#1044744 - 02/28/01 07:35 PM
Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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Tedster
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Thanks for all the replies on the earlier post. Question...I found a halfway decent price on an S-30. I know I should go buy the S-80, but would I be crazy to buy an S-30?
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#1044745 - 02/28/01 08:15 PM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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murph
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Registered: 03/04/02
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Loc: Plantation,FL,UNITED STATES
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Only if you really want the 88 weighted keys or the possibility of two expansion boards at a time. The S30 has the same synth achitecture and the same sounds. What's the price, BTW?
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#1044746 - 03/01/01 11:53 AM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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Tedster
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Well below a grand.
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#1044747 - 03/01/01 01:48 PM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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Jay
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Ted---
You're gonna pay minimum $1350 for the S-80. I think it all comes down to the weighted keyboard, how much is that worth to you? To me, it's worth the $400-500 price difference over the long run.
jay
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#1044748 - 03/01/01 04:29 PM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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KidCharlemagne
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Registered: 01/31/01
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Loc: charlestown,MA,UNITED STATES
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the only other thing to think about is the transportability. the s-80 is 55 lbs. not a trifle for most of us.
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#1044749 - 03/01/01 05:01 PM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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Jay
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Registered: 02/29/00
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Yeah Kid---
I have mine in a soft/hard case, and not only does it "seem" heavy at 55 lbs, it's LONG...won't fit sideways in my Corolla.
'Course, it still isn't as heavy as my old Chroma Polaris...that beast must've weighed 70-80 lbs...
jay
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#1044750 - 03/01/01 06:02 PM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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KidCharlemagne
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Loc: charlestown,MA,UNITED STATES
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jay's got it right. my soft case made by yamaha is still at the store waiting for my $150 bucks,but i take it to band practice sans case and it won't fit across my camry wagon. i strap it into the passenger seat. my back's not pleased, and the knobs are vulnerable.
i make the amp sit in the third back seat. (with a seat belt on).
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#1044751 - 03/01/01 07:48 PM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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MikeG
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Registered: 03/01/01
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Loc: Leslie,MI,UNITED STATES
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Say Jay,
Where did you find a S80 for $1350.00? The best I have found is $1499.00. I just about ready to buy the S80 and I think a pair of Event 20/20bas monitors for home use. The S80 looks like a lot of flexibility for down the road.
MikeG
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#1044752 - 03/02/01 01:20 AM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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Tedster
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The Musician's Friend outlet store here in KC has one for like $1249...it may have a couple of scratches, not sure, this is their store that specializes in scratch and blem stuff. Got some nicked Teles in there...kinda cool, makes 'em look old. And to think that Fender did that on purpose to "age" a certain Tele model a couple of years ago.
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"Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine...(WAH WAH WAH WAHHH!)"
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#1044753 - 03/02/01 01:22 AM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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Tedster
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>>the s-80 is 55 lbs. not a trifle for most of us.
Still beats lugging an SVT head...hehehehe...those gotta weigh almost a hundred...but, they fit in a car easier.
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"Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine...(WAH WAH WAH WAHHH!)"
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#1044754 - 03/02/01 02:30 PM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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KidCharlemagne
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I got mine in the Boston area for $1380 (at the natick guitar center). still trying to make it sound like a B3 though. got any ideas? Jay? a little disappointed in the organ.
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#1044755 - 03/02/01 02:43 PM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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MikeG
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Registered: 03/01/01
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Loc: Leslie,MI,UNITED STATES
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Thanks for the pricing info, I'm getting reeeeeeeeal close to laying down the cash. Say one more thing, have any of you heard of the new version of SoundDrive 3.0 by Emagic. A guy over at Harmony-central.com posted a rating on the Yamaha S80 and said that with SoundDriver 3.0 it makes getting around in S80 really smooth. Blows the doors of the XG software.
MikeG
This message has been edited by MikeG on 03-02-2001 at 11:50 AM
This message has been edited by MikeG on 03-02-2001 at 12:21 PM
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#1044756 - 03/02/01 03:15 PM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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Jay
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Registered: 02/29/00
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Originally posted by KidCharlemagne:
I got mine in the Boston area for $1380 (at the natick guitar center). still trying to make it sound like a B3 though. got any ideas? Jay? a little disappointed in the organ.
Hey Kid---
I got my Yamaha S80 at Guitar Center for ~$1400. From your name I can imagine you really liked the Steely Dan/Rhodes sounds--they got that end of it down pat. I found the acoustic pianos good probably for the studio, but I gigged last night and only a few of the piano patches cut through the band.
As far as the B-3 sounds go, you need to tweak the onboard organ patches, and one thing about the S-80 is that there's an amazing amount of tweakability (is that a word?) Try the "Tube" patch, let up on the overdrive and mess with the Leslie settings--that got a good sound for me. However, I have on order the Steinberg Native Instruments B4 ( a Hammond B-3 software emulator) which, if the downloadable demo is accurate, should really help a lot. The key then will be to be able to change drawbar registrations on the fly when gigging---assignability should take care of that.
