Donny called me from the parking lot after the first (and LAST) gig with the XD9. He couldn't even wait till he got home to tell me how much he hated the overall sound from the PA. Now, of course, this is a subjective observation, but the real truth lies in the navigation. The Yamaha has him sooooo spoiled that the extra work involved to make fast changes during a show took his attention away from his game.
We all pretty much agree that the solo sounds are terrific, but with all the extra mixing and effect sections that the PSR gives him, the sound is paling by comparison.

The piano in the XD9 is not as good as the SD1, and that really makes a difference to alot of us. He's just bored with the same ole, same ole and wanted to make a change.

Some sounds have a basic, wonderful tone at a certain velocity and range, but the "playability" isn't there. This is why I dislike the grand piano sample .... the tone is nice, but it lacks the "emotion" that someother samples have. I still prefer Roland acoustic pianos over all the rest. I'll take a basic sound canvas piano over any of the ones out in today's arrangers.

The expression is there. It's not just a case of volume changes .... the tone of an acoustic piano changes as you strike it harder....this is where the samples have to really shine - to get the subtle changes that occur during the actual PLAYING of the sound. Just striking a key is not a good enough test of a tone that requires "finesse" to sound it's best.

Did I get it right, Donny?