Yamaha S-90

I have to split this into two sections, basic vs. advanced. For locating patches, it's very easy. They allow you to group patches in to categories for easy recall, and save certain patches as "favorites" (also helpful), and to store frequently used patches and performances in a "Master" section, where you can step through them quickly for gigging or recording sessions. They even give you an intuitive matrix of sliders for on the spot (real time) editing of basic parameters such as reverb depth, amplitude envelope shape, filter cutoff, etc. So for the basics, pretty easy.

Where it gets difficult is in the deeper editing. Yamaha did not lay things out in an intuitive flow. You will often find yourself hunting around for the location of the parameter that you want to manipulate. Expect to keep your manual on hand. I've had the board for about 10 months, and I still have to hunt. Fortunately there is a forum (at sninety.com) with helpful experts and a search function. Many's the time where the web has quickly answered a question that was not answerable from the manual, which I would describe as dry and sometimes incomplete.

Overall, if you are geared towards simple patch playback, it's easy enough; if you hope to spend a lot of time programming, the ease of use is definitely bested by the competition. I love how the board sounds, but programming could have been made much easier (or at least more logical). This board can be frustrating, and I am a patient, manual reading, techhie kind of guy. A total newbie to synthesizers would be lost.

88 key weighted piano action, pitch and mod wheels, velocity and aftertouch. Great arpeggiator always available with lots of potions to play with if you are in to that. (I am not.) Midi I-O-T or USB midi available. I find it annoying that midi can be only midi ports OR via USB, but not both. Why not? It would have been handy to use both ports at the same time. No user sampling, no sequencer. Smart card slots and expandability via PLG cards (3 max). No floppy. Note that the PLG cards mostly date from 1999, and they haven't released anything lately. I'm OK with that, as the board sounds awesome as it is.

Excellent for "real world" sounds. Great brass, basses, acoustic guitars, etc. Fairly good at "synthy" sounds. Great organs. Very good effects. I will weigh in on two common complaints: (1) Many patches have vibrato built-in to the source sample. Yes, you read that right. There is one sustained solo violin patch that is wonderful, EXCEPT that the sample contains a lot of vibrato once it starts sustaining, and you can't disable it. I was in disbelief when I learned this. All FX off, all LFOs off, no modulation controllers happening, with just bare bones wave playback, you still get relatively heavy vibrato. What were they thinking?? Same for the great solo flute patch - built-in vibrato that you can not eliminate. Inexcusable. (2) PIANO: Very good, but not perfect. It's strange to me that reviewers here either praise it to the high heavens, or bash it completely. It's not that great, nor is it that bad. It's definitely better than most, and possibly one of the top very few out there. Yes, there is some strange (to me) weirdness in the #1 featured acoustic piano patch, but you can pretty easily edit yourself a version that suits you. You can play with velocity switch points, with overall EQ, and with the dedicated EQ for each layer. (I think the middle layer is a little dark and hollow by default.) In a few minutes, I had saved a version that is more suitable to my style, and I'm sure that anyone can do the same. So, it's not absolutely perfect, but it is quite good; among the best. Makes me wonder (now) how I lived with my previous piano sound source for ten years (an Alesis QS7 - good board, but the S90 piano shames it).

Bragging moment: I programmed a killer patch for The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again", right from scratch. I have a couple videos of me playing it on the web. The web kind of goofs with the sound a bit, so it's much better hearing it in person, but it still sounds pretty killer. Here's the link to the intro section: http://www.learnlicks.com/watchVideo.cfm?lickID=257
And here's a link to the famous middle section:
http://www.learnlicks.com/watchVideo.cfm?lickID=258

http://www.learnlicks.com/ is a great site, by the way - I strongly encourage you to join (or at least surf by). It's kind of like a youtube that contains only lessons and tips from fellow musicians. Video is bigger than youtube, too. Check it out. It's a fun way to show off your gear and your chops.

Back to the S90: I would rate the sounds at a 9 overall.

No reliability issues. I have a home studio, so this board will never see a gig. I expect perfect reliability from Yamaha. My only other Yamaha is a TG-33 from the early 90s, and it still works as new (now in 2007). Yamaha has good build quality.

No experience.

Great keyboard! That said...

There are some things that I wanted to mention that I don't see anyone else touch on. Why does it take so long to save a patch? On my other modules, you press save (usually twice, or some sort of "Save - Enter" combo), and within a split second, your edit is saved. Just like saving a file on a computer; click save, and in a nanosecond, the file is saved. Not so with the S90... first, it's a 3-button process (not 2), and I can live with that, but the display give you a message saying "Please don't power down while saving..." while you watch a scroll bar scroll across the display for something on the order of 15-20 seconds. Why aren't saves instant? (Like they are everywhere else?) It would makes me nervous to want to save a change to a patch mid-song while gigging. Just seems a little delicate to me.

