Yamaha or Korg

[scannie]

I'm interested in the PSR-SX700 or PSR-SX900.
I see there is also an alternative from Korg (PA-700 / PA-1000)

It seems Yamaha is very populair.
More YouTube videos.
But also more active users on a forum like this.

Why is Yamaha more populair?

[BogdanH]

...
Why is Yamaha more populair?

Ask someone on the street, which is better: Yamaha or Korg? And answer will be "what is Korg?" The thing is, Yamaha is just bigger and more known brand: instruments, audio equipment, ..heck, even motorcycles, and is on market since ever.

When we start looking for arranger keyboard, then we usually try to make a safe decision and so we decide for brand that we trust more.. for the brand is generally seen as "you can't go wrong with it" -and so, majority decides for Yamaha. And now it comes.. once you decide for certain brand (and you're happy with), then there are 90% chances that next time, you will decide for the same brand again. In sense, why changing?.. why taking a risk? -it's just how our mind works 

Bogdan

[scannie]

About 30 years ago I came into contact with Korg.
After that with no keyboard anymore.
My brain says Korg is a brand higher in familiarity and quality in this area.
That is at odds with what I see now.

I played on the PSR-SX900 for a short time.
What disappointed me was the sound quality of the loudspeakers.
With headphones the sound was fine.

[BogdanH]

...
What disappointed me was the sound quality of the loudspeakers...

I'm surprised you say that. Those who know me, can confirm that I'm not known as "Yammie fan" as I tend to be quite critical. But when we talk about built-in speakers, I think no keyboard has better sound than SX900. And if that's not good enough for you, then you would simply need to get external monitors -no matter what brand/model keyboard you decide for.
It is important to know, that built-in speakers aren't meant for bigger audience. They are built-in for convenience and usually good enough for practicing and home playing.

Just my opinion,
Bogdan

[scannie]

I'm not a critical about the sound quality, but I expected a better sound.
In particular the bass sounds did not go low, but giving them a 'boom boom' effect.
I assess the sound in a home situation with the volume low / normal for practice.


I am really hesitating between these 4 models.
And I am also wondering if the extra price between PSR-SX700 and PSR-SX900 is worth the money.

[BogdanH]

..In particular the bass sounds did not go low, but giving them a 'boom boom' effect.
...

There's an Compressor/Equalizer built in, where you can set the sound more to your taste (by default it's set to flat =neutral). It does make a change using it -if your expectations are reasonable.

...And I am also wondering if the extra price between PSR-SX700 and PSR-SX900 is worth the money.

-maybe you check this thread.

Bogdan

[Jeff Hollande]

Hey Scannie :

Only the ( potential ) buyer is " the decision maker. "
He/she will always follow his own " instinct " .

We are a big Yamaha family here.
All of us will advise you to go for a Yamaha arranger ( for many, many reasons ). 

Yamaha 's products are all very reliable. One of the main reasons why they are the worldwide arranger market leader for more than 2 decades.

BUT ... it is up to you.
Good luck !

Best wishes, JH

[Divemaster]

I'm not a critical about the sound quality, but I expected a better sound.
In particular the bass sounds did not go low, but giving them a 'boom boom' effect.
I assess the sound in a home situation with the volume low / normal for practice.


I am really hesitating between these 4 models.
And I am also wondering if the extra price between PSR-SX700 and PSR-SX900 is worth the money.

There are several very good YouTube videos that go into all the details of the PSR-SX700 and PSR-SX900. They will help you to decide where to spend your money. I won't comment on Korgs, because I don't know anything about them.

Bottom line is this.
How much do you want to pay to get the quality of music that you're looking for?
Are you a Home Player, or a stage or other performer.....or maybe wanting to go that route?

I own an SX700 (in fact I own 2 of them). I find it to be the most satisfying keyboard to play, and it has PLENTY of sound, and the advantage of being able to be loaded with pretty well endless other Yamaha styles, registrations and voices from many other instruments and sources, including from this great site.  Just don't load everything at once!

Why did I NOT choose the PSR-SX900? I am fortunate enough to be able to buy either, or even both, or even a Genos, but the SX700 does everything that I could wish for. Spending more doesn't always equate with getting better. I'm a home player, so don't need all the bells and whistles that a professional would find advantageous. think about that carefully, and before rushing to the bank.

