S970 speaker sound

[Toril S]

Hello! Yesterday I had my second gig with my new S970 at our local senior club. Both times I have gotten complains from the audience. They think my old PSR 2100 (!) sounded better then my S970! I turned down the base (it was too much base for them), but they still think my old board sounded clearer. I have used my 2100 for 14 years in this club, so maybe their ears have gotten so used to it that they are having difficulties adapting to the richer sound of the S970?
The room I perform in is long and narrow, and it is a difficult room soundwise. Do you have any suggestions how I could get better sound out of my S970. ( I am NOT dragging the old 2100 back there, no way!) Until now I have avoided using a PA system, but maybe I just have to give in and buy one? I have looked at a Bose L1 compact. Since I am a one woman band, I can't have too heavy stuff. What is the best solution?

[Telmo]

Toril,
I love the sound quality of the Yamaha Dbr-12. It's light, compact and awesome sound.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/yamaha-dbr12-powered-speaker

[Paula]

 
for a woman that Bose compact is great the cost is a lot,
    Paula

[Toril S]

Thank you Telmo. I shall take a look at it

[Toril S]

Hello Paula! I see in your gear list that you have a Bose L1. Are you satisfied with it? It sounded great in the music store. Yes, the cost is high, but I will buy only one. There is a limit to how much I can haul around. No car, no bandmates to help me. Only taxi drivers, and they are not always so service minded

[Paula]

Hi  Toril
I do have the Bose L1 Mod 2 with the tone match and it sounds great my hubby is my roadie but I must say this i have Heard rhe Bose compact as well Paul B a forum member visited me and the compact is sooooo easy to handle very very light and sounds great, the one Thelmo has is 34 LB + and that to me would be quite heavy
another good sound is a little Roland K.B 60 I have two of them ,if you are getting by with just the Key board speakers and unless you have lots of money  just one of them will do the job and sound good as well  they are not very heavy and having one would really increase your sound,check out other options as well
    Paula

[Toril S]

Thank you Paula☺

[Paul B]

Toril,
As Paula stated in her post, I use the Bose Compact and I am very happy with it. I actually have two units and use them together for larger venues. Also, right now they are on sale in the US. Not sure about where you live.
Happy Holidays!

Paul

[Toril S]

Thank you Paul B. I live in Norway. They offer a little bit price reduction here as well, not much, but i lean towards buying one. I perform in small venues, so I think it will be enough. But I am wondering why they suddenly say I sound unclear, when I have a new keyboard. To me, it sounds much better then the old one, but there are more deep base sounds, even when I turn down the base. Maybe that is why they perceive the sound as more muddy?

[travlin-easy]

Toril, if you have been performing with the volume  of the keyboard turned up very high, this could have damaged the onboard speakers. The onboard sound system was never meant to be turned up very high and mainly intended for monitoring and home playing levels, which is usually about half volume.

I used the Bose L1 system for many years, absolutely loved it, and I can highly recommend it for all venues up to 150 people. For larger venues to 500 people, I used 2 of them in stereo.

Good luck,

Gary

[Gandalf43]

Hi Toril,

I have the Bose as well . A friend of mine did not want to pay that price and
got himself the LD Systems Maui 11 Mix for half the price.
We met afterwards and tested the two systems and he was a bit disappointed about the difference of his one which is heavier as well.
Often but not always you get what pay

The question is if your audience would hear the difference but if I am asked
I would decide again for Bose, its really good.

Good luck
Udo

[Toril S]

Thank you Gary and Udo. Fortunately the onboard speakers of the keyboard  are not damaged, but I was a little worried when I turned up the volume almost to max. So Bose it will be!

[Paula]

 
very good choice ,so easy to transport ,you will luv the sound one is all you need
   Paula

[Toril S]

Thanks Paula. ☺

[Bruce Breen]

Hi Toril,
As you pointed out, you were already using just the PSR 2100 for a long time with no problem.
Then, when you started using the S970 you got the negative comments...

So, I would assume that, since the 2100's amp is definitely not as powerful as the S970's, you should not have any problem with it's volume.
Maybe the problems you are having may just be how the main equalizer is set.
(And possibly the difference in the angle and direction of the speakers on the S970?)