Another note: Brains-wise, (...and Yammie fanatics, please don't bash me here), the S90 is really 99.999% of the S90ES and/or the Motif line. Really; almost identical sound sets and program options. (The 'ES' has much more program ROM wave data and an updated piano, and the Motifs usually have sequencers, while the S90 does not.) You can find these for a great price now. Many shops have unsold S90 units from before the switchover to the newer S90ES line. When I bought mine, the S90 was $1250 and the S90ES was $2100. I played the two (piano in particular) with high quality headphones for quite a while, trying to see if the 'ES' sound would justify spending another $800 or so. I bought the S90, so there's my answer. I'm glad that I did. It's a great sounding board, great keybed, Yamaha construction and reliability (no crashes, ever).

Off-topic: Does anyone else here hate the recent changes to the Harmony Central web page? New reviews aren't posted as quickly as they used to be, for one thing. You have to refresh your browser often to clear up "page can't be displayed" messages. It didn't used to be this way... sorry about the grumble.

The usability is so lalala. I think the programmers of the synth have their own way to play music. If you're used to think in a way that's compatible with their perspective it's fine. If not, the manual is no good help to explore the many possibilities of the instrument.

There is a DVD on www.sninety.com available, which should be part of the package. It helps a little. But can't replace a better usability. Yamaha Engineers don't do user-oriented usabiltiy testing. I'm sure!!!

A lot of features but the usability and the manual are too bad to use most of them.

That's the point, why I love this instrument. It's a musical synthesizer. You got all to play funk keyboards: great clavinets, unique organs, fine lead sounds and superb rhodes. And the piano is far better, I expected after reading the posts in this review section.

Again: I L-O-V-E the funk keyboard sounds of this instruments. So rich, so warm, so inspirational.

No Problems.

No need.

I would definitely buy it again. Only 8 Points because of the bad usability. 10 points for the musical input of the instrument 3 Points for the usability.

To each his own, I guess, but I can't get my head around the OS. I only use this as a MIDI controller, because it's too hard to program and because I have other synths with sounds I like better. As a controller, it's pretty easy. The manual is not great, but as long as you don't try anything too fancy, it's pretty easy to manage. If I liked the sounds better, I might use the software editor, but I don't so I don't.

On the good side is the wonderful keyboard, good (but a little sensitive) pressure sensitivity, assignable sliders, pitch and mod wheels that are ergonomically spaced, internal power supply, USB port, MIDI file player, and light(ish) weight. On the bad side are the small screen, convoluted synth programming, and lack of more (like, dozens of more) assignable controls. I know Yamaha did not design this to be just a MIDI controller, but that's my opinion. As popular as the KX88 was, and as popular as the M-audio and CME controllers are now, you'd think they'd make a mint selling one.

I don't use the onboard sounds. The acoustic pianos are pretty bad, the CP80 is terrible, and the rest are so-so. I just use it as a controller.

Seems great. Like the previous reviewer, mine arrived with five or six keys that would not bounce back at all. I opened it up and popped them back into place (no lubrication needed), and it's been great ever since. Yamaha has a great reputation for reliability, and I've had no trouble at all.

Never had to use them, which says a lot, I guess.

Depends. As a synth, the OS in convoluted and not intuitive. The piano sounds suck, and the soundset is not as complete as those on other ROMplers. As a MIDI controller, it's very good. The keyboard feel is unmatched by any other manufacturer, it's light and compact (for an 88-key keyboard), the pitch and mod wheels are easy to get to, and the USB port makes it a great bridge between my computer and my synth collection. I wish Yamaha would make a MIDI controller just like this, but with no sounds and with a whole panel full of assignable controllers. Like the M-Audio Keystation Pro, but with pressure sensitivity and a quality Yamaha keyboard.

Interface is detailed but if you really want to tweak your sound you need a detailed user interface

effects: 7 or 8
polyphony: good i've had no problems
action: feels lighter than acoustic piano but i like that and you can really dial in the feel you want on this board

i only use the key sounds playing live other sounds are just for at home or recording maybe for fun no synth really recreates strings brass good it all sounds cheesy to me. The ap's are good but like anything else you have to adjust to cut through the mix live. ep's definately are good i prefer wurlitzer though and am dissapointed theres only two wurli patches. In my opinion, this board is huge so if ep's and organ are your thing go for nord electro at 20 pounds or something and get the stage piano you love say p90 or 250 etc.

so far so good but who knows

Overall great instrument for having everything keywise you need in one board(heavy) with effects. Myself i like to jam and play some gigs on keys when I can, so i'm eventually going to get the nord electro and a yamaha stage piano. But the s90 can get you anywhere you want to go and is cheap now for what you get. Remember don't get too picky when you play out most people in the bars are drinking and don't know what it should sound like

I found it easy to use from the get-go. I grew up programming the TX802, one of the deamons of programming folklore. I've always been comfortable with Yamaha's software structure. Editing is comfortable for me and I've yet to try the patch editor. The manual is fairly well written, though certain things are omitted.

