Yamaha MM6 Music Synthesizer Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Got more then expected. Lightweight with great sounds, especially Live! ones. Good synth suitable primarily for performace. Easily programable for fast patch switching.

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Power and control, two elements that can make all the difference in your music, whether you compose, create or perform. The MM8 and MM6 Music Synthesizers deliver all the musical power and creative control you need - and a whole lot more. Taking their sounds from the highly popular pro-level MOTIF series instruments, the MM series have an enormous variety of dynamic, authentic voices to help you create and perform in virtually any style of music. These powerful instruments also give you total control over your sound, letting you dynamically change sonic textures as you play with real-time tweakable knobs. Also built-in are special Patterns that provide full instrumental backing - drums, bass and chords - to accompany your live performance and song creation. The MM8 and MM6 have 418 Voices and 22 Drum Kits on board, all based on the dynamic, realistic sounds of the advanced MOTIF series synthesizers. These exceptionally high-quality sounds range from authentic acoustic instruments to wild, unique and in-your-face synth Voices. An extra set of GM Voices is built into the instrument as well, giving you all you need to play back songs recorded in that popular format. With so many Voices to choose from, you might think it's difficult to select the ones you need. Not so. The convenient Category Search function lets you choose the type of instrument you want to play - organ, guitar, synth, lead, strings, whatever - then select the specific Voice. All your favorite sounds are right at your fingertips, ready to play when you are.

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Yamaha YPG535 Portable Grand Piano Package (with SK88B Survival Kit) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Nice keyboard, nice sound, feels like a real piano and it's got all the keys. I like that it includes a nice, stable music rest, keyboard stand, footswitch and power adaptor.
Lots of features too: fun sounds, (drum, maracas, bongos, etc. plus sound effects like phone, ufo, dog barking, etc)
It has a super metronome which you can adjust the tempo of, set the number of beats per measure, adjust volume, etc.
It records your performance which is nice, so my piano teacher can play something she wants me to learn, record it, then I can replay that when I'm practicing.
More features, too many to mention... If you'd like to start with something smaller or something less expensiv, I'd check out a Casio keyboard. Casio CTK4000 Premium Pack with Power Supply, Keyboard Stand and Professional Closed Cup Stereo Headphones, Casio LK100 Lighted Keyboard with Premium Accessories Package (this is the first one I got)

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The Yamaha YPG535 88 Key Portable Keyboard gives to the sound and feel of a grand piano in a portable package at an affordable price. The YPG535 offers a graded soft touch action that everyone from the beginner to the professional will love. The YPG535 also includes a stand along with a sustain pedal and power adapter. For the beginner, the built-in interactive lessons provide a user definable tempo that allow for learning at your pace. Yamaha YPG535 Features 88 piano-style keys with Graded Soft Touch 6-track sequencer allows you to record your own music USB & Flash ROM to download new Songs and Styles for playing 5 types preset Master EQ Interactive Lessons: Your Tempo mode helps you learn to play Backlit LCD, panel lights, pitch bend wheel Portable Grand Button: industry's best piano Yamaha XGlite/GM voices plus Sweet!, Cool!, Split & Dual voice Performance Assistant guarantees a rewarding music experience Music Database 267 keyboard setups by song title Optional BB1 keyboard bench. Click for more information. The Yamaha (YPG535KIT) 88 Key Portable Grand Piano includes a Yamaha Survival Kit! The Survival Kit is designed to provide you with everything you need to get started. Includes a two-year extended warranty, Watch & Learn DVD, grand piano key cover, stereo headphones, bonus coupons, Yamaha Survival Kit DVD-ROM. Piano Centric Features The Yamaha Portable Grand, YPG535 has an easy to use panel, a wealth of piano-centric features including 88 piano-style keys, Graded Soft Touch (GST) action with different levels of resistance, high resolution stereo piano sample and comes with an attractive matching stand, PA

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Yamaha S70XS Synthesizer, 76-Note Balanced Hammer-Weighted Action Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The s70xs and the s90xs are the same internally so what I write here applies to both.
I own this keyboard (s70xs). The much vaunted s6 piano sound suffers from awful harmonics on the C#1, D1 and D#1 keys. My previous keyboard (EX7) sounded fine through my Roland KC350 keyboard amp. The harmonics on these keys when played through the same amp sound terrible, totally unusable in a live situation in my opinion. Through headphones it sounds 'OK', not great but more bearable.
The piano sounds also sound dull and muffled in my (and many others) opinion.
It also drops notes like crazy when played reasonably fast, even with a single voice like a piano selected. It also drops drum hits as well if you have a drum track playing in the same situation. I don't think this is a polyphony issue, it simply does not work as it should (others have reported the same issue). Again, this makes is unusable in a live situation. It's not so great just playing at home either!
Small screen size is not that much of an issue but they way some information is not displayed when it would make sense to do so makes some aspects of using it more time consuming than it needs to be but otherwise it is usable.
Manuals are typical Yamaha which means pretty terrible as far as actually trying to use them to do anything 'real' but I suspect that issue is not limited to this keyboard, my EX7 manuals are just as bad.
Cannot use a modified voice in a performance without saving it first. Makes it harder to just 'try out' different settings in a mix.
Other than that the keyboard is great so it's a shame that the above issues with the harmonics and dropped notes make what should be a great keyboard into something that should be avoided.
My recommendation. Do not buy this keyboard.

