So impressed with the PSR-SX600...

[svpworld]

As an owner of the Yamaha Genos, amongst other keyboards (Yamaha MODX, Roland Integra 7, Behringer Poly D) and a long time user and fan of Yamaha arranger keyboards, I thought I'd post my latest experiences here.

I love my Yamaha Genos, having progressed over the years from a Yamaha PSR520, PSR730, PSR740, PSR2000, PSR9000, Tyros 1, Tyros 2... oh yes it's a long list!  For many years I've also been performing in our local church folk group and the arranger keyboard has always been my go to instrument.  For many years I used a Yamaha PSR-S900, eventually selling it when I got my Genos as I thought it made sense not to have two similar instruments.

For the last year or so I've been carrying the Genos in a quality padded case, a personal monitor speaker as well as my Yamaha PA system, stands and so on.  However I've started to realise (probably ageing!) that carrying the Genos about is not only a bit risky for such an expensive keyboard, it's bulky and heavy!   Yep even in it's soft padded case, we are talking 20kg!

I decided I needed to get something a bit easier to take to church, but naturally I didn't want to spend a fortune.  Keeping my Genos at home, after much reviewing of videos and articles I went for the Yamaha PSR-SX600.

At under £620 from a reputable music retailer, the price point of the SX600 was certainly attractive.  However what has blown me away is the sound quality and features of the SX600!   As I said I'm used to the Genos amongst other premium keyboards, all I can say is that Yamaha have really come a long way in the last few years with their PSR range!  Now I'm sure the SX900 and SX700 are both also amazing, but the price jump to those boards and the extra weight was my reason to go for the SX600.

Albeit it lacks a few features, but none of them are things I need for performing in church.   Off the bat I am extremely impressed at the built in speaker system of the SX600.  I really was not expecting a lot out of just 2 single drivers, but wow the sound is really impressive, plenty of mid and top range and a great bass response (thanks to the solid MDF base plate and reflex ports).   Secondly, whilst the display on the SX600 is smaller than it's elder brothers and is not a touch screen, it's superb quality.  Very bright, sharp, high resolution (similar to modern smartphones), crisp and vibrant. It is a pleasure to use and at no time have I found it too small.   Whilst it's not a touch screen, Yamaha's innovative menu systems and proper tactile buttons made it a breeze to use and at no time have I wishes for touch.

Next and what blew me away is the fidelity and quality of the onboard sounds.  Whilst the pianos and EPs for instance don't quite have the finnese and depth of those on the Genos, they all sound as good in terms of presence, fidelity, cripsness and dynamics. The standard pianos are superb, certainly good enough for what I need in church.  The strings are also impressive, beautiful string pads and delivering a lovely warmth and lushness. Acoustic guitars, electric guitars, all bang on and as good as you would expect from any top end Yamaha keyboard. There's also quite a few sounds I don't have on the Genos, that was nice!  And the legacy sounds offer lots more variety if you back out of the presets and explore them.

The controls are logical and easy to use, in some ways I do welcome button shortcuts now to the style and voice categories (something not present on the Genos for instance).  Stylewise, they all sound fantastic and there's plenty of variety as well as lots of new ones not on my Genos. The multitrack recording works just as I expected having used previous top end Yamaha arrangers.  Also worth pointing out how responsive and snappy the user interface and menus all are.

For me it's the lightweight portability of the SX600 that really shines.  Just over 8kg,  quite a relief even in a case as still under 10kg and of course more compact.  It feels well constructed and I am really pleasantly surprised at how dynamic and comfortable the keyboard action feels.  Coming from the FSX keys of the Genos, it still feels really good and similar to my MODX.  Love the fact it has conventional modulation wheel and pitch bend rather than a joystick (again for my application I prefer these to be able to use the mod wheel to slowly fade or set the filter to varying degrees).  The two assignable knobs are also a fantastic addition, although shame you can't control the level of the individual parts for R1 and R2 with them.

It's a really impressive keyboard for the price point.  USB audio and midi, a bit of expansion memory - enough for me to load my favourite MKS 20 string pad sound I use on my genos and another generic pad sound - best of all, it even loads my old registrations from my PSR-S900!  All my midi tracks previously done on the PSR-S900 play perfectly on the SX600, and there's an audio player for wav files for when I need it in church.

