E473 external style loading

[richkeys]

I currently have the E373. I am looking at upgrading to the E473 because it seems simpler to load in external styles through the 473's device port rather than doing a PC connection. Two questions I am not seeing in the manuals:

1. Does the E473 have a 50KB (per style) file load limit like the 373? A 50KB limit is specified in the 373 manual but no info is in the 473 manual.

2. Can the 473 load a variety of style files available for the Tyros/SX/Genos? If so, what is the general quality of external styles loaded into the 473? I am not expecting perfection at this price level, but I am surprised to see that the 473 can revoice style tracks.

Rich

[overover]

Hi Rich,

Yes, also with the E473 the maximum size of a single Style file is 50 KB and MIDI Song files that are larger than 250 KB cannot be played back.

Like the E373, the E473 still uses the earlier Style file format "SFF" (= SFF1). All middle class and top class keyboards from PSR-S910/710 and Tyros3 use the current style file format "SFF GE" (= SFF2), so that none of these styles can be used on the E473, unless after a reverse conversion from SFF2 after SFF1. In most cases, however, the latter requires time-consuming manual reworking of the styles.

My recommendation: since you've obviously reached certain limits with the E373, FORGET the E473. Instead, get a mid-range model such as a (used?) SX900, an SX700, or an S975/970/775/770.

By the way, even an SX600 is much better than an E473, but the SX600 is much more cumbersome to use than the other SX models or PSR-S models (almost as cumbersome as PSR-E models). Therefore, if you want a current model, I recommend at least going for the SX700.


Best regards,
Chris

[richkeys]

Chris,

Agree and thank you, in that case no E473 for me then! I had an SX900 last year but traded it in for a MODX synth. Will evaluate if the SX700 might fit the need. It's just that I am hearing even the SX700 may not play as nice with Genos styles as the SX900 does, but perhaps I can get around that with some re-voicing fixes on the 700.

Rich

[overover]

Chris,

Agree and thank you, in that case no E473 for me then! I had an SX900 last year but traded it in for a MODX synth. Will evaluate if the SX700 might fit the need. It's just that I am hearing even the SX700 may not play as nice with Genos styles as the SX900 does, but perhaps I can get around that with some re-voicing fixes on the 700.

Rich

Thanks for your quick feedback, Rich! Yes I agree with you.


Best regards,
Chris

[Divemaster]

I bought, and sold my E473 within days of buying it. It was a bad buy.
I sold my SX700 last year at a time when I was very ill and bought the E473 as an up to date keyboard to fill the gap and keep my hand in. The main reason was that it could be battery powered.

Believe me, it was a very disappointing choice More a basic synth  than an instrument  Sorry Yamaha... But as soon as I opened the box, I just knew it was a very cheaply made product.
I bought myself another new SX700 once I was recovered, and to me it's the perfect keyboard.

[Franck Simplement]

Good morning,
here is a link from someone explaining how to use Tyros styles on E473.
Whether it's for you or someone else, it can be useful...
https://youtu.be/N0bzQayDC20

[pjd]

I had a similar experience changing from S950 to E443. Fortunately, I kept the S950 (eventually trading it for Genos).

You will definitely have a better experience translating Genos styles to SX700 than E-series. Most Genos (SX) styles use MegaVoice and the E-series is not on par with the SX/Genos in that regard. Converting MegaVoice style parts to non-MV is a major bear.

All the best -- pj

[richkeys]

Good morning,
here is a link from someone explaining how to use Tyros styles on E473.
Whether it's for you or someone else, it can be useful...
https://youtu.be/N0bzQayDC20

Franck,
Thanks for the video link. I think I had seen that before. He shows style files that are 8 to 20 kb in size. Most of the styles I want to load in are over the 50kb size limit the E series will accept. Add in the SFF1 format limitation Chris mentioned here and this is a useless thing to attempt to do.

Rich

[richkeys]

I bought, and sold my E473 within days of buying it. It was a bad buy.

Divemaster,

Yes. E series is only good for education/beginners or just as a spare keyboard to quicky try out things when you don't need to turn on the pro keyboard.

Rich

[Franck Simplement]

the E473 isn't a bad keyboard if you use it as such without necessarily adding styles.
If you have other expectations, you have to switch to a more expensive keyboard.
You have to compare and know your needs.
Me an E473 would be more than enough for me and I'm waiting for the day when I could have fun with it 

[richkeys]

the E473 isn't a bad keyboard if you use it as such without necessarily adding styles.

The 373's grand piano is nice for the price, thought it decays way too quickly and the sustain pedal doesn't help much.

[SciNote]

It definitely does depend on how you use the keyboard.  If you want to load and use a large number of external styles (those that did not come with the keyboard), use styles that have 4 parts instead of 2 and are more than 50 KB in size, or create and edit styles, then yes, you need a more advanced keyboard.

For me, I mainly use the styles just for the background drums, and I own a PSR-E433 (one of the predecessors to the E473), and it is plenty for what I do.  It can split the keyboard and layer 2 sounds on the right-hand side, and it offers a variety of sound tweaking features (such as octave, pan, filter, and envelope generator) that can be applied to each right-hand sound individually to create a very wide variety of sounds.  The newer versions, like the E473, add a full set of DSP effects, as well.

While I don't currently play professionally, I have been playing keyboard for 45 years, and I have owned a Yamaha D-80 home organ, as well as a Yamaha DX-7 synth, and I also learned about synthesizers in an electronic music class when I was in high school (about 43 years ago), and we used professional ARP synthesizers in the class.  So, I have experience with a variety of keyboards, and I still continue to be impressed with the capabilities of the Yamaha E400 series keyboards.

[richkeys]

If you want to load and use a large number of external styles (those that did not come with the keyboard), use styles that have 4 parts instead of 2 and are more than 50 KB in size, or create and edit styles, then yes, you need a more advanced keyboard.

I still continue to be impressed with the capabilities of the Yamaha E400 series keyboards.

Bob,
Yes, and the SX900 will be my choice for that more advanced keyboard. Hopefully I can order one this week.

Yamaha has always done a nice job offering a variety of price tiers for their models. I happen to think the lower E373 model is a great value at $200 USD. When you start getting above $400 for an E473 I'm not so sure. It does have more fun features but that cumbersome Function menu is still there unfortunately for changing simple stuff like volume and octave, which takes away the fun. The Korg EK-50 is better at this price in my opinion.

Rich

[SciNote]

Well, the PSR-E473 isn't quite that expensive.  I'm seeing it for about $370 US on Sweetwater's website, which is what I normally see that keyboard priced at.  And of course, the SX900 is dramatically more expensive -- about $2300 on the same site.  One thing I've noticed is that, in my opinion, Yamaha has a gaping hole in their PSR line-up, from the E473 at $370, to the SX600 at $1100, with little in between.  The EW425 is $490 (again, all these prices on Sweetwater in US dollars), but that is essentially just a 76 key version of the E473 with just a few added features.  Even numerically, with their model numbers, they've decided to not have a 5-series (such as "PSR-E573" or "PSR-SX500"), even though they did a long time ago, with models like the PSR-540, or PSR-S500.

As far as the menu, yes, it can be a bit of a pain.  But remember, many of the functions can be accessed quickly by just holding down one of the selector buttons for a few seconds to get you to that part of the menu list.  For example, at least on my E433, if I hold down the "dual voice" button for a few seconds, that gets me right to the option to select the dual voice tone.  And then from there, it's just a matter of going a few steps on the function list to get to other dual voice features, like volume, octave, pan, and filter.  This way, you don't always have to scroll through dozens of function options to get to the selection you want.