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The new S Series combines the sounds of the Motif XS, a handcrafted S6 piano and the ease of use of a stage piano. Features like a Balanced Hammer action, combo input jack for adding vocals and guitars and USB record/playback make it perfect for stage or studio. The compact design of the 88 and 76 note weighted versions are portable and road ready.The S70 XS/S90 XS also lets you quickly create your own Performances, with the amazingly fast Performance Creator feature. With extensive Controller functions, it's also the perfect companion for your computer music production system.

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Yamaha YPG-235 76-Key Portable Grand Piano Premium Pack Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I received this keyboard on 2/2/11. As always, I was impressed with how quickly I received my order from Amazon.com. However, within minutes of setting up the keyboard, I noticed that two keys on the right side of the keyboard didn't work. One key simply didn't work AT ALL, and one key seemed to have a short and would only play after pressing it like 3 or 4 times in a row. Amazon is making it easy to return/exchange this keyboard, so I'm hopeful that the replacement is decent. However, after this experience and reading other reviews online of this exact problem, I am very concerned about the build quality of this keyboard, despite having heard good things over the years about Yamaha.
I'll update this review after I receive the replacement in a week or so. Hopefully I won't have to switch to another brand, but Casio maybe the next one I look at (need to keep this purchase affordable).
UPDATE: I received a replacement keyboard in record time: less than 2 days! I was at first bummed that I wouldn't be able to test the new keyboard over the weekend, but Amazon got the replacement out immediately and it was here early Friday afternoon (I had only submitted the return early Wednesday evening). Amazon did create some confusion, however, by on the one hand telling me that UPS would be picking up the defective keyboard from my house, and then e-mailing me a label and instructions for dropping the keyboard off at a local UPS center. Then UPS added to the confusion when I called to confirm the pick-up at my house: they said that one hadn't been arranged. So then I bring the keyboard to a UPS center, and then find a UPS pick-up attempt label on my door. Whatever...I got the defective keyboard to UPS and back to Amazon.
As for the keyboard: it sounds great. I've only just begun to play around with it, but the keys feel good, and the variety of quality sounds is incredible. I'll be combining this keyboard with Ableton Live Intro to create music. I spent several hours after receiving the keyboard testing the keys (I was concerned after the defective unit) and checking out the various functions. I haven't even scratched the surface yet, but I am giving the keyboard a decent rating. I'll report back if my opinion changes over time.
The headphones that were included with this package deal are ABSOLUTE GARBAGE. It's not worth my time to return them, especially since I already went through the hassle of returning the entire first keyboard package. The right channel of the headphones didn't work AT ALL right out of the package. These no-name, god-awful headphones are already in the trash. I ordered the package to get the power adapter and the stand anyway, so it's not a big lose. Still, you don't like to feel ripped off in any way.
The stand that came with this package is quite sturdy. It certainly isn't anything fancy, but it was easy to put together and it seems strong enough to last years.

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If you're looking for a reasonably priced piano replacement, look no further than the YPG-235. It is the music student or professional musicians' answer to 'I need more keys!" and many music teachers encourage new students to get a keyboard that will grow with their needs. It features 76 non-weighted keys that not only look like piano keys but have a Graded Soft Touch (GST) action with different levels of resistance, making it easier for a budding musician to move to an acoustic or digital piano.The YPG-235 delivers on its piano theme with a special mode of fingering called Full Keyboard Mode. This allows the player to play the keyboard like a piano; for example a chord with the right hand and bass notes with the left. When using the accompaniment feature, the virtual band will follow these chords. Traditional portable keyboards normally require you to chord on the left side of the keyboard, in the bass section, which is foreign to most piano players. The YPG-235 is also capable of this mode, for those who prefer it.The YPG-235 also has 30 built-in songs plus 70 more on included CD-ROM for you to learn to play using the Yamaha Education Suite. The songs are separated into left and right hand parts, providing 7 levels of lessons plus a convenient chord dictionary.This package includes a pair of professional closed-cup headphones, X-style keyboard stand, and power supply.

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