I can thoroughly recommend the SX600 to anyone who perhaps thinks £1K+ is a lot to spend on an arranger and doesn't need the bells and whistles of the higher end arrangers from Yamaha.  The SX600 has enough I think to fulfil many users' needs, after all how many times have you use the vocal harmoniser, edited midi events in the sequencer, needed to plug in an external monitor or loads a few hundred MB of sounds?  As a portable solution to taking quality sounds and midi tracks around with compatibility in the Yamaha arranger category, this is definitely worth considering. 

Hope this proves useful to someone!   

Many thanks
Simon

[pjd]

Hi Simon --

Thanks for the thoughtful review! Occasionally, I think about the SX600 as a second keyboard. It doesn't get enough love. 

-- pj

[icatalin42]

Super review! Indeed, coming from tyros2 myself, i did find sx600 amazing, it is better! I simply love it, it has everything i need from a keyboard( great voices, amazing sounding styles, harmony, dsp plenty, midi play ,great screen, superb keys touch). It is amazing, i cant believe yamaha did all this on 750 euros (800$).

Take a look below,im in orgasmic state, as a beginner i love this keyboard:
1) Jennifer Rush- The power of love cover (recorded on s22 ultra internal mic on tripod, using power of love for tyros3/s950 style bought from https://www.d-o-o.de/4185-ai-the-power-of-love-(radio-edit)-jennifer-rush-midi-midifile-style.html ):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A3RvRLV05Ku7qQ8MewG-obTaV3w6TsPh/view?usp=drivesdk
The settings i used are in the pics (the power of love settings are easily identified since they show the style)

2) Modern Talking - Brother Louie (recorded on s22 ultra external input through usbhost b - usb type c cable, works flawlessly, you have audio in the same time on headphones and through usb out, amazing); this is not style play,it's midi play, i switched off channels 4,5 and 6 and used my voices as show in the following 2 pictures on next post below:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A8RoxKXXhPJh9Qjkj-pIjiSy4d_CNjV0/view?usp=drivesdk

In a word, i love it, it sound amazing, it delivers, it has usb output to my phone directly, midi play is a marvel, styles and voices are amazing, i'm in love


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[icatalin42]

(Follow up from above post)

And now the voices i used on Brother Louie midi play, see the attached pics.
I attach also a pic to show you guys my setup, including the cheap tripod (10$ from alibaba store cheap chinese but pretty sturdy) and the keyboard with stand and on the right you can see the usb b host - usb type c cable i used to pass the sound directly on my s22 ultra, it works when connected without any adjustments on both devices (s22 ultra and the keyboard)

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[BogdanH]

...
Take a look below,im in orgasmic state, as a beginner i love this keyboard:...
...

Hahaha.. it always makes me smile when I see genuinely happy new keyboard owner

Bogdan

[Jeff Hollande]

To have a lot of fun and ... to make good music, one not always needs the most expensive arranger keyboards.

Enjoy, JH

[svpworld]

Pleased now to add to my review that it IS possible to adjust the level of voice R2 with the custom control knobs. There is a level option and then further sub options to specify any combinations of parts to control! Awesome.

[icatalin42]

What do you think guys of super articulated saxophone? It sounds awesome if i play it without style playing and with style it doesnt sound that great. Do dsp and sustain impact negatively super articulated voices?
Here's an update of jennifer rush the power of love (sorry for the mistakes,im a beginner), modern talking brother louie and a sneak peak of berlin take my breath away and unchained melody (im learning them) but with direct  audio input usb keyb2phone, it sounds amazing, please check the links below:
The power of love : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BD_9CcgQuZvIH7mfB-1cuMR4xdnmXyMr/view?usp=drivesdk

Take my breath away sneak peak:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BDwoZQ6S-uJvGW05NyXPHU_GRUlFa8pM/view?usp=drivesdk

Brother louie take2:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BaiYoz4QZ7lZM0Nv0ukF8p18s-g3Qtfo/view?usp=drivesdk

Unchained melody sneak peak:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CrJ-DGtD6J-XtxDub9L1FJbjq4yhbpGO/view?usp=drivesdk

Btw, Tyros2(S910) styles sound almost flawlessly in sx600, did u notice that?i used them above for take may breath away and the power of love.  Brother louie is midi play.
Update: my dream setup (audient id4 audio interface, pc high-end 32gb ram, m-audio mini midi keyb, panasonic rb-mb500b provide awesome bass

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[Dov]

The SX600 is truly unbelievable value for money! I haven't yet used half of what it offers.

[icatalin42]

The SX600 is truly unbelievable value for money! I haven't yet used half of what it offers.

