NKBD coming soon

[YamahaGuy]

I bought a Yamaha (of course) MX88 awhile ago and it's great. Especially for me, for whom keys is like my 3rd or 4th instrument behind acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, and vocals. Maybe even trombone. Any way, I mainly bought the MX88 for my band. We have a phenomenal keyboard player who can play the piano like nobody's business. The problem is, I don't want my $1300 board getting banged up moving around every time we play out AND our keyboard player spends 90 minutes of practice trying to find "the" voice she wants.

I found a bargain on a Yamaha S80, which seems to be a better rig for her as far as straight forward with an easy to dial up grand piano sound without as many bells and whistles as the MX88.

Anyone familiar with the S80?

[jwellsy]

According to Wikipedia the S80 was discontinued in 2002.
It looks like a lot of keyboard (big and probably heavy).
Do you need 88 weighted keys outside the house?
Yamaha just released a new PSRE283 at the recent NAMM show.
I don't recommend the current 273 or 283 due to no velocity sensing on the key action.
I've been on the lookout for the right deal on a PSRE 373 or 473.
Now since that 8th generation 283 has been announced, I'm anxiously waiting to see what the specs are going to be on the 383 and 483.
I'm really hoping for a 5 pin midi output on the upcoming 483.
I would have already gone for the 473 if it had a 5 pin midi out.
The 373 and 473 both have 61 velocity sensitive keys.
The 473 is bigger and heavier due to twice the power to the internal speakers and additional features.
The 373 runs $180 new, $150 used, smaller and more portable.
The 473 runs $370 new, $300 used, better internal sound and more features like a pitch bending wheel.
Wish I had an inside info source on when the 383 and 483 will be announced.
These PSRE's have several programmable memories and a default grand piano button that gets you there no matter what you have selected.

Good luck on your journey.

edit: looks like the S80 weighs 54 lbs and the PSRE473 weighs 16 lbs.

[YamahaGuy]

I had a PSR e433. Great board. I own an MX49 which I really like too. The S80 is for a piano player in my band. She does justice to all 88 keys. Prior to the MX88, she was using a cheap Williams 88 key board with out weighted keys. The weight of the S80 isn't that much a concern since the board won't be moved that often.

[YamahaGuy]

Too good a price to be true usually means it's too good to be true. Not a peep of output from the unit. So sad as it's in near pristine condition otherwise. I tried a factory reset, went through all the menus and voices, tried various cables, speakers, amps, headphones. No sound.

[jwellsy]

That sucks!
Do you have power or lights anywhere?
Do you have a little electrical multi-tester?
Check how much voltage is coming out of the wall wort.
Does it have a battery option?

BTW, does your MX49 have 5 pin midi connections?

[YamahaGuy]

Originally Posted by jwellsy

That sucks!
Do you have power or lights anywhere?
Do you have a little electrical multi-tester?
Check how much voltage is coming out of the wall wort.
Does it have a battery option?

BTW, does your MX49 have 5 pin midi connections?

The S80 took an IEC (3 prong computer style) power cord. The thing booted like it was supposed to. I have a multi meter but I already returned the S80.