Thanx Tommy I will check it out asap

Guitar mode can be used in a user style..on a Roland ..

What I mean, adi, is that Guitar Mode cannot be triggered by the Arranger. You can only do it manually. And styles, even if you use the Guitar Mode to create the guitar part, do not do all the clever re-voicing tricks that Guitar Mode does.

Guitar Mode changes the inversion of the guitar chord, depending on the octave or inversion you play the input chord in, adds in fret squeaks and mutes as you change chords, and many other things that, once you create style, no longer happen. You create a style with the guitar part in one inversion, it will play EVERY chord in that inversion. And it won't re-voice each chord to be guitar correct, which Guitar Mode does, they will be simple transpositions. This ruins the realism.

And sadly, until Roland add in the capability of having more than one non-transposing (Drum) track to their OS, you cannot use the arranger to trigger it. You need the trigger notes (the ones that play the different strums and rakes, etc.) to NOT transpose as you play different chords, otherwise the strum pattern will change.

I have a request in at roland-arranger.com's New Feature request forum for this feature (for many reasons as well as Guitar Mode - loop slice playback, separate drum and percussion parts, multiple kits in a style amongst others), but in all honesty, Roland users have been begging Roland for more than one drum track for over ten years. So far, for whatever reason, no luck...

But possibly the linking of Guitar Mode and the arranger in Korg's new OS might finally spur Roland to do something about this. Guitar Mode is the START of a good feature, but without it's integration into the arranger OS, it is still little more than a gimmick...

yes, that is correct...
well, roland is suppose to learn from korg indeed. it's just too bad that roland, who invented the concept, or at least was the first manufacturer to implement it, now has to learn from others, who developed it further more.
let's home that happenes.

If you don't need 76 notes then definitely go with the PSR-S900.

The SA and Mega voices are terrific and the OS is easy and intuitive and IMO it has a much better piano sound.

It also has audio to USB (flashdrive) recording which is also on the Tyros2.

I got my S900 a few weeks ago and I'm very pleased with it.

Ian

Just spent three hours last night playing the S-900. It's a great keyboard, the sounds are relatively close to the T2, but most everything is almost identical to the PSR-3000. Granted, it has some really neat sounds (voices), a few new styles, and some of the buttons have been put back on the board that should have never been taken off.

The screen, however, is very difficult to see if you are sitting down, and obviously, not placing a tilt-screen display on this keyboard was the design of a complete idiot at Yamaha. The same holds true for not placing the USB port on the front of the keyboard where it's more accessible and less danger of causing damage from being inadvertently struck--it just don't make good sense. Additionally, the buttons on either side of the display are black and on a black background. They're very hard to see, especially in low light levels, and they don't line up exactly with the screen items they are intended to trigger. Again, just a dumb design by someone that obviously don't know a damned thing about playing an arranger keyboard. Are you listening Steve Demming? I'm not the only person that feels this way, and I'm one of Yamaha's biggest fans.

Yes, the PSR-S900 is a big upgrade from the PSR-1500, and many other less expensive keyboards. But, IMO, if you already own a PSR-3000, T1 or T2, and they are in good to excellent condition, there's no reason to purchase the S-900.

Just my opinion,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy