OK UD, lets hear it - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. I'm growing weary reading all this speculative BS from old guys who want someone else to compensate for their age-related eyesight failure.

Has anyone noticed that the folks that seem to be doing the most whining about the S950 are the people who are NOT going to buy the keyboard - even it it had those features. DNJ always moaned about the silver color, saying ALL PRO KEYBOARDS should be black - then he bought a blue one. When Yamaha came out with the big, lighted buttons on the Tyros series, there were people that said they were too gaudy. Prior to that the same people complained the buttons were too small and needed to be lit with brighter lights - duh!

Hell, I'm living aboard my boat until mid April, and down in the sub-tropics where the humidity was so high last night there was water dripping from the tent-roof of the Tiki Bar where I performed. All my gear was damp from settling dew. I want Yamaha, Bose, TC Helicon, Acer, Quick-Loc and all my mic manufacturers to make their equipment hermetically sealed and nitrogen filled to prevent condensation. It should probably float too, so I can safely transport it on my inflatable dinghy. Oh, I also want a lifetime warranty that covers everything including beating on the keys with a ball-pean hammer - yeah, that's what we need - factory to grave coverage.

C'mon UD - we're waiting with baited breath for the report.

Gary

Gary, I think by the time Dave manages to work his way through these varied posts, he may be too tired to say much.

Do you know if the Nano 300 is stereo? It doesn't appear to be.

Ian

From the specs, it doesn't appear to be stereo unless you purchase an add on device and separate the satellite speakers. It sells for about $700 plus tax, which is not that much less than the Bose L1 Compact. And, Bose dealers have knocked $100 off the compact for a special sale, which makes them $899 plus tax. I'll stick with the Bose

Gary

Yes, Virginia - the nano IS stereo ... with no add-ons. The speaker poles are sold separately though. If you hook it up directly to the base unit, it will be mono.

Wow - THREE pages of responses to a review I haven't even GIVEN yet! That's too funny.

Thanx for waiting - I slept in ... not sure if the new setup had much to do with anything, but last night was one of my BEST ALL TIME (ok, I'll say it just this once ...) GIGS.
The crowd was attentive, I was on my game, the owner was in a particularly great mood, my dinner was fantastic ... what a great night, and the best part - I got to play ALL my favorite Christmas tunes in my jazzy, swing styles. I LOVE this time of year for music.

Before I tell you about the system - there was a Casio rep dining with us last night and he was impressed. I mentioned a few things that I thought Casio should be aware of for their R&D dept, and he seemed grateful for an "in the trenches" opinion. Namely, the Privia series sounds great, but develops very loud mechanical key-strike noise after a while ... I told him of a fix I found on You Tube and he seemed interested. Let's see if they address it. It was a fast and easy fix with just a simple addition of a piece of cloth under the keybed.

OK - on to the matters at hand:
First - the HK does sound very nice. It's smooth and balanced, and the separate control of the woofer volume is a very important and useful feature. The tone control is not as effective as I'd like, but it IS a subtle kind of "loudness" contour. The overall reaction from the room was favorable, but I noticed more presence from my Bose compact. The Nano is lovely in the sweet spot, but the pole mounted drivers do not cover the room as well as the Bose. Nothing ever does, but in a small setting ... you can get a very nice sound that works as well as larger systems, but in a much more compact package.

There's plenty of bass response, and the stereo separation was nice, although as I've said before - the majority of the room does not get the same benefit as I do from the seat in the center. The owner even commented that in front of me was a better sound than in other parts of the room The Bose always had the same coverage no matter where you sit.
The s950 gave me plenty of style-inspired motivation to create my Christmas mood, and I found myself going back early from breaks because I couldn't wait to play. I had a really, fun night. I love the 2 audio swing styles. I used them alot.

I have a few larger parties this week and I'm going to bring both the Nano and the Bose. I'll set that sweet spot close to my keys and put the Bose in a position to compliment the rest of the room coverage. It may be overkill, but I'm anxious to see how they work together.

One small issue with the speaker poles - the one that goes right into the bass unit tends to rotate with vibration, so the angle of attack changes - I'll try to wrap tape or something on the bottom of the pole to make a tighter fit, but it's not good if the angle changes mid-show. Anyone else have this issue?

I'm sure I'll think of more to post, but I have a house full of decorating to finish and I need to get to that. Overall, I'd give the Nano a Solid B+ and as of right now, it ranks a close second to my Bose for overall coverage and sound. I need to give it more tests to see if my option changes, but like I've said before - it would have to be amazing to make me stray from the Bose coverage and vocal ease of monitoring. The sound is very pleasant, but it IS directional. In a small setting, in the right placement - It's a great system for most scenarios.

What a nice feeling tho have to choose between two very cool systems to use. I am blessed with great gear, and great friends and family. Merry Christmas to all, and peace to those who celebrate a holiday in their own way.

This add-on device to make the Nano stereo, Gary...is it expensive?

Ian

Ian,
The unit has a mono/stereo switch, but if you connect the tops to the bottom in the cradle, you'll be in mono. To get stereo, you need to separate the satellites and use speaker wires. The speaker pole kit has the wires included and they all fit in a carry bag. The poles sell for $130

Thanks Dave...I'll be looking forward to more of your observations on comparing both systems.

I used the Bose Compacts in stereo, and also the L1 bigger system (also in stereo) and I was very impressed, to say the least.

I often have clients wondering what lightweight and portable sound systems are available.

Ian

In the GC writeups they talked about a kit, which I guess is the speaker pole kit, which they do not sell. That, apparently, was the add-on.

Dave, I want to hear more about the S950, all the good, bad, ugly, etc...

Cheers,

Gary

Gary,
The good and bad are pretty much what we already know about Yamaha, as for the ugly - that's gonna be tough. It's pretty now that it's black, and although the buttons are a little tough to see, I fixed that with some white nail polish.

So ... the good:
1. As always - Yamaha ease of use. Simple, graceful navigation of most menu items
2. Sounds are lovely, as are most in the current wave of arrangers (and tablets etc)
3. Styles are very practical and generic - easy to use in a variety of settings. I always liked that about Yammy styles
4. Bang for the buck - a Yamaha tradition, from motorcycles to clarinets and everywhere in between

the bad:
1. the key action. (still too mushy and short throw for my comfort) I know many like the soft feel, but it's more than that - even the $99 psrs have a stiffer spring in them .... I think this need addressing. Yamah felt that the Tyros deserved a better action - why not the psr lineup?
2. buttons are kind of camo in the dark
3. SMF player lets you select the "next" song without affecting the current one playing - the MP3 section goes right to the next song selected - confusing sometimes.
4. Time for a touch screen - everyone else is doing it - one of these days, I'm bound to put my finger right through the screen! lol
5. VH2 is WAY better than before, but still not up to the TC stuff. It better for LH chord triggers (as intended) but less than stellar in RH vocoder mode. Still, it's usable now for RH players like myself ... and anyone who likes to turn the effect on/off mid sylable. It used to hiccup with the footswitch, but they fixed that.
6. lacks a contrast control for viewing angle - not a deal breaker, but it can get annoying

the ugly:
if there IS an ugly ... it's just the flimsy, cheap plastic case. I expect it will not handle even the softest bumps without showing scratches.

Thanks old friend - that's what I was hoping to hear. Looks like I better not spend all my money on this trip. There's a 950 in my future when I get home in April.

Thanks again,

Gary