Arranger keyboard

[deBecque]

I have decided what to buy, so please disregard the rest of my messages on this subject - and thanks for those who helped.

[DonM]

Closest to your specs that I can think of would be Korg Havian
https://www.korg.com/us/products/digitalpianos/havian_30/

[panos]

Hello my friend,
if you are looking for a keyboard with auto accompaniment(rhythms/styles) from Yamaha series and you are ok with 61 keys the closest I can think of is the psr s670.
But the piano sound won't be as good as in your P-155.That's for sure.
https://www.psrtutorial.com/forum/index.php/topic,48477.msg379780.html#msg379780

In Psr E series you probably won't found the sound that rich as you are a piano player.
The Tyros series have the best sounds but no speakers and a lot of stuff you don't need.

I don't like either the official demos of any brand,so when I want to see and hear an instrument I am looking for covers on youtube from users.
Maybe midi songs will help you also to play along so you don't have to use your left hand that much.

[DrakeM]

If you want Yamaha's best Piano sound you want the CVP series of keyboards. Yamaha has in the past stated that is where you keep their CURRENT best piano sound. But as far as if they have one with half the key weight, you will have to search out that info.

I enjoy by the light weight keys on the PSR series.

Regards
Drake 

[panos]

I don't think that a much better piano sound can be produced just with the light keys that our keyboards have,Drake.
So they have to be weighted also in CVP series I suppose.

I have chosen some videos deBecque that they have been recorded through another device, so the sound is what they hear with their headphones.
The speakers of the s670 seem to be pretty good too from other videos.

Don't forget to check the finger modes and use the single finger method of Yamaha's keyboards to play the chords with your left hand so not to giving it hard times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXKc6pIwWKI

If you are not happy with the S670,just return it and keep searching for something else.
It's price is not high anyway and easily can be sold in the future as s 2nd hand keyboard.
If you want better speakers and a better screen try the s775 with a much higher price though(+60% up).
Both are having too many functions that you don't really need.

[mikf]

The best piano sounds are almost always going to be paired with weighted keyboards. And the fact that you might only need a small number of styles is not practical. No one makes an arranger just for one or two genres, and there are so many musical genres, that you have to get a lot of styles just to ensure there are a some to suit you. The same goes for functionality. No company can afford to make an arranger  tailored to one specific type of player, so it will inevitably come with many functions you neither need or want.
Your best bet might be to midi a digital piano keyboard that suits you - with a relatively simple arranger like the PSR700 series.
Mike

[Bruce Breen]

Hi deBecque,
I also find playing a real piano harder on my fingers now that I am older...glad that my other main instrument is an Accordion!

Since you are accustomed to a full length piano key bed, you could also look for a (used) Tyros 76 key model...
You may even find one on this forum for sale - check the Items for Sale (Classified Ads) board.

No weight to the keys though (not even 1/2 weight), just velocity sensitive response (the faster you hit the key, the louder it is).
But the larger key bed would do for most of your piano playing...and no strain on your fingers.
Most of the piano voices are good, and you will probably find one that you like.

But if you don't mind the shorter 61 key bed, I would stick to the S670.
That's the size I have (S950), but then I am used to the shorter Accordion keyboard.

Also, if you want to add accompaniment to what you are playing (not just the piano), you can set the keyboard to the "full keyboard" setting to read what chords you are playing (it works quite well).

good luck!

[Sergey Kadyrov]

I think it is important that you are already an experienced musician so when you are saying that you want a good sound you are not being abstract about it. And you already know that you are going to play it. So it's not like making first steps in music to see if it's going to be interesting.

I'm worried that a keyboard like PSR-S670 can be a disappointment especially when it comes to the organs.

I realize that to suggest buying Genos can seem a bit too simple, but while it is not a perfect match to your requirements, it's, to my knowledge, the closest one.

It's pretty lightweight considering how powerful it is. It has an option to attach speakers. It has a high-quality yet not weighted keybed. It has a user-friendly interface. It's focused on natural sounds and traditional music (as opposed to electronic).

I would suggest myself going with PSR-S670 which is a good product. But I picture that your demands soundwise are quite serious and you want to have "a real deal".

[Toril S]

I would go with the Genos! It has 76 keys, is lightweight, and, no, you have noe bulit in speakers, but there is light weight options out there. Keep us posted as to what lyou chosse!

[Fred Smith]

Well, I tried the Genos last year. The keyboard did not work properly, and after hours speaking with the people at Sweetwater, who did their best to help, they decided that it required an update of the OS. That made no sense to me, because while an update might make something new available, surely the installed OS should work with what it was meant for. Nevertheless, I went to the Yamaha website to download the update and learned that 1. I would download and install the update to my OS at my risk with no warranty that it would work and wouldn't destroy my $5,600 instrument, and 2. If any dispute should arise, it must be settled in the District Court in Tokyo under Japanese law. I thought that perhaps Yamaha had sent me the wrong contract and tried to contact their legal team but without success. I returned the Genos.

You made a mistake. All of us have updated to the latest OS with no issues.

And you could just have easily returned the keyboard with an OS update, as without.

If you don't Yamaha to issue a decent update, then you probably don't want to buy any of their products. They'll all have the same legal verbiage on their operating systems.

Cheers,
Fred

[deBecque]

"And you could just have easily returned the keyboard with an OS update, as without." Only if my return window had not closed, and the clock was running. As for wanting OS updates, sure - with a warranty that they will work and that they will do no harm. That the download and install is at my risk, expressly without any warranties, is unacceptable. And of course there's no problem - until there is one, and your $5,600 instrument cannot be played and cannot be sold, and if you want to contest Yamaha's position, you must do so in Japan and under Japanese law (with which you may be familiar, but I am not; and while I had a bit of Hiragana and Katakana, that was many years ago, and it was never at a level that would suffice in a court proceeding; and the costs of retaining Japanese counsel would likely exceed any recovery). I do not believe I made a mistake.