Yamaha just announced new PSRS950 & PSRS750

They will be arriving the end of September......
Both are Black with 64 MB of Flash Rom Expansion.

The PSRS950 will now have "Audio Style Technology" which allows for real, live drum and percussion tracks within the style with real time stretch tecnology to allow for tempo changes without messing up the styles.

The PSRS950 will now have "Vocal Harmony 2" which features 3 part vocal harmony.

Both models will feature "real Distortion DSP" to apply the most realistic distortion and overdrive effects for Electric Pianos and Guitars.

Both will have 128 Note Polyphony

Both will have "Audio Link Multi Pads" which will allow triggering of loops direct from USB drives of WAV audio.

Both have newly redisigned Speaker Boxes featuring Digital Amp and Digital EQ for and an Extended Low frequency enhancement as well.

Audio processing- Center Cancel and Looping which allows you to set up repeat points of audio files and the center cancel feature eliminates vocals.

The PSR750 states that it will now include Super Articulation voices and I assume the 950 will have more but as of now there are no full spec sheets available yet.

The 950 will retail at $2499 and MAP at $1899
The 750 will retail at $1499 and MAP at $1199

Stay tuned for more information.

This is a quote from the Yamaha email I received a few minutes ago:

"In addition to the above, the PSR-S950 features Yamaha's new Audio Style technology that brings live drums and percussion to Yamaha’s Guitar Enhanced Style engine and now supports MP3 playback ⎯ both customer-requested. From Tyros4, Vocal Harmony 2 augments your singing with 3-part harmonies and effects. The PSR-S950 can put your favorite song (audio) in the key of your choice with a very cool pitch shift feature that lets you change the key without changing the tempo, and includes a Vocal Cancel function."

Here's a bit more from the email:

". Both PSR-S750 and PSR-S950 feature a larger speaker box for a full, powerful sound with deep lows and clear highs, highly efficient amplifiers with significantly reduced energy consumption and Flash ROM that expands the Voices and Styles ⎯ including Audio Styles on PSR-S950 ⎯ from Yamaha's ever-growing library. Both are pro-class digital music workstations with stellar sounds and mixing capabilities."

Thanks George! That's so exciting! It sounds like there's going to be a lot of new stuff.

It looks like the MAP for the new keyboard is somewhat more than the S910.

Wow...! The PSR's get "Audio Style Technology" and "Audio Link Multi Pads" before the Tyros line does.

Are we seeing the demise of the TOTL as the showcase for new technology, and the move towards the MOTL as flagship?

Actually what I think is more exciting Diki is that Yamaha with all their resources behind it are getting into Audio Style tech....Will be really cool to see the development..Although I do note it is only drums and percussion at this stage, still, better than nothing..

Maybe that could be part of Korgs' big announcement as well, some new audio tech of some sort???

Thanks George,

I'm looking forward to hearing them live and in person when they become available in my area of the world. From your description they really sound like winners.

Thanks again,

Gary

I only hope that Yamaha either include software to easily slice your own loops and get them in sync, or adopt an industry standard like REX or Apple Loops. If they adopt a proprietary format (like they have for their sampler section multi-sample data), the selection and price for any new loops is going to be a bottleneck.

I think this is what is doing in the Ketron... It is WAY past time that easy tools to put your own 'Live Loop' sounds into the Ketron should be available.

I guess my only misgiving about the whole thing is, will Yamaha concentrate on these drum loops rather than continue to improve the MIDI kits themselves? It's an area Yamaha are currently pretty weak on (compared to most others, IMO). They started to get a bit better with the new kits in the T4, but this might distract them. And, you are faced with the same problem that the Ketron has... The audio drumloops are SO good, if you have a style (think just how many legacy Yamaha styles are floating out there) without the loops, it is going to be a bit of a letdown in comparison.

But easy import of audio loops (synced audio multipads is a great idea!) might be the very thing that gets the kids interested in arrangers again. Just imaging the vast library of modern dance music loops out there right now. Dubstep, house, you name it! If anything can get kids back into arrangers, this is IT!

Smart move of Yamaha Audio Style Technology. Looks very interesting. Maby I am going back to Yamaha

+1

What is "Audio Style Technology"?