The bottom line is, 55 lbs is MUCH better than 425!
jay
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#1044757 - 03/03/01 08:55 AM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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Steve44
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Registered: 12/20/00
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Loc: Los Angeles, CA
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Regarding the best way to transport an 88 key synth in a small car:
Whenever I used to move my PC88, the only way it would fit was by putting it in the passenger seat with the back as far down as it could go. The weight of it usually kept it down under the glove compartment, but I used the box until I got an SKB case. The SKB case is wonderful, though, because of the wheels. The PC88 weighs about the same as the S-80, around 50 lbs, and the case is heavy too - like 15-20 lbs, but you just don't give a damn when you're lugging it behind you on wheels.
A note on that: SKB's markup is super-high, in the range only touched by guitars. I got my 5817W (Slimline 88 with wheels) from Sam Ash for $260 during one of their blow-outs. I suspect you can talk them down to that any time, though.
The other wheeled case option is the Kaces III Keyboard Porter. You'll need size 14 for the S-80. I can't find a price of it anywhere, but the one a size smaller sells at Mars for $130 . It should be under $200. Here's a link to the company's site:
http://www.aceproducts.com/porter.html
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#1044758 - 03/03/01 11:59 PM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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KidCharlemagne
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Registered: 01/31/01
Posts: 122
Loc: charlestown,MA,UNITED STATES
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thanks Jay very much for the info, really what i wanted to know. Have you tried the S80 forum? No one responds! but please keep me posted on the progress of the B4 etc. like the rhodes stuff a real lot, but still learning how to navigate it. for example, steely dan uses a lot of different sounds, and only a couple, like hey19, are reallly close matches. but it's an awesome board. tweakability has its drawbacks. i want to play, not program, but i'm a newbie in the synth world, and one day will spend more time with tweaking, and figuring where all these sounds fit into music.
BTW, Watch out for the Kases case. it's quite heavy and the straps are NOT designed to lug a heavy board. mine broke immediately. remember that wheels only help on flat surfaces after all (and i live on the third floor). and i have to carry it around a lot. i took the kases case right back for refund. i will order the S80 case when i get the scratch together in one place. i hope that's better designed.
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#1044759 - 03/05/01 12:29 PM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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Jay
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Registered: 02/29/00
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Hey Kid---
Yes, I've posted to the S-80 forum, but not a lot of quick response. although the site itself is really a wealth of information. Also being a synth & MIDI newbie, it would be nice to be able to EMail each other with problems that no doubt crop up with this beast, and there are other people that post to the S-80 site that would be in the same position. For example, I'm working with XGWorks Lite that came with the S-80, trying to sequence, and it's one step forward, two or three steps back. I did, however, get Card Filer working...
My EMail is jnm@interaccess.com
jay
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#1044760 - 03/06/01 02:01 AM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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KidCharlemagne
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Registered: 01/31/01
Posts: 122
Loc: charlestown,MA,UNITED STATES
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thanks for that Jay. i hope to get the ball rolling on this stuff. though frankly, after i get the kids down, it's all i can do to try to keep my hands musical. my address: dtobin@commcorp.org
cheers from boston
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#1044761 - 03/25/01 02:15 PM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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musicman1@ovation.net
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Registered: 12/06/00
Posts: 167
Loc: Duncanville,TX,UNITED STATES
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Originally posted by MikeG:
Say Jay,
Where did you find a S80 for $1350.00? The best I have found is $1499.00. I just about ready to buy the S80 and I think a pair of Event 20/20bas monitors for home use. The S80 looks like a lot of flexibility for down the road.
MikeG
Mike, http://sixtecycle.com/ has new Yamaha S80s for $1,350.00 plus $60.00 shipping. When you get there, just add it to your shopping cart (you can remove it after it has shown you the price, if you like), and it will show the price and shipping.
SixteCycle.Com (note the odd spelling) has a number of good prices. I was strongly considering the S80 among others, but finally settled on the Roland XV88. My decision, though, was due to my preference of the Roland action, but that is strictly a personal thing. I've got to say, though, that I very much liked the S80's sounds, friendly live use (quick and easy tweaking of sounds without digging into actual patch editing), and the fact that its expansion cards don't just add waveforms, but new synthesis methods. I was really wanting the acoustic modeling expansion, but I still needed to go with the other action. I also like the XV88's live tweaking and large number of great sounds.
There's some company that makes a single rack unit that will take the Yamaha expansion cards and run as a free standing unit. I wish someone would give me their link, because I can't remember who they are. I might yet get the acoustic modeling... or get a good used Yamaha module.
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#1044762 - 03/25/01 04:47 PM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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Anonymous
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There's some company that makes a single rack unit that will take the Yamaha expansion cards and run as a free standing unit. I wish someone would give me their link, because I can't remember who they are. I might yet get the acoustic modeling... or get a good used Yamaha module.
http://www.kenton.co.uk/productspecs/plugstation.html
Not released yet though...
Rod
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#1044763 - 03/26/01 08:20 AM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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musicman1@ovation.net
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Registered: 12/06/00
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Loc: Duncanville,TX,UNITED STATES
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rsaboiasilva... yep, that is them. THANKS! 
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#1044764 - 03/28/01 03:42 PM
Re: Yamaha S-30 vs. S-80
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cg1155
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Registered: 03/28/01
Posts: 537
Loc: Winston-Salem, NC
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There were a couple of comments about the web forum being slow to respond. There is a listserve that you can join from the website that will get you lots more response as well as another website where you can download some custom organ patches for the S80/30. That website is http://home.mindspring.com/~exclampt. Hope this helps.
-Casey
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