Yamaha 9000pro

I have the g1000 and love but am deciding whether or not I should upgrade. Is it user friendly for live as the g1000 is?
All thoughts are appreciated. My friend also told me that he bought his for 2600 from California. I only spoke to him last night, so he hasnt gotten the store name for me yet. Does anyone know which store he is talking about?

I have never used an easier operating system. If you think the Roland was easy - you'll be in heaven. The 9k series is so intuitive, and there is an answer for almost any question....right in front of you!

Macbabbi,

I agree with Dave 100% (I think that's a first -- never thought I hear him say it). Uncle Dave is probably one of the most versatile keyboard players around. He does a lot of experimentation with settings, etc., so he's usually on the mark.

I got my 9000PRO a few weeks after they were available in the U.S. and haven't regretted it a single day. It's a lot of money but you get a rugged, high quality product in return for your hard-earned money. I nearly bought a G1000 on Ebay but am glad I waited for the 9000PRO.

I picked up an MFC-10 midi controller and use it to change intros, fills, endings, fade voices in & out, and control the vocal harmony (hey Dave, you might want to pick one up - it really comes in handy).

Regards,
Steve

I stand for my performances, so the less clutter on the floor - the better! I use a sustain & a harmony on/off and that's it. I may put in a leslie fast/slow since it is so good in the Yamaha, but even so - I would just use a three button switch to do all three functions. Years ago I always had a volume pedal to bring in a second sound, but I got away from that after I started standing up. I sing better, the visual is better, and I take up less room that way. For my jobs - it's been a blessing. I also feel more like a performer when I am standing. Lots of places don't have "real" stages - so this helps to "spotlight" the entertainment.

Macbabbi, Go ahead and buy a Pro9000,but don't get rid of the G1000..You'll be sorry.Dollar to dollar and pound for pound, I rather have a G1000. Talk to others that have owned both and know what the instruments can and can't do...Maybe Frank Rosenthal...I may be too bias..Fran

I Agree with Frank 100% because I owned Roland G-1000 & Yamaha Psr9K also new Ketron SD1 too. That why I didn't sell my G-1000.
Peter

I agree with Frank and Fran. The 9K Pro is a great KB, but not very good for playing back midi files, since it uses the XG sounds and not the panel sounds, which are much better.
I'm not very impressed with the XG sounds at all, compared to the panel sounds. In order to make midi files sound good you have to go through them, revoice them, change volume and maybe DSP settings. I love my Pro, but I wouldn't buy one to play back midi files. I hope Yamaha will come up with a better solution in the future.
Otherwise the board rocks (if tweeked a bit and shown who the master is).
Eric

What if I never use MIDI files?
My main concern is sound quality and easy navigation/interface for switching rhythms.
My friend told me that the G1000 sounds like a toy compared to the 9000pro. (Drums, Solo sounds, bass, etc)

As I stated earlier, for everything else I love my Pro. I rarely play midi files. So no biggi for me. If you have a chance, just listen to the Pro. Most of us 9000/Pro owners agree however that out of the box it sounds a little bland since the DSP effects are pretty much set to neutral. After some tweeking the board realy comes alive.
Hope this helps.
Eric

[This message has been edited by Eric, B (edited 07-13-2001).]

I agree with Eric, the 9000 PRO is a great
KB after a little tweeking is done. I don't
play many midi files neither so that is not
an issue for me, as the PRO plays them OK.
Enjoying the 9000 PRO
Denny

I find that the midi playback is the biggest (maybe ONLY)edge that the G1000 has over the 9kpro. The Yamaha has a better acoustic piano, FAR better organs, and the list goes on. The performance controllers are pretty complete in both units but the 1000 is not as quick to figure out. After a time, both are easy to navigate, but the Roland needs more setups. The 9k is a breeze to drive - right out of the showroom!
Go ahead, Fran.......

Eric & Denny
What exactly do you mean by tweaking it? Are you saying it doesn't sound too hot until you go in and edit all the sounds? I have a psr740, and it sounds really nice without me doing anything to it. I'm thinking of trading up to the 9000, but I don't want to be stuck with something that doesn't sound as good as my 740 does now. And I don't want to spend weeks trying to set up the 9000. Is there some site or reference you could point me to regarding what exact settings need changing on the 9000? TIA.
Tom

[This message has been edited by TomTomSF (edited 07-13-2001).]

