Who can say something positive about the s90xs and s70xs?

[KeyMoe]

I also have the S70 and like it very much. While the display is small, really for a live rig keyboard that is not a big concen.

[NoLights]

I just got my s70XS and like it a lot. I've used it on a jazz trio gig and thought the S6 sounded great. Admittedly, I'm a "Yama-ho" -- I've owned a Motif7, Motif ES8, Motif XS7, MO8, MM6 and an S-90. I really like the key action and its key-to-sound connection. And, yeah, they could have sheered off some length (though I understand why Yamaha put the wheels where they are) -- but it still fits in my VW Jetta and is relatively easy to carry. And yeah -- the display is small (smaller than on my old Mini MO!) -- but it's easy to read. Any major stuff that needs doing can be done with the editor program. The user interface is better -- and it really seems to be an intuitive and practical instrument -- and a nice board to play. And it has lots of blinking lights.

[eric]

When you super size the display font on the S70xs or S90xs, all it at peace with the world and it is good.

 

Regards,

Eric

[Gas In The Air]

I just read that the sninety.com community is getting more pushy with their comments about the new S6 piano. Yamaha support has now replied to one guy:

 

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Yamaha Japan replies that they are aware of excessive overtones in certain key range. But that this is not a sampling error, but one of the sound characters from S6 including the harmonic ring. So to answer your question: "Do you have plans to fix this almost clear sampling error in future firmwares or does S-6 really have such horrible shim to those few low keys" ?

Unfortunately this can't be "fixed" - It is a part of the S6 pianosound. Sorry not to meet your expectations....

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[Dave Ferris]

I just went on that forum, interesting reading. It seems I was not alone at noticing the phasey sound in the lower register on the S6 piano.

 

When I checked it out about 6 weeks ago I listened with my AKG 240s, usually my benchmark for sussing keyboards out.

I'd like to hear it through my EV SXA360s just to be fair, but without a definite return/no restocking policy, I don't think I'd be willing to chance it.

 

Oh yeah, I've owned nothing but Yamaha keyboards the last 8 years or so.

S90 Classic, P200, P120 and CP300.

 

For Acoustics a '85 Yamaha C7E, a '97 Yamaha S6 and the "Gran Touch" GT-2.

[allan_evett]

Well, if it's just a case of getting by, why not get by with a lighter 88-key, like a Casio PX330, or a Roland FP4? That's where I'm headed, I think. I've got a PX330 on order, if I don't like it, I think I'll get either an FP4 or a CP33, haven't quite decided yet.

 

 

I sold my P-85 about a month ago, and picked up a PX-330. I'd been using the P-85 for teaching at a small school just south of me. In that capacity the Casio excels, plus it's much more 'giggable' than the P-85 (with regard to having actual outputs, extra tones, 'Registration' multi patches for splits/layers). I've taken it out on a few country/rock gigs over the past month - with either my XK-1, or PCR 800 > MacBook (B4II). While it's not as versatile as my S90ES, the PX-330 did fit better on the very tight stage I played this past weekend. The pianos and piano layers are quite good for an instrument in its' price range. So, for certain situations, it does the job extremely well. I'll be using it on a jazz duo gig this Friday ( piano and vocalist/sax player). We'll see how that goes.

 

I've been a bit spoiled lately as the store I do most of my teaching at has me on an FP-7. Plus I keep noodling - on my breaks - on the shop's RD-700GX. For a stand alone, solo piano tone the 700GX is hard to beat; bet it sounds great in band setting too - especially with all of the piano patch variations available. What keeps me from going after that one is a recurring fear that, sometime in 2010, we'll see or hear word of an RD-XXX - which will have a piano engine derived from the V-Piano, or an ARX Card modeled piano option...

[Floyd Tatum]

I just went on that forum, interesting reading. It seems I was not alone at noticing the phasey sound in the lower register on the S6 piano.

I was in a music store last night, and I had a chance to play a S70xs for a while. I have to say, I liked the S6 piano, I thought it had a lot of character. I didn't hear this phasiness thing your'e talking about, but then again, I didn't listen too closely, I just played it, and I liked it. Where's the phasiness thing? How do I hear it - I'll be there again next week, so I can play it again.

 

 

[Tralle Tonetroll]

I've had my S70xs for near 3 weeks now. I ordered one without even trying it as I was in the market for something to replace my far too heavy Cp300 in my live rig.

So when I first tried it I must admit I was wondering if there was something wrong, as I had high expectations for the new S6 piano samples. To me it just did not sound right compared to the piano I was used to from the CP300.

Anyway, I have worked with this instrument for many hours now programming everything for the first gig next week, and today I think this is one of the best keyboards I've ever owned. (and I have had a lot). I have tweaked the piano sound and it sounds really wonderful and it is extremely dynamic and gives me a kick every time I play it. I have made a performance that velocity switches between two piano programs and that one really rocks.

