PSR S770 or E453

[Dwarfsong]

Hello All,

I've read a lot of comparison posts here, but still - any advice or opinion appreciated 😊

I'm a guitar player for 40 years, and also been learning classical guitar for 8 years. Than been playing (and still) in hobby bands, small gigs, etc. I am just saying these to let you know, I am familiar with scales, chords/translations etc in theory, and on the guitar frat. But don't have any knowledge on the black&white field... (I know which key is which note, and can hit some basic minor/major stuff with right hand, but that's all). Recently decided to start self-learn playing keyboard, which was on my whishlist for decades already.

When I found this forum (lucky me) started reading the very informative posts and watching videos, which led me to hesitate between E453 vs S770. They are far from each other (knowledge and price tag), thus I'd be happy two see your pro and con thoughts and of course, let me know if you think any of those two instruments would be a bad choice...

My goal for the future: 1) writing songs for my band (I do it with guitar, but...) 2)Make our existing own songs and covers more spicy (we have a Beatles setup + a singer now) with new sounds.

E453 – Pro: tempting price tag, lot of satisfied user posts, it is perfect to learn & practice the scales, chords, movements etc Con: limited features and compatibility, money loss and hassle with selling if I want to replace and move to a ,,higher class" later on, and I am not sure if it was good enough for live gig
S670 – won't take this, despite it seems to be a really great instrument. Reason: for scale and chords practicing it is pricey, for long term I think the s770 is a better value for the money
s770 – Pro: really impressing sounds, features and flexibility (incl extensions), more supporting documents and source on the www. Con: as a beginner  I might be ,,Shooting sparrow with a cannon" if you know what I mean. Its features might be more motivating, and seems to be a good investment for years, but what do you experienced players think: is this OK as a 1st keyboard, or I will get lost between the features instead of improving the basic playing skills?
s970 – won't take this: price tag, and features I don't need (vocal, vocoder, video output, etc)

And lastly: do you expect to come in the mid 2018 a new series of S7xx? It would be a reason for e453, and wait for the new version, (I think)

Thanks for your time – this post is longer than it should be  - and your advices in advance.
/Dezso

[alans]

Hi Dezso

I think you are asking a question to which everyone will have a different answer.
The simple answer is. ....it all depends what you expect of the keyboard.If you simply want to to learn chords and scales etc,a cheap ie psre453 will do the job,if you want better voices,styles and more versatlity,a more expensive keyboard would be your choice.ie PSR S770
Everyone faces the same problem,do I buy now and enjoy it ,or wait till the next one comes along with whatever improvements Yamaha decide to install,which no one except Yamaha can honestly tell you.
I think you should sit down and decide how much you want to spend versus what you want in a keyboard.Having said that,many poeple start with a relatively lower priced keyboard and soon yearn for a better one.
These type of instruments are basically for playing songs along with a ready made acompaniment,is that what you want,or would something else be better ie a digital piano.

Sorry I can't give you a positive answer,but it really does come down to what is suitable for you ie cost versus better voices,styles and features,of  course you will get more of everything the more you pay.

Alan

[DerekA]

Although the S770 is much more advanced, it's fairly easy to operate. You won't get lost in the deeper options if you don't want to (though it's a waste not to use them eventually).

If you want to write and record songs, and are not using a computer based DAW, the S770 has a far better multitrack MIDI recorder built in.

Remember these are both 'arrangers', designed for you to play a melody on top of an automated accompaniment. If you don't want that, you don't want an arranger.

[Dwarfsong]

Thanks for all your comments - a really food for thought.

Reading these, one question popped into my mind.
Probably you think me digressive, but nowadays I'm trying to make my plan for mid-long term in the world of music, thus I have to investigate the possible routes...
Considering that my main goals (for the future!) are composing/writing more music, and boost our existings songs' sounding, don't you think a MOXF6 would be a better choice?

If so, than I'd buy an e453 for my early keyboard learning phase (and to get used to DAW related things), and later on move towards a workstation like MOXF6.
The e453 is really cheap comparing to its capabilities, and the accomp. features could help even if I am only practicing the basics. The "sounds like it was a song"  feeling during the rinse & repeat scale palying and skill improvement can be motivating, and also can help to keep tempo, etc etc.

Please don't get me wrong, I do NOT think I'd be a good keyboard player after 6 months of playing scales and chord translations  But I know myself: if I have a tool which I can clearly see is over me, it always motivates me to be better and better - this is how my mind is set.

Thanks for your comments.
/Dezso

[pjd]

Hi Dezso --

I like the "get your feet wet" approach and the the E453 is a relatively safe, inexpensive way to get experience with arranger keyboard workflow.

I have and play both a PSR-S950 and MOX6. The purpose and workflow for each kind of instrument is different. The S950 and the MOX are at roughly the same sonic level as Motif XS although the instrument voices are programmed differently with respect to each other. When you leave the E453 behind, both the MOXF or S770 would be a major upgrade sound-wise.

It's a great idea to try DAW sequencing with the E453 first and to know it thoroughly. Then it will be easier to try and compare the MOXF against the arranger workflow.

The MOXF is due for a refresh or an upgrade. The MOXF uses the previous generation tone generator chip and Yamaha simply won't be able to make that exact model when the supply of old chips is exhausted. By starting with E453, you have time on your side and can wait to see what Yamaha will add or change in its mid-price range products.