Hi Tom,
of course the KB sounds great out of the box.
Since it is a pro KB you have all kinds of tools to edit the sounds the way you want, to make it your very own KB and sound
For example: I like the accomp DSP setting between 70 and 76 (neutral is 64), then I turn the E-guitars up to 100 to 120 high EQ and the low EQ to 120. The harmonic content I adjust from 76 to 86 depending on the guitar used. That gives it a more live feel with a punch. I used to be a guitar player that's why this is important to me.
If you look in the music data base for example you see that the high EQ setting for the Live Nylon Guitar is 106 most of the time. That brings it more to live to.
I also like to feel the base in some rhythms.



Hope this helps.
Let me know if you have more questions.
Eric

My Turn Dave, How about the edges the G1000 has over the PSR and PRO 9000... Like the newly discovered problem of the arrangement hold function of the left hand that seems to be missing on the Yammy. And the fact that the drums have problems playing styles and sequences correctly on the 9k.. and that annoying noisy sound on those "far better organs than the G1000"...I thought they were grinding coffee beans....Maybe you can loan me one of your 9k's so I can give an honest review...Fran

HI: Fran
I don't know what left hand hold function your talking about,
but if it is to hold the left hand voice in the accomp.
it works great on the 9K PRO.

I have never had any problem with drums not playing styles correct &
I have alot of Korg, Roland, Solton, Gem, & Technics Styles converted
to PSR they all work great.
Don't know about playing sequences as I don't use them, only tried a few & they seemed to work OK.

As for the organ sounds the only noise I find in them is like the
noise my old Hammond organ with slide bars had if you set things up to sound that way.

I find this kind of noise on some Organ voices like Jazz Organ's etc. & if you turn down the Low EQ you can get rid of that to.

I also have a dual 31 band EQ, Plus 10 band EQ on mixer, 3 band on powered speakers + the 5 band in the KB so it does make the KB quite versatile.
Enjoying the 9000 PRO
Denny

The lefy hand HOLD feature that Fran is talking about is this:
During Arranger mode - can you lift your hand up and hear ONLY drumes? It seems that the chord holds forever unless you turn OFF the arr button. No other keyboard behaves this way. - Score 1 for the Roland
The organs sound so much more authentic than the Roland - noise is part of the Hammond sound. I think the leslie sim is terrific too. 1 for the Yamaha.
Sequence playback is a subjective issue - no one can expect anything to be 100% compatible. My feeling is that any time you use a sequence that you DID NOT create yourself - you take youe chances. Most of them sound ok. Some sound better. Even score.
No time to loan any out - summer is packed. Get your own!.......Youknow I'm still looking froa better way, but this will do for now. Of all the models we've had over the years - the G1000 is one I miss the LEAST. I hate the Roland drum patterns. They have a stiff feel to the swing patterns. Rock & Latin are OK - but my favorite swings are still Korgs.

Dave,
When in any fingered chord mode, if you play 3 lefthand notes together (for example F, F#, G) then all the arranger parts except the drums stop. When you play at least a 3-note chord, the other parts resume. It's a very useful function that you probably already know about.
I know this function is also on 740, 640, 540, 8000, etc.
DonM

Great tip Don! Until you mentioned it, I didn't remember this feature. When I learned this a couple of years ago I thought it was a great feature. I haven't used it in so long that I forgot all about it. Thanks so much for this information.
George Kaye

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dlstarry:
I have alot of Korg, Roland, Solton, Gem, & Technics Styles converted
to PSR they all work great.

Hi Denny,
I'm thinking of buying a 9000 Pro and I'm curious how you convert styles from other keyboards to the Yamaha because I have a Korg i3. How is this accomplished?
Thanks,
Jane

HI: Jane
Fran Carango sell's a software program for the computer called EMC, & you can convert
styles with this program.
I got all of my styles already converted to
Yamaha PSR styles, from another Keyboard
forum that I belong to it is great for Yamaha
owners. The link is
http.//www.egroups.com/group/yamaha-psr-styles
This is for new uploaded styles & the Forum.

http.//spectromagic.com/PSR-Styles-Vault-Archive/
is where they put the older converted styles
to make room for new ones on the other site.

If you have any ?'s let me know I will try to help.
Enjoying the 9000 PRO
Denny

Thanx Don!
That's one more "answer" that the Yamaha people gave us. It's not the way the others do it, but - it works!