This will be interesting to see.But,I do have to ask,why only 64mb flash Yamaha?Come on.

My guess is that audio style technology is similar to what ketron does with the Audya. You can have real drummers play different drum kits and percussion and sync these drummers sounds and beats to the other auto accomp. tracks.

I sell the Yamaha PSRA2000 keyboard which also includes the 64MB flash rom memory and the Yamaha Packages that you load into these for different ethnic styles and sounds really contain a lot of new voices, drum kits and styles. The Tyros 4 still wins in this catagory but you have to pay about twice as much plus the tyros has to be loaded each time to turn the keyboard on but not the Flash Rom in the 2000 and the 950. Once you load the package, which might take several minutes, each time you turn on the keyboard after shutting down it doesn't take any longer than the few seconds to turn on and your flash rom is fully loaded!

George, are they black keyboards?

George, please check your PM on this site, and your personal email.

Ian

Nick, they are black cabinets, much like the Tyros4 SE.


Ian

George,

Thanks for the update. It`s kept me from jumping the gun and buying an older S series.

It`s a definite step ahead for Yamaha arrangers in terms of the audio technology being used in styles. Perhaps, this explains the delay in getting S910/710 replacements on board.. but when the software world is already playing with audio loops,time stretches etc. ... it could have been earlier

And I`m sure you will let us know more once the specs are available. Thanks once again !!!

oops looks like George is in trouble

Nah, George is doin' just fine. He's a good guesser too.

So I'm very curious if the S950 will have many of the SA voices and especially the Real drums that are on the T4.

I'm going to start scrimping and saving. I decided that instead of splurging on dental floss this month, I'm going to use the old guitar strings. Newspaper instead of Charmin. That sort of thing.

is there tyros 5 with 76 key?
Is it black?
When is it avariable and what is the cost in €?

Yamaha do not think that arranger players need anything more than 61 notes.

Well, their arranger division thinks that. Every OTHER Yamaha division is well aware that we DO...

I didint like the "integration" between the two on Audya......
so lets see what Yamaha has done to improve it regarding this so called "Audio style technology" I cringe listing to those Doo Bee DooBee Doo voices....I'm very skeptical at this point. But I await the release like everyone else......Time will tell and so will my ears....meanwhile KORG has my Vote!

heres a pic from gigasonic

At least its Black....& 61 keys..same small display...

I've owned the PSR-3000, PSR-S900, and a Tyros 2. For $1899, I hope they have an updated keybed! Looks like it will be under 26 lbs so I'm guessing they kept the same keys.

All of the added features are very nice additions. I am very happy that they added the ability to read mp3 files. I use sequences when my duo performs, I have songs from other workstations and that would be a great feature for me. I can choose between a WAV or a mp3... I wonder if I can organize them into a set list?!? We'll find out in September!!

Is the Tyros 5 right around the corner or a new marketing plan with a newly named Audio Loop focused flagship arranger?!? Only time will tell!

will you be taking pre-orders?

and so nothing 73/76 key for tyros 5?

Sparky I would wait till it's released and demoed....you dont want to make the same mistake again...

Did they totally REDESIGN the MFD to Save Transpose and ALL "registration" info? Looking at that display it looks like the same old thing again.....key feel should be the same also..the improvement in speakers as stated is geared more for the home user IMO.....

Just curious if the dealers are "allowed to" . Gigasonic is so I guess so. All brands don't do that...looks like if the upgrades do well, they will put them in a new tyros if they are not already present.

Hmm no touch screen? That's a deal breaker.

It looks like it's the same size as the S950 but 3lbs heavier.

I hope they added a TALK ON/OFF switch that used to be on earlier keyboards. I hate having to go into sub-menus every time I introduce a song.

I was surprised that the screen is the same size. They really need to get these keyboards to sync with a tablet. I wouldn't be surprised if this keyboard does have some way to interface with an iPad or Android. We'll see.

Honestly this looks like another Yamaha GIMMICKY REHASH utilizing all the old parts from previous models and a can of Black spray paint !! But I'm sure the diehards will buy and Yamaha will make millions no matter what...go figure. get ready to see Baartman & Voncken "Doo Bee Doin'" all the way to the bank..

