Rd 88 - does not play MIdi files ( good weight/ good piano sound/ not so good other acoustic sounds/ somewhat fragile construction, cheap rubber wheels that are slow to return ( should have put joystick from DS series) / midi out/ great compact design with good quality key bed). Should have put mp3/GM playback as one keyboard to carry to the gig.


Dgx- 670 - no midi out and bulky/ heavy ( they know that they have a good one/game changer here. Acceptable CFx sound for gigs/ Mic input with non VH efx,SA 1 acoustic sounds that outshines any sub $1500 keyboard of any brand ( except their SA 1/2 equipped arrangers) including their MOTL workstations ( not talking about FM part of MODX here), 4 variations and will write user styles,load thousands Yamaha styles including SFF2s). If they make it sub 35 lbs, take out the speakers, add a mod wheel ( even the same cheap quality), add mp3 playback, add LR outs and sell with $1000 ( even without multipads) , it will expend to two different buyers ( home kb buyers and gigging pros who need 88 keyboard that is light and that does it all).


It will also destroy competition ( due to usable features, even though FP30x has better feel and piano sound but no acceptable gigging live features ) and of course terrible feel and ok piano sound ( German/ Italian)/ no style editing/ writing of Korg XE20; Ek50 board with added piano sounds ( dgx 670 is competition to discontinued Korg Havian ( does it all , light weight but no midi out/good sounding pa 300 board) and bad GM quality sounding arranger portion of 88 key Casios. And the obvious; more usable 4 variation free styles than other manufacturers combined. Thanks to well priced early PSR640/640 and 2K days when MOTL with user style writing ability was cheap ( sub 1300$ at that time) which created a lot of sales and a lot of non middle eastern/ balkan user style pool ( compared to $2000 Korg i3/ I30, other IS series cannot write user styles, can only load ( I4s,i5, ix300, IS 40, 35, etc).

The game was pretty much over ( sales wise) when Megavoices were introduced ( T1, PSR 3K era) for western ( english ) music or similar 4/4, 3/4 playing world ( including east and southeast asia) due to simple style availability with realistic acoustic strums or 4/4 ballads/ simple country 8 beats / simple bass lines and ( no glitch fills like Korg )which are the majority of the new gen songs at that time ( ofcourse with old standards which were already covered).Different story with mid east/ balkan music playing world where Korg dominated due to local style support ( arabic/ turkish, 9/8 rhythms, etc) and sample load ability to non western sounds and percussion/ drum kits and quarter tone ability ( Yamaha tried with PSR-A series but not there yet due to extensive Korg format library). Roland did OK with E86 and G1000 era but not to Korg’s continuous level again due to user style/sound support.

Yamaha intentionally or non intentionally dropped the ball here with dgx670.

Yamaha management team, please read the above and talk to your people for (updated of next version of DGX 680 or PSR 880 or whatever you want to call it.



Roland FP30x - no midi out/ plays SMF from flash drive but , too much multi button pressing not designed for live gigs ( and no, i dont want to Bluetooth linked to Ipad to change sounds , more connection problems/ asking for failure)

Yes, there is no $1000 , sub 35 pounds 88 keys keyboad that has good piano sound, midi out, plays SMF, Wav and MP3 without loading with no multi button pressing easy onboard controls. Especially if you want to take ONE keyboard to the gig without hookups.

Roland DS88 does all that ( with battery powered portablility) but piano sound is no where close. ( it’s the most logical choice for non high end gigs).Yamaha Mx 88 , similar story with even smaller display and less features.

Manufacturers do this intentionally to prevent pros from buying MOTL gear and sabotage their TOTL sales ( by taking out pro features, Midi out/ user style writing/ make it bulky, etc).

Since R&D from previous generation’s sound chip was already paid ( 1999’s Triton, anyone? Korg PA 80 /60/50/ microarranger to EK50/Xe20/ new I3). Talk about 20 year recycle ( still sounds good in most areas).


Midi in out was gone after P95 ( yamaha) which is more affordable GHS keyboard.

They learned the lesson with Yamaha P80/ 90 ( made for home market but Pros start to use due to features , robust and relative portability ( well designed/ all metal body/slim cut) and GHE action. After that they make it havier/ bulkier with features ( for home users - Eg. 120/140 and now P515)and make it lighter with less features ( beginner -Eg. P125) and feature/design/ durability for Pros ( Eg- YC88) but above $2000.

It’s just business. Sometimes in the past, you get lucky with some models on weight/ durability/ gigbility ratio ( yamaha CP33, CP40, roland Rd300nx, etc). Good used CP4 is great as well. Even used p255 is worthy.

Sorry for typos( done from iphone).




Edited by jamman (08/28/21 04:08 PM)