Hi, I'm Roy, (MagicRoy) and I am new to this forum. I am in search for a new arranger keyboard and was looking at the VA-7, VA-76, PSR 9000, and PSR 9000 pro. Which do you prefer, and why? Please e-mail your responses to RoyHolidayMagic@aol.com with subject: "keyboard." Thank you very much, and have a magical day.

-MagicRoy

Try the VA7 or the VA76 when you are a talen-
ted player.

I have played the 9000 a good bit in the past, and I own the Korg PA80 presently. I could easily recommend either of these boards. Both have excellent sounds and features. In general I prefer the Korg styles over the 9000's ( more natural sounding to me ) , but for live work sometimes the PA80 styles are a bit "busy" and I have to turn off some of the instruments so that I can play "my part " without too much clutter. One other advantage of the 9000 is 4 fills per styles ( vs 2 for PA80 ).

I think that both the 9000 and PA80 are excellent arranger boards. It comes down to preferences, and each has areas that they are stronger in. For myself, I could be just as happy with a 9000 as I am with the PA80, other than the weight ( 9000 is a heavy board ). There is a ton of support for both of them available on the net ( mainly user generated.

I don't have any experience with the Roland VA series arrangers, so I cannot give a lot of help there. I did not like the previous generation of Roland arrangers ( G1000 or EM2000 ) because I felt the OS was extremely clunky and difficult to navigate ) The other strike against Roland for me is the lack of a vocal harmonizer. I also don't believe that there is the online user support for these boards comparable to what is available for the 9000 ( or the PA80 ) .



[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 08-05-2002).]

I never said I was not a talented player. I am a pianist.

-MagicRoy

Roland does not have microphone processing or a vocal harmonizer, so if you are a vocalist you should investigate Yamaha, Ketron or Korg.
DonM

I was under the impression that the Roland did have a vocal harmonizer. I had heard that the Kork arrangers were very complex and hard to use...any comments on that? Also, which keyboard offers more STYLES per TYPE OF RYTHM. For example, if I play 6 songs with a Meditteranean rythm, I don't want it to sound like it's the same music with a different melody...Do any of them offer more than one style per type of rythm?

Thank you once again,
-MagicRoy

Most of them have several styles per type of music. Yamaha styles are more basic, and as such are quite useful if you play pretty well, and can do your own riffs and fills. Ketron and Korg styles are generally fuller and more, well, stylized. If you use the same Ketron or Korg style several times it does become recognizable as a style.
Yamaha has the largest variety and number of fill-ins, intros, endings and breaks. They allow the user to customize on-the-fly as you play a song. Korg has only 2 fill-ins per style and they are not very well-done as a rule. The Korg Break is next to useless.
However, the Korg styles are generally longer, running 4-16 measures and have more variety built in than Yamaha.
Ketron is sort of a really good mix, with considerable fill-in and intro-ending options, but also with full, intricate styles.
The Korg vocal harmonizer works only in Vocoder mode, and does not work in Chordal Mode, the one that many of use.
Technics, at least up through the KN6500, has a microphone input, but it is really bad.
Yamaha has the best mic processing, DSPs and vocal harmony, IMO.
I feel Yamaha's operating system is easiest to learn and use, and Technics ranks right there with it. There will be a rather steep learning curve with Ketron or Korg.
These opinions are worth what you are paying for them, but they are the result of pretty extensive use of all the models mentioned.
DonM

Magic Roy,

No offense to VA76 owners (or PSR2000 owners either)....just my opinion.

I finally was able to lay hands on a VA76 today. For a year or so I've been raggin' on my local dealers to get one to see if I'd like it.

While I will not profess to having give an every nooks and cranies look see......IMO....the only board I was more disappointed in was the PSR2000.

I found very little to like about the 76 with the exception of the touch screen was cool and it had some backup singing voices that were pretty good. I have a Roland XV 3080 and generally like both their products and sounds/voices......but not on this board I didn't. The pianos I thought very cheesie and canned sounding. I thought the vast majority of the rest of the voices were mediocre at best.

I did not find it particularly intuitive, I saw 1 fill, intro and ending and a variation button, that allowed to vary it some. There was not a sync start in view, so I had to push the start stop button to get it going.

The styles were ok, but nothing to write home about. The D beam controller I found gimmickie.

Touch was pretty good, screen was ok, overall though....
on a 1-10 scale, for me I would give this one a 4-5.....they can sell the one they were reserving for me.

