Yamaha launches the S70XS and S90XS performance keyboards

Yamaha are proud to unveil the latest additions to their acclaimed and award winning professional synthesizer lineup – the S90XS and the S70XS.

Both are highly specified and high performance instruments offering huge versatility and a rich feature set for the serious live keyboard player. The two models are characterized by a huge range of highly detailed sounds and music creation capabilities carefully crafted to enhance and inspire that ‘perfect performance’.

The two new models share the same internal operating system, connectivity and sound engine and are only differentiated by their physical keyboard lengths. The S90XS features the full length 88-note balanced hammer action while the shorter S70XS features a more compact 76-note balanced hammer keybed making it a practical, easy to transport gigging partner.

Both models have a huge 456 MB of onboard wave memory. This 456 MB of waveROM is almost twice the size of competitor models and allows the Yamaha sound design teams the scope to create the most expressive, impressive and realistic sounds to-date in a professional music synthesizer.

Yamaha is the world’s most successful producer of acoustic pianos and their professional synth line up has always been acclaimed for the highest quality acoustic piano sound sets. The new models build on this reputation offering expanded and enhanced piano sounds. With 142 megabytes devoted exclusively to piano type waveforms, Yamaha has taken grand piano sounds on digital instruments to new levels with a vastcollection of samples taken from Yamaha’s very own S6 Handcrafted Concert Grand which fully capture all the nuances, dynamics and rich tonal textures of the acoustic counterparts.

Both models have been created by listening to the needs of the live performance player. The new Performance Creator feature makes it simple to create layers and splits and removes the usual complexities of combining voices that can often be found in music synthesizers. New display modes make it simple to see the settings onstage and 16 new illuminated performance control switches make intricate parameter changes in the dark a simple and risk-free operation. Four real-time knobs and faders also add to the hands-on, uncomplicated interface giving access to the most commonly used parameters during a performance. An extremely useful and sensible ‘panel lock’ feature is also incorporated preventing accidental changes during any over-physical performances.

New to these models comes an invaluable audio recording and playback feature. CD-quality audio data can easily be recorded to the internal flash memory or to external USB storage devices allowing players to instantly capture not only everything played on the keyboard, but also audio sources connected to the ¼”/XLR Combo jack input with front panel controls. Creative players will find this an invaluable feature as it allows for personalised backing tracks to be incorporated into the performance or for live recordings to be made without the need for additional recording hardware. By using the internal virtual modeling effects section its even possible to apply the highest quality compression, reverb and effects to the mic input to help capture the live performance but enhanced with studio quality effects processing. There is even a full-featured vocoder onboard for the ultimate in expressive performance.

Along with the easy to use functions, massive wave memory and audio recording features, the new S series also integrate tightly with the computer. With internal templates for editing softsynths and with hardware control of the host DAW plus a VST3 editor allowing the S90XS and S70XS to appear and be controlled as VST instruments, the new synths can also become the backbone of a computer-based composition environment.
Peter Peck, Marketing Manager for Music Production at Yamaha Music UK said ‘We are delighted to be here at the London International Music Show with the world launch of the new S series music synthesizers. Over the years the world’s leading artists have played both our S series and Motif’s onstage and we are pleased to have been able to learn from their operational experiences to help create these new instruments. By answering the needs of the professional performer we believe that the synth player can now finally enjoy and be inspired by the performance rather than having to concentrate on modes, menus and multis.’

Features :

The sounds of the Motif XS plus a huge new S6 handcrafted grand piano sample
76 and 88 note Yamaha Balanced Hammer weighted action
New Performance Creator for instant splits, layers and drum performances
4 knobs, 16 backlit LEDs and tons of buttons for direct hands on control
¼”/XLR Combo jack A/D input (with front panel controls) for adding vocals and guitars Direct to USB Stereo Audio record/ playback (plus 18 minutes of internal flash memory)
The new S90XS and S70XS will be available in the UK and ROI from September 2009 with a targeted retail price of £2821 and £2717 including 15% VAT respectively.

For further information visit www.yamahasynth.com

Tags: Tech, Yamaha

Follow us on Twitter!

This entry was posted on Friday, 12th June, 2009 at 10:27 am and is filed under News, Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.