Yesterday we took our after breakfast little weekly road trip to a few Music stores & made our rounds looking & demoing different gear out of what they had available on the floor. Surprisingly both of these store had a T2/S900/S700/S500, so I had a chance to sit down & check out the S900....I had previously just glanced at one a few weeks ago in another store also.

Pros: Nice sleeker design compared to the 3k better lines dimensions etc,...Nice color screen I had no problem seeing the display at all with adjustment on deck also nice change form the rear. Buttons that were removed on the 3k are now back on the deck which are very useful for live play without going into the page menus...Harmony/Voc/ to name a few, some buttons are smaller & rubberized for a tackier feel. Nice navigational layout I found myself (being an old Yamaha arranger guy) to easily get around the S900 with no problem.....I loaded the MY USB Thumb Drive with my Registrations & User styles with no problems and was off to making music.Right off the bat I noticed the sound was better distinguished then the 3k, my Reg assignments worked flawlessly, volume levels on styles parts all responded well, no spiking or undertone modulations to adjust just nice well balanced sound emitting clear thru the on-board speakers. SA voices as I remember them on my T2 also sounded outstanding, including Sax breath, Guitar slides, Trumpet shakes, etc they are nice to have on board if you utilize them the right way while playing. Jumping around & navigating on the KB while playing was a cinch very 3kish in that sense but it stops there as the S900 certainly is Sonically & Polyphonically better in many respects then its older arranger brother models. Tight, polished, & crisp. Weight is excellent light and easy to carry. I had no time to try a recording on the USB.

Cons: USB socket is badly positions in the middle of the rear deck which can be blocked when using certain keyboard stands like my APEX, or any center pole stand, etc, etc. This should of been put in the front or dual front & back. Key feel is light like the 3k which I dont mind, but should of been made more sturdy...there was a S700 right above the S900 and there was a CHIP out of the bottom of one of the keys & a small crack on another....this is definitly something for Yamaha to look into, & beefing up with better construction on future models. Flash Rom needs to be doubled to accommodate more user data.


All in all for the money it is definitely a Best Bang for the Buck contender!

Maybe you should get one.

But then for the next six months, we'd have to listen to what a piece of cr*p the PA800 was.

chas

Foreplay.

I'd sure hope not

zuki

Yes, so true.

How are you liking the PA-800 so far, Zuki...you did get Donny's, didn't you?

Ian the Inquisitive

OOOh, the truth come out! I didn't say anything.

Cassp...we must not interpret Zuki's silence on this matter too strongly or literally.

But, it is rather revealing.

I am currently gigging with an S900 and will continue to do so I just ordered a Yamaha bag this morning

I've never had my hands on an 800

zuki

Ian besides being a busybody .....what else do you do for a living?