Hope this helps -- pj

[SeaGtGruff]

If you're considering the MOXF6, another contender you might want to consider is the MX88. Of course, there's also the MX61 and MX49, but the reason I mention the MX88 is because it has 88 Graded Hammer Scale keys, so it would be good for someone who wants to learn to play the piano-- and it actually costs a little less than the MOXF6. There's also the MX61 and MX49, or the MOXF7 and MOXF8. The MX and MOXF lines are very similar to each other as far as sounds, but there are some technical differences between them.

Anyway, if your point is that you're thinking you might want to get a more expensive keyboard later on, and start with the less expensive PSR-E453 to get your feet wet, that might be a good idea. And not to keep complicating things, but last week I saw an online ad for the PSR-EW400 where its price had been dropped by $100 (usually $400, currently $300 at Guitar Center, Kraft Music, and B&H Photo), making it only $20 more than the PSR-E453's usual cost ($280).

[SciNote]

From the PSR-E453 to the PSR-S770 is quite a wide range, going from a street price of about $280 US to about $1200 US.  Of course, there are going to be some significant differences between the two keyboards, but I can share my experiences.

While I have not (yet) steadily played professionally, I have played keyboards for 39 years.  I learned keyboard on a smaller Wurlitzer organ, and then a Yamaha D80 organ.  I learned electronic music in a high school class that had Arp synthesizers, as well as a 4-track reel-to-reel recorder (this was in 1979 and 1980).  I then owned a Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer for several years, and then replaced it with a Yamaha PSR-500, then 510, and then 520 keyboards.  I have also owned a few Casios.  And now, my main keyboard is a Yamaha PSR-E433, which of course is one of the predecessors to the PSR-E453.

I mention this to show that I am no beginner, and I am familiar with a variety of keyboards and types of synthesis (analog, FM, and wave memory).  With all of this, I am always impressed with the sound and features of my PSR-E433 whenever I play it, even though it only cost about $250 when I got it, and I do not feel like I have outgrown it.  The E453 takes the E433 and adds more polyphony, tunable scales, additional sounds and styles, DSP effects, and built-in audio-through-USB, among other features.

My feeling is that, when you go to the higher priced keyboards, you will of course get more sounds and styles, and better quality sounds and styles, more automatic features, as well as more options for the sounds and better onboard recording.  But for the "meat and potatoes" of it all, the E453 is going to have some very good sounds, which can be made even better with tweaking, as you can adjust the filter, envelope, chorus, reverb and other parameters of the sounds.  I believe it is the background styles that become significantly better with the higher priced keyboards, as many of the built-in styles on the E4-series keyboards do sound a little cheap and tinny.  I rarely use styles, except for the drum track, and therefore, that is not an important issue to me.

As for recording, yes, the built-in sequencer/recorder on the E4-series is quite limited, but useable.  I use it to get the ball rolling on recording a song, laying down tracks for the main melody, chords, bass line, and drums, as well as some effects.  It's capacity is about 19000 notes, which I find is plenty.  And then, I send the audio to a DAW on my computer (I use Audacity, a free program), which is required anyway if you're going to record your music in a format that can be listened to by other people (or even just yourself) away from the keyboard.  Once the recording is on my computer, I then use Audacity to add other tracks, if needed, and at that point, many of the polyphony and recording limitations of the keyboard become irrelevant, as the recording is now being done on the computer.

The PSR-EW400, mentioned by Michael above, is also worth considering, providing 76 keys, an improved piano sound, additional power for the built-in speakers, and dedicated left and right audio outputs.

I might add that, while there is talk of a possible PSR-S770 replacement in the works, I also expect the PSR-E453 replacement, likely called the PSR-E463, this coming spring, based on the schedule that Yamaha has introduced these models in the past, and this could possibly also result in a successor to the PSR-EW400, as well. However, this is pure speculation on my part, and if there is a PSR-E463 coming up, I have no idea what features will be on it.

I hope this information is helpful.

[Dwarfsong]

Dear All,

a huge thanks for all the replies, it helped me a lot. (not to mention the patience as you keep answering the recurring newbie questions like mine...)
I will go for the e453, it will be a great fun and pleasure, I am sure. And when/if the day comes when I feel my wings strong enough (and when, based on the "experience", I realize, of which features I need more, and which I hardly ever use), will look around on the current market to see, what to buy next.

Thanks for the helping hands!
/D

[SeaGtGruff]

I hope you enjoy your keyboard! We'll be here if you need help with it, or just want to tell us all about it.

[SciNote]

Glad we could help!  I think you'll be happy with the E453, and even if you eventually do want to upgrade to the S770 or its successor, if you sell the E453 and only get $100-150 US for it, you'll still be losing only a small percentage of the overall cost of the higher-priced keyboards, anyway.

Think of it this way.  When I started to learn keyboard in 1978, if you wanted something new and polyphonic, the choices were either a cheap reed-based chord organ, or a regular piano, home organ, or synthesizer, all of which cost at least in the upper-hundreds of dollars, and usually quite a bit more.  That would easily be about $4000 US or more in today's dollars.  Today, you can get a keyboard for a small fraction of that price and start learning to play on it and have access to sounds we could hardly dream of back then, and if you decide you just don't take to learning how to play the keyboard, you haven't lost that much money.

If you have any questions, we're here to help.