Yamaha S-90

Very simple - until you start editing. Not as easy to navigate as Korg products, but not difficult either. Patch editor included is great. Manual is so-so. Kind of the same old funky english-japanese-english translations we've all come to know and love. Once you do understand it's architecture though, it is a snap to run.

No need to reiterate what others have written. Go to www.sninety.com for all the real scoop on features. Expansion on this thing was really designed right. Lots of hip add ons available including VM and FM cards. FX are stellar - more than you will need. Two inserts, plus dedicated reverb and modulation (chorus, delay, etc.). Wonderful. As a controller, there are better, but I use an outboard midi mapper, so can't make a real comparison.

Oh my goodness. This is what I've been waiting for for years. The pianos, Rhodes's, Wurlis, and Clavs are nothing short of brilliant. I don't understand the reviewer who liked the S80 rhodes sounds better. I used an S80 for six months, and these sounds eat the S80 for lunch. Not to mention the keyboard feel on the S80 was light and clunky, not musical at all. Very cheap feeling. The S90 keyboard is about as good as it gets on a synth/controller. The B3s are very, very good. Only way to get better is a Korg CX3 or Voce V5 (or B3). The horns are OK, as are the strings. Lots of cool pad and lead sounds. Drum sounds are stellar. Woodwinds are wonderful. I would give the sounds an 8 for overall, but because this thing is geared towards keyboardists who want the meat and potatoes covered well, I'm giving it a ten. I just can't find fault with the electric pianos - even scrutinizing in headphones. I have owned 5 or 6 Rhodes EPs over the last 20 years, and this is the first product that has nailed it, bar none.

Yamaha is always great. I've had Yamaha stuff in my rig since my first CP70B electric grand. Never had any problems, they're all tanks.

Yamaha is the same as everyone else. If you reach the right person on the right day, you'll be fine. Everyone complains about customer support. You have to realize these guys deal with idiots all day long, and they get cranky! Yamaha has actually been one of the better companies for cust. support - at least that's been my experience with them.

The S90 is my new love. I use it with a Korg Triton classic. The two are very complimentary. I use the Triton primarily for organs, leads, pads, strings and percussion. Also, because it has a killer sequencer and great sampling, I don't miss those things on the S90. I can't agree with the reviewer who said the Triton sounds were much better than the S90. There are a lot of things the Triton is great for, but for the bread and butter piano (S700 sample is second to none), Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Clav, and B3, nothing on the market touches this. And it's cheaper than even the Korg Triton Le 88. If you play lots of piano and EP, go get one!

To all of you who bought this keyboard for a "rhodes" piano, but
were dissapointed because you thought the S80 elec. pianos were better, go to Yamaha's website and download the S80 factory presets. Load them into your S90. Do a little homework....these factory sounds are not set in stone.

I am using the latest version as of 4/19/03.
Very easy to use. I haven't been hung up on any problems that could not be solved by going to the manual. It's easy to edit a patch's effects on the s90, but the Voice Editor is needed to go deeper. Not that this is a bad thing! The voice editor is a snap to use.

64 note poly. I haven't noticed any notes dropping out. Keyboard action is quite nice (balanced hammer action).
Effects sound incredible, and there are quite a few. I especially like the low-fi effect on a piano for that vinyl record sound. Effects are very editable too.
There are 3 expansion slots on the s90, and the plug-in cards are very deep. They aren't just additional PCM data, but are whole new synths. I'm thinking of getting the PLG-AN (a 5-poly virtual analog synth), the PLG-VL (monophonic acoustic modeler), and the PLG-DX (16-poly FM synth). Also has mLAN support and a SmartMedia port.
For MIDI, you get in/out/thru, and a USB interface. Also has aftertouch, four assignable sliders, mod wheel, pitch wheel, two assignable foot controllers, one assignable footswitch, one sustain pedal, and a breath controller.
There is no onboard sequencer, but I use my computer to sequence.

The sounds on this synth are simply mind-blowing. Pianos are top notch (default triple-strike s700 is a bit capricious in its tone though), EPs and clavs are extensive, electric organs are good (not too many pipe organs however), strings are great (especially the synth strings), brass is good too, synth sounds are versatile, drums are outstanding, and wind instruments are quite nice. The arpeggiator also has some realistic strumming patterns as well as techno-ish ones.
What style is this good for? Probably everything but techno (though it wouldn't do too bad at that).

I've gigged with it once and it worked great. Seems really solid, but get a good stand for it 'cause it's pretty heavy.

I haven't needed to contact them yet.

