SX900 has arrived

[J. Larry]

For those in the U.S. who have pre-ordered, let it be known that the SX900 is finally here.  I know, because I'm looking at the box in my house now.   At least, I hope the box is not empty!  Will open it shortly.

[Toril S]

No, there is a vacuum cleaner in the box  

[EileenL]

You are in for some fun. Great little keyboard.

[Danny1972]

For those in the U.S. who have pre-ordered, let it be known that the SX900 is finally here.  I know, because I'm looking at the box in my house now.   At least, I hope the box is not empty!  Will open it shortly.

I took photos of the box when it was delivered, then proceeded to open it an hour later !!!

[wannjl]

What vendor is shipping?

[beykock]

Congrats, J. Larry !

Enjoy your new arranger !

Babette

[Dnj]

I would like to know what store is shipping the sx900 in the USA also at this time?

[J. Larry]

Yes, I opened the box and guess what?  Yea, an SX900!  I purchased it via Guitar Center on August 5, with delivery to the house on October 8.  If anyone's interested, I'm finding it to be a definite upgrade from the S975 in some ways.  The overall build seems more substantial, with the key feel somewhat better----that others have reported.  I was disappointed to find finger prints, or smudges under the lighted screen.  I noticed them before  ever touching the screen.  This is the 3rd Yamaha arranger I've had with such finger prints.  Don't those workers wear gloves?  And, by the way, the touch screen sure shows finger prints after some usage.  My first touch screen ever.  I may prefer the button pushing.  Not sure, as yet.  Love the overall sound.  Much improved speakers, which the PSR line should have had all along.  The styles and voices have a clear, present edge to them.  Many of the same S975 styles seemed to have had some touch-up work.  And some of the styles, have long tail-outs from the auto-endings to simulate real recordings.  I've wished for that a long time.  Of course, there are lots of new styles and voices.  Biggest disappointment thus far is the vocal harmony.  Can't get it anywhere close to the S975.  It's probably operator error.  I'm checking compression and everything else, but nothing sounds right.  The harmony vocal only works partially.  Most of the time you can't hear it, despite good gain settings.  Also, can't get the concert piano to sound to my liking.  Been fooling with the EQ, master effects and such; but, still not as good as my S975 piano at this point.  Maybe in time.  There are new pages and paths to follow in doing midi recording, which I do a lot.  Some of the editing features very familiar on the S975 have not been doable, as yet, on the SX900.  For example, changing volume levels on various instruments within the midi recording and having the song saved properly.  The resaved result always seems to jump back to the settings of the original recording.  I'll keep the SX900; but, not giving up the S975.     

[Dnj]

Jlarry..
May I ask why you upgraded from the S975?

[Pino]

JLarry
How can you comment about the SX900 with its completely new OS after only using it for 1 or 2 days, surely 7 days would have given you time to learn how to save the midi etc etc,
And maybe read the 'user manual' a little, everything gets easier the longer you use them.

Pino

[StuCos]

Hi J.Larry,

As you still have the S975, why not save the Concert Grand onto a USB stick and then re-introduce it as a User Voice on the SX900. You can then play them both on the SX900 and see if there is any difference between them.

Regards,

Stuart

[J. Larry]

I upgraded to the SX900 because I'm a sucker for the latest model.  I assume, rightly or wrongly, that a new model will sound better and have advanced features from the previous one.  Among the PSR's, I've had the 910, 950, 970, and 975.  Keeping the latter as a backup.  The one fly in the ointment was the Korg PA 1000.  Traded it pronto.  Just couldn't adapt to Korg.  My initial comments may have been premature, since I'm warming to the SX900.  Still can't get the VH to work properly.  In fact, it's so bad, it's not usable at the moment.  Everything else is super.  Reading the manual might be a good option.  A 7-day wait before commenting might have been better.  However, I'm prone to poke and hope.  That concert piano voice is coming around.  It takes some tinkering, but my hearing is adapting.  If anyone is straddling the fence about the SX900, give it a go.  I don't think you'll be disappointed, especially if you play one of the earlier PSR models.     

[Pino]

@J.Larri - Hope you got your midi saved, it was easy really,  you just needed that bit more time to get used to the keyboard, I've owned all the keyboard that you mentioned and I have come to the same opinion as you, this sx900 does grow on you, I like everything about it apart from the black gloss facia, (the 950/975 facia was Matt black, I never had a headache playing a keyboard before, where I work is low lighting so I need my keyboard light).
Nonetheless, I will say that it's the best PSR to date.
Can't comment on the VH, I have VL2 and VL touch, will stay with them.
But
The sound department hasn't changed a lot apart from the scat voices which are pleasant enough,
I have re-tuned some of my registrations etc, new voices, FX etc,
And re-recorded some of my gig songs again on the SX.

This is my experience after 2 weeks, apart from adding some of the scat voices.
My new re-recorded songs sound almost identical to my S910, not a huge difference.
That's just saying how good the voices have been since the 3000,

I will upload some songs as soon as I have the time to join the audio.

Maybe others here will disagree with me

Pino