It is simply outstanding keyboard, i love it more than my former tyros2. If this sx600 is such a diamond, i wonder sx700/sx900 or genos how powerful could be. The styles are amazing, the voices, awesome. I realized that tyros2/s910 styles work great (even with ots) and sometimes even tyros3/s950 work (the power of love see above im using a tyros3 style. Midi play is a wonder, you can see which channell is playing and you simply switch it off (i prefer style playing though, only i couldnt find one for Brother Louie and i had to play midi). I havent found any downsides so far, it is amazing and what price, what price. Now with silent mode (headphones and phone audio input) even my wife is happy because no more noise  . I reccomend bass headphones such as skullcandy crushers evo or my panasonic rb-m500b, these sets have something similar to a subwoofer built in so the feeling is awesome.

Weekend update!
I made fully use of the aux input (thank you everyone that provide input) and connected my laptop/audio interface to my sx600 using a stereo jack 6.3mm to jack 3.5mm, and as you can see i was able to play using external vsti, see below on the link (Berlin - Take my breath away cover)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F4vXpGHK5yiuTGFSagpj0Rv1kUczcB9i/view?usp=drivesdk

I also tried to do a cover of Richard Marx - Right here waiting since it's raining in Bucharest and i felt pretty melancolic, see it below:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EPpY3qlhCo4MEdbxZPAH0HvzASDfj74f/view?usp=drivesdk

By the way, recording with direct audio keyboard2phone using usb typeb-type c cable is outstanding,  nobody hears anything in the room, i have my headphones also on. I switched the m50x with a panasonic rb-m500b,  i get awesome bass now. One more thing, sorry for the mistakes, im a beginner.


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[BogdanH]

hi Icatalin,

...If this sx600 is such a diamond, i wonder sx700/sx900 or genos how powerful could be....

My honest and personal opinion is, there is not that much difference as one would think (especially having price difference in mind). I can't say about Genos, but main & important advantages of SX700/900 are:
-bigger+touch display,
-bigger user memory,
-better sound from built-in loudspeakers.

And that's it. Yes, there's more (joystick, three RH voices, MIDI connection for 2nd keyboard, etc.), but these things don't really matter much for hobby musician. On the other hand, SX600 has audio interface built-in, which SX700/900 doesn't have (must be bought separately if needed) -and I think that's quite usable feature.
Saying that, SX600 seems to have excellent price/performance ratio. Still, because of advantages mentioned above, it was worth for me paying difference of 450€ for SX700.

Enjoy your keys 
Bogdan

[ton37]

I like your enthusiasm @icaltalin42, cherish that feeling as long as you can and glad to see a happy keyboarder!

[icatalin42]

Yes, i am super thrilled. I just love it. The only downside i find is related to the super articulated saxophone which in combination with styles doesnt sound that great, it sounds kinda broken somehow, that's how i hear it (firmware update???).
I want to learn to play Queen - I want to break free. That's not entirely my work, i follow closely one guy from youtube and i've learned alot from his experience (Albert from Belgium).

[icatalin42]

hi Icatalin,My honest and personal opinion is, there is not that much difference as one would think (especially having price difference in mind). I can't say about Genos, but main & important advantages of SX700/900 are:
-bigger+touch display,
-bigger user memory,
-better sound from built-in loudspeakers.

And that's it. Yes, there's more (joystick, three RH voices, MIDI connection for 2nd keyboard, etc.), but these things don't really matter much for hobby musician. On the other hand, SX600 has audio interface built-in, which SX700/900 doesn't have (must be bought separately if needed) -and I think that's quite usable feature.
Saying that, SX600 seems to have excellent price/performance ratio. Still, because of advantages mentioned above, it was worth for me paying difference of 450€ for SX700.

Enjoy your keys 
Bogdan

What do u mean by it has audio interface built in? How to take advantage of this ? For me, the audio interface im using (audient id4) gives me latency free through ASIO drivers so i can play the midi keyboard with no delay. Other than that, no gain. Ah, and it has also heaphones amplifier but im not using it since for gaming i have my bluetooth headphones (crushers evo or the panasonics) and when i play on sx600, i use the same panasonics but wired and on (bass subwoofer boost).

[BogdanH]

It means, by connecting SX600 to PC via USB, you can record (what you're playing) directly on PC as stereo audio file. That can't be done with SX700/900 -to do the same, external audio interface is needed.
It's up to each one individually, if that's important or not (but is sure good to have). On the other hand, those who also sing (or i.e., have a companion on guitar), they need to buy external interface anyway. Why? Because in that case you wish to make a multi-channel recording. For example: 2 channels (stereo) for keyboard + 1 channel for microphone + 1 channel for guitar.