If it was stolen (I would never lose this baby!) I'd buy it again. This board fit my needs exactly. I didn't need an onboard sequencer or sampler, nor did I want to pay for those extras I wouldn't use. It's a top-notch performance synth, and will probably last me for years, especially with the plug-in boards.

It seems my review provoked some responses, so let me try to reply... to the guy who says he "researched" for a year and there's no comparison to the S90, IMHO I've gigged with a Triton Pro-X, over 300 dates a year, countless sessions and records (prefer not to name drop) for almost 4 years. I'm now gigging every night w/ the S90. While the Yammy has it's strenghths, the Triton has more. Superior controllers. Brilliant interface. Better effects. Better eq. More usable sounds, organs and clavs head and shoulders above, better use of the arpeggiators and on and on. To the guy who worries about Korg reliability, I beat the hell out of two different Pro-X's, neither EVER broke down, gig after gig, year after year (and both were dropped more than once!). If you sit at home with your headphones on, the S90 sounds wonderful, but in the real world where acoustics wildly vary, the S90 seems to create lots of unwanted overtones. I have no idea why, but in almost any room, big or small, the S90 becomes muddy sounding, especially the much heralded triple strike piano. Nonetheless, I am liking it better than I did initially, now that I've had a chance to tweak it a bit. And it has GREAT action without a doubt.

Very easy to use and to edit patches. Very well thought out. But the manual is the pits. Yamaha has their own way of talking about things and there's no glossary and the index aint so good. So there's is an entirely unnecessary learning hump to get over. No biggie but irksome.

Polyphony is acceptable but 128 would have been much nicer. I owned and played a studio grand for many years but I love the action on this thing. It is not the most realistic action I tried but I liked this better. That might be because I've also played organ.

In general the sounds are very good, very musical. But: As someone else said "I like the piano but I don't love it". And the strings, which are very important to me, are useless 90% of the time because (apparently) the vibrato is in the sample. That's the most stupid thing Yamaha has done in a long time. I sure hope they come out with a killer string plugin card to make up for it. So I'm only going to give it a 7 but I can understand why others give it a 10.

Don't know. Someone posted that the cross to the high velocity on the 700 piano was really bad. The first time I turned on my board I had the sane problem-totally unusable--I couldn't figure out what was going on. I cycled the power and it's been fine ever since. But that does make me a little nervous.

Yep, I'd buy it again. It's a real pleasure to play. The action gets an 11 or 12 to bump this up to 9

The S90 is easy to use and offer lots of options for a keyboard this price. I was impressed by the interface, not to cheesy, very pro looking. I didn?t like the Triton, or Roland XV stuff (other considerations) and will get more into that later. Editing patches is fairly straight forward. You have lots of control when editing sounds and with a little persistence you can get the perfect sounds. Most sounds are damn good without much if any editing but still its nice to have. Manual is easy to understand and there is tons of support out there for this keyboard.

The polyphony is 64 and not really an issue. Being a piano player, I was concerned about this but ironically I had more polyphony issues with the Roland RD 700 and Korg SP 500 which are both 128 polyphony. You?d think with that much polyphony; you would get a much better sound from the RD 700 and SP 500. Yamaha did a great job with the polyphony. It has many effects including an arpeggiator which makes this a fun keyboard to play around with and explore. It has 4 expansion slots and Yamaha has made plug in cards for the S90. There are many rumors about some exciting things in the future for S90 expansion. Of course the S90 is midi compatible and allows you to save with a smart media card instead of a disk drive. You get over 100 times more storage space. There is no on board sequencer as this is not a workstation. Since so many people use computers and they can do so much more than workstations, Yamaha made this for those types of people. According to the number of units sold and recent pools done these are the largest types of users in the keyboard market.

The sounds on the S90 are amazing. Most people buy a keyboard for its sounds. The sounds represent the greatest combination of useable sounds out there. The piano action is amazing on this machine and when I play my piano at work I don?t struggle. Action has always been a huge factor for me as have sounds. If these are important to you, you really need to check out the S90. The S90 has the most intuitive and dynamic touch of any synth out there. It is a tremendous mount of fun to play this machine.

I have never owned a Yamaha so I can't accurately answer this question. I have heard good things and stikll many DX7 out there which bodes well for reliability.

See above comments.