ALL keyboards with built in speakers will provide good levels of sound, and the speakers on both SX models are more than adequate for home playing, or even for playing in a reasonable sized room or hall in my opinion. Obviously, if you want to fall out bigtime with your neighbours,  then you can always hook them up to  Yamaha or other amplified speakers, and make a hell of a LOT of noise. I find mine absolutely adequate, and with decent headphones, the sound is excellent. But if you're going to perform, then be prepared to buy bigger speakers and get your wallet out. You can spend more on speakers than on a keyboard quite easily.

Chasing perfect sound can work out VERY expensive. Factor that into your buying decision.....I never have done, because I look after my hearing and believe me, tinnitus is not something you want to get! The SX700 and SX900 have enough sound..Period.

YAMAHA make very very good instruments. Become a full member of the PSR Forums, and you'll get the full benefits of this site.
You will enjoy the many subjects that come up for discussion, and get help to understand your new keyboard which can be invaluable.
Plus the benefits of years of experience from many Yamaha players.

Finally.....Be brutally honest with yourself. How good a player are you?  Ask yourself that twice.

Will you get any benefit from buying a much more expensive arranger keyboard than you actually need? Sure, it's always nice to have the best, but have you got the time and more importantly, the personal effort to get to learn it, because there's a lot to take on board. Be honest with yourself.

Always do the equation. Is it NEED or WANT?
NO instrument will automatically make you play better, but having a good keyboard will certainly inspire you to become one.

I can only speak for myself, but for me the PSR-SX700 is without doubt, the finest keyboard on the market at the moment, at a price that is both affordable, and adequate for my purpose.

As I always say......The CHOICE is yours. You're the man spending the money!

Keith

[Jeff Hollande]

Hey Keith :

Well said ... a super analysis and nothing but the truth.
Thanks for your time and for your valid arguments.

Best wishes, JH

[mikf]

Anything in the PSR range and the two Korgs you mention are good keyboards, all equally capable of producing nice music. The sound potential from all of them is very good, although the internal speakers are a compromise, but easily improved at a price. Headphones are best way to hear the potential.
Final choice is very personal, price vs features. I don't think higher price or more features is necessarily regime of better players. Hobbyists are often the biggest chasers of features and the idea of having the latest and greatest.
Mike

[scannie]

I see a lot of videos on YouTube.
Of course you can't answer for a specific song.
But general, most played songs on YouTube use standard styles?

[mikf]

If that is a question, the answer is I wouldn't know, and probably no- one else does either. If it is someone demonstrating the keyboard the chances are it's an onboard style. Some are, some aren't, some might even be midi file accompaniment. Unless the person tells us what style is used it's not always easy to tell the source. And not something most of us think about.
Mike

[Danny1972]

I am really hesitating between these 4 models.
And I am also wondering if the extra price between PSR-SX700 and PSR-SX900 is worth the money.

Hi scannie,

I hope all is well.

I happen to own the SX900, Pa1000 & Pa700 and they are certainly all very good keyboards indeed. It really is down to what you need from them as for example, if you're looking for in depth editing options and features then I would say the Korg would probably suite better. If you're looking for something to pick up play that has an appealing fun factor to it from straight out of the box then the SX series is superb. Yamaha tends to have quite a number of famous songs in their styles and if you know the songs well then it's even more of a bonus! Korg has a few as well but not as many.

You asked why Yamaha is more popular and I think Yamaha cleverly design their keyboards to really attract people to play music from any level. If you get an SX keyboard and go through the intro's of the styles, you will be absolutely blown away by them, some of them are songs in themselves so there is a huge attraction there. Yamaha also make keyboards across many ranges right down to the beginner models for the very young, I don't think there's many other brands that cater for these ranges apart from Casio, again very clever because when you start to improve and want to improve your instrument you will always think of Yamaha first.

With all that being said, there are things on Korg that I really like that I don't think are matched by any other brand, for example, the outstanding amount of unplugged styles that are so beautiful to play anything you want along. Korg also have great intros in their styles too. I really like the drums of the Korg. 

I would say if you like the sound of both equally, then maybe look at what features you'd want, that should push you towards making your choice.

Just to add, if you're looking at YouTube videos to help then I'd look for videos from Jeremy See who's done many great overviews between Korg & Yamaha, especially in the keyboards you're interested in.

