SX700 vs SX900 a quick comparison for those who can't decide

[alaman64]

Hi everyone,

I'm a photographer who's close to 60, but has dabbled in music since my early teens. My setup for the longest time has been cubase and a ton of VST instruments, just wasn't doing much music lately, I think I was spending more time, going through thousands of voices, in my 20 or so VST instruments than writing songs, by the time I found the right piano, I'd be too tired to write any music.

So I discovered arranger keyboards 2 weeks ago, and thought wow, this has everything I want. So I purchased an SX700 after watching a few Youtube videos, brought it home, and had a big smile on my face. It sounded great!!! Then as I went through multiple styles, I found some were great, some were not. The ones that I did not like, was mostly the right hand parts, with the default voice for the style, I found them a bit too loud, or just did not sit well in the mix. With the mixer, and a little adjusting of the voices, they could be fixed to my liking. I found that 30 to 40 percent of the voices needed some tweaking. I don't tweak any more, I used to be a big tweaker, now, I just want to turn it on, choose a style and play.

So after a few late nights reading these forums and all the comparisons between SX700 and SX900, I brought back the SX700 and purchased the SX900. I could not do a proper comparison because, because  I had returned the SX700. I found that almost all the styles on the SX900 were spot on, and did not need any tweaking. Don't know why, I was under the impression, that they were basically the same keyboard, same sound engine.

The other thing to keep in mind is that there are more downloadable styles for the SX900 vs SX700.

There are many other differences between both keyboards, that have been covered here quite well.

[mikf]

Then as I went through multiple styles, I found some were great, some were not. The ones that I did not like, was mostly the right hand parts, with the default voice for the style, I found them a bit too loud, or just did not sit well in the mix.

A small point and not really a comparison between the two keyboards, but when you say RH voice I assume you mean the OTS. In this context, although some people actually like the OTS, it is nothing more than a voice pretty well randomly selected by a Yamaha engineer. There is no magic about the choice, because the engineer who chose it has no way of knowing what song you will play. Some people like some of them, some people don't. You can of course, change and tweak the OTS, then save it to the style permanently. But I personally seldom if ever have the OTS on, and I dont think that is unusual among experienced arranger players. It has too many downsides for me. The main one is that when you change variations, the lead voice changes, and you usually have no idea what it will be, how loud it will be etc. Often its a complete surprise. In the main, I think its much better to leave OTS off unless you just are experimenting, and select your own lead voice, and you certainly don't need it to change every time you change the accompaniment. The other thing is that over time when the novelty of having thousands of voices available wears thin, you will probably find, like most of us, that you settle on just a few favorite lead voices.
A trick used by many good arranger players is to make a registration bank of favorite lead voices, tweak then to suit yourself  and save them. If you keep that bank 'up' then you have a choice of several voices that you can change, when you want to, and you know absolutely what is coming. You can even paste a small sticker adjacent to each key with the name on it so you dont have to remember ..eg Grand Piano, Electric piano, trumpet, sax, fiddle, string section, sax section, vibes, synth. It doesn't stop you using the whole range of voices available, but it probably covers you 80%.
Mike

[BogdanH]

I agree with Mike completely.
OTS voices that are preset for each style are there... just to be there (so you can see how voices change when you change style variation). And for every song that you wish to play, it's expected that you define your own set of voices for OTS (or via registrations). That's actually the minimal customization that one simply must make on arranger keyboard.

Bogdan

[alaman64]

Thanks, mike.

Those are very good points, I'm sure as I play with the SX900, I will learn more about it's capabilities. I don't play live, the way I would like to use the SX900. This is my typical scenario, I'm shovelling snow or something, and I'm humming a melody and some lyrics I came up with. I want to go to my keyboard, find an appropriate style, and press play record before I loose the inspiration.  Once I read more on registrations, and saving favourites, I'll probably come up with something better.

But still curious are to why I prefer the presets with OTS better on the SX900 vs the SX700

[mikf]

Well it could be personal taste, could be that the 900 is a better sound machine or just like I said - the voices are chosen are pretty arbitrary.
Mike

[overover]

A small note about OTS (One Touch Settings): OTS are often underestimated because they often do not contain only the Preset voice settings of the relevant voices, but rather already edited voice settings.