64 note polyphony. The action it my favorite part. When I got it the C above middle-C stuck a bit, but I opened it up and greased up the key and now it's like butter. It feels weightwise like a spinet piano. Medium light with good resistance and a fast snapback. I can do organ work on it without too much discomfort. The FX are nice, smooth, and simple. The expansion seems to be easily done; i.e. about as complicated as installing a PCI card in a computer. The MIDI capabilties are there, though I've yet to use them. No sequencer. That was kind of the point of the board.

Velocity is smooth and predictable. Aftertouch is decent. I'm not that fond of the idea to begin with, so I avoid it.
Every sound I've used is nice. Rhodes is lovely, I'd actually use the Wurly (not a fan of the sound usually), Clavs are lovely, strings sound very nice (the celli alone are with the price), the synth sounds are use able (not quite as "analog" as dedicated modelers). The organs are suprisingly nice. Not as realistic as my Voce V3 with a real rotory horn, but definatly usable.
The S700 grand is wonderfull. Running though shit speakers it won't sound that good. If you want a piano that's made to sound good though bad gear, buy a Roland. Running through Mackie SRM450s, this baby is a dream. Anyone who says It's bad is either foolish, stupid, or one of the lucky few who plays a beautiful grand on a regular basis. Do yourself a favor and learn to work a parimetric EQ. It's more than you need to make this board sing, in any mix. And what do you know? There's on built in.

I've used the board for Jazz and Soul stuff. Works well for everything. The finger to key to sound response is why I always prefer Yamaha gear. They just feel right to me.

Yamaha makes some of the most road worthy gear in the world. I've never had a problem with anything from them with the exception of my nearly 20 year old KX88, which needed to have the ribbon cable replaced (all the C's abot middle C stopped playing). I have used it at gig without a backup. Everytime.

I'm by no means an impulse buyer. I've read every review, played everyone I could find, had other people play it and give me their opinions, and shopped around for naerly 3 years before I bought it. I picked this board.

If it were stolen I would hunt the bastard down and beat him with a crowbar. That's what I did when my SY77 was stolen. Though it wasn't a crowbar. It was one of those little floaty tube things for pools. He did bleed, however. I would buy another one if I could find it. I'd also consider a Motif 8, ES8, and the S90ES. It's more than worth what I paid (eBay).
I've been playing for about 6 years (started late). I own a Yamaha EX5R, TX802, KX88, PF70, and a few other weird little items (computer speakers, ect.).
I love the sounds. Period. I love that it's black. In my opinion, the gear shouldn't atract attention, the player should. I love the pitch and mod wheel posistion. Because they're up there, I can fit the board, in it's case width wise in the back seat of my car. Dislikes? The posistion of the breath controller input should be on the front, like the KX88. That's about it.
I compared it with everything I could find. Tritons (second choice next to the Yamaha boards, distantly), Kurzweils, Rolands (last place by far), and few other choices. I chose this beacuse Yamaha provides me with the sounds I want but more importantly, the ability to edit almost every aspect of the sounds.

Most things you can do without manual

I love the feel of the keyboard. Wish it had 128 voice polyphoniy

Finally a 10.
I was disappointed by the S700 piano.
But... for all the frustrated S90 users (regarding the piano sound)
check this : http://www.hey-babe.de/S90.w4e
I really love that GrandPiano (Patch 1 ) i made.
If you put it in a performance, with 2 voices stereo split
it sounds even better.
Other Sounds on the S90 are very good , especially the rhodes.

No problems so far

Didn't need to use.

Best all-in-one keyboard i know.
Would definitely buy it again
( well maybe the S90es. then again the S90 is smaller...)

Very easy to use. If you have problems with this keyboard, you must have a low overall I.Q.

Not perfect but what is. It would be nice to navigate the Control function with a button for each use instead of shifting until you get to the one you want, but oh well. I love the 4 sliders which make it easy to edit in live situations. 64 polyphony is a bit low for layering 3 different voices but i plan on use one to the 3 expansion slots for sounds like, stings and that should free up the on-board polyphony. 128 polyphony can be achived by adding 2 of the same expansion cards. The s90 comes with all the softwear needed to connect to a PC for sequencing. PC sequencing is more powerful and easier to use than keyboards in most situations.