I've had a 9000 and now have a PA 80, which I found both far superior to the VA76 in every way to suit me. And I am hoping to love the Tyros when it comes out
jam on,
Terry

Roy,
If you are a piano player and want to enjoy playing on a 88 key weighted keyboard, I would recommend the Roland KF90. And Don, this model has a vocal harmonizer built in and it works great. This is like a best of the VA7 and VA76 but much easier to use and with built in speakers and still only 52 lbs. You get a great arranger, great piano, great sequencer and all the other goodies including a vocal harmonizer. It sells for $3195.00 and comes with a wooden stand, wooden bench and the best thing.....a video instuction manual recorded here in the US by a really easy to follow roland product specialist.
My next recomendations would be the VA76 or 9000pro because at least these have 76 keys, but don't feel like a piano.
One other one to suggest would be the Korg SP500 which is first a great piano and next an arranger keyboard for around $1500.00.
I sell all of the models you are interested in if you have any questions or needs!
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566

George,
What....no toll free # ? :-) How can I call and bother you if it's long distance?
Terry

MagicRoy!
Good luck in your search?

How much were you willing to spend?

Are you gonna play at home or gig every night in a different place?

I agree that either psr9000, 9000 pro or pa-80 are all good keyboards with alot of Support on the WEB!

I am a psr9000 owner and since the psr9000 is a few years old ... you can probably get a very good deal on one ... if you Look!

If you have 3,000-4,000 dollars maybe wait and buy a Tyro's.

In the 2,500 dollar Range 9000PRO without built in speakers.

In 1,800-2,000 dollar Range PA-80 or PRS9000.

Why I recommend the PSR9000 is because it use to cost 3,000-4,000 just 2 years ago but is 1/2 price now... and is a VERY Good board and has very STRONG Speakers ... but the down side is the weight at 50lbs ... but if you use it at home or only gig once or twice a week ... I think good choice.

I picked my psr9000 up for 1,699(floor model).

I sent Yamaha a letter requesting a brochure for the new Tyro. BTW: What is the difference (besides speakers and # of keys) between the PSR9000 and the pro? (I think I'm gonna buy one of those not the Roland...if you object, let me know).

---This keyboard will be used for a few things:

-Backup for my guitar playing / singing
-piano playing
-composing music
-Music for my magic act. If I compose my own backup music for my magic acts, I don't have to pay royalty fees when I perform.

Thanks a lot,
-MagicRoy

in that case!

PSR9000! No question about it!

Put in hard drive and and the 64megs of sampling memory for it!

You can then do magic effects and vocal harmony effects... and you are not transporting it everyday to a different place! You will LOVE IT! Man! doing music for Magic! COOL !

The 9000 pro like I said before doesn't have speakers-build in... and it's so nice just to turn it on and HEAR what you are doing! And SAVE BIG Bucks too!


[This message has been edited by rgtaa (edited 08-06-2002).]

Magic Roy,
The 9000 pro is still a current model and the PSR9000 has been discontinued (Tyros is the replacement). The keyboard on the 9000 pro feels so much better. It is using the Yamaha Motif 7's keyboard which yamaha calls "synth weighted" and is much more pro feeling than the PSR9000. If you like great piano's you can install the piano expansion board besides the great piano inside the 9000pro. The other major thing is the difference in weight of the two products. The 61 key model PSR900 weighs 22.5kg and the 76 key 9000 pro weighs 20.5 kg. If you need seakers, the Yamaha YSTMS50's at $99.00 and 80 watts of power make a great small pa system compared to the built in 56 watt system with no sub woofer as the YST system has. the 9000 pro has 342 original voices compared to the PSR900's 331 original voices which include new sampled pianos, flutes, and other "sweet voices" not all found in the PSR9000.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566

here is a review of the 9000 pro: http://www.svpworld.com/9000proreview.htm

and a review of the psr9000 : http://www.svpworld.com/9000review.htm

The owner of that website visits here (and owns a psr9000 himself) and also just posted George's excellent article on the Tyro's! there! http://www.svpworld.com/tyrosreview.htm

MagicRoy, there is a Yamaha PSR listed for sale in our buy sale forum here in the synthzone right now, located in New Jersey.It is dirt cheap
Bebop

I hear that Korg has a lot of techno-pop styles...I'm looking more for Broadway styles. Should I wait for the Tyros?

My opinion about broadway styles is that Technics has always had great styles .

Maybe look at a KN7000 ? dano

MagicRoy,
I know of a few magicians who also compose their own music for background. I saw one perform who also sold CDs of his music to other magicians at a conference.
There is a wealth of knowledge at this site.
Welcome.
- Brian
(IBM, SAM)

I am aware of these CDs. However, I would like to create my own high and low points to fit my act. BTW: Are you Brian Dean from magictalk?

MagicRoy,
No. I'm Brian Nadworny. I do know quite a few Brian's though who are magicians.

I understand your reasoning behind making your own music. One of the reasons I have mine as well. We all have different styles of performing as well as different music that works for us. Not everyone performs well to Peter Gabriel background . (Most of David C.'s when he is on TV).

I just got the PSR2000 and am quite pleased with it for my needs and price range. Good luck shopping for your system. The postings here are well worth looking into and use the search function for finding out about the features you want.

Like I said, there is a lot of good information here.

Take care,

- Brian