Yamaha PSR SX 900 - Should I go for it?

[Biggles]

Many people are dreaming about „newer and better“ model than SX700/900, like Genos 2 was a year ago, but it was not yet announced. Only Yamaha knows (if and) when it will be launched. Maybe 2025 or 2026?

That is a Moot point.

Many Genos users are not changing to the Genos 2 as they feel the small incremental changes are not worth the cash outlay.

Chasing tech especially mark 1 versions or so call major updates are not a route to take a run at, best to wait for others to debug and for the price to settle.

I waited over a year and for updates and a price £1000 less than release before I bought.

 

[Den]

Glad that you are still thinking. After reading these replies I popped a CD that I made in 2014 on my PSR S900 into my home theater system and it sounded just a s good as what my SX700 produces. Go get the SX900 if you need all the extras otherwise, as I wrote before, the SX700 is the best value for your dollar.
Regards, Den.
ps; They don't care about what YOU want, they only want YOUR money. D.

 

[rakalone]

Thanks Den, appreciate your thoughts.

 

[Lacko]

One and a half year ago, when I wanted to buy SX700, some people advised me to wait for newer model, which was „on the horizon“. I am happy I didn't wait, but bought SX700 immediately.

 

[benny nious]

Hello. I was planning to do the same thing. I found out through Sweetwater Music that Yamaha was going to discontinue the SX900 keyboard! That usually means an upgrade is going to replace it. More bells and whistles. I would wait to see what the replacement is. If the new features are worth the price, go for it. If not, the SX900 is an excellent keyboard to get AND it'll be cheaper as stores will be trying to get rid of the now-discontinue keyboard. I currently have a PSR970. Yes, its old but when it goes through a building's sound system or an amplifier, it STILL shock seasoned professionals on how it sounds! Once a bass player came to a show i was playing at and asked the music director WHERE the bassist was at. He heard the bass but saw no one. She pointed to me. The look on his face was of utter shock. Now imagine what an SX900 bass would sound like in the same situation. Again, i would wait to see the newest before going for the SX900. If the added features ain't worth the price or you just don't need/want the features, get the SX900. either way you won't be disappointed.

Hi again... I was suspicious about what Sweetwater Music had told me about the discontinuation of the SX900. So I contacted Yamaha and they corrected me by saying it was out of stock at the moment and is still being manufactured. So I wanted to update you on that. But still find out what extra sounds and features are missing on the SX700 that the Sx900 has and see if they're worth having to pay the extra price difference. Either way, its an excellent keyboard to have !

 

[Rayblewit]

The big difference between the two (SX700 and SX900) is that the latter has a colour touch screen. For $1000 more, is that worth it?
It is all about the playing and the sound.
Twirling a physical knob or scrolling through a touch screen gets you the same result.

If the SX700 is missing some desirable styles or particular voice that the 900 has, you could possibly import it thru a USB file ?? I dunno!
Something to think about if you want to save a thousand bucks.

 

[Biggles]

I had a Korg Pa700 which is the equivalent of the SX700 and one thing that really bugged me about the keyboard was the fact that by the time I had loaded additional Styles and a few Sounds the user memory was totally filled.

It will be the same with the SX700 if adding more Styles and Sounds is going to be important so if you are now considering a 700 do check and compare the Specs.

The SX900 does have better onboard amps and speakers, a chord looper and vocal harmony/vocoder which the 700 does not if I have read the spec right. Additionally as expected the 900 has more sounds, styles.

If you want an onboard Sequencer, do checkout what any Yamaha arranger can do, you may be surprised.

The SX 900 has an Organ Style 61 note Keybed, by comparison the Korg Pa 1000 has synth action with aftertouch, so again determine what is important to you.

Do test out all options in store if you can.

 

[rakalone]

Thank you…very helpful!

 

[Biggles]

The big difference between the two (SX700 and SX900) is that the latter has a colour touch screen. For $1000 more, is that worth it?
It is all about the playing and the sound.
Twirling a physical knob or scrolling through a touch screen gets you the same result.

If the SX700 is missing some desirable styles or particular voice that the 900 has, you could possibly import it thru a USB file ?? I dunno!
Something to think about if you want to save a thousand bucks.

Ray

All PSR models sold in the UK have colour screens.

You Aussies must have tighter purses than the Jocks if you only get a B&W screen on the antipodean version of the SX700.

 

[Den]

Finally, whatever you chose to buy, by the time you have it set up and got it to play something that you like it will be obsolete. No good waiting, the next model will be far too expensive and the same thing will apply. That is why many keyboard players have a stack of them somewhere in the house.

All SX and Genos models have a color screen wherever. Not sure about the SX600?
Den

 

[Lacko]

SX700 has 400 MB dedicated expansion memory for sound samples (voices) and 1000 MB user memory for styles, registrations, playlists, midi and other files, whereas SX900 has 1000 MB memory for voices and 4000 MB for styles and other files.
As for speakers, any external speakers for 150-200 money are better than built-in speakers and much cheaper than price difference to higher level keyboard.

 

[Rayblewit]

All PSR models sold in the UK have colour screens.

You Aussies must have tighter purses than the Jocks if you only get a B&W screen on the antipodean version of the SX700.

Now you are being pedantic Mr. Biggles.
My PSR S650 screen has a purplish back ground and black or white text.
The later models have blue background with b&w text.
So, i guess ONE colour classes them as a colour screen . . Hahaha!
The PSR SX900 has reds, blues, greens oranges etc...

 

[happyrat1]

/me grabs a popcorn bucket and settles in to watch

 

[Biggles]

Yep, colour screen on all UK models.

 

[Sandmanmusicman]

I moved up from 970 to SX900 two years ago and I love it. To me it was worth the difference in price with SX700. I though I could never give up the 970 and the touch screen on SX900 intimidating but I actually like it better. It is a mini Genos and has additional features that Yamaha has added in Genos2 such as chord loop. Check it out before buying although I think it takes some time to master the features. Good luck,