Yamaha PSR Series PSR-S950 61-Key Digital Workstation

2016-06-17T20:00:00

I've had a PSR 950 for a while now and there's I am extremely please with. It does what I expected and does it well. I just thought I'd mention the fact that since it uses a flash drive for extra storage of styles and registration etc. it would be nice if there was a small pocket recess in the body of the machine to store a USB flash drive. This would ensure that when you get to your destination you wouldn't have to worry about discovering you forgot your flash drive with all you info on it. I use a small storage case but there are times when it gets misplaced. Just a thought!!!

Gordo

Originally posted at

2015-07-02T20:00:00

Having a Yamaha MO8 since 2005, that keyboard has been my music machine. But after being introduced to arranger workstations, I had my heart set on a PSR-S950. So, without a single regret, I recieved one for my birthday last week. The keyboard plays amazingly and the styles and voices are unlike any other keyboard. My only complain are that the expansion packs are too expensive. For example, yesterday I was seeing about a Latin expansion pack. I found one that had the unbelievable price of $100! I mean, Yamaha could lower the price to about $70 at the very least. Other than that, the built-in speakers are amazing, the recording feature is simple to use and creating a style is fun, and the buttons are very responsive.

♦♦♦JGMusic♦♦♦

Originally posted at

2014-05-22T20:00:00

Big step up from the s910 regarding :piano,Drums,DSP,Styles,Guitars, and other voices. The screen looks dim when your looking from a position that you would play from(you have to lean forward to get a nice view) The general qulity is decent but not so good,but i tried the PA900 and it doesn't seem any better;I guess you have to get the tyros to get good qulity. I use the "style creater" a lot and a really like the keyboards different sounds/DSP. I persenolly spent a lot of time using it and performed a few times with it and i love it

aa

Originally posted at

2014-04-27T20:00:00

Okay, Im not against this board. I have played Roland and Korg Arrangers and I only tried PSR S950 because styles are cheaper and more readily available to purchase. The features are great but there is a learning curve for those who aren't intuitive with these electronics. It took me over 2 weeks to fully understand what i was using and which buttons to push to get what i needed right the first time. For the price paid for the board, i expected a little bit higher quality tones in most categories. Within each category there are only about 3 or 4 tones that can be used for a live performance on a general basis. Some categories (E.Piano,Sax,Trumpet,Flutes) only have 1 or 2 sounds that could pass for me. I may be biased because i am comparing to the tones on my Motif workstation, but that play an ES6, a dated keyboard. The powerful speakers onboard are a huge plus because you can plug a secondary keyboard into the input and use this as your monitor onstage most times. The video output is great for things like an external video monitor for notes and you dont have to jeopardize your screen. Great. The Vocoder is a nice toy. Yes, a toy.. Plug your mics into a real mixer with effects please.. Its nice if you need a specific effect for a particular song but please dont rely on this keyboard for it.. All in all, the board is fantastic except for the tones. This board only has about 10-15 tones that i EVER use...But those are great.. Just wish i had more diverse tones or my 10-15 could be of higher quality.

Guyanesebro

Originally posted at

2014-04-11T20:00:00

I use arranges in church and they are with high fidelity

Rigo b.

Originally posted at

2013-10-31T20:00:00

Yamaha is way ahead of other brands, clean and real sounds, I have a PSR-S950 and already waiting for the King of all Arrangers Tyros 4 that will be here in a couple of days. Yamaha gives great support, World Class Company!!

Richard

Originally posted at

2013-10-07T20:00:00

This instrument inspired me, I get depressed and had a musical depression after stop playing for 10 years, I tried the PSR-S950 at my friends home and went back the next day again and I had to buy it. It has got me inspired again, Good price , Best sounds on the market, great Styles...Can it get Better? I Can't wait to see what Yamaha comes up with next because I am a Yamaha customer now!!

Richard

Originally posted at

2013-09-11T20:00:00

It sounds very good. There are many S.Art. voices, even though there are some of them that sounds exactly the same. The keyboard is good but feels exactly the same as my almost 20 years old PSR-620. So I'm asking is ther was no progress in technoligy since then? The screen looks bad, with very poor viewing angles and low resolution (640x480). And it seems that Yamaha still has a stock of those screens that was implemented in keyboards since PSR-3000 or even earlier. Dont get me wrong, I'm not asking for 20" screen with IPS panel and touch capabilities, but for something with little bit higher resolution and better viewing angles. Is it too much? I didn't try yet to connect the video output to FullHD TV, but I guess the 640x480 isn't going to shine on it either. I expect the premium instrument will be made in JAPAN and not somewhere else. Especially when you pay for it 1900+ US$. It works with other Japanese companies, specialized in photography equipment for example, so why it isn't working with Yamaha?? Bottom line, I like playing this keyboard and I like how it sounds so it is at least partially mitigates the issues written above.

