Got My Yamaha S975 Today

[sooty8]

Hi Everyone

Had a phone call from the dealer today to say that my PSR 975 had come in, went on my 3 hour round trip to collect it.
I have only had the keyboard for a few hours so I am not in a position to offer any feed back of what I think.

First impression just like my S950 except slightly different  lay out and it looks like a slightly bigger screen or is it my tiredness from the motorway driving. I have put my gigging usb stick, yes it's working ok so I can go out gigging Monday.

The keyboard sounds more powerful and more sharper then the S950. I love the demo buttons on keyboards, I tried the 1960 Hits demo
great I thought, wow the organ, went on the keyboard hit the same style what a difference. I think this topic has been covered of before
about Yamaha using expensive recording gear for their demos.

Thank you to Royce for the EQ Master settings, I need advice on the following if anyone can help me.
1.I thought the free expansion packs were built into the keyboard, I cannot find them, do I register the keyboard with Yamaha to get the free packs?

2. Has anybody altered the compressor setting's and if so what is the best setting?

3. On the mixing console I see Hall 2 Chorus 2 but no number 1, what is the best setting for this please.

I have purchased an additional 3 year warranty, so I have 5 years peace of mind.I think by that time it will be time to give up gigging.

One last thing, is this keyboard heavier then the S950? or is it me getting older and weaker.

Regards

Steve

[Toril S]

You are getting older Steve😀😏 All the PSRS are about the same weight.  Between 11 and 12 kilos😀

[sooty8]

Thank you Toril you have just cheered me up, did you get your expansion packs with your PSR 975 or is this a new promotion ?

Tonight I will try the keyboard through my Bose L1 compact.

Regards

Steve

[Toril S]

Hello Steve I got my S975 from Yamaha because my S970 could not be repaired, so I do not know if there exist deals with new expansion packs in other countries. But, the PLUS button on your S975 contains styles from expansion packs that Yamaha has built in to the S975. I was not super happy about this, it was not styles to my liking mostly, but others might love them. I would not fiddle too much with the compressor if I were you, but rather adjust EQ settings to your liking. I have not come around to doing that on my S975 yet, on my last gig I just played it as out of the box. The Bose L1 Compact is awesome!
I bought a T5 in December, and I see that I sometimes have to do some work with the styles to make them work on both keyboards. I am not a power user, but learn something every day. Those machines make our backs cry for mercy, and our brains cry for more learning.

[sooty8]

Toril

When I purchased my used tyros last year, I registered the keyboard with Yamaha with the serial number, they updated all my packs  free of charge from the s950.

I have registered my PSR 975 tonight and i have a choice of a free expansion pack, i have chosen latin.

I am still in the early stages of trying EQ settings on the PSR975, i have a couple to try out, I will keep you informed of any progress made. Can i give you a tip given to me by a member on this forum, to get lovely strings mix Movie and Live Strings together, they sound very nice and not tiny. When purchasing my PSR975 today the dealer stated that the strings sound weak.

Regards

Steve

[Toril S]

Thanks Steve! And I forgot to congratulate you on your new S975!! Congrats, and thanks for the tip about the strings!!

[RoyceM]

Hi Steve,

Congrats on getting your S975. I've played with the compressor a bit and am currently using the STANDARD option on the menu and setting the GAIN to 1.

I have not played with the HALL settings. Please post what you decide on when you get that far into things.

- Royce

[sooty8]

Thank you Royce for the advice, I am going to get into the keyboard today I will try these settings, your EQ settings sound nice compared to the other ones I have tried on YouTube.
I let you know how I have got on.
I have a choice of a free expansion pack for the purchase of the P975 keyboard, I have chosen the Latin Pack, I am having trouble with
the Yamaha website accepting my code for the pack. I am waiting for Yamaha to respond  at the moment. To be fair I have always
had a good response  from the customer service side of Yamaha when it comes to software purchase.

