Yamaha PSR-S500 Review

Yamaha psr-s500 review

In previous articles we looked at keyboards like the PSRE213, PSRE313, YPT210 and YPT310. Well this keyboard is in another league. A much higher class. It's actually an arranger keyboard, one step below a keyboard like the PSR1500.

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This instrument comes with a 9-track sequencer for recording purposes. You can record one or multiple parts at a time and assign each part to a different track. I like this feature a lot. If you want to develop your skills as an arranger, this 9-track sequencer can really help. Personally, I owe much of my ability as an arranger to sequencing features such as this one.

So if you're serious about keyboards, forget about the beginner 100 dollar PSR models and invest in something better like the Yamaha PSR-S500. It sells for about $700 online. This is a fairly good arranger workstation for keyboard players and musicians on a limited budget. I like the various features on this keyboard, like USB MIDI and USB storage capability. Like other workstations, the Yamaha PSR S500 comes with Registration, One Touch Setting, Octave, Style and Voice category buttons on the panel, making it easy to change important settings.

What about the sound quality? I must say I was impressed by what this low-priced arranger keyboard had to offer in the voices department. The voices are realistic. They simply sound good. There's a vast selection of 283 realistic instrument voices, 361 GM/XGlite voices and 15 drum/SFX kits. I like the fact that you can split and layer voices. I was also impressed with features like Harmony, Touch, DSP and Sustain. You can turn these on and off to suit your preferences.

Are you into LCDs that display stuff like lyrics, chords and notation? Well the Yamaha PSR S500 does just that. You can download scores from the Internet, record your own scores, or use the internal ones and have them scroll automatically as you play. If you want to learn how to read music, or to develop your skills, this feature can surely help. You can read lyrics while you play, as well as chords.

Other great features include 3 effects blocks, 2-way speaker system, bass boost system, transpose, pitch bend wheel, 32 note polyphony, flash memory, 150 accompaniment styles, and music database with 500 setups.

Overall, a great buy.

Click here to check out the Yamaha PSRS550.

Not sure what is right for you? Learn how to choose a keyboard here.

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