Cool

All the information I provided yesterday was sent to all US dealers in one giant emailing from Yamaha. The picture shown is 1 of about 6 pictures I received as well.
I was told last year that the Tyros series is being looked at by Yamaha and possibly re-designed for the next generation. No details are known and I don't believe we will see a new model until possibly next year if not later.

The weight difference may be due to slightly larger speaker boxes, and the new amplification system. These instruments sound very impressive.

We were fortunate, here in Atlantic Canada, to be the first in North America to see and hear the new PSR line, which was very capably demonstrated by Peter Baartmans, who is not a only a superb player, but a very nice and very humble guy.

I am very much looking forward to getting my demo model and exploring all the great new features.

Ian

Ian, can you say what impressed you most during the demo?

Don,

The Audio drums were amazing and were what impressed me the most. Smooth seamless transitions through all Variations and Fills.

I'd rather not give any other specific personal opinions at least until the instruments are available to the public, as some here may feel that I might be tad biased.

I'm sure Frankie ( http://www.AudioworksCT.com ) and George Kaye will be able to add more once they hear them in person.

Ian

Beaky - write a registration with the talk feature enabled, then you can call up that reg between songs beforeyoucall upthenextsong!

Wow! Great tip, Dave. I'm not sure if the Vocal Harmony II on the S950 has a seperate "Talk" button as on the Tyros4...this is a cool workaround.

Ian

Or, you can just assign the talk on/off to a foot pedal.

Cheers,

Gary

So I assume they wont be using the Tyros / Motif FSX keybed BUT.... if they use the MOX 6 keybed it will be soooooooo much better than the standard mushy / shallow / thin PSR S910 keys!!

Overall Keyboard looks good and very glad Black is back across the board but still very disappointing to see they are still using the rubber buttons!

Nick

Not sure if the image posted is... what it is. I say that because something just doesn't seem right, maybe it's the data wheel location, or the buttons, not exactly sure, and it could be me just being skeptical, but perhaps those that know for sure could verify that this indeed is what the PSR950 looks like.

It's definetly not a high resoultion photo, perhaps intentional, so we can't zoom in and get an up close look before the official release.

Regardless, it's exciting news from Yamaha for sure.

You cannot save TALK ON/OFF to a registration.

You can save TALK ON/OFF to a pedal setting, but I use one pedal for Vocal Harmonizer ON/OFF and the other for FILL-TO-SELF. I have a third pedal that I have plugged into a MIDI controller that I use for sustain.

Short of having a TALK ON/OFF button and the desired LED that shows whether it's on or off like the Tyros models have, it's easiest for me to press a couple of buttons to do the trick.

I think that I will start saving for this baby.
If the audio drums are even close to the Audya ones and you can replace MIDI drums with Audio drums in any style, then Ketron is in trouble.

Nah my friend,

The Audya is much, much more than audio drums only. And it's drums are streamed direct from the HD. So are all other audio parts. Beeeeg difference!

I came from Yamaha. I now have an Audya. Ketron will NEVER be in any trouble, they are just too far ahead. Remember, this is four years later...But then, you can NEVER understand or appreciate this fact until you own an Audya yourself.

I honestly love the Yamahas and have only good things to say about them. If I did not have an Audya, I might have shared in all this excitement.

But the Audya is simply in a league of it's own, and the guys over at Ketron are not sitting back on their laurels. They will always be the leaders in this field.

The S950 will most definitely be another STUNNING arranger. But it will also most definitely not be a suitable Audya replacement.

Anyway, back onto topic. I just HAD to correct your statement. Sorry for the Hijack! Let's only discuss the new Yamaha PSR S950 over here like George intended. We can discuss the mine against yours stuff seperately, but as always, it will not be a good idea.

The new audio drums & multipads are most definitely a HUGE improvement. Couple that to the HUGE library of styles available everywhere and Yamaha definitely has yet another winner here with good sales to come as proof. Lets face it, Yamahas sell!!!