Regards

Steve

[sooty8]

Update on S975

I have kept the EQ settings which Royce  gave me  they seem to be the best ones around, well done Royce. I have gone for the Stage settings they sound great through the L1 Bose compact speaker system.
A very quick response from the customer  service team at Yamaha, complained last night unable to get my free expansion pack through the code they gave me. They e-mailed me back this afternoon placed the expansion pack in my account. I chose the Latin pack which would normally cost around £84.00. Fully loaded on the S975, you do not know how these s975 sound until you use these packs, wow that's the sound we are all looking for. To be fair I cannot use every style and voice, but there is some nice sounds i can use.
My USB stick with my sounds from the S950 sound slightly different too, they seem to be improved slightly, could be the speakers.
Ready for giging now on Monday. I am not impressed with the plus styles or voices on the S975 i will not be using them much.

Steve

[Toril S]

No, that plus button is a waste of space for me. Glad you got your pack. Good luck with the gig!

[RoyceM]

I have gone for the Stage settings they sound great through the L1 Bose compact speaker system.

Steve, please clarify what the "Stage settings" are.

I'm glad you are getting ready enough for a gig. Your learning will continue, and I hope you will continue sharing feedback. Not many of us have the S975 yet.

- Royce

[Toril S]

I used my S975 and my Bose without fiddling with EQ and thought it sounded OK. I must be getting old😀

[sooty8]

Tori as I say to my residents at residential homes your as young as you feel, some days I feel 21 other days I feel 70 .
I say to them there are not many days now I feel 21.
Royce : All I am doing is going into the mixer and finding the effect tab, the block should say reverb, I then go into category and select stage, then save it to user . If I am honest Royce i tried every setting and there was not much difference, but having said that this is a home test. I do not do any stage work at all, very rare even if a stage is available I am placed on the floor, so much for stardom.
I will see how this setting goes, I would say the next setting I would use would be for a large hall which would be more accurate for the work i do. I just like the word stage  it sounds impressive. I told my wife that this will be the last arranger i will buy as when the warranty runs out in 5 years time i will pack up gigging. I will trade the PSR975 and Tyros 5 for a Genos 3 and entertain myself.

Regards

Steve

[RoyceM]

I told my wife that this will be the last arranger i will buy as when the warranty runs out in 5 years time i will pack up gigging. I will trade the PSR975 and Tyros 5 for a Genos 3 and entertain myself.

Steve, I already bought the last arranger I will ever buy...FOUR BOARDS AGO! How's that for planning? 

- Royce

[RoyceM]

Steve, how are things with your new S975? Is it working out like you had hoped?

- Royce

[sooty8]

Royce- I have got to admit that at the present time i have only used the onboard speakers as the residential homes i have played in recently are to small for the Bose Compact L1.  The comments i have got so far are from a retired music teacher, she said that the piano sounds more crisper and not like the s950 which is softer. From that comment i think she prefers the piano on the S950.
I think the volume settings are lower on the S975 i seem to have to increase the volume control a lot more on the S975.
I think the speaker quality on the S975 sounds better, but that might be my ears are playing up. The extra sound packs on the S975 in my opinion are waste of space as I have found only a few i can use. Like you Royce I am still experimenting with the EQ settings and thank you again for giving me a starting point. If I am honest if my S950 did not need repairing I would not have purchased the S975.
I love my Tyros 5 though the best investment I have made with keyboards, I hope it last me a few years. As the Tyros I mix the strings up to give a warm effect on the S975 I find the onboard strings are to sharp.
My advice for members thinking about purchasing a S975 is if  the keyboard is for home use and not gigging get yourself a used Tyros 5
you will not be disappointed. But owing to the weight of the Tyros, for me its to heavy for gigging.

Regards

Steve

[Toril S]

The T5 61 keys is just a couple of kilos heavier than the PSRs! But if feels more difficult to lug around because it is wider and longer.

[sooty8]

Hi Toril

I used to use my Tyros 2 for gigging a long time ago now, I had a wheeled keyboard trolley, then I thought about the future side of gigging and went over to the PSR range it was lighter. I also had some yamaha external speakers, but the work I was getting did not justify all the gear. I am straight in 5 minutes set up and out in 5 minutes.

But now and then I get a good gig for two hours, then I take my L1 compacts out with my s975. I nearly forgot and my microphone.

Steve

[RoyceM]

If I am honest if my S950 did not need repairing I would not have purchased the S975.