Bogdan

[Franck Simplement]

hello,
to bounce on the above, on the audio recording, is there the possibility on the yamaha PSR SX keyboards to record in a DAW all the tracks used but separately but at the same time, if you understand me ?

[icatalin42]

It means, by connecting SX600 to PC via USB, you can record (what you're playing) directly on PC as stereo audio file. That can't be done with SX700/900 -to do the same, external audio interface is needed.
It's up to each one individually, if that's important or not (but is sure good to have). On the other hand, those who also sing (or i.e., have a companion on guitar), they need to buy external interface anyway. Why? Because in that case you wish to make a multi-channel recording. For example: 2 channels (stereo) for keyboard + 1 channel for microphone + 1 channel for guitar.

Bogdan

I see. Yep, multichannel recording its possible on pc using my audio interface, but since i dont use it (no guitar or voice skills), i didnt pay much attention to this feature. But it's obviously needed for those who use it on daw software processing.
About that usb, does it mean that sx700/sx900 cant output sound through usb (to host) like my sx600 does when i connect it to my phone for direct recording? Well, those can output sound to phone using keyboard's line out i think.

[icatalin42]

hello,
to bounce on the above, on the audio recording, is there the possibility on the yamaha PSR SX keyboards to record in a DAW all the tracks used but separately but at the same time, if you understand me ?

Wow. You mean when you play a style or midi and mute voices and choose your own, somehow when connected to a daw, on hit record button, let's say all 16-18 tracks (on daw) to be populated real time? That would be awesome, i mean the software to "sense" each instrument from the keyboard instance and populate each track real time instead of recording one track after another or using multiple channels recording using multiple instruments. Did i understand right?

[BogdanH]

..on the audio recording, is there the possibility on the yamaha PSR SX keyboards to record in a DAW all the tracks used but separately but at the same time, if you understand me ?

No, it's not possible to record keyboard audio in multi-channel. For example: keyboard is 2-channel (stereo) audio and if you connect microphone (and/or aux) in it, the recorded result will be down-mixed to two 2-channels... because keyboard only has two line (audio) outputs -it's a stereo audio device. That is, you can not simultaneously record each voice (in style/OTS) as separate audio channel. You can do that only by recording MIDI file.
What I was saying in my previous post is true for multiple audio devices (keyboard+microphone+guitar+..). If you connect them to external audio interface (by assuming a.i. has sufficient audio inputs), then each device will be simultaneously recorded on PC in separate channel.

Bogdan

[icatalin42]

Nothing compares to an authentic remember on a cold spring evening, enjoy. Sx600 is a marvel in combination with vsti. Every day it amazes me. Tyros2 style+ rock guitar (distortion i think it is) + synth flute vsti. Outstanding aux input and usb output on sx600.

Queen - I want to break free (beginner cover):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hch2nHLgDXSUtBfMSaiFHK3gmY6nKDSr/view?usp=drivesdk

I want ...more (v2.0):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IPrT9caoYQ_FxgBiVLSEPg4HceY01pZW/view?usp=drivesdk

Have a great evening or night depending where you live,
C.

[icatalin42]

Happy holidays! These weeks are holy weeks and may we find the calm and joy together and keep sharing great moments and ideas...only together we are stronger, see a new sx600 performance (beginner dont laugh) below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KQITfqC-vWlWKWnnD9j1pow2nLU9FA3I/view?usp=drivesdk

May God help us and take care of us!

[Divemaster]

Nobody ever laughs at beginners, because we were all beginners once!
Nicely played.
What's the midi keyboard you're using please?

[icatalin42]

Thank you, i find very powerful the combination sx600 and vsti (midi keyboard). The midi keyboard i use is an M-audio Oxygen Pro Mini  with 32 keys, more than enough imo, it's pretty cheap,around 80-100 bucks/euros.

Evening update! Something from the space:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LDyjWHMa3ZPIZPcIqZl_zE5_W6a28DS9/view?usp=drivesdk

Cheers,
C.

[icatalin42]

Easter update: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Mq7prlb955NN07jQe8ZjpvIE2Rh5hMHA/view?usp=drivesdk

Update: so far almost all tyros2 styles have worked almost flawlessly, the same with Oxygene IV tyros2 style,it even recognized the ots voices, at least the main voice,see below(apologize for the mistakes):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V6xgV2dQIEtL2QkfPyWCyev5anBOUne1/view?usp=drivesdk

Fun fact is that the main voice returned from the above tyros2 style is called Oxygen, great coincidence, i guess it's a brass.