Ok here is were the s90 really comes to life. About the Triple-Strike piano, one word "Awsome". There was a problem with it early in production which some people heard a hissing sound in the mid range but Yamaha fixed the problem. You will want to EQ the s700 triple-strike piano with the "hi" value all the up. Exceptionally rich, full, and bright piano sound. The Rhodes are the best I have ever heard. There are about 5 different Rhodes sounds which met all my needs. Only 2 Wuilies but they sound great. All the sounds are high quality and sound great for any use both live or in the studio.

I gig with it in a hard road case and have no problems at all.

I never had to use it so thats a good thing.

Now that the s90es came out i would diffinately get that but i dont feel the need to upgrade for a long time.

Moderately difficult to use. If you just want to turn it on, and call up a preset or two, of course it's easy. If you want to go beyond this, it can be challenging. I don't have a problem w/ complexity, as long as things are consistent, and not redundant. I've had this board for over a year now, and I'm a fairly technical person. Nevertheless, I still often get to the point where I have to ask myself, OK, what the heck are we doing now?

I do not find fault w/ the screen, nor w/ the buttons. I think the UI is actually quite good. It's very fast and immediate. The problem lies deeper in how things are organized, how things relate to one another, and (as someone else has already mentioned) how things are named.

The keyboard action is great. It is a digital piano after all, and given that it is great in comparison to other digital pianos. It doesn't feel very much like an acoustic piano, but the leap is not so great that I feel stymied when sitting behind the real thing.

The effects are very good. Unfortunately, I'm left w/ the presets, as the mapping of controller to effect is arcane and limited. 2 control sliders per voice? Gee, thanks.

As a MIDI controller, you've got 88 glorious keys, w/ aftertouch. It falls short w/ the "Remote Controller" mode, which again is quite limited and practically a gimmick.

The triple-strike piano is great. I honestly cannot understand why people are bashing this. I have listened to recordings made from the S90 and have been tricked for several measures, into thinking this was some Old Lady, etc. Other listeners have made similar comments. The only bummer for me is there's only 1 set (3 layers) of waves for the Wurlitzer. It's OK, but not great. Good Rhodes sounds.

Feels good to me. I plan to keep it a good long time.

Well, time marches on. If I had to do it again (today, not a year ago), I'd probably go for the MO-8. This lacks the expansion slots, and the nice dark color of the S90, but at least is the same size. The S90ES is definitely wider, who's idea was that?

When I bought it, it came down to the S90 and the P90/P120/P250. I definitely made the right choice for me. The keyboard, while different, is at least as good. I really appreciate the full-on synth flexibility you get w/ an S vs. a P. I only wish the S90 wouldn't be so arcane, such an enigma. As a wicked-flexible great-sounding digital piano, you'd be hard pressed to do better.

I've offered my opinion here in the past, have lived with the S90 for a couple of years now, tried really hard to hear things it's way even... In the end, there's no doubt that this keyboard is terrible for reasons I'll never understand. They (Yamaha) had to know, it's impossible to believe they thought the thing sounded good by any reasonable stretch of the imagination. The piano can't be used, period, and no amount of tweaking helps. How could this have happened? It's beyond subjective opinion, the S90 is simply a horrible keyboard, a single playable patch (great Fender Rhodes) out of thousands. AND -- an operating system that is totally bizarre, never responds to a parameter tweak as expected, diverts your attention from the music while trying to play live -- even for some as basic as changing the patch the s90 will fight you in certain situations. After using Tritons live for many years, there's no way any modern keyboard should be this confounding to use. It's a complete joke

The piano is a big disappointment. I have read reviews like "the S90 has the best tripple strike piano on the market". HAHAHA, wash your
ears and listen to a real piano, no comparison. In fact, if you go
for a good piano sound, buy the YAMAHA P120. It costs much less and sounds miles better on piano. The S90 piano can only be used in a studio mix, and it dosn't make fun to play it as a solo piano. All chords sound a bit dead.

I thought of selling it on ebay, but it has some very dencent
rhodes sounds, drums and other nice sounds build in. As a
synthesizer the S90 is valuable, but as a piano a bad choice.
But then you are better off with a MOTIF ES8. The whole concept
of the S90 doesn't make much sense to me. In any case you will
be disappointment, because you see the compromises to clear.

But this is not surprising. If YAMAHA would put in the machine
the best piano sound, why should people continue to buy the real
stage pianos?

At least I proved that making some nice sounding tracks on this
thing is possible! :-)