S90XS questions

Hi!

I use a S90ES and a Nord Stage Compact.

Now I think about changing the S90ES to the S90XS.

Soes anyone has experince with that? -Of course because I searched an read a lot in this forum.

But there are a few key questions I really would be interested:

1.) What about the acoustic piano sound? Is it beter than the old one in the S90ES I really liked?

I heard that there are problems (funny harmonic sounding noise) in the deeper keys. about D1 or so. Do you know what I mean? What is your opniion?

2.) The real weakness of the ES for me were the brass sounds (the organs as well but I use the Clavia organ). I really like the Yamah Brass sections from the relative old Tyros 2!! a lot. Does the S90XS have this improvement or is it just in the newer generation Motif XF?

3.) What about the handling? The display is even smaller and in my opniion it is a shame. Maybe you do not need it in any case but of course at least the same size had been a must. What do you think??

4.) I heard that you need the computer when doing performances or multis (I like multi mode because it is like performance mode with at least 16 parts!!) at least EVERY TIME. e.g. it is not able to create a pad sound in the left split and a layerd piano with strings in the right part because you are not able to shift the notes more than 24 steps (2 octaves!)

How could this be? This should not be that difficult to increase the range. (it is possible on the external editor) Yamaha says (when asking about this feature) that in the US this feature is not needed and therefore the main market says no.

So did you find out a was to deal with that?

5.) So what is you opinion in controlling and playing this board? Are there any problems, disadvantages etc. I didn't mention? Because very often you see problems when using it for a longer period of time. Not just testing in the store. :-)

thanks a lot about your help!

is there nobody here who could (and want) to help me?

I have changed mine S90ES to motif XS because the only great patch on S90EX was acoustic piano.

S90XS has the same sound engine as motif XS so you'll get practically whole spectrum of fantastic sounds.

The S Natural piano from S90ES is included as well plus some other good pianos. Controlling of S90XS is much better because of dedicated keys

for this, plus you'll get audio recorder. To summarize - S90XS is way better board then S90ES, especially for live performance.

thanks. but think the s90xs has not the s90es sound.

who said it does???

I said the piano S Natural is available, same as is on motif XS.

Yes, I also have interest in the OP's questions about the S90xs. I played both a S90xs and a Motif XS 88 and the keyboard on the Motif just kicked the S90xs's ass. the Motif had some feeling and weight to the keys while the S90xs felt too light to the touch. It did not seem normal, like a piano would feel.

I really hate the small screen on the S90xs. I think the Motif xs 88 has a nice screen. I also think the piano sounds are very good offering a very wade range of pianos. I did not think that much of the organs in the motif maybe because I thought the leslie effect was not that good. Anyone else have an opinion of the leslie effect in the motif?

I remember a few years back just as the new s90xs was coming out, there was still a S90es at the store. I was able to play both of them and I actually thought the s90es sounded better for some reason. Is that possible? I think Yamaha really messed up on the S90xs with the small screen.

THanks.

I use the S90XS. I doubt I'll be able to answer your questions since I upgraded from an S80, not an S90ES. But I'll do what I can.

I very much like the s90XS, much better than the S80( and I loved the S80.). With the exception of EPs, which I think the S80 is as good or a notch better, theS90XS is head and shoulders above anything I've ever played. (I wrote an S90XS review about a year and a half ago on this board if you're interested enough to do a search.)

The S90XS includes it's own stock piano (140 some-odd MB) PLUS the Motif XS stock piano. Live, I'll generally use the Motif XS rock piano. Not having played a Motif XS I can't say that it is or isn't a dead ringer for the Motif XS but it's very good.

I thought I was going to actively dislike the small display burin neatly can say that I haven't noticed a handicap. The onethingi don't like is that it's a little too deep and is covered by my top tier keyboard. (a problem with the S80 as well.)

S90ES patches are comparable with the S90XS so you can use your same patches and performances. Speaking of performances, no you don't need a computer to set up performances (the S90XS actually has a performance maker) BUT deep programming patches requires one with Yamaha's software (free download.). That's my biggest complaint... That patches can't be fully programmed without a pc. Tweaked, yes, but not deep programming.

Anyway, the S90SX is a great keyboard. For me, it was a No brainer going from the S80. I can't say that it is or isn't different enough from an ES though to be worth the step up. I'd suggest giving one a test drive.

A couple corrections (I post this with my iPad 2 and the "autocorrect" was kicking in, dang it!)

COMPATABLE, not comparable. S90ES patches are COMPATABLE withe S90XS.

Also, I don't know the word "burnin" came from. I was just tying today that I haven't ever noticed a problem with the smaller than expected display.

I hope Maconitosh includes cursor keys with the iPad/iPhone keyboard some day...

thank you any other comments about the s90xs piano sound the brass sounds and the operation. (also because of this tiny display)

thanks a lot

A tiny display should be the least of your worries.

what do you mean with this reply?

that the display isn no problem or that there are that many problems that the display is just a small part. ;-)

thanks

I use my S90XS ALL the time..in my opinion this is one of the best all round boards on the market. I too also use a Nord Stage EX for my organs and EPs however the patches on the XS are VERY usable given the right tweaking/effects. The accoustic piano's are extremely detailed and realistic, the strings and guitar patches are to die for, brass is something I rarely use but nonetheless, given the right PA gear and effects, it can sound very realistic (short of hiring a brass section for your gig, it's fine).

I too was scepticle about the size of the display, however, you program all your performances before you even take it to the gig, then it's just a 'one click away' sorta thing when you get playing. The only downside to the board is that Yamaha could have easily put some of the menu options into hardware knobs/sliders as there is plenty of room on the front panel (Yamaha's biggest downfall in general in my opinion, wasted space). The stock organs aren't as warm as you'd hope but then again, that's what Clavia/Nord is for (you can still tweak the EQ and effects to make 'em warmer though).

In short, upgrading from anything to this board is a great decision. I love it and couldn't live without it at this point. A fantastic all in one.

The display is not really a big deal is all I mean because I am always, always concerned about sound. The organs I don't care about because the Hammond is for that. It is a great board.

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?2758929-Mu-s70xs-Experience-Love-Hate&p=42502070&highlight=#post42502070

Since posting this I have gotten the keyboard fixed. I am probably going to buy myself a QSC K10 and dump the ol' kc350 or use it as monitor.

I've still not found the need to hook it up to a computer. I can do basic and multi splits just using the keyboard. It takes a little time to do. Nor have I tweaked the basic sounds at all yet. Hey, I just want to play it, I'm not really into spending forever 'programming' or maybe I'm just lazy