You didn't ask, but here is my story:

I had been getting along fine with my S910 which was in the local repair shop frequently for worn minor part replacements, but in pristine condition. I had tried out the S975 twice in my local music store and was not particularly attracted to it because models that followed the S910 incorporated so much change in the physical layout. Interestingly, I became aware of an organization that was trying to find a used S910 for a special use when a guy came into the music store while I was there, asking about a used S910.

Since I consider my work to be a type of ministry to our senior "widows and orphans," I had been praying whether I should be thinking about an upgrade and it turned out that this representative had been praying that he could find the keyboard they needed. I sold him mine on the spot, so immediately I was out of business. When I got the new S975 home and found out how different it was in a multitude of ways (physical format and sound being big hurdles for me), I realized I was still out of business because I had a whole bunch of learning and reworking to do. I cancelled two small gigs and have been limping along to other gigs ever since, but steadily getting improved results.

Soon after getting the S975 I got the Bose Compact, which further complicated things for me. But my learning has grown to where I'm getting more and more gratification in what I'm delivering to my audiences. Learning to effectively use of the Master EQ has been one of my big breakthroughs.

The benefits I will have gained through this season of inconvenience will be worth leaving my comfortable S910.

Like you, Steve, I play in some very small situations...living rooms of group homes. Over all, my audiences range from 1 or 2 people to several hundred at Public Relations events at various types of senior living facilities.

- Royce

[Toril S]

Royce, tr seems this was from God! I had much the same problems moving up from PSR 2100 to the S970. Took me some time to get used to it but now I love my S975 and my Tyros5!!

[sooty8]

Thank you Royce for your story, it has given me some hope that i will love the S975 in the future.
Its like having a pair of comfortable slippers or shoes when we replace them they take some getting used to.
I wish I had more gigs  in larger venues to see what the capabilities of the s975  are, but in the UK it's mainly residential homes.
Our friend in Hungary went to the musical school in Budapest, even with his knowledge of writing music and the lovely playing which he can create with his fingers, he is working in restaurants in Heviz where a lot of tourists take their holiday, he relies on tips from the customers. We could learn from the Hungarian musicians, if a customer wants a request you have to pay them to play it, can you imagine us asking for a tip to play a song, I would have a Genos by now.

Regards

Steve

[panos]

When purchasing my PSR975 today the dealer stated that the strings sound weak.

Well,better give the strings some vitamins then, Steve 
like:
Add effects(release,reverb etc)

Add a second voice.
Lots of good stuff of strings/orchestra sounds in the "older" folders,
I don't know if in s975 still are called legacy,GM2 and GM&XG.

Use the Harmony button to apply extra notes (in the backround) to your playing.

And then press the style's start button and play.If you run out of polyphony you are nearly ok.Your keyboard won't sound... weak anymore

Good luck with your gigs Toril,Royce and Steve!!

[Enildo]

I own the s910 for a long time and then it was replaced by s950, s970 and today i'm with s975.
In my humble opinion, the s970 / s975 sounds much better than the s910.
The problem with the 70/75 lines is that you have to edit the equalization parameters. Try these EQ settings:

  http://www.psrtutorial.com/forum/index.php/topic,39476.msg377708.html#msg377708

Hug,
Enildo

[sooty8]

Thank you Panos, at the moment I mix the movie strings and live strings together with sometimes the hamoney button down.
I think I need the vitamins Panos not the keyboard.

Thank you Enildo for the EQ settings I will try these settings out.

Regards

Steve

[RoyceM]

In my humble opinion, the s970 / s975 sounds much better than the s910.

I certainly must agree that the S975 sounds better.  Even though I thought the S910 was doing well enough, apparently it was time for me to move on.

I'll check out your EQ settings, Enildo.  Thanks.

- Royce

[motekmusic]

Hello Steve 

A belated congrats on your s975.    I went from the 910 to 950 to 970 and now this one.   It does need a bit of taming in some
areas but overall a sound and style  upgrade.  There are some PLUS styles, voices and pads.  which could give you more
options.   Enjoy your new keyboard.


cheers
elaine

[sooty8]

Thank you Elaine, I will carry on taming it until the keyboard is under my control.
I have to admit that everyone on this forum is positive about the S975, so it has got to be me.
I was disappointed  with the Plus styles, I have found about 4 styles I can use.
I feel sure that once the correct EQ settings are found I will not want to part with the keyboard.

Regards

Steve