All the best,
Danny.

[NativeAngels]

Essentially only you can make that choice. Which arranger meets you needs, what features you require or are actually going to use.

Everyone has there own opinion of which make is best, but it's best your own choice.

[mikechavez]

Good day.

From my point of view, choosing an arranger depends a lot on what you want from it. For me, the Yamaha ecosystem is much easier in the learning aspect.

A few years ago, I tried to change and bought a Korg i5, which was very difficult for me to use, being an arranger that many would have found very easy to use.

In my case, I'm looking for ease a lot, especially because of timing issues, having voices that can give styles more life, and I think Yamaha has that. At Korg you have to do too many edits and adapt to giving your system a lot more time. Apart from everything, I play in musical groups from time to time, and that is where I would lean more towards Korg, however, there I use both my SX900 and the iM1 app, and with that I have plenty and that's enough.

But as they say, everyone has their tastes, I'll stay with Yamaha.

[scannie]

After a lot of reading but also the information and advice in this topic I decided to choose for Yamaha.
I'm not the technical person that create instruments with a lot of adjustments and settings.

I think I follow your advice for the model too, then it will be the PSR-SX700.
I'm living in The Netherlands.

A shop gives the option to sell a PSR-SX700 package.
It includes a PSR-SX700 of course.

But also:

Playlist EXTRA 1100 pcs
Playlist NL/BE  (Dutch / Belgium) 560 pcs
Yamaha Bonus Playlist 462 spes in one total-file insteaf of 9 folders
Some REGISTRATION banks for practice
Christmasstyles SX700
Hits der Lage Landen - 64 REGISTRATIONS Dutch / Belgium
96 Songs EURO PACK
96 Songs PLATINUM PACK
32 Piano Styles (from Arpeggio til Piano Beguine, from Piano Rag til Piano Blues)
4 x  Austria Styles Wals/Polka
Extra Styles geconverteerd from Ketron, Gem, Roland etc..
MULTI PAD examples
Registrationbank Eminent/Elka/no click/Sustain/Legacy Strings/Right&Left
2 x Dutch Musette-accordeon sounds (Kermisklanten/Jordaansound)
John Woodhouse-sound
4 x Wersi Organ Sounds (Klaus Wunderlich, Franz Lambert, Spectra)
4 x Yamaha Voice & Style Expansion Packs (Western Europe, Church&Christmas, Entertainer of Latin, Dance of Celtic)

It will be installed via YEM (I don't know what YEM is).
Export Instrument info need to be uploaded.

This package cost 120 euro.
Is it worth this price?

I don't know the prices for extras like this.

[rodrigo.b]

In my humble opinion, If you want the best sound quality on the market buy a Yamaha arranger, if you want more possibilities in terms of sound design, sampling, style creation, better keys (Aftertouch) or if you want to use the keyboard with VST instruments buy the Korg, it also has great voices and styles.

[mikf]

Seems reasonable for $120, most of it is about saving you the time and effort to locate, download and install rather than what it costs. Whether you want all this and if it's worth it to you, only you can decide. YEM is the Yamaha Expansion Manager, the tool that enables the import of some of the files.
Mike

[Divemaster]

Hi Scannie

I'm glad that you have decided on your choice of keyboard, and that it will come, already loaded with quite a good selection of extras.

The best advice I can now give you is to download the Reference manual from the Yamaha SX700/900 website. This does NOT come with the keyboard, but you will need it.
You will get your User manual with your keyboard.
Spend time reading them, and learn how to use the keyboard.
Enjoy, have fun, and take it at a pace that you are comfortable with.... You'll soon be making amazing  music !

Keith

[scannie]

I thank you for all the advice.
This helped me a lot in making my choices.

Now the more surprising for you guys
I am a beginner in this field who can't read musical notes yet can hardly play music.

However, I am very motivated and have been intending to get into this for years. It will be a long road to be able to play well. I am 56 years old and then it is more difficult than someone who grew up with it. It is not a competition, I want to play for my own enjoyment.

With the PSR-SX700 I then have a keyboard that I can slope forward with.
More expensive models are overkill for me.

I am curious how long it will take before I can play a nice piece. Of course, that also depends on how much time you spend on it.

