Hi Dimitris,

I must agree with the ethnic music thing...where I live, Celtic music is very popular, and it is one type of music I will not play very often...I'm more into pop, latin, jazz and even country.

My e-mail is in my profile...contact me and I will send you a few MP3's made on the S900 using the Audio to USB, and recorded "live" with no overdubs.

Mind you, I do only instrumental music...perhaps someone else that uses an S900 can send you somnething with vocals.

Ian

Most people that sing THROUGH the arranger will tell you the Yamaha's harmonizer is WAY inferior to the Korg's.

Just in case you were considering using it on ANY music...

And worrying about whether a built in mp3 recorder is any good or not is kind of moot in these days of SD card pocket audio recorders at under $200 that can record at 24bit 96kHz if you want it. AND offer lots of other possibilities (got to have the arranger with you if you want to record ANYTHING, throw the pocket recorder in your pocket to use it anywhere!). If you want to make a decent CD, HAVING to record in MP3 format first is already one strike against it... JMO.

I think something I said originally got lost, along the way. "ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL" the arranger that allows you to play your ethnic music better AS WELL as cover the other bases might be the choice to look at. The new Korg's are very well respected here, and may, even for the main kind of music you play, work out just as well as a Yamaha. Add in the fact that they CAN play the ethnic music, and the Yamaha's can't (or do it poorly, at least) and the equation might look differently.

Just a thought...

I guess, though, my main advice always stands... Don't listen to us HERE. Go listen to the arrangers THERE... Make your OWN mind up!

I may be wrong, but I believe the PA500 doesn't even have a vocal harmonizer. The S900 has one and it is usable, but not as good as the ones in the high-end Korg, Roland and Ketron.
DonM

The PSR-S900's Audio to USB records in WAV...perfect for CD...you can easily convert to MP3 if that's the format you want.

Making a CD is a no muss, no fuss operation.

Ian

Actually, the PSR-S700 is probably the best for ethnic styles, voices, etc.., far superior to most other manufacturers. And, if you're looking for third-party, ethnic styles, well, Yamaha beats them all in that category. Korg has some neat stuff, as well as some neat sounds, but it is quite limited.

Not just JMO,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

The PA500 does not have a harmonizer, or even a mic input for that matter.

Yep, my mistake... I forgot he wasn't talking about the PA800.

That right about the S900 recorder, Ian...? Wow! All anyone has talked about so far (AFAIK) was the MP3 recording. I didn't know it did .wav. Once again, mea culpa (seems like today is my day for dumb posts ).

Mind you, I still stand by the fact that an SD recorder (H2, Edirol, etc.) is FAR more useful, simply because it means you can record ANYTHING, not just your arranger...

And sorry, guys, but as Ian always points out, sales numbers are the final arbiter. Korg outsells all other arrangers in the middle eastern market. Guess that makes it the best...

Maybe you are right DIki. A korg pa-500 and a digital recorder are still quite cheaper than psr s-900 in Greece. Also the market at pro arrangers here is 60% Korg , 30% Roland, and 10% Yamaha. From the other hand I prefer making things that sound a bit different. I make funny songs that are quite popular at internet and many people will hear them.
Yamaha is also expensive here. psr s-900 costs 1600-1700 Euro , and korg pa-500 1050 Euro! !
I have heard samples by s-900 like Ian's arrangments too that I doubt Korg can create. Also Yamaha is very reliable. I use Yamaha 15 years since I was 13 and both keybords still work perfect. I don't trust Korg that much and I also don't trust touch screens!!
They will get me the s-900 next week to test it, cause I live in an island. And then I think must follow my heart!

How can that be?

Ian keeps telling us Yamaha don't make ANY pro arranger keyboards

Anyone that lives on a Greek island has already followed his heart! Where are you based? That is one of the most beautiful areas in the world, IMO...

BTW, other than direct sunlight (which will screw with ANY type of display), the touch screen on my G70 has been bomb-proof and utterly reliable. Things have improved enormously since the Triton days. I haven't heard anything bad about the Korg screen, so I would imagine that is one less worry....

But good for you for listening first... It's always the best way to be SURE.

(how about a link to one of your funny songs?)