SOS’s Paul White got this demo of the new Yamaha S70 XS synthesizer at LIMS 2009:
Just in from Yamaha are the S70XS and S90XS performance keyboards. They both run on the same operating system, the only difference being the size of the key beds: the S70XS has 76 keys, while the S90XS has 88.
Both models have weighted, hammer-action keys so, even on the smaller model, users get the feel of a real piano.
On-board controls have been simplified by Yamaha so that only the most commonly used features are available to the user from the button-driven interface. This, the manufacturers say, provdies a less cluttered menu system that lets users access the most important parameters quickly and easily while on stage.
See this previous post for details on the Yamaha S70 XS and S90XS keyboard synthesizers.
I LOL'd when the reporter said " you can get a job in a lift with that one".
Yes – totally deadpan, too.
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.
You are my breathing in, I have few web logs and often run out from to brand : (.