Yamaha PSS-E30 Remie review

[pjd]

Hi --

I bought a Yamaha PSS-E30 Remie keyboard for my grandson. Of course, I had to play it and tear it apart first. :-) Please check out the post (links below).

In case you missed it, Yamaha announced three PSS keyboards using mini-keys: PSS-E30 (Remie), PSS-F30 and PSS-A50. The Remie is for young kids and I'm trying it out in case I want to get an F30 or A50 for myself. The F30 is kind of a "Reface arranger."

By the way, I had to migrate my site to a different hosting provider. Please let me know if you have trouble accessing my site through the links below or if you find anything missing on the site. Thanks!

All the best -- pj


http://sandsoftwaresound.net
http://sandsoftwaresound.net/review-yamaha-pss-e30-remie/

[SciNote]

Thanks for posting this!  I've been curious about these little keyboards, particularly the A50.  I first read about them here several months ago, then a month or two later, Yamaha posted them on their US website, then they (strangely) removed them a few days later.  Now, within the past week or two, they are back!

While I do most of my recording with my E433, I could see having an A50 as a sort of "scratch pad" keyboard to take on a trip to get ideas for a song or an arrangement, and it could even be hooked up to Audacity directly if I get a sound I really like.  While I'm no fan of mini-keys, they make sense for an instrument like this, and the Reface keybed is definitely a good target when designing a feel for the mini-keys.

A couple things I noticed from your review.  You mentioned the headphone volume limit that people with kids would appreciate to help prevent their kids from running headphones at a dangerous level.  While this isn't a feature I would need, I would be curious if the that level is maintained if the power is switched off and on, or if the batteries are removed and reinstalled.  If not, and a kid figures out they can make the headphones louder by just popping out the batteries and putting them back in, it defeats the purpose.

Secondly, you seemed surprised that, with a C major scale, hitting the "VII" note (B) produced a minor-flat-5 chord.  But, that is the chord you get if you play a triad based on the seventh note of a major scale.  And yes, it is a soap-opera/horror movie/dissonant chord!  For even more fun, add an Ab to the top!

[pjd]

Hi Bob --

Thought you might be interested! The A50 would be my choice, too. After playing Remie more seriously last evening, it definitely needs octave shift buttons. The F30 and the A50 have them. The A50 seems to have "hipper" stylistic content; with Genos or even an E-series, the F30 isn't going to turn anyone on, unless they need compact portability.

"Surprise" at the B diminished might have been a poor choice of words. Since it's a keyboard for kids, I expected more help in keeping everything musical. Yep, the Bdim is musically correct, but seems to slavishly follow musical theory that is above the head of most kids (and some adults). 

The manual claims "The following settings will be maintained even if the power is turned off. Master Volume, Volume Limit, Tuning, Chord Fingering Type, Auto Power Off,
Battery Type. Software might be able to write these settings into the ROM chip.

I'm going to take another look at the SHS-500 again. Yamaha is getting a lot of mileage out of the Reface mini-keys.

All the best -- pj

[pjd]

I posted a "Remie inside" article for the technologically obsessed.    Remie has some mod/hack potential and is dirt cheap.

-- pj

http://sandsoftwaresound.net/inside-yamaha-pss-e30-remie/

P.S. Remie's design (and the PSS-F30) are quite similar to PSR-F50.

[voodoo]

Hi pj,

I read your Sonogenic comparison. I also don't understand, why they have left out the organ voice. In the DSP-list there is even a Leslie-Effect, but no voice to use it on....

Uli

[Practical Senses]

I wonder how built-in speaker sounds. Did you compare it to another keyboards like PSR-E263 or maybe something like Casio SA-46 (similar size and specs).

[pjd]

Hi --

I would describe Remie's speaker as "Just OK for the price." I don't have a PSR E-series for comparison.

It's definitely better than Reface, which is not saying much. Probably, even a low end E-series is better just on specs alone:

    E263                 Remie
    ------               -------
    Stereo               Mono
    2.5 x 2.5 watts      1.4 watts
    12cm x 2             8cm x 1

-- pj