After 17 years of using Korg and its Songbook app, I'm considering purchasing a Yamaha PSR SX720.

My PA600 is suffering from intermittent pads, and my 10 year old PA4x76 is having memory problems.

The PA5x is way over my budget. I considered the PA700 but the tech is 11 years old, and the Yamaha is much newer. I haven't played the Yamaha yet, but the videos sound great. The closest guitar center with one on the floor is a 3 hour drive.

I'm used to just entering the songbook number into the touchscreen to load up the next number at a gig. Will the Yamaha registration system be as useful?

Thank you for any sage advice.

Duane

Here is a video that will give you great info regarding the registratins etc.
It's G2, but mostly same steps.




(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM2FkjRt6FA)

Hi Duane,

Yes, the Yamaha can be connected to a tablet to display text, but the appropriate application must be used. Communication is in both directions. Activating Registration on the keyboard starts the text on the tablet (PDF, TXT, DOC, JPG...), but opening the text on the tablet also activates the application.
This is a video showing some of the possibilities, I hope it helps.

How to use external display / monitor and Yamaha arrangers

regards, casper

The PSR-SX720 can display text, but the slightly more expensive PSR-SX920 has a dedicated connector for Display Out.

One thing coming from Korg... if you play left-hand chords and are used to playing a single note to trigger a major chord, you may find a PSR frustrating. Yamaha's only really good chord recognition mode is called "AI Fingered." A single note triggers a unison [1+8], why!? You have to press at least the root and major third to get a major chord. There are ways using third party software to edit a style's CASM section, forcing the arranger to sound a major chord pattern when a unison is recognized. However, this shouldn't be necessary. If Yamaha weren't so bull-headed it would be a user-selectable menu option!

Yamahas also lack a separate button for Bass Inversion. Not all chord/bass combinations are immediately playable in AI fingered. For example if you want Am7/G you might have to play Am briefly first and then G below A to trigger the chord. If you play G,A,C with or without the E it will recognize Am7/A (root bass.) Choosing "Fingered on Bass" permits the seventh in the bass with G-A-C-(E), but this mode requires you to ALWAYS finger chords in the desired inversion. This is inconvenient and leads to frequent and non-typical hand jumps. Some pieces originally written for organ with bass pedals would be very hard to play on tempo.

When arrangers overtook the home organ, Roland was the first to dial in a logical, professional scheme for assisted chord input. Yamaha may have deliberately gone down a different, and in some ways inferior path to avoid patent infringement. I don't think we'll ever know the whole truth! Caveat Emptor.

Have you contacted Korg about the memory issue? That PA4X seems by far the most capable thing you have, and an SX720 is going to set you back about $1200+. If you can repair the PA4X for less than that, you are well ahead of the game...

Haven't contacted Korg as yet. Will do so this week. Also looking at the SX920, which has four outputs like the pA4x. I run bass and drums to separate inputs on the mixer.

Thank you,

Duane

You'll be starting from scratch with a different arranger. Sometimes that's fun, but it's a ton of work if you have an extensive Songbook selection. I'd definitely spring for the SX920 if you can, over the 720 though. A massive step up in available insert effects and capabilities.

I started with the PSR 3000 and ditched for a PA800. Next came the 3X and 4x (years). I then tried the 920 to lighten the load and get some speaker help. After many gigs with the 920, I must say it is an amazing instrument. I have every single registration set the way I want, along with mic settings (the mixer is fantastic). I now use a pair of Maui 5 Go battery PAs and run the 920 onboard speaker as a monitor. What a beautiful sound. I would say go for the 920. Good luck

Just ordered an SX920 from GC, open box under $2k.

I'll be more comfortable attempting a repair on the PA4x after I get my gig sets arranged on the Yamaha. 45 days to decide on keeping the SX920.

Thank you all for the helpful advice.

Duane, though the Yamaha may seem like a challenge at first, the end result, sound wise, is the best thing since sliced bread. I've owned them all over the years, but none remotely compared with Yamaha. More diverse styles, incredible sounds/voices and far more options to work with. I stuck with my aged S-950, mainly because it was the last to have the Music Finder Directory, which allowed me to rapidly transition from one song to the next with essentially zero dead time between songs.

Good luck,

Gary

Day 7 with the SX920. Got about 40 songs in registration. I'm liking it very much. More intuitive than the PA4x. Beautiful sounds. The shortcut buttons are great.

Duane

I knew you would like it. I've tried them all in the past, and always went back to Yamaha, mainly for the quality of the sounds and the ease of operation. As time goes on you'll find that it was a good move.

Good luck,

Gary (The old codger!)

How you doing with the SX920's action compared to the PA4X, Duane? Can’t say I've played a Yamaha arranger action yet that wasn't spongy and short throw. But I haven’t tried a Genos2 yet, nor an SX920, but those PSR's were just awful a decade or so ago!

Mind you, played a new MODX M7 recently, and it was HORRIBLE! Light, spongy, everything I hate! So sad when 20 years ago, Yamaha made some of the best feeling keybeds out there on their Motif line.

So, compared to the PA4X (which has quite a nice DX7 feeling action), how are you getting along with the SX920?

The sx920 keyboard feel is adequate, but nothing like the PA4x. It's more comparable to the PA600 keyboard It doesn't have aftertouch, but I only used that on a few songs. Side by side, it's a toss-up. Some Korg voices are better than Yamaha, but I can tweak the Yamaha to my liking. I have two gigs next week, and we'll see how the Yamaha handles the challenge.