 

Anyway, the piano sound is just a small part of this instrument. There is a lot more into it and I really love every thing about it. I Even find the small display easy to work with. When it comes to the overall sound, my impression is that the people at Yamaha could have done a better job programming the sounds, but hey, maybe they just decided to leave the funny part to the owners

 

[Mogut]

http://www.richardwhitehouse.ca/images/BillEvansVillageVanguard3.jpg

Where's the phasiness thing? How do I hear it - I'll be there again next week, so I can play it again

 

Just hold your head close the keyboard like in your avatar pic and you'll hear it.

[GustavS]

Earlier in this thread i mentioned me going on a tour with this instrument, (s90xs). Well now I'm back and I've got a few things, both positive and negative to say about it. (Keep in mind that this is all subjective and just me expressing my opinion of it though, hopefully it can be of some help to someone)

 

Positive: It sounds great, the patches in this sound like they're all coming directly of a recorded mix and they work great in live band situations, very little tweaking needed. I like the action of the keyboard and the layout of the controls to. The screen is small, but with all those buttons and knobs I never felt like i needed to get into much submenus anyway. The weight is good for its size, I carried it and set it up myself on each gig and my back is still intact. I also like the design of the thing and that there's some empty space on the keyboard for me to put a submixer and some effect pedals on.

 

Negative: This might seem like a contradiction, but i hope you will understand where I'm going with it; It sounds a bit TO great.. or to produced to be exact, like I said, it sounds amazing in a mix BUT, when I call up, say, a rhodes patch and just play it by myself it doesn't sound convincing at all. There's no grit, not even in the sounds that are supposed to be gritty, it all sounds clean and polished. Witch is great, sometimes, but to me it really takes away some of the realism and playability of the sounds.. Especially when you're playing the instrument by itself. I would have wanted more editing freedom a way to create new patches on the fly, without using a laptop, especially since it claims to be a music synthesizer, but in the end i got along quite well with the onboard presets. I don't know if the unit I used on this tour was a badly manufactured one but knobs kept falling off (thankfully I found all of them and managed to put them back without much trouble but it was annoying anyway) and also the sliders would sometimes get bent out of shape.. This wasn't much of a performance problem but it made the machine feel really cheap, and made me nervous since it wasn't my keyboard in the first place..

 

Still, this is a great keyboard, I don't think i would buy one for myself because I am a selfish bastard who ranks keyboard feel and playability over what the audiance actually hear. But I definitly wouldn't mind playing one again, or touring with one for that matter. It's a great instrument if you get along well with it and even if you don't, it's still pretty darn good.

[DanS]

BUT, when I call up, say, a rhodes patch and just play it by myself it doesn't sound convincing at all. There's no grit, not even in the sounds that are supposed to be gritty, it all sounds clean and polished. Witch is great, sometimes, but to me it really takes away some of the realism and playability of the sounds.

 

I find the rhodes patches to be very good, however, like you mentioned, there are no dirty patches that really bark like on some other romplers. The EP & Clavs exp card on my Roland has much better variety. Then again, the whole card is dedicated to those 2 sounds.

 

Definitely too much reverb on most of the patches as well, which is no big deal to edit out.

[Gas In The Air]

I went back to the music store to try out the S70xs again. Sound wise the S70xs is a clear winner. As known from the Motif xs series the sounds rocks. I especially liked the EPs; better than the Supernaturals from Roland anyway. The Nord Electro and Stage are the leading instruments in this category though. I also liked the S6 piano. I know many people think it does sound boxy with strange phasing. I think it is very nice, woody and ultra tweakable. I played through my headphones which I usually use as benchmark. It might be that the world is completely different when you listen through an amp especially in mono.

 

Coming to the negative parts. Lots of people dont mind the display. Actually I do. That thing is so tiny that you feel blind when you play. It only shows a patch or performance name or a number when you turn the knobs. When you play a performance you can edit or turn on and off the 4 parts through the new buttons and knobs. But the questions is: what part is what? Is part 1 piano or are those drums? Maybe the bass? Who knows? The display does not tell you. It only shows you cool performance names like funky night. That is all not very comfortable in a live or rehearsal situation. Saying that, you need to hook it up to a computer otherwise you are only able to use a fraction of the potential of this machine :-(

 

Its a pity. I was waiting a long time for this board.

 

[DanS]

Yep, it's really too bad about the display. In a day & age when keyboard screens are getting to be the same size as laptop mini's, they stick a postage stamp on a 'performance' synth, where feedback in live performance is everything.

It's not like the real estate isn't there. Shift both banks of buttons an inch or 2 from center, and the display size could have been doubled/quadrupled.

[GDP]

Hey Eric,

 

I read your S70xs review on the Keyboard Mag Facebook page. It looks like you consider this to be a very serious "gigging" keyboard. I suspected it would be.

 

I noticed you did not mention some of the sonic phasing in the S6 piano samples that others have mentioned. What is your opinion on that particular complaint?

 

Thanks for the review.

 

 

[drpopper]

I've had a S90XS for 3 months and I've got nothing negative to say about it. It does exactly what it says it does and does it well. The S6 piano sounds fine to my ears and I own a C7. The display is fine for live work and the size isn't a issue for me personally.

The ONLY negative is that there is no stand alone ARP manager like the S90ES had but I also own a Motif XS and the S90XS can load Motif XS arps so its working out ok.