Keep well all,

Henni

The 'doo be dooby doo' voices are nothing to do with audio loop technology. They are simply regular SA2 type Voices, Donny, that the style plays.

I think Yamaha are on the right track, TBH... The technology to play chordal and melodic lines isn't QUITE there yet, as Ketron's inability to play more than simple Maj/Min/7th in audio and has to add in MIDI notes to complete the extensions kind of shows.

But for drums and percussion, the idea is great. And, for multipads, if you like the 'loop/arp' kind of modern music, a LOT of very contemporary flava could be dropped in, as long as you understand, just like most loop music, that the pitch of the loop can't be adjusted. It's not going to chord follow, but that isn't really the main thing with that kind of music.

For audio loop technology with time stretching (so you can at least change tempo somewhat) to come to this price point is quite a game changer. If anyone can pull it off, Yamaha can. But I have a very nasty feeling they are going to mess it up by trying to make it proprietary, just like their arranger and WS samplers. Just about every OTHER WS and at least Korg arrangers sampler sections can read Akai multisample loads (and some do Soundfont). This makes the selection of proper multisample libraries relatively easy to load up.

But Yamaha have a proprietary multisample format. Sure, you can load in .Wav's one at a time. But a vel-switched drum kit can be HUNDREDS of separate samples. Or a four layer piano (88 notesX4 layers+resonance samples). Yamaha would make you load them in one at a time, and do the mappings yourself. IN-FREAKIN'-SANE!

Let us just pray that sanity returns to their poor crazy minds!

If they try to milk this cow dry by making you have to buy Yamaha branded drum loops, well, look at the style selection. A few every few months, then nothing! That is not going to make this the success it could be.

Pray with me, fellas, pray with me!

If a touch screen is what makes you buy a keyboard, then that is an odd choice. Most people buy based on what it sounds like... Maybe a HP computer would be a better choice if you want a touch screen

Yamaha pack too much information on the screen for it to be effective as a Touch Screen, Frans. You would need tiny little fingers!

TBH, I am having some problems with the Kronos, too (playing it at the local store). The fonts are VERY small compared to Korg and Roland arrangers' touch screens. It's pretty hard in a hurry to avoid hitting the wrong thing.

Thing is, here's an $1800 arranger (and its cheaper cousin) able to do the same audio to pads and sampler playback tricks that the $3500 PA3X can do. In fact, from the sound of it, it looks like adding audio drums to a style will be a lot more user-friendly than Korg make it. Of course it doesn't have ALL of the PA3's bells and whistles. But it just got a couple of the big ones! At nearly half the price!

You can get audio tracks in Band-in-a-box. I still think really good midi drums can come close to 'audio' drums, depending on the midi's sound source and they're a lot more editable for the average non-geek musician. For the type of amateur recording I do, I prefer Edrums, which combines the dynamics of live playing with the ease and flexibility of any other electronic sound source. Of course, you have to have access to a good drummer, though. Luckily for me, I do.

chas

BFD and Superior drums are not loop libraries, chas... they are MIDI drums, just like any module. Only FAR more detailed - dozens of samples per note, left and right hand articulations, round robin modes for making sure two identical MIDI notes don't play the same sample, top and bottom snare mikes, sympathetic ringing modes, you name it.

Check out their websites. The demos are amazing!

http://www.fxpansion.com/index.php?page=14&tab=37
http://www.fxpansion.com/index.php?page=53
http://www.toontrack.com/products.asp?item=30
http://www.toontrack.com/products.asp?item=44

They should make it so that you can attach the keyboard to a tablet or smartphone and then have the ability to add smart buttons, sliders, and smart menus that aren't immediately available on the keyboard.

Yeah, I'm aware of that. I'm just not enough of a 'geek' (said in the most loving way), nor do I have the patience, to exploit the full potential of these types of packages or this approach to making music. I just like to play, and the fewer things that don't involve actual playing, the better. That's why I play organ rather than things with a lot of buttons to push and screens to touch. Just personal preference, that's all. Don't get me wrong; I love the technology, I just don't want it to become more important to me than playing. In music, there is MIND and SOUL. I just want to keep them in the right proportion.

chas

Hi Chas,

No pun intended: I have exactly the same outlook. I'm nothing special, but I promise you'll love the Audya. `

Henni

In a way, they already have:

AKAI Synthstation

Now imagine an IPAD compatible software arranger like the one DAN2000 has created, integrating on the keyboard of your choice.

