Hello everyone.

I am a dance-oriented artist who owns the Yamaha DJX keyboard. I'm looking to upgrade VERY shortly, and I need some help.

What I would like to do is simply 'go the next logical step' from the DJX. I'm confused about a lot of things about various equipment, and I'll try to explain them here.

Models I am considering and the questions:

1. PSR-740 ($1099) -- This seems to be my first choice. This keyboard would provide me lots of high-quality sounds, styles other than purely dance (which is nice, although I will not use most of them), and the vocal harmonizer.

The problem is that I would lose the DJX styles which I love. I'm assuming, though, that the DJX styles could me somehow converted via MIDI to a custom 'style file' -- or I could simply follow the format of the DJX and play them on my own and quantize the beats and melody lines. Does anyone have any experience with doing this? Is sending MIDI data through the 740 possible when recording a custom style?

Second thing -- 'BUGS'. I've heard that in both ROM versions (1.0 and 2.0) that the vocal harmonizer is not effective in the 'intro' and 'ending' of the styles. Not a biggie, but is this true? Is there any other bugs that have been reported on the 740 that I should know about?

Thirdly, on the vocal harmonizer issue again, how does this work? When I plug in a microphone to the front left side (where the headphone ALSO plugs in), do the speakers shut off? How does the keyboard know when to turn the speakers off and on depending on whether you're using a mic or headphone? What I would like to do is lay down a track on the 740, MIDI it to Cakewalk, record that audio track via the Aux Out, then play it back with Cakewalk through headphones on the computer, and THEN record vocals on TOP of that track (recording a new audio track). AND I want to do this with the internal speakers turned off and nothing else played in the background on the 740... is this possible?

2. CS6X ($1399) -- A dance-oriented synth and more. Nice, but how do I go about creating rhythm tracks? This scares me in a way in that I can't just pick a style and run with it. What is meant by the term 'performance'? Is that a sequenced track? What about adding auto-bass and auto-chord changes to that?

Second, I've heard there's also a 'bug' on the CS6X with the arpeggiator which requires a smartmedia card to fix, and even then it still has problems. Comments on this?

3. RM1X ($699) -- A sequencer remixer. I'm assuming I can create massive club remixes with this unit. Any hint as to the quality/overall performance? I downloaded a sample file and it didn't sound that great...

4. DJX II or the DJX IIB (???) -- This should be coming out very soon in August I hear. Obviously this would either add to or replace my current DJX, but I still don't get all the niceties (high quality sound, vocal harmonizer, etc.) of the 740.

Any comments on ANY of this equipment would be very much appreciated, as I plan I purchasing REAL soon!

- Bryan
email: ptshpboy@hotmail.com

Forget about the 740 if the vocals are important to you. The harmonizer is VERY weak. I think it's awful, but many would argue that point. Many would argue anything just for sport, but I'd give it a good test before you dish out the cash. I'm tellin' you, man - the 740 is NOT for singers.
** sounds like you should get a workstation type board and use the DJX patterns in tandem - this way you'll get new sounds and proccessing power, with some old "friends" in the DJX rhythm section.

------------------
Uncle Dave

You might be bettter off trying an old CS1x. I've got one and it still impresses me occasionally. You can't record the arps with a midi sequencer which would be nice but you can get around without that. It has performances which are basically 4 voices layered on top of each other. Alternatively you could try an EX5 or EX7. I'm buying an EX5R on thursday. Lots of sounds, sequencing capability, effects and even some sampling capabilities. Forget the RM1x unless you don't want to spend time sequencing your own stuff. It is basically a remixing tool. Some serious types would consider it a toy`. But it is designed to be fun and have a lot of good sounds. I played with one for ten minutes and had a bit of fun but I wouldn't seriously consider composing anything with it. The CS6x will probably be very good but I haven't tried it yet so I can't say.

Actually scratch the CS6x for now. It has a problem with its arps that would be a big problem for yourself.

[This message has been edited by Berty (edited 06-18-2000).]

Hi everyone,
I think I have the same concern as Bryan...
I'm also looking for my 2nd synth, and wanna make some techo/electric music as well...
Now,my final two choices are Roland XV5080 and Yamaha CS6R which make me feel so hard to decide:

Roland XV5080:more polyphony, with great expandsion capacibility(SRXs,SR-JV80s) great bass,strings and ambintent sounds but windwoods really suck( i think )

Yamaha CS6R: with realtime control knobs and 2 external audio inputs(!!!),but less preset voicess available.I thought about EX5R before, but I changed my mind to CS6R cause I did experience midi delay with my Cubase...

I'm wondering should I follow the "custom" to get a Roland JV/XV synth or go to Yamaha's world.....

Any suggestions? PLEASE



[This message has been edited by YMH (edited 06-18-2000).]