Yuri

Originally posted at

2013-08-02T20:00:00

This thing has such awesome sounds still trying to figure them all out there are so many and I am so slow...Heee !

Howie

Originally posted at

2013-07-12T20:00:00

I bought the PSR-S950 to replace my PSR-S900 after five years of heavy use. It is a suitable replacement for the 900. I am a seasoned solo performer vocal/keyboard and use it for dances, programs and parties. I'm sure some teen players would love the new voices and rhythms added, but I hate them, they are useless to someone like me and take up too many of the resources. Also, some of the voices are not loud enough to match up with the rhythms with which they are paired, namely saxes and organ. Otherwise this keyboard suits me well and I am looking forward to at least 5 more years of use. Comments I hear from my fans are "very realistic voices like saxes, oboe, clarinet, trumpet, etc."

Lee

Originally posted at

2013-04-25T20:00:00

I just upgraded from a PSR-S550B and there is no comparison between the two. The 550 was a great keyboard, but the clarity of sound between the 550 and the 950 is dramatic. I supposed it should be considering the difference in cost. The touch response of the keys is greatly improved, as are the voices, especially with the new super articulation voices and the amazing new audio styles. And all of it sounds great on the vastly improved speaker system. The style editing and creation is another great feature, as is the expandibility for new voices and styles. Plus it will play Tyros 4 styles and any other style you can throw at it. I cannot recommend the keyboard enough. It will blow you away!

Stuart G.

Originally posted at

2013-04-08T20:00:00

Oh my, the piano is incredible, the Hammond organ is fabulous including the leslie sound, the elec pianos are tops, the acoustic guitars the best. I too came from a Korg PAX2pro, and yes Korg has more buttons and direct access. But the sounds on the Yamaha blow Korg away, and once you learn how to set up this keyboard it's very manageable. I play pro most weekends, and this is the best sounding realistic and expressive sounds I've ever come across, including Roland, Kurzweil, Korg, Triton, and so portable. Love it!!!

tom.kat

Originally posted at

2013-03-28T20:00:00

I bought this keyboard mainly for 1-man band shows and to practice with singers at home. The things great about this keyboard is that there are tons and tons of styles created by other PSR users that you can swap and exchange, which makes it simplier for me and to augment my styles library quickly. The screen on the PSR-S950 is bright regardless of day or night. There is no problem seeing it in the sunlight. The bad thing about this keyboard is that the buttons are too small, and being close together I had to feel where it is first before pressing it, such as up or down buttons. In the micro edit screen the up, down, and top buttons are awkwardly placed that it made it cumbersome to edit. The placement of the 'back to top' button in the middle is awkward. I always press that button by mistake for the down button and I end up having to scroll down where I was again. As for the editing, it is weird that in some styles I had to erase my previous recordings to record a new one for that instrument. I couldn't retain the originals. Only the drum parts can do that. That should be changed. I sometimes want to keep the patterns as it is and layer the same sound over it. I have noticed that in some styles this cannot be done except the drum tracks. For how it sounds, I wish the sounds could've been a little more "phatter" and more full sounding for the pianos, sax, and brass. Being the latest keyboard Yamaha has to offer they are still giving us second-rated sounds to this keyboard. It is better to have less sounds but all are top-notch, then tons of sounds but none are comparable to the sounds from other manufacturers. When I first received the keyboard I had version 1.03 installed. However, one of the audio style didn't work and it popped up an error message. When I downloaded the new firmware version 1.03_2 it fixed that problem and other problems as well. So that tells me that the version 1.03_2 (with the extra 2 at the end) might be newer than the factory installed latest version. Overall I was not impressed with the PSR-S950, compared to the PSR-S900 that I had a chance to play with before. The only thing I was impressed with was the addition of the audio styles, which made the styles sounded more alive, and wished there were more of it thrown in. One thing I wish this keyboard had was to have the flexibility of the timing of when the style buttons were pressed. For example, when I am playing as a 1-man band I would like to press the auto fill-in just a few ticks ahead of time to have some time to switch sounds on the right side of the keyboard. What that means is when the button is pressed the next measure is the fill-in, not the next main style. However, being how it is now if you press it a few fraction of a second too early or too late you may or may not have the fill-in. All in all I use all of its capabitilies. However, I still see some limitations that I had to get used to.

aznkeys

Originally posted at

2013-03-03T19:00:00

This could be a wonderfull keyboard but is spoilt by a lack of, I suspect, real user testing and evaluation. The top of the screen for example for the tab operation, is almost impossible to see without standing up over it. Switching from an arrangement to a midi or mp3 file in a live situation is a nightmare, even with the settings stored in the registration memory. Then more button pressing is required to get an mp3 or midi file to play. With a Korg PA3X you just touch the song on screen and press play, done!

Flying M.

Originally posted at