If you get a new keyboard, I recommend listening to ALL the OTS (i.e. loading all the styles one after the other and playing the 4 OTS each). OTS where you like the voices / voice combinations, especially the Right parts, should be noted down immediately and/or saved into a Registration. Later, if desired, you can compare the sound of individual OTS voices with the relevant Preset voices to find out whether the OTS voice sounds different (usually better) than the Preset voice or not. The "Compare" function in the "Voice Edit" display is also helpful for this. (See also the attached screenshot.)


Best regards,
Chris

[attachment unavailable]

[pjd]

A lot of good info here!

Yamaha's voices and effect algorithms trickle down through the product line from the top: Genos to 900 to 700. The 700 is usually the previous generation 900.

So, the SX900 is genuinely one step ahead of the SX700 in voices and effects. To their credit, Yamaha updates the styles with each generation and incorporates new voices and effects. Thus, the SX900 OTS are improved over the SX700. It's a whole generational step.

Chris's point is important. There's a lot of good voice tweaks in the OTS voices! I recommend studying the tweaks and, especially, the effect settings. I learned a lot by doing that.

Hope all this info helps -- pj

[RobertM]

Hi everyone,

I'm glad to read others are starting to use the registrations for voices and associated effects. For years, through a range of Yamaha keyboards starting with the PSR 3000, I used OTS only, mainly because I was too lazy and inexperienced to set up registrations. Then I had been watching a series of Lowrey and Korg videos where the emphasis seems to be on a style and voice sets, two separate things.  Anyway, the penny dropped and though I still use OTS as a starting point I now save my favourite voices as sets, usually generic.

So now, so far, I have 12 voice sets, i.e. 8 voices on the registration buttons which can be used with ANY style. Obviously with the 4 in OTS that gives me 12 voices per style! They are: BigBand, Basic Drawbar, Country, French, Hammond, Hawaiian, Lowrey, Orchestra, Organ and Solo, Solo, Wersi, Wurlitzer and Empty.

If you need to keep a Left voice for all just use FREEZE on style.

Robert.

[richkeys]

So after a few late nights reading these forums and all the comparisons between SX700 and SX900, I brought back the SX700 and purchased the SX900.

Excellent decision to go with the SX900 instead.

[Flipper2]

Hello everyone,

I'm new at this forum and in the market to buy SX700 or SX900.... VERY cumbersome decision! 

As piano and synth player since I was 7 yo, my experience with arranger keyboards started with Casio back in 90-ties, then various Roland E arrangers, Roland G-800 and Roland GW-8.... playing pop, rock, evergreens and country/dansband on weddings and parties in Sweden.

Now.... BIG decision, no matter if it's SX700 or SX900.. I tried them both but leaning towards SX700.

BIG question is to buy now or wait to see what is coming in 2024?

My local dealer told me that Genos 2 has just been released so despite SX's are now 4 years old, there will be no new SX arrangers in 2024 or 2025....

Cheers and Merry Christmas !!!

[BogdanH]

hello Flipper2,

...I tried them both but leaning towards SX700.

I decided for SX700 and I don't regret my decision even a bit. But as always, everyone must make his own decision.

BIG question is to buy now or wait to see what is coming in 2024?

-if successor of the current SX would already be announced, then I would say "wait and see". But as it is, what's the point of waiting?

Bogdan

[Flipper2]

Hmm... I'm curious about Frankfurt Musikmesse in April next year...

... on the other side, I want early Christmas present for myself too... 

/ Dario

[mixermixer]

Honestly the G2 is more like a G1.5, IMO I doubt there would be a new SX model unless they put the DX7 tone engine/chip/sounds in there. On the other hand, I see used SX900 for the price of a new SX700.

[richkeys]

My local dealer told me that Genos 2 has just been released so despite SX's are now 4 years old, there will be no new SX arrangers in 2024 or 2025....

Some knowledgable people here have commented on this question in past posts. The thinking is Yamaha would release a new SX line about 2 to 3 years after the top of the line Genos 2 launch. I think that is probably accurate. I have the SX900 and find it to be a pretty up-to-date modern keyboard for the mid-range price. Its user interface is nearly identical to the Genos and it sounds great. It's hard to imagine Yamaha adding some great new feature on an SX upgrade that Genos2 doesn't have. Maybe the upgrade will be the addition of the DX7 chip and a handful of new sounds and styles. SX900+. The speculation begins! My only complaint is they should have put a higher quality grand piano in it for those who want to solo more on it, but it's still very adequate. So I definitely would not wait for a new SX line.

Rich

[Flipper2]

I've just got an order confirmation from my dealer 

It was no-brainer, SX900 sounds MUCH better than SX700.
It's clear even for my tinnitus-ears