I was told that the PSR-1000 has 8 mbs of sound, as does the PSR-550.. However the 550 has less sounds to the megs as the 1000 does.. Is it safe to assume the PSR-1000 would sound almost identical to the PSR-550 in terms of sound quality? Is the price difference based primarily on the new internal memory for recording, screen, new look, and a few other things?

Squeak

I owned PSR550 for a week and then purchased the PSR1000.

The sounds coming out of the onboard speaker is warmer on the PSR1000. This is clearly noticeable when you play it side by side.

Also, the keyboard layout and looks is much better on the PSR1000.

Squeak ,

The PSR550 is only missing some of the sound effects that are in the XG bank .

The PSR1000 does offer the better screen + 4 variations .

dano

Lukitoh,
I figured the speaker set up of the PSR-1000 would be the primary reason for better sound quality.. Maybe one day Yamaha will release a new model of the 550 with tweeters that actually work and aren't just for show... That's why I don't like to use them.. I use Roland Monitor speakers for my set up.. However I figured the two boards were pretty close to the same quality.. I'd like to have both side by side running through my Rolands so that I can listen to them... Oh well looks like any keyboard is WAY in the future for me.. I'm not even thinking of mentioning another keyboard to my wife.. After buying the Lincoln I think she's pretty much shut me off for a long time...

Squeak

Squeak,
PSR1000 is only $100-200 difference from PSR550.

It is WAY better than 550 in all respects.

-Variations 4
-Registrations (Instant) 8 without switching banks
-Warmer internal speakers
-Better logistics and looks that makes you want to spend more time on it.

In terms of sounds after it's been amplified: well, I think it's going to be quite close although I cannot verify this for sure.

I can't do the actual comparison for you Squeak because I have very little playing time on a 550, but as you know I had the 740 and replaced it with the 2000. ( I also had a 530 before that. ) While my 2000 was away for repair I had a loaner 1000 for a few weeks. A lot of the sounds were similar on the 740, 2000, and 1000. There were noticable improvements on the guitar sounds of the 2000 / 1000 over the 740, but by and large the majority of sounds were pretty close when played through a similar sound system. The 2000 / 1000 had better sounding speakers. The 2000 shined over the 740 in the features area. Much better sequencer, better effects and control over them, and basic sound editing capabilities ( there were none on the 2000 ). The three boards' capabilities, when hooked up to my sound system and my computer ( using XG works ) were similar, but the huge advantage was that I could do nearly all of the same editing away from the computer with the 1000 / 2000. With the 740 I had to be hooked into XG works. I also thionk the harmonizer was a lot better on the 2000 than the 740.

It doesn't quite answer your question, but if we wanted to say that the 550 is close in quality to a 740, ( and a big improvement over the 530 ) then I would also say that the 2000 / 1000 are an improvement over the 740 / 550.

PSR550 is $500 - $549 U.S.
PSR1000 $900 U.S.
Difference $350 -> $400.
I consider that to be a big difference.

I completely understand the difference in price between the two and I also know how they differ with style variations and so forth.. I'm just talking about the sound quality in general.. I know cosmetically, and feature wise the PSR-1000 is a much better keyboard...

Squeak

PSR1000 can be had for about $750.00 with free shipping and free survival pack at Music123.com

PSR550 can be had for about $550.00 I think depending on where you buy them.

So $200 difference is not worth to get an inferior keyboard.

Squeak,
Which one do you spent more time on ?
Which one do you love spending time on ?

Life is too short to be playing inferior keyboard especially if that's your hobby.

You might think of accepting UD offer for 18k for your Lincoln and get another NICE car and getting the ultimate keyboard like GENESYS or something like that. You may be a happy camper for the next 5 years.

Whatever it is, I suggest a keyboard that HAS speaker built in or easily installed like the TYROS.

Bump,
This question has never been fully answered IMO:
The PSR1000 has 233 sounds
The PSR550 has 219 sounds
Are you sure they both have 8meg wave rom?
If so the PSR1000 should have a sound/tone downgrade from the PSR550.
What are the additional voices?
Starkeeper

Lukitoh,
I agree that lifes short and if you can get the keyboard of your dreams, but that's not something I can do.. I bought the Lincoln because my family needed a good reliable second vehicle.. I was just fortunate enough to get a $15,000 vehicle for just under $4,000... Got lucky on that one.. I place reliable transportation as a greater importance over a keyboard. I'd love to have the PSR-1000, but again with my current financial situation, having another car to pay insurance on, and just the cost of dialy living, I couldn't even buy another PSR-550 if I wanted to.. I have to save up for some time to get my toys... Oh how I miss the days when I had money...