I hope I don't get into this hobby too late.

[Lacko]

Hi Scannie,
when I was thinking about buying new keyboard (SX700 in my case), I got a couple of advices:
1. Yamaha has better voices of acoustic instruments, Korg is better for electronic music
2. Yamaha is ready made keyboard out of box, the other need some tweaks to be as good (it needs experience in this field)
3. Yamaha has the widest choice of voices and styles available (free or paid)

As for the additional package for 120 €, look first at Yamaha page. There you can download many packages with voices and styles from all over the world completely free. On planetkeyboard. com there are many different styles for reasonable price. Then you can decide if you need to pay those 120 € more.

P. S.
Those 4 Yamaha voice and styles packs you mentioned above, are free from Yamaha page.

[BogdanH]

hi scannie,
Keith (divemaster) gave a good advice: download Owner's manual and Reference manual, and go trough it. Don't let technical terms scare you and don't try to remember everything what's in there. More important is, that you know it's there -so when you need particular info, you know where to find it.

About 120€ pack.. I wouldn't buy it. Two reasons why not: A -at beginning you won't know what to do with it, B -you can get most of that for free on internet (at Yamaha and this forum). I think that money is better spend by buying some keyboard cover, good keyboard stand, etc.

Age really plays no role on when you should start with keyboard playing.. ok, one is for sure: you won't become Beethoven 

Reading musical notes... In my opinion, most important thing is good hearing and sense for music (rhythm) -without having that, you can't play music. That is, you can play good music without knowing how to read notes.
But here it comes... knowing to read notes (at least at basic level) does help at learning new music pieces. And believe me, if you're passionate enough, over the time you will learn just enough (been there, done that).
How long does it take till you play a nice piece? Seriously, that only depends on your talent (not age). I think one can play a nice simple melody after a week or two... that won't be a "piece", though 

I think you decision for SX700 is right: is very capable keyboard for the money and unofficial support (this forum) can be of big benefit. Just get it -the rest depends on you.

Bogdan

[mikf]

The Yamaha arrangers have many tools to make it possible to produce "recognizable" music in a short time. But you will have to learn some basics about music. You can access some courses on the internet. People with a good ear for music will have an advantage as they can probably pick out tunes by themselves, but even then they need to learn about musical notation, chords, how to play them. And of course you need to get familiar with how the arranger works, what does what etc. in fact you need to start by learning the basics of the keyboard operation. How to select a voice, style, tempo. Then try to learn simple chords and melody.
All of this is not trivial to do by yourself from a standing start. It was no surprise to find you had no previous musical experience, it was obvious from your Left Hand Right Hand post. If you can find someone to give personal lessons that is competent on an arranger, that will be well worth the money. Maybe the store you buy from can point you in the right direction.
There are many people starting with only very basic musical knowledge that learn to produce decent music on an arranger in months. Maybe they took some lessons as a kid, maybe they messed with another  instrument like a guitar. But starting from completely nothing can be intimidating. Being honest, most people like yourself starting from nothing, see the arranger demonstrated, think that doesn't look too hard, and then find it much, much harder than they realized and give up. So  investing in lessons might be the best money you can spend, and protect the money you already invested in the keyboard. Otherwise I predict it will end up in a cupboard somewhere, then dumped!
As I say, there are courses on the internet, but nothing beats a knowledgeable teacher in a personal one to one. So keep your expectations reasonable and find a teacher.
As for the $120, Bogdan is right, it may be months (or never) before any of it is useful to you, but depends what $120 means to you.
Mike
BTW - it is possible to find a teacher on the internet that does personal lessons via zoom. That might be the best way to find someone who both teaches and is competent on arrangers. Nobody I can think of better than Andy on this website. Brilliant player, experienced teacher, arranger designer.

[Jeff Hollande]

Hi Guys :

All Korg owners believe both arrangers ( PA 700 and PA1000, from 2017 ) will be replaced by their successors soon. Available in 2024 ?
Korg's first priority now is to update their new high end arranger PA5X. Apparently not an easy task.
Korg promised this particular update would be available in June, July 2023. Wait and see.
The newest Korg ( PA5X ) software might be applicable for their 700 and 1000 successors ... who knows ?

Hope all our time and efforts might be useful and helpful for Scannie to make the right decision ...
Will he be convinced to go for an SX model ? Time will tell.

