psr SX 700

[Ton]

 I like to hear from anyone who owns the SX700 what they think of it , like it and how does compare with th SX900 which is so much more expensive.
Thanks,

Ton

[BogdanH]

Hi Ton,
Now, there are many SX700 vs SX900 videos on YouTube and you can check specs for each keyboard on Yamaha web site. But I assume, you wish to know what differences might be important for you. But it's hard to answer that without knowing what experiences you had so far with keyboards.
I have SX700. Do I regret not deciding for SX900? Not at all! SX700 is quite capable keyboard and fully covers my needs (hobby musician, that is) and I think one can hardly get better for that money. What I miss most on SX700? It has relative small memory size and so it gets filled up quite fast -one just need to be very rational when installing additional voice/styles. Ok, SX900 has some other features, which I don't miss or need. Still, I would say SX900 is heavy overpriced compared to SX700 -yes, SX900 will probably disagree 

Just my 2c worth

[ton37]

And there is the SX600 

Most important is what functions are you gonna use in the specific keyboard-model? If you have that clear for yourself, you can make the right choice tmho.

[johan]

I have my SX700 for almost one year now and I am still very glad with the purchase.  But as said in the other responses: it depends on what you want. Major differences to me are the smaller memory for adding expansion voices and the missing chord looper. Less internal memory for styles, midi/mp3 files  and registrations is not an issue since you can load those directly from usb stick. You have more panel voices on the SX900 but for me, the voices in the SX700 are more than sufficient and they all sound great. The touch screen is very nice because even for a beginner like me, it makes the keyboard so incredibly easy to use. If budget permits, I would not opt for the new SX600: no touch screen, not possible to play mp3 files and very limited expansion memory.

[tomsixtwo]

Here in Germany, the price difference between the SX600 and SX700 is less than 250 EUR. For these 250 EUR you get an extreme added value. Once the SX600 will be available in normal quantities, the price will decrease rapidly.  As with the larger SX models. Currently it would not be wise to buy the SX600. Even if it were available here.

[sm-sx700]

Hi Ton,

I had a good look at specs before i made my purchase,

the sx 900 has chord loop, 1gb expansion memory, vocoder and a few more sounds and styles,
not forgetting it has revo drums, none of which made a difference to me as I play at home, which is why I opted
for the sx 700,

However if u are using it on stage or as a solo band, then u should pay the difference and go for the sx 900,

Hope this helps,
Regards.

[Tonytony]

hellow  its going to be one year owning my sx700 i have owned many of the psr series arrangers i have to say the sx700 is the best by far the sx900 is an excellent keyboard  for me it would be a waste of money cause i dont use the on board vocal harmony i use my keyboard for recording it has everything i need i already downloaded all the styles and multipads from the sx900 missing from the sx700 and having the 1gig hard drive storage is a big plus  i will be content with my sx700 untill the next model coms out

[Lucille Chung]

SX-900 speakers sound a bit better.

[Brian 007]

Hi,

I have had a SX700 for around a year and found it perfectly suitable for home only use, a very capable Keyboard at a realistic price.


Brian007

[Ernie]

Hi Ton,

When you still will sing you will miss the vocal harmony at the SX700.

Mate
Ernie

[blackpool]

Ton....As mentioned before on here -

I usually would only buy the higher spec model in a range, but have found this not to be the case with the SX models.

I bought an SX900 and then discovered i did not need the higher spec. I replaced it with a 700 and have been more than happy since, Plus i got a lump of cash back! which paid nicely for my new Korg i3 to use with it and an oversized used tablet from the junk shop. .....which really suits my needs. it is so good to have a piece of Korg to enjoy with it.
I use a home audio system with my boards, so even the 'slight' difference in output between the 700 and 900 makes no difference to me....and IMHO 'stand alone' the 700 would sound ok.

£ for £ ...the SX700 is the best Yamaha i have EVER owned ....as others have said, if your not going to use the additional spec. why spend the extra £600 . It is easy to load the missing styles and voices you might need and as said the revo drums are not important to everyone.
Keith

ps...here's a pic of the set up 700/i3 and a used tablet for my music - ALL costing less than a 900 in total!!

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[geoff5798]

Thats one massive tablet . How big is it and what brand . I could do with something similar to keep my music together and for my old eyes to read easier.

Geoff

[blackpool]

Hi Geoff - its a Philips S221C  21.5"  Its simply great!!  I love it ...only cost me £100 from the junk shop
Displays double page A4 book almost 'like for like' and i can simply swipe away in the gallery as see the darn thing.
plus its good for searching from my pdf's ( looks like I had one on in the pic )
i wish my iPad was this size with my poor vision!

Keith

ps. heres a link I found - not sure if it is still available new/updated
https://www.philips.co.uk/c-p/S221C3AFD_00/smart-all-in-one-display/

[geoff5798]

Thanks Keith for the info and the link. Shame they are still not being sold. I'm sure that the brand new price would be way more than £100. The biggest screens I have seen are 12inch Samsung and iPads.Maybe tech companies should start to think about the Gray Pound. They could produce larger displays, with bigger buttons simple operating systems and less bloatware on them.

Geoff

[reya]

Back in 2012/2013 these big screen android tablets were sold by a number of companies.
They often were marketed as AIO (All In One) devices and were sold new for € 300 - € 500 depending on brand/model. As far as I known none of them had a battery, so they allways needed to be connected to the mains.

They did not sell very well though, so they were not on the market for very long. And I remember there were quite a lot of them available on the second hand market from 2014 on...