Squeak

Starkeeper,
A while back it was mentioned several times that the PSR-1000 has 8 megs. Makes you really wonder though because that's more voices on the 1000 to the 8 megs as the 550... Hmmmmm, anyone know the answer on this.. What are the megs on the PSR-1000?

Squeak

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 11-06-2002).]

Squeak,
Exactly.
Anyone,
I took a look through the PSR1000/2000 online manual and could not find a reference to the size of wave ROM.
Anyone have a reference?
Starkeeper

Hey guys

The PSR1000 has separate ROM chips for Voice and OS. They are combined in the PSR550. So the PSR1000 has roughly twice the voice ROM of the 550. Hope that clears it up.

------------------
Steve Deming
Assistant Manager
Customer Support Dept.
Pro Audio & Combo Division
Yamaha Corporation of America

Wow, so the PSR-1000 most likely has just under 16 megs for the sounds.. Man that makes me want one even more now.. Oh well, I'll probably be collecting my social security by the time I can afford another keyboard... Thanks Steve.. It's good that Steve answers questions here on the forum. It's nice to see Yammie reaching out to our little corner of the web..


Squeak

Thanks Steve for clearing that up.
Squeak, Yea me too. I have a PSR540 and wud like to upgrade to the 550, but maybe I'll take lukitoh's advice and move right up to the PSR1000 (as soon as I can affor it )
Starkeeper

Starkeeper,
The 540 is still a fairly decent keyboard. The 550 only has a few things on it.. Other than that they're pretty much the same keyboard. I'd agree that if you can afford it, skip over the 550 and get the PSR-1000.... We're in the same boat, I'd love to be able to afford the PSR-1000 myself.. Just having an internal sequencer and working tweeters would be a huge improvment over the PSR-550. Now that I think about it, one of the main reasons the drum kits on the 540 and the 550 are so dry and bland is because you really don't have any high end to them.. The tweeters don't work on either model, so the sound is no where near as crisp. I remember when I bought the PSR-540, shortley after that I played the PSR-640 in a store and was shocked at the difference in sound between the 2 boards.. Granted the 640 had more megs, but a lot of that good sound came from much better speakers.. Maybe I should send an email to Yamaha and suggest they put a half decent speaker system on the 550. Hell the Casio WK-1600/1800 have better speakers.. Boy how I miss the 15 watt system the MZ-2000 had..

Some of you might think that I must be out of my mind to even consider CASIO CTK671 or even the WK series. Well, it's because the current line of arrangers are NOT acceptable to me. I would not spend more than $1500 on arrangers but then it has to have acceptable key feel, sounds, commen sense logistics of the commonly used functions. NONE of the current line up has it. PSR1000 comes very close but the key feel is AWFUL. PSR550 is actually the best so far even though the internal speaker can be better. If the CASIO CTK671 fails me then I have no other recourse but to get the PSR550 or PSR740. I already tried every other arrangers in the market that I currently have access to. I might just get a cheap arranger now to get by and then a year later hopefully something good comes up.

Lukitoh,
If you have the choice of the 550 or 740, I say take the 740 man...!!!!! The 740 is the 550 and then some.. You get 4 variations, dot matrix screen, way better voice quality, good speakers, draw bars, vocalizer, Master EQ, modulation wheel, and just an overall better keyboard..

Squeak

Lukitoh,
I tried the CTK671, because their was so much hype about it, and the price was right for me also. I tried it on two occasions at two differnet stores and was not impressed at all. I don't understand the hype. I ended up buying a used PSR540. When I test a keyboard my main interest is the quality of the sounds, not the styles, not the effects. The Casio has a real synthesizer engine like the MS2000!! So what? No amount of tweaking a louzy sound is going to make it better. But I have faith in the quality of your ears, go ahead and try it for yourself, then go to the PSR550, PSR740, or PSR1000. Wouldn't it be better to go to the PSR1000 over the PSR740? If you can wait, hold out and see what the new Rolands will be like.
Starkeeper