HI: Don M
COOOOOOOOL!!!!!! Thank You for the great tip this is realy NEAT
I didn't even think this feature would be of any use, but it is cool
Thanks Again Don You are also cool in my book.
Good luck with your new biz.
Wishing You & Your's all the BEST !!!!!!

Thank You to Fran also, for bring-ing-up the subject.
You help use Yamaha people find something we didn't even know we were missing HA!HA!HA!

Enjoying the 9000 PRO
Denny

Thank you Denny! That is all great information--about the software program and website--and I will check it all out today.

Jane

Thanks for the kind words, friends. Here's another tip. Re-read the owner's manual. Even the bad ones like Solton (sorry X1-ers).
I promise you will learn something every time you read it. Most of the manuals are not very well written but the worst of them will at least point us in the direction of getting the most out of our keyboards.
I'm getting very close to successfully dealing with all the startup problems at the club. The Louisiana laws are sometimes truly baffling, with different agencies overseeing liquor, zoning, and video poker on at least three levels each--state, city and parish (county). Therefore, it has been "hurry up and wait" times 9.
My creditors and my wife have shown admirable patience.
We have completed an annex that contains the dance area, band stand and even the ability to set up a piano bar. This effectively doubled the original size of the club. We're now waiting for governmental blessing to be bestowed by a myriad of assorted inspectors and protectors of the common good.
I will begin working on a designated area for seating for the anticipated arrival of Uncle Dave, Donny, Fran, Tom or any of our firends who come to visit. Boo has already seen the location when he came to sit in with me, but the new addition wasn't started yet.
DonM

I don't wanna SIT ! I wanna WORK ! I want to be on the Don Tour!
BTW - the three note chord off thingee you told me about only works in the three fingered modes. I guess you knew that. In the Multifinger mode it acts weird - with a loud cymbal crash and a bass part from the lowest note you hit. Back to the drawing board.

I'll sit while you're here--the stage will be yours!
I never tried the 3-finger trick in multifinger mode, I guess because I seldom use that mode. Of course it won't work in single-finger mode either.
I suppose I will eventually get back to a Yamaha, but I'm enjoying the Korg for now, even though I miss all the easy-operating features of the 9000. I also miss the harmonizer. Maybe Korg will upgrade this one.
DonM

I had to stop using the harmonizer and go back to the digitech. It's much too important to me to compromise on the vocals. Maybe if I could play better chords with my left hand I could use it, but for now - I'm at the top of my game and I won't be learning any new techniques in the near futire. It's all I can do learn the songs I need to know!

Uncle Dave,
Do you know whether the styles on the 9000 are the same as the styles on the Yamaha QY70? I'm also wondering what specific qualities the harmonizer in the 9000 lacked compared with your digitech? Jane

HI Jane,
I don't know anything about the patterns in the QY70, but the harmonizer issue is very complex. I am a NON standard arranger player.I like to play alot of manual bass lines and when I DO use the arranger - I want to trigger it with as FEW notes as is possible. My left hand is only usefull as a bassist. One ot two notes at a time is all I can handle! This presents the problem of triggering the harmonizer from the RIGHT hand, instead of the chord trigger, like they expect evryone to do. The tone & features on the internal harmonizer are top notch, but you cannot get the harmonies to "sustain" from the right hand without laying on the sustain pedal. This makes for a jumbled up mess from whatever sound you chord with. I use a lot of Rhodes and Organ sounds, and it's not possible to play like that. The notes all ring together. I've been trying a workaround - using the keyboard in FULL trigger mode. That way the chord section is triggering the harmonies, but it limits my playing style a bit. It's a trade off - I'm still not sure what I like better.

Hi Uncle Dave,

Thanks for your quick reply - I understand much better now what you are talking about re: the harmonizer. I am used to triggering chords with my left hand so don't think that would be a problem, although sustaining harmonies with a sustain pedal sounds very awkward. (Still making up my mind about which keyboard to buy!)

Maybe someone else will know about the QY 70 styles....

Jane

Jane - you won't have the same trouble if you use the left hand method. The harmonies automatically sustain as long as a chord is played. (without a pedal) It works like a charm if you use the auto stuff. I only use it some of the time. The 9kpro is a dream machine if you are an arranger chord player. It's ALMOST perfect for me, and in my studio, it's been a pleasure to record with.

The Styles on the QY70 are different from and incompatible with the PSR styles.