics and score
SmartMedia™ 128MB max. for storing songs and styles (card optional)
Flash Rom 875 KB for storing songs
Pitch Bend Wheel For more realistic playing of brass and string instruments
Yamaha Education Suite IV Timing, Waiting, Minus One, Chord Dictionary, Grading, Repeat & Learn, Your Tempo
Songs 30 + 70 on CD-ROM + 5 user songs. Supported formats:
General MIDI (SMF), XGlite, XF
Performance Assistant: On/Off
Voices Total Number 494
Compatibility General MIDI (GM) & XGlite Compatible
Piano Voice Quality Stereo
Sweet! Voices Flute, Pan Flute, Trumpet, Soprano Sax, Tenor Sax
Cool! Voices Galaxy EP, Suitcase EP, Electric Piano, Organ
Live! Voices Piano, Warm Grand, Orchestra
Dual/Split Yes/Yes
Drum Kits 10 + 2 SFX Kits
Polyphony 32 note max.
Auto Accompaniment Styles 135
Variations Intro, Main A/B, Ending, Fill-in x 2
Control Accompaniment on/off, sync-start, start/stop, intro/ending, main A/B (auto fill)
One Touch Settings 1 per style
Registration Memory 2 x 8 Banks
Digital Effects Reverb: 9 types
Chorus: 4 types
Harmony: 26 types
Sequencer 6-Tracks to record your own songs
5 songs
Interface USB MIDI IN/OUT, USB Song Transfer
Auxiliary Jack Phones, DC in, foot switch
Amplifier 6W + 6W
Speakers 12 cm x 2 + 3 cm x 2
Rated Voltage DC 10 - 12 V
Dimensions
(W x D x H) 54 1/8" x 17" x 6 3/4" (1376 x 431 x 173 mm)
Dimensions
with Stand 54 1/8" x 19 1/8" x 31 2/3" (1376 x 485 x 804 mm)
Weight 29 lbs. 12 oz. (13.5kg)
Weight
with Stand 46 lbs. 5 oz. (21kg)

For someone that cannot afford the PSR-3000 or Tyros, this may be just what Santa Yamaha had in mind.

Gary

[This message has been edited by travlin'easy (edited 09-21-2004).]

I saw one in Sam's Club two months ago and played some for my brother and he said WOW, that sounds GOOD! I thought it sounded pretty good too. I wonder how this compares to my old psr740. I was impressed with the keys.

good keys,good piano +other sound for the price,xg light, some sweet and cool voices,SM media,can play style files,light for 76 keys(305 model) and great price(305 model-around 400$)
good display


-cons

only 2 variations
can't write styles
6 trk sequencer
no pads
no mod wheel

but it's the best bang for the buck.

Does this mean that the keys on the DGX are better (in terms of feel) than those on (for example) the PSR 2000?

The size of the DGX keys is "full" (that's what they mean with "piano-size"), not the smaller keys of the PSR line. In terms of feel I find them pretty similar: very light. Overall, slighly better in the DGX.

-- José.

[This message has been edited by Route 66 (edited 09-22-2004).]

Well this brings up a very interesting point. If Yamaha can put full size keys and all these wonderful features in a $550.00 keyboard, why the heck can't they create an upscale keyboard "Tyros Pro" with this configuration with a modest increase in price?

I just don't get it? ;-(

Al

It's one of the first things I noticed. They CAN do it. My only answer is it's like a car. Once it's tooled up, it's a big deal to change. And they DON'T until they have to. Except that with a keyboard, it seems it wouldn't be THAT big of a deal. I dunno.

I believe that Yamaha has over-extended itself and can no longer provide the level of help that high-end arrangers require. This was all too apparent with the 9000 Pro, where things were promised like voice editors and never delivered, and products like the PLG expansion cards were developed to go with multiple Yamaha keyboards including the 9000 Pro but the documentation never materialized (I wonder if the new PLG150-AP expansion card has any documentation on how to specifically use it with the 9000 Pro - likely not). And watching what Scott Yee is going through with his Tyros makes me more aware of just how easy it is for regional technicians to screw things up (Scott's Tyros USB modification had a diode installed backwards, forcing the instrument to be sent back to Yamaha for repair). Multiply Scott's problem times the number of Tyros users and you get a small taste of what Yamaha has to contend with... and Scott lives near Yamaha's best US reps and technicians - the rest of us would be without our instruments for weeks if something similar happened.

Yamaha suffers from it's own giganticism - I imagine every product it makes being like a giant balloon at a Macy's parade that requires hundreds of handlers to keep it afloat. Obviously Yamaha could make a Tyros Pro from existing technology and parts if they wanted to and there seems to be demand for one - so why hasn't it happened? Methinks it has to be lack of support persons and people who write the technical and owner's manuals. There may be a related high turnover of product managers too. I suspect that a Tyros Pro will come someday but that it'll be after they've got the bugs and technical flaws worked out of the original Tyros, and that hasn't happened yet.

[This message has been edited by The Pro (edited 09-22-2004).]

Not much if any IMHO. I played the DGX 505 at GC. After I noticed the Keys were "less than ideal" I quickly scurried away to another Keyboard. The Piano sound is pretty good though. You do get 88 Keys, BUT if you are a Piano aficionado and like a real Piano Key feel then you will be sadly disappointed with the DGX-505 IMO.

Yamaha plainly states on their web site that the DGX-305 AND the 505 are for beginners (novices and home hobbyists who aren't concerned about the intricacies and advantages of Professional level features in a Keyboard): who want a good (minus good key feel ) starter Keyboard that excels in the Piano sound department and has 88 keys (DGX-505). The DGX-305 has 76 Keys of course.

Best regards,
Mike



[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 09-22-2004).]

Gary,

I thought you were going to tell us that U.D. was growing hair on his head.

Tom