Update: the short and better imo version:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ViO-Tn7XohKwjhTkW5lGXTYTWo7VsaA9/view?usp=drivesdk

[icatalin42]

Update: using some great synth voices together with a tyros1 style (couldnt find a tyros2 style for this song)
Words don't come easy cover
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WBeWeJlVPVOdD1l8dyMgBgPF0CjnKG7P/view?usp=drivesdk


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[Danny1972]

I love my Yamaha Genos, having progressed over the years from a Yamaha PSR520, PSR730, PSR740, PSR2000, PSR9000, Tyros 1, Tyros 2... oh yes it's a long list! 
Simon

Hi Simon,

That was a really nice post, a great read, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I briefly owned the SX600 as well. During the time I had it, I was very impressed with how great it looked and sounded as well. It's a beautifully designed keyboard and the amount of sounds and styles you get onboard is truly fantastic for the price which some can even be comparable to previous Tyros models (especially T2 & T3), I also tested Tyros styles including the T5 and most of them play great. If there was one criticism I had with it, was the screen size. I wasn't bothered if it was touch or not as I don't mind either way, but it could have been just a little bit bigger but other than that I really enjoyed using it in the time I had it and is worth every single penny.

[icatalin42]

Workers Day update: we've come so far together because only together we can succeed from team spirit to projects team, only by sharing ideas, experiences, thoughts ...every task becomes simple from complicated; we should never abandonate our purpose, that's why this cover which also shows the sx600 midi capabilities is about beeing together; so without further ado: Toto Cutugno - Insieme 1992 (which means "together" in italian)  cover:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YjZA6VtRHsOUw3rCcVgaXlO46ONojtT6/view?usp=drivesdk

(mind the chords moves, just dummy to fool some family members i play using style- i turned all the way down to 0 the left voice volume and unchecked the ACMP)


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[Danny1972]

Hi icatalin42,

Very nice indeed, a great song very well played!

I am Italian (although born in the UK), but my parents are from the south of Italy (Naples and Benevento). My dad is the musician in the family and he plays a lot of Italian music when gigging including Toto Cutugno, in fact my dad not only met him but played l'italiano together on stage when Toto came to England in the early 80s, was amazing for him. Anyway we play a lot of Italian music from the Classic Neoplitan stuff as well as the usual popular Italian music, but our overall favourite Italian artist is Celentano.

Did you ever used to own any GEM keyboards? I used to own a WX2 but then got a WK8 which I still have, and it was an amazing instrument for the day especially for karaoake, it was way ahead of it's time, just wondered if you had any GEM keyboards?

All the best to you,
Danny (Daniele).

[icatalin42]

Hi icatalin42,

Very nice indeed, a great song very well played!

I am Italian (although born in the UK), but my parents are from the south of Italy (Naples and Benevento). My dad is the musician in the family and he plays a lot of Italian music when gigging including Toto Cutugno, in fact my dad not only met him but played l'italiano together on stage when Toto came to England in the early 80s, was amazing for him. Anyway we play a lot of Italian music from the Classic Neoplitan stuff as well as the usual popular Italian music, but our overall favourite Italian artist is Celentano.

Did you ever used to own any GEM keyboards? I used to own a WX2 but then got a WK8 which I still have, and it was an amazing instrument for the day especially for karaoake, it was way ahead of it's time, just wondered if you had any GEM keyboards?

All the best to you,
Danny (Daniele).

Thank you Dany, i try my best although it's obvious im a beginner.  I was  still a child, almost a teenager in 1992 when Toto won the Eurovision contest, i simply love him, in fact i love many italian performers/songwriters, especially Celentano (la via gluck meravigliosa ,especially live).  Your dad knows him and played L'italiano together? Wow! Simply amazing this!
Toto song Insieme performed live in early 90s made me goosebumps on my skin, it was a great moment and for us europeans too i think . Never imagined i'd get the chance to play it one day.
We romanians understand very well italian, this language feel like home.

Now about the GEM keyboards. I've never owned one, this is the first time i hear about this, i used to own many beginners level psr keyboards, and a tyros2, and a korg pa500 which i enjoyed alot (the flutes are amazing at Korg) but in the end i wanted to return to yamaha because i know the menus well, its interfaces are more friendly than Korgs imo.

[DerekA]

My very first keyboard was a GEM Wizard 320 double manual home organ. A very different animal from the Genos, but boy did I play it night and day!