Hey folks, been a while since I posted here. I’ve owned the Yamaha DGX-670 since they were released (with stand and full 3 pedal unit). Why is Yamaha now restricting access to the XG/GM/GM2 sounds to the STYLE section, and not allowing direct access to these voices via MAIN voice selection? Those voices have always been beneficial to linear sequencing when you need a voice that just sits well within a mix. Yamaha’s XG/GM sound set has always been strong in this area IMO.

It’s also frustrating that the Alto Sax within the normal voice selection really doesn’t work well for solo work, but the Alto Sax that actually sounds pretty good (and better with basic EQ and effects adjustments) is locked away in a group of sounds I can only access via style editing and recording. Is Yamaha doing this on their current mid to high end arrangers too? It used to be that you could access the XG/GM set under the LEGACY tab within normal voice selection.

Squeak

I was surprised with the Genos all the effects on my psr3000 such telephone sounds /wind etc all the normal sound effects you would expect which was also in the Tyros models were not carried across to the Genos , that was a bit disappointing . i did not expect them to not be pre installed ... I contacted Eileen at the Yamaha keyboard club and she very kindly emailed the T5 sound effects, they are exactly same as the ones in my PSR3000 . good luck I hope you can sort it out

I forgot this e mail address
www.yamahakeyboardplayers.com

Thx.., but the only thing that can be done in the case of the DGX-670 would be for Yamaha to unlock those via an OS update (if it’s even possible). The 670 cannot load sample data. All of those voices are likely in your Genos already, but probably only accessible via style editing/recoding. Go into a style and change the sound to a chord part. You’ll likely see under the LEGACY tab the option to select XG/GM/GM2 voices. If you record a style from scratch you’ll also likely see these sound categories within the LEGACY tab.

Sqk

Hey squeak… long time no see!

You mention about the DGX670, would you mind coming to this thread http://www.synthzone.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/505397#Post505397 and giving us your experiences with the ‘Pianist’ adaptive styles?

These are the first significant thing that anyone has tried in decades when it comes to an arranger being directly controlled by your playing, not buttons or switches. I have long felt that there was more arranger manufacturers could do to get the arranger to actually ’listen’ to what we play and make intelligent decisions about the backing.

But no store has one in my backwoods region, I’d love to hear a skilled actual owner’s impressions on how useful the new system is, and whether you have heard any plans to expand the selection from the somewhat miserly 10% the Pianist styles currently have.

Thanks.

Sorry about the loss of the sounds. Have you tried doing a MIDI loop back cable from the keyboard’s output to the input, and routing to a Song Part? I dunno if this is possible, but it might get you access to those locked off sounds…

I have a nasty feeling many arranger design teams are starting to get staffed with younger designers, who may not feel that backwards compatibility is as big a deal as it is to us older players, who have got used to some of those sounds!

Sqk,

What happens if you try and use those XG/GM/GM2 voices via a USB connected to the DGX-670? Sounds odd that a Yamaha midi keyboard won't load GM voices.

I assume you already tried ?
GM/XG/GM2 Voices

FYI. Legacy voices are factory installed in the SX-900, and available for a main voice selection. And the above GM/XG/GM2 voices also load and play fine in the user (USB) voice selection.

Hey Diki.., I’ll head over to that post and respond shortly. Larry.., the piano already contains those voices, and they’ll load properly via MIDI playback. The problem is for whatever reason Yamaha has restricted the ability the select XG/GM/GM2 as a MAIN voice. With the DGX-670 you can only access those voices via MIDI FILE playback or when editing or creating styles. A lot of those voices work very well when you need a sound that needs to sit/blend well within a mix when doing linear song recording. Yammie’s signature voices are great.., but sometimes they just don’t balance well within a mix, and XG/GM voices work better.

Sqk

I used a PSR970 performance with Piano and String, and the String is from the XG bank and is not accessible in Genos. The performance opened with the original tones, then I saved the string in the user bank and now I use it normally. The tones are all there. But it is necessary to have a performance of an old keyboard.

The DGX line used to be rather simplified prior to DGX-670; just two sections of an accompaniment, both placed on a single button, like on PSR-E series, no voice editing or mixer... As if Yamaha didn't want to scare away customers who were afraid of buttons. But looks like the XG-lite voices were playable on the previous models. Now DGX is much closer to PSR, and Yamaha decided that XG is "too much information"... To tell the truth I didn't notice that on SX900 there was no XG folder either. When I had an advanced entry-level PSR-550 (Sqk, I think you had one as well and switched to Casio WK-3800 or something) I remember that each voice was important to me; now it seems that I play only the basic and the tastiest ones, and don't pay much attention to "smaller" ones... But I know for sure that if a new PSR didn't have an old "Slow Strings" sound, that would be a problem for me. Yamaha adds new strings all the time, they are fun at first, but I can't really use them with piano; so I can see that some of those XG sounds are just as important to you.