My 910's got here today. Unfortunately although I am only minutes from Yamaha in Buena Park California, I am far from Chicago Illinois which is where Yamaha ships from since they closed down their band instrument facility a few years ago.
First Impressions:
Great Color Screen. From any angle you can see it clearly. Many folks had a heck of a time seing the PSR900 screen and had to spend time adjusting the contrast to suit them. Now, no adjustments.....just clear and bright!
I love the new organization for playing and recording audio on the USB stick. There is now the ability to play a single MP3 or WAV song or repeat or play all in order or in radom order. There is also now when playing back an audio file dedicated play, stop and fastfoward and rewind buttons.
When playing styles there is a button at the bottom called OTS information and this opens up a screen which shows 4 blocks on the screen with sounds being selected for R1, R2 and L for each One Touch Setting. This way you can see all 4 clearly and not guess at what sounds you are calling up when you switch one touch setting buttons.
This new model now features world styles and sounds. If you are interested in Playing Middle Eastern music, Indian music, Chinese Music, there are styles and sounds loaded in from Yamaha. The best part is that I have been able to take styles from my Yamaha PSR700oriental keyboard and copy them to a USB drive and play them in the 910. Almost all the styles play the same. There are some styles that can't find a correct Middle Eastern Drum set. However, there are 4 middle eastern drum sets to choose from and Indian Drum sets as well. This is a real benefit for those who didn't buy the 700oriental because they wanted the vocal harmony mic input and additional quality western sounds. Now .........you've got it all.
I can hear the benefit of the Tyros3 chip set in this new 910. Each generation, although many of you think there is not much difference, get upgraded in the effects processor, EQ, etc. Even though there might still be the same basic samples, the upgrades are noticeable. Having super articulation of this caliber at this price range is great.
I also received my Casio Privia 130's and 330's today and I'm going nuts with all the new toys!



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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com

George.... thanx for the review.....will the s910/T3 styles play decent in the new s900 also?



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 09-30-2009).]

Don't understand the question......do you mean a different model?


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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com

I think he means how the S900 styles work in the S910...I'm guessing they'll sound fine.

Thanks Geo -

Have you tried the screen outside in sunny California?

What about the drums? Still the same Yamaha stuff?

sorry George.... .....I meant will the new s910/T3 styles play decent in the S900 also without conversion ? can you try a few in the store/




[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 09-30-2009).]

I think Yamaha has another winner in the S910.

A lot of people like the same Yamaha "stuff", just as much as Roland and Korg buyers and users like the "stuff" in their instruments.

It's called "character" and each brand has it's own personality.

Can't see Yamaha trying to sound like a Korg or Roland...what then would make them different and thus appeal to a certain type of user?

I know the "Yamaha sound" is the kind of sound that I, and countless others, like to hear coming out of our speakers.

Considering the S910's price, it sure packs a lot of power and features...same as the S900 and PSR-3000 did before it.

Using a MOTL arranger is not the penalty it used to be...they easily rival the TOTL for overall performance...I haven't needed to spend a lot of money on a TOTL in years...the mid-range is perfect for me and many other pros, as well home users.



[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 09-30-2009).]

Donny, I don't think the S910 styles will even load into the S900...if they are using the same format as the Tyros3, they will need to be converted.

Now, the S900's styles should be a non-issue and work just fine in the S910....something like the way the PSR-3000's styles worked in the S900.

Upwardly compatible.

ok thanx Ian so that's cleared up now the s910 styles/T3 Will Not work in the s900 without some kind of conversions.....& even then what would they sound like converted and what conversion program is needed to accomplish this anyway?

I imagine there's a conversion program at Jorgen's site...I have tried a few T3 conversions in the S900, and they were "okay"...obviously they need the proper Mega Voice to sound at their best, and sometimes the substituted one just doesn't quite cut it.

I'm just happy the older styles work quite nicely in the new instruments.



[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 09-30-2009).]

The T3 conversions for the S900 and T2 that someone gave me - they just converted the file type so that it will load in the kb, but they didn't take the time to subsitute the missing voices. Many of these voices are mute in the S900.

If you are sitting on the fence about the S910, it just sounds fantastic IMO.

Beakybird

I don't have a PSRS900 left in my store so I can't compare the drum sounds from the 900 to the 910. As many others have stated already the 910 sounds great. I can hear a more clear sound both from the internal speakers and the external sound system.
I just did a comparison of the PSRS700 style drums vs the PSRS910 style drums by playing the exact same styles on both machines. There is a huge difference in the choice of snare drums both in the actual drum and the tuning of the drums. The 910 sounds much more "live" and less "compressed". I tried many styles and they all sound much better on the 910.


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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com

George, Ian, Others.. thanx so much for the info .....it's good to know.

I'm always interested in the new Yamaha boards. It's good to hear George's review of the more lively drums. I miss a lot of things about Yammy for sure. I did very well with the S900 live and the folks loved it. I look forward to playing their latest if found somewhere.

[This message has been edited by zuki (edited 09-30-2009).]

Hi George

Maybe you can tell me, what's your impression of the sound of the S910 vs a Tyros 2? At least some kind of approximate info would be great, even if you don't have a T2 in stock and go by memory would be a big help. Thanx

Actually, I'd like a side by side of those T3 styles played on a T3 and played on the S910. How much do you lose? How much better is the overall sound quality (D/A's, effects, sample compression etc.)?

Is the T3 really worth nearly $3000 MORE?

(QUOTE)so that's cleared up now the s910 styles/T3 Will Not work in the s900 without some kind of conversions.....& even then what would they sound like converted and what conversion program is needed to accomplish this anyway?(QUOTE)
I have the S910 Styles converted to the S900 already, but even though, some tweaking is necessary. If you wanna try, I'll be glad to e-mail them to you.

I don't have a PSRS900 left in my store so I can't compare the drum sounds from the 900 to the 910. As many others have stated already the 910 sounds great. I can hear a more clear sound both from the internal speakers and the external sound system.
I just did a comparison of the PSRS700 style drums vs the PSRS910 style drums by playing the exact same styles on both machines. There is a huge difference in the choice of snare drums both in the actual drum and the tuning of the drums. The 910 sounds much more "live" and less "compressed". I tried many styles and they all sound much better on the 910.


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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com

I don't have a PSRS900 left in my store so I can't compare the drum sounds from the 900 to the 910. As many others have stated already the 910 sounds great. I can hear a more clear sound both from the internal speakers and the external sound system.
I just did a comparison of the PSRS700 style drums vs the PSRS910 style drums by playing the exact same styles on both machines. There is a huge difference in the choice of snare drums both in the actual drum and the tuning of the drums. The 910 sounds much more "live" and less "compressed". I tried many styles and they all sound much better on the 910.


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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com