Vocal Harmony Onboard PSR S950

Anyone use their PSR S950 to accompany their singing. I'd really like to hear from any members who have experience with using the 950 as a one man band with vocal harmony.

God Bless,
Don

I use a Digitech Vocalist 4 which gives me great harmonies but is a little less convenient than an onboard harmonizer. I have to set up my keys (F, Bm, D etc.) and harmony choices and step through to get to them. This makes me have to be very organized. I rented a Korg PA 800 and really liked the freedom of just quickly kicking or tapping in the vocal harmony when needed. The sound was not as good, however, as the sound I get from my Digitech stand alone.

With all of the above in mind I am very interested to see what kind of sound I could get with the onboard vocal capabilities of the PSR S950.

Also if I could record to an mp3 file it would be really be convenient for sharing files with my songwriting partner.
Any insights appreciated! This is guitar generated but will give you and idea of the harmony sound I'm looking for.


Here is a song I just wrote recorded with Vocalist 4 and PA 80.

Sound Cloud
God Bless,
Don

Id like also to hear from PSR 950 to see how improved is the VH now.

Synerjim and I are looking for input on VH 2. Doesn't anybody sing with their keyboard?

God Bless,
Don

Hey synerjim looks like nobody wants to talk about VH2 probably because, as I just discovered it is pretty bad. If they put the same VH2 in the Tyros 4 and I splurged to buy one, I would be livid. Samples posted by DNJ destroyed his vocal presence. VH2 is as one Yamaha rep stated, a toy and not suitable for serious singers. Hate to think what VH1 sounded like!!!!

God Bless,
Don

It is always a pain to have a peripheral piece of equipment. I like the digitech VL3D. The advantage is if you change keyboards, you still retain the same vocalizer you're familiar with. For me, I would choose a Yamaha prs750 and use the outboard vocalizer. Together they are less expensive than the 950, and you're not stuck with one (vocalizer) you don't like. Also, if you play more than one instrument during a performance ,the vocal effects are available for both.

Sparky,
The hassle of the extra piece of equipment is what got me excited about the 950. I had rented a Korg PA 800 ( Have had a PA 80 for years!) and loved the freedom of the on board processor. However, I get better sound from Digitech than i do from Helicon and didn't want to spend $3000 on something that didn't completely satisfy my vocal expectations. After hearing how poor VH2 was I started listening very carefully to the CD I had made while I was in possesion of the Korg PA 800. The sound is pretty good but still $3000 for the Korg wasn't going to happen especially since the Yamaha guitars were so good.

On Monday I went back to the store to see if tweaking VH2 would give me an acceptable result. The 950 had been sold on Saturday. So I got the adapter cable off the wall (stereo mini) and hooked up to the PSR S750 which I had been leaning towards. Well I brought it home with me. So I guess I will sit down with my Vocalist and set up my preferred harmonies in all the keys I sing in and life will be good. So sparky thanks for commenting because I've decided to do exactly what you have suggested.
God Bless,
Don

The VH2 is much better than the Yamaha original offering, but falls well short of the competition that includes Digitech and TC Helicon. The mic processor sounds good for tone and effects, but the harmonizer cannot keep up with the smoothness and tracking that the TC gives you. There is lots of control over blend and gender etc, and there is no more hic-cup when you step on the footswitch to trigger a harmony. It's best with just a single voice above the lead, triggered from the auto arranger chord section. For more complex control (like I need) you'll need to upgrade. I'm trying out the new Korg PA900 this weekend, and I expect to love the TC harmonizer that's built in - if it's the same (or close) as the one in the PA3x, then I'm sold!

Grrrrrr .... It's not the same TC that is in the pa3x. I am SO BUMMED.
This is a substandard mic unit in an above average arranger. Korg dropped
The ball big time - we were spoiled with the 3x harmonizer, but they
put a lower quality unit in the 900. WHY????????

Perhaps it’s because it’s just over half the price of the PA3x.

Bill

They cut out lots of stuff - the harmonizer didn't have to be one. They're not all that expensive as standalone units.
Still grrrrrrrr....,,