Take care, JH

[scannie]

Today it I ordered the PSR-SX700 keyboard.
I downloaded the manual, study has started

What strikes me when I watch the YouTube videos is that almost no one reads the musical notes.
How do you play songs, with or without sheet music on paper?

[Jeff Hollande]

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S, Scannie !

Enjoy your SX700.
Best regards, JH

[BogdanH]

..
What strikes me when I watch the YouTube videos is that almost no one reads the musical notes.
How do you play songs, with or without sheet music on paper?

For  (popular) songs that majority of us play, musical notes aren't really needed after we learned how to play particular song. That is, notes can be helpful when we learn how to play certain music/song. If it's some complex music piece, then musical notes might still be needed while we play. But not to read every key that we need to press.. notes serve more as an overview (of what comes next).
Playing comes with practicing.. and it will happen, over the time you will forget how to play some song (even you remember the melody). That's why it can be useful if you make some notices about how to play it: what style is being used, what chords are used, chord sequence, etc. -make a cheat paper which will later remind you on how to play.
And.. just take it easy 

Bogdan

[Divemaster]

Well done Scannie.
I hope that you will be DELIGHTED with your new keyboard.
Playing will come with time, and learning will take time.
Never get frustrated that you aren't understanding things. We are all here to help you.

Whereabouts are you? Let us know, there just may be another keyboard player or somebody not too far from you who could guide you through the first steps. 

You've mentioned that people who play on YouTube don't use sheet music, but of course many of them are professional musicians or very talented players.
Most people are home players, we help each other.
I'm 76, and still have loads to learn.

Take your time. It Will be worth it. Enjoy your musical journey.

Keith.

[robinez]

After a lot of reading but also the information and advice in this topic I decided to choose for Yamaha.
I'm not the technical person that create instruments with a lot of adjustments and settings.

I think I follow your advice for the model too, then it will be the PSR-SX700.
I'm living in The Netherlands.

if you are not that technical then i think you made a great choice choosing the yamaha keyboard. It's much easier to operate then a korg keyboard.

I live in holland too and every tuesday evening we have an online keyboard meeting on discord where we give workshops and answering questions of how to use the keyboards people have. And in that group only 5 persons are using a korg pa5x and the rest of them are using yamaha tyros and genos models (so there are a lot more yamaha users). Considering the questions in those meetings I can say that the persons with a korg keyboard has more difficult questions then the yamaha keyboard players.

I also own a yamaha genos and korg pa5x, and they are really different and in my opinion also for different type of players. If you like to play songs from the 60 till 2000 then the yamaha has a lot of styles available which are song specific. The korg doesn't really have a lot of styles in that area, korg has more generic styles and also ranges more to the songs you hear nowadays. Also the styles are more sparse on a korg , it's more like you play with a live band where the yamaha shines in creating a more CD like final product. Both are great, but it serves a different kind of audience in my opinion.

Feature wise the korg outshines the yamaha keyboards in my opinon. I know that a lot of people will probably hate me for saying this on this forum, but it's simply a fact and not a bad thing for yamaha. The fact that some things are missing on a yamaha means that it's also easier to operate and that the things that it can do, it can do most of the times a lot better than on a korg.

But if you are looking for extra things like a synthesizer on board that you can program on the keyboard itself, things like wave sequencing, Matrix programming and 16 channel mute control through buttons for performances, lot's of effects (and i mean a lot!), seamless sound transitions between keyboard sets of 4 layers, styles up till 16 channels at the same time instead of the usual 8, removing the vocals in realtime from backing tracks, and lots more, that is where korg is more advanced, but the downside is that it's also a lot more complicated and it takes time to learn all these things.

So i love both keyboards and will always have them next to eachother here, they both shines in there own area with their strong and weak points.

But for non technical persons i would always recommend to go for yamaha, it's much easier to learn.

[mikf]

You have been asking questions about the keyboard capabilities, but to be brutally honest, none of it really matters to you. Learning to play is your primary challenge and will absorb all of your time regardless of the keyboard functionality.
This website is good for the 'how to' on the keyboard functions, but not the place to learn to play. Don't underestimate this. The arranger makes it miles easier compared to conventional piano, but it's still a huge challenge for a 56 year old starting from ground zero.
Mike