I know there is sk880 that uses this in church settings. How is this arranger sounds compared to PSR2000 ? Sounds, styles, ease of use and vocal harmonizer ? I usually play manual bass, with right hand pianos/other sounds layered with strings and just using the drum rythms instead of full acoompaniment. I also use the keyboard for church use most of the time playing contemporary praise/worship songs.

Any drawbacks/peculiarities ? I know that it's heavy - 70 lbs or so. Maybe that's why UD never chose this board - no speakers maybe.

You can now buy a Genesys or Genesys pro with the SK880's praise/worship collection of sounds and styles. By doing this, you get a very up to date keyboard although without 88 keys (Genesys only has 61) but you get a CD burner/reader, much better sounds and styles then the SK880 had (The SK880 is technology from 1996, the genesys is 2003). The Genesys has all the sounds the SK880 has but it also has hundreds of new and very realistic sounds.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566

Lukitoh,
Do you use any external styles that are specific for Praise & Worship? If so where did you find them? George Kay said, "the SK880's praise/worship collection of sounds and styles". I didn't know there were styles that are specific for praise and worship. Starkeeper

Thanks for the info, George. Too bad, GEM stuff is not easily available at GC or similarly popular stores with 30 day moneyback.

Starkeeper: I have been playing keyboard for church for over 15 yrs but the music is very contemporary. I used, ballads, rock styles, discos, reggaes,etc and basically all the common styles that world music uses. In fact, rarely do I use church organ sounds in the music - people think those are for old people. Popular songs like "I want to sing of Your love forever" , songs from Hosanna group, Vineyard, etc- all can be played with the built in styles in PSR 2000 although I think some probably merits its own styles better.

Lukitoh,
Thanks for your input. Our Pentecostal Church plays those very same type of contemporary praise and worship songs. I believe their generic name is "contemporary christian".
Starkeeper

The only advantage that SK880 keyboard has over Genesys is the 88 keys IF you are looking for 88 keys. In my humble opinion, if you are looking for a workstation that does it all, there is no escape from either Genesys series or SK series.

SK880 is the best possible workstation in its operating system, logical organization, and powerful integrated sequencer. Genesys just got even better. In performance, after you learn the both keyboards, you cannot beat the instant and easy control of your live performance.

If a powerful integrated workstation that offers styles and style-integrated sequencer is what you need, Look no Further. If you need 88 keys now and you have money, I would get Genesys and 88 controller. If not, then consider sk880 after you look hard at the sound and style quality of it:

Not that Sk880 is bad, but all the new keyboard have gotten better technology and far better sounds. How much better? Enough to make me want to shop for a new keyboard. But let us say, you already have a good keyboard with excellent sounds such as Tyros, SK880 will be excellent complement.

What about the sound quality of Genesys compared to other keyboards? I do not know.

What if you really want SK880? I recommend the following must:

1) Listen to SK880 for long time before committing. Make sure you listen to other new keyboards so you will know what you are missing. But if it could work for you, hey, excellent.

2) Make sure you buy the following options: Harddrive + 8MEG of Battery-backed DRAM.

In conclusion, I love my SK880 and I still use it to produce professional results. The sounds sound very good. Yes, I am looking for a new keyboard to buy that is lightweight, 61 keys or so with the best sounds and styles; but not to replace SK880 because it cannot. The only keyboard that can replace SK880 is Genesys88 when it comes. Let them take their time and enhance it completely with even better sounds and styles and more features.