My suggestion would be to take your 2100 with you, and play the same simple style or song on BOTH keyboards to see what the difference is (especially from where the audience sits).
How does the sound carry? Is it muddled, or clear? Is there too much bass on the S970?

As far as equalizer settings go, there are posts in this S970 section about what other people have done to tweak their keyboards - I believe it has been a well talked about subject.

And Gary might be able to help you there as well...?

Surprisingly, I have not had any complaints when just using my S950, after playing my 2100 for many years...just luck I guess.
As a matter of fact, there are a couple of small venues where I now only use the S950, where in the past I would have had to amplify the 2100 a bit.

[Toril S]

Hello Bruce. Good suggestions. I will try them out! I have performed other places with my S970 and got the opposite reaction, although the room was much bigger. i suspect that the angle of the speakers are different from the 2100, and the sound is deeper and richer on the S970. In the long, narrow room the sound just go up the ceiling and is not reflected back properly. Elderly people want crisp sound, as I get older myself I now will have more treble and less base, so I can understand them. . There were only 40 people there, but it was a loud party. No one can say the seniors don't know how to have a good time!

[Toril S]

Hi folks My solution was to buy the Bose L1 compact. I am very satisfied!

[Bruce Breen]

Wonderful Toril!
Have fun!
Happy holidays!

[Toril S]

Happy hollidays, Bruce

[travlin-easy]

Toril, both you and your audiences will love what they hear.

Merry Christmas,

Gary

[Toril S]

Merry Christmas Gary!

[Eric, B]

Hi Toril,
I have 2 Bose compact which are awesome, however sometimes I need only one.
The problem with Yamaha are the stereo sounds which get lost with just one Bose.  Plus some styles are missing parts.
I experimented with various things. The only way for me to get the full sound is to connect a Y connector to the Kb into the Bose.
Take a look:
https://www.amazon.com/Riipoo-6-35mm-Splitter-Stereo-Adapter/dp/B01N0EJD3P/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1513455211&sr=8-12&keywords=1%2F4+inch+y+connector+2+male+to+1+female
Good luck and have fun 
Eric

[Toril S]

Thank you, Eric! If need be I can add another later I am very satisfied with it!

[Paul B]

Congratulations Toril,

I am sure you will love your Bose. As Travelin Easy stated, The on board speakers on the 970 are not really intended for performances but rather monitor speakers. I never turn my 970 up past half way. A single cable to the Bose works fine and it is usually set at just under half way. I do use two Bose Compacts for larger venues.
Again, Congratulations, Your beautiful music will sound great!!!

Paul

[Toril S]

Thank you so much for your kind words Paul

[travlin-easy]

I have looked at the schematic diagrams for nearly every Yamaha arranger keyboard made, up to the Tyros 5 and PSR-S950. The output connections are identical. When you place a 1/4-inch plug into the L/R mono output jack it triggers a latch switch on that jack that automatically connects the right and left outputs together.  If you were to plug into just the R output jack, you would only get what comes from that channel.

Hope this helps,

Gary

[guitpic1]

A few things:

I use three different PA systems.  All three allow me to plug both L/R from the keyboard into the amp for a better sound.

The S970 has a good on-board speaker system but I've never found it to be good enough even in living room situations playing live.

I've found I needed to EQ my S970 for each PA I use.  The S970 has a pretty good EQ system and even the on-board speakers sound better with EQ.

The Bose L1 Compact is a good system, however there are many options now with systems that allow you to use the L/R outs on the S970.  I used dual Bose L1 Compacts for a long time...good system but I believe there are many other less expensive systems out there as good if not better.

Update:

I missed that you got the Bose.  Hope that works for you.

[J. Larry]

Take a look at the new Alto TS 208 powered speaker.  It's only 17 lbs., with lots of power-----1,100 watts max, they say.  I'm using the 10-inch version now at 22 lbs. with the S970 and plan to downsize to the new 8-inch model.  Lots of features on the back of the unit, as well.

[Toril S]

Thank you guys☺