I currently own two
An Acer DA220HQL (which also doubles as a pc monitor as it has a hdmi in port)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rjrq6-xcH8
And a HP Slate 21 (visible in my avatar)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcU_ZVZY7nA

They both were a bit slow compared to other (normal sized) tablets at the time they were introduced, so they are even slower nowadays  .
And the Android versions they run are a bit old, so not all apps can be updated to recent versions
But for displaying music scores they are indeed still great.

I run a copy of the Mobilesheets Pro app on both of them for handling my scores.
And through the use of an usb cable between each tablet and my Genos or my PSR SX900 I am able to load the corresponding registration on the keyboard automatically when loading a score in Mobilesheets Pro, or vice versa, displaying scores automatically on the tablets by loading the corresponding registration files on my keyboards.
Just great!

With some patience it may still be possible to get one of those big android tablets cheaply on the second hand market. I sometimes still see a HP slate 21 appear where I live ...

Rudy

[Ton]

Hello everyone,

Thank you all so much for your inputs, it makes my decision a lot easier.
To answer a few of your questions , i bought my first organ in 1965 , a Solina ,  in the Netherlands. Both my wife and I used to play the accordion so the keys were not new to us, but the sound of the organ soon had us hooked. like properly hooked.
The list is long , we are at number 27 at this moment ☺ a psr S975. I used to play out a lot, but that came to an end when I had my first hip replacement, later open heart surgery, just to make the point that I am well worn , I will turn 89 in December.
But I am still trying to get one of the newer boards , such as the psr SX700 or the psr RX600.
So ,wish me luck 

Ton

[blackpool]

I really think the price of the 600 and 700 difference is worth paying. ( around £200 in the UK )

As good as the 600 appears it is not in the same class as the 700/900

and in my opinion, if you are used to an s975 then I would not even consider the 600

Hope you enjoy whichever you decide on

keith

[tomsixtwo]

As good as the 600 appears it is not in the same class as the 700/900

On the other hand, the SX600 has a few new features that the SX700/900 doesn't have. Unison/accent, smart chords, class-compliant USB audio interface etc. If weight is an issue, this could be also an argument.

[blackpool]

Yes but i recon some of these new features are simply being tested on the the 600 and will be added in future firmware updates to the 700/900 and Genos. IF they prove popular and will then provide a 'makeover' for current models

An example of this was - Chord looper was added to Genos in an up-date. It was not on the original Genos ( as far as i am aware ) but was on the 900 at launch. Not that it is something I use ( hence I own a 700 )

The screen is a deal breaker for me on this new 600, it might be better but is not touch and is no bigger than the old 670. Plus the controls are just the same as the old model...very hard to see, badly illuminated...I loved the 670, lighter yes Tom, but try using it in bad light and this new 600 is just no better, well....IMHO
Its more like the controls on the old s series, but luckily its a dark cabinet like the old s750/950 so you might just be able to read the decals ok.
For my money ....the 700 is worth the 2 to £300 more in a heartbeat!!! it's just a slightly scaled down 900 and the best Yamaha £ for £ as I say, i have EVER owned.

Keith

[tomsixtwo]

You're right, Keith. With the current price difference there is absolutely nothing to think about. It gets more difficult when the SX600 is better available and the price will drop. Which, as usual, will happen quickly.

It is possible that the new features will be delivered as updates for the larger models. I would not base a purchase decision on this.

[blackpool]

In my view Tom, they will have to do it to protect sales on more expensive boards, with a Genos at around 5 times the price! people expect to get all the functions on the higher end.

Yamaha will give nothing away on the lower end boards - this is just a 'treat' as far as i am concerned.

BTW....best UK price i have seen for 600 is £660 on Amazon .. with the 700 being just £899 at the mo. so difference not vast.

[LaHawk]

So if you load the missing SX-700 styles and voices that are included on the SX-900, do they sound the same on the SX-700 as they do on the SX-900?
I know that Genos files loaded on the SX-900 do not quite hit the mark, something seems missing. Probably the DSP effects make a difference.

BTW, I've been messing with the chord looper lately, it's actually a worthwhile, and fun tool, and is something you may like.
And the VH is another fun option to have on the SX-900
Also a "screen out" on the SX-900, that I don't believe is on the SX-700
The SX-900 has an extra USB port, and two sub outs, and 1GB Expansion memory compared to 400mb on the SX-700

The SX-900 has 351 more main voices and an extra 121 extra "Super Articulation" voices
The SX-900 has 125 more styles including 3 extra free play styles ( 6 total) (3 on SX-700)

Is the SX-900 worth 500 US dollars more? Tough Call

[blackpool]

Depends what your personal and individual needs are Larry ? 
The Spec on the 700 fits my needs ...I have found any missing voices/styles which I have loaded have been fine,
I dont need the Mic.harmony and can use a USB hub for £5 which shows extra USB's on screen ( see pic ) , so that's not a problem, but actually better. Looper is not my bag nor screen out, so that's not a deal and the lower output is no problem as i use a speaker system.

As said earlier in the thread ...I put the cash difference to good use when i swapped my 900 to a 700 to buy a Korg i3. to use in combo with the 700 and had cash left over!

It's great to have a piece of each of the 2 best brands, for the price of one!

I have been around the block a fair bit with models and have to say, for the first time, I feel more than satisfied for the small investment.

Keith

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[LaHawk]

Gotcha Keith, you do have a nice set up, and a TC-Helicon, or similar, can be added externally for those that want a VH setup.

[blackpool]

Yes - Thanks Larry ...well it suits me fine.

When I think back to what we were paying when I first started playing in the 60's ....A decent Hammond organ cost the same as a car!!
We would have thought we were in heaven, with this lot now....
We are SO lucky to have all this great tech. these days and at such great prices to boot!

Keith

[LaHawk]

Yea and I remember how heavy those Hammonds were too 

[EileenL]

My very first Hammond organ cost me £375 new.