Well, I just finished up with the SX-900. And, contrary to popular belief, it's not a keyboard that I would want to use as an onstage performer. I found the changes in the OS were cumbersome, way too many menus to go through in order to get to the next song, and while I had no problem seeing or using the touch screen, I had to use my little finger in order not to hit something I did now wish to select.

The overall sounds were just awesome - some of the best I think I've ever heard. The grand piano was stunning, as were 99 percent of the saxes and strings. I loaded some of the Genos styles into the SX-900 and they sounded excellent. I did not have time to mess with the vocal sounds, Ooohs and Ahhhs, but I did plug in a mic and after a bit of tuning, the vocal harmony sounded as good, IMO, as my TC Helicon Harmony-M.

The song list, to me, was nothing short of a major headache. I much preferred the Music Finder Directory, which was somewhat limiting for some players, but for me, it worked great for a whole lot of years.

When my friend Helmut left, has was astonished at all the things we managed to accomplish during our short time at the board, but I was still scratching my head, especially with the midi player. For example, if I found a song that had embedded lyrics, after starting the song, I could not access the lyrics page unless I went through the main menu and selected lyrics. Two extra button pushes that added to dead time between songs.

So, for me, if I were still able to work, I would stick with my S-950. I sincerely think that ALL arranger keyboard manufacturers should have people on their staff that performs the same program evaluation that every major computer programmer utilizes before they release their software. It would not cost them much to have these individuals on call and probably save the manufacturers a lot of grief in the long run.

Gary