Larry,
The picture posted is correct. I just compared it to all the pictures I've received from Yamaha.

I don't know Donny- you may be right but I think this "audio drum" is pretty exciting and new new direction. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

I agree that Donny's assessment is pretty pessimistic.

It will have a lot of new voices. It will have over 100 more onboard styles - over 400 compared to 300. It will have the better speaker system. And it will have the audio drum feature, the more realistic guitars plus amp distortion.

I'll be happy if all of the T4 styles that I have sound good on this keyboard because some of them don't sound quite right on the PSR-S910.

There are probably some features we haven't heard about yet.

When I look at the button configuration, I see approximately 10 extra buttons on the right side. Maybe I'm wrong.

It would have been nice to get a larger touch screen or the ability to operate buttons and sliders with a tablet. Since I mostly want to make music instead of operating a fun gizmo, this isn't a deal breaker for me.

Well I hope I'm wrong only time will tell.......
KORG is my bag right now...........

All in all it appears to be a respectable upgrade - all the bells and whistles I had hoped for, and then some.
I like the fact that it's black, but I'll kinda miss that typical sculpted, chiseled look that the previous silver versions have. The 950 appears to be more "boxy" than earlier models. Yet still - I can't wait for the new toy - I'm hopelessly addicted to the call of a new PSR - so I'll sell the 910 and buy the 950. I betcha Yamaha just loves me!

You might want to get in quick then Tim, I would wager that hundreds of other owners will doing exactly the same thing

D

Don't I recall Donny being quite enthusiastic about the Ketron SD1's drums when he tried it? This is the same thing, only $2000 cheaper.

In fact, don't I remember Donny being nothing but lavish with praise for WHATEVER he is currently using (and scornful of everything else despite having had it and praised it at the time)?

"Love the one you're with!"

DonM

Finally...what...like 20 years later?

I still think 64mb is too small for audio drums.What can we really do with this?

Absolutely Don. And I think that is true of everyone.

They go live on the Yamaha website on Monday.

Prices (RRP) are S750 £1083, S950 £1783.

Details obtained from here

Although as Ketron & Wersi have had Audio Drums for 12 years or more, it's not exactly ground breaking. (Good price though)

Bill

do we know anything about the keybed itself yet?

if Yamaha is true to form it'll be lame, non-responsive, etc.

it's somewhat astonishing that they continue to innovate under the hood but bungle what might be the most crucial part of the interface. kinda like putting a gokart steering wheel in a Porsche or something....

Regarding the keybed, it's not a piano. Personally, my arthritic fingers actually like the light touch. It's responsive, but in a different way from piano touch. It takes a totally different approach from piano keybed.
Wish the keys were a tad larger on PSRs though.
I find the keybed on PA3X really good and would probably suit most types of players. Of course it's about double in price.
DonM

Yamaha knows pianos........so marketing directs those who want piano keys toward their clavinova line for the serious piano arranger player.

Hi George:

I just sent you a PM regarding the impact of this topic on the Yamaha arranger market.

Thanks,

Dave Rice

Hi
with the audio technology, sounds like they're trying to do a bit of a catch up with korg, but, at a far cheaper price ( bear in mind, korg does have a sampler). Be interesting to see how involved the user is as far as the drum loops etc go. Whether you can create your own, or you have to buy theirs.
Might finally be time for an upgrade ( my psr1500 , of course) haahaa

Far cheaper? The Korg PA800 cost here in Holland 1700 Euro. The Yamaha PSR S910 cost 1950 Euro and the S950 will cost more. Not very cheap IMO. For that price I at least expect a touch screen and aftertouch.

Hate the one you had?

But aren't you comparing street price versus retail price?

No take a look at http://www.bax-shop.nl/keyboard/bekijk-a...30&limit=30

At the moment most shops are dumping the PSR s910 for 1600 Euro to make place for the new model.