Don or anyone one who has owned Psr970 Pa900 – I need some general opinions.

Judging with the criteria of:
1-An occasional job.
2-Enjoying the OS of a keyboard.
3-Instrument sounds.
4-How friendly is the keyboard.
5-Styles????

Thanks, John C.

PS, I know this has been around a while, but now I might be ready.

Can't go wrong with either KB ...it's all up to YOUR needs, features,..
if you do a search here on SZ on both models there is so much info on both of them...good luck!

Hi John,
They both have their strong points and weaknesses. I like the Korg OS better, and particularly the Songbook. It is great for instantly finding a song, pressing the screen and playing.
No real problem with the Yamaha, it just takes a second or two longer.
If you use text files, you may prefer the Korg because it loops the lines if they are too long. You may lost a few words at the end of the line on the Yamaha if the songs are not properly formatted for it.
Hard to beat the Yamaha sounds. Nothing wrong with Korg, but Yamaha does more of the work for you as far as articulation. You may or may not like that. Jury is still out with me. Sometimes the automatic stuff gets in the way of what I'm telling it to do.
S970 certainly has a ton of believable guitars!
Style choice goes to Yamaha. There was never anything I couldn't eventually find for the Korg, but as far as sheer numbers, Yamaha wins here.
Friendly? Let's see, Yamaha is a pain in the butt to set up and remember your settings. Korg is almost automatic. No surprises when you push the foot switch for example.
Both have excellent vocal processors, but the vocal harmonizer on the Korg is infinitely better.
Both are lacking in number of foot pedals.
Overall I probably prefer the styles on the Korg, plus you can make changes and save them, or just delete factory styles if you don't ever plan to use them.
Yamaha makes it much easier to audition new styles and songs, directly from USB. As you know, they have to be loaded to User memory on the Korg.
Keys on the Korg are full-sized and have a sturdier feel, though still very responsive. Yamahas are light, maybe flimsy, but extremely fast. They are slightly less wide. I measured them. Pianists would probably prefer the Korg.
I prefer Joystick to wheels, but that's just me. Either works just fine.
Control over the mic, VH and effects are much easier on Korg, because they have dedicated knobs. You can't even tell by looking whether the VH is engaged on Yamaha--no indicator light. You can't turn it off by hand without going to a menu.
OTS settings from factory are better from Yamaha. On Korg, though, it is easier to change and save them, either directly to the style or to Songbook entry. They are easy enough to save on Yamaha, but you can only save them to a User style, not Factory.
There are a wider selection of Multi-pads available for Yamaha.
Random thoughts:
Korg doesn't have a good Pedal Steel lead sound; Yamaha's is excellent.
A lot of the Korg organ presets activate the leslie effect with key touch. I hate that so I don't use them, or edit them. Leslie is assigned to joystick and/pb wheel on both models. I like that.
Both have good piano sounds, but they are different. I think the Yamaha cuts through the mix better.
I love the touch screen on Korg. However the new large screen on Yamaha is the best they have had on PSR line. It is easy to see at all angles and in all lights.
A lot depends on your needs and what features are important to you.
There is no wrong choice here; it boils down to what you prefer.
There have been quite a number of times I wish I had never sold the PA900, not gone through the Ketron misery, not had to buy another PA3X, etc. If it ain't broke you don't have to try to fix it, but sometimes it is fun to try.

Donny – Don, you guys are special; you’re right there to help.
Don thanks for the time you put in writing one long page. Hey if you guys ever run for office let me know. (grin)

Don are you saying you want the Pa900 back. Why not, $1,655.00. It’s a good idea. My bad humor! Lots of styles; especially country stuff. Don’t weigh much. Don I would not have a problem undoing what we did with the Pa900 if needed.

Thanks again, John C.

Thanks John, but I have a PA3X and an S970. They should last me for a while.

I do really like the chord sequencer on the Korg. How I wish Yamaha would that feature!

And on the new PA4X, they included the ability to save the sequences to Songbook! That's huge.

I'm not sure exactly what that means.

It mean you can record a chord sequence in real time, and save it to a "registration" so it can be recalled when ever you want. The CS on the previous models would lose the sequence when you turned the kb off or recorded over it.

It means Don gonna spend more money lol