Being a purchaser for a globally recognized musicians association, we scrutinize our purchases very thoroughly. We factor in many requests into our final decision for purchases. There was a committee of five of us that had to agree on this purchase. We all went together and explored everything out there. We all had too many problems(which I won?t list because of the sheer volume that would take up) with the Korg, Roland, Kurzweil, and Alesis stuff. I understand that sound is different to each person but from what I?ve heard form other users, musicians, producers and studio execs, the S90 has a tremendous amount of credibility in the professional music industry. That wasn?t the case with many of the other keyboards out there. We demoed over 35 different machines some of which haven?t been released to the public yet. We rated them and amazingly in the end four of us had the S90 as number one. The other person had it number three. It was an easy decision with those types of number. If you need a complete keyboard with great sounds and without all the sloppy workstation features than the S90 should be your choice.

Very easy to use. I figured it out immediately and if your familiar with synths you can hook this up to a computer and get everythng going in no time. Considered getting a Triton but accoustical presets and piano sounds were far superior. The Patches as a whole are ther bets set out there. I spend the last 1.5 years playing everything out there, picking other keyboard users brains to see what they liked and didn't. It became apparent to me the S90 was a non brainer. Editing patches is starightforward and easy to do. Manual and support are straight forward. You cna get tons of help at www.sninety.com if you need it.

It has 64 polyphony which is expandable wit the addition of plug in cards. I have never had a polyphony issue with this keyboard. ( I just played the new Roland Fantom S and ran into poly issues several times :( The keyboard action is fantastic and this was a big issue for me since I have played the piano for the last few years. There is a playback sequencer with a smart media card set up. This is far better than a disk drive and gives you so much more storage space. Use a computer for a sequencer as most people do now days. As you use this system, you begin to see hwo workstations may one day be used very little like the FM synthesis stuff.

As with any keyboard, you have great sounds and sounds you won't use. The sounds as a whole are the best on nay synth in my opinion. I play a variety of music; ne wage, jazz, classical and rock and this works well with all of them. This is perfect for live gigging. The keyboard really reacts to your playing. You have a lot fo control when playing it.

Just got it so its hard to say. other S90 users haven' thad any problems though!

Yamaha tends to devote more time and effort to its higher end users. Many PSR users probably feel like their Customer service is horrible. They have been very good with me and I haven't had a problem

I would replace this in a heart beat. There's nothing better out there for sounds and live playing. If your a serious musician this is a must have. As sales show, ( best selling synth for 5 months straight and counting) many many people agree. People in other reviews will try to tell you its not that good. Don't take there word for it. Play it yourself and decide. The sales figures don't lie!! When I first began my search over a year ago, I thought the Roland XV series or Korg Triton would fit my needs and overcome my tryranical judgements. I wasn't even considering the S90. I took th etime to play everything and I mean everything out there. Over a year later and after very tough scrutiny, this was the only keyboard left standing.

Much less intuitive than the Triton stuff. Patch editor did not load properly for Windows XP, can't use it -- what bullshit! Really don't feel like spending an hour on the phone w/Yamaha but I guess I have to, no choice! This might be the easiest Yamaha to use, but it's still way to hard, they never get it right!

The action is great. The triple strike piano is too muddy, the high velocity strike too bright (bad cross-fade), really dissapointing. Organs only fair (Triton blows them away), Brass questionable (filter open too much), strings awful (vibrato in all samples!), Clavs ok but not enough of them, analog pads and leads suck, Rhodes/Wurlis very good. Strangely, the S80 has better presets for brass, guitars, piano w/pad, maybe even epianos than the S90. Why???

Sounds have good "realism", but somehow are not very exciting, don't sit well in a live situation. After playing a Triton Pro-X professionally for almost 4 years, I have to say that this keyboard is a real dissapointment, couldn't find more than a couple of sounds that were any good. Very loungy sounding, great if you like the DX7 sound, but IMHO really lame. What a letdown!!

Don't know

Don't know

Wow, what a letdown. Everything I need, plus everything I don't? Don't think so Yamaha! This keyboard doesn't have enough of anything. Pianos a real drag, not enough Clavs, Organs useless, Strings have vibrato in the sample, Analog pads lame, Guitars not as good as the S80 (huh?), only the Rhodes sounds good. Sold a Triton Pro-X to get this keyboard, completely dissapointed! I'll be going back to Korg. What a mistake!!!

Hate to break it to you folks but the Rhodes and Wurli patches in the S80 are far better than the Motif 8 or the new S90 (since the S90 is just a compilation of Motif sounds) They didn't use the same Rhodes samples and the new ones are much thinner and not as responsive. Yet one more example of how things get worse as a product line progresses. The synthesizer industry is just like the car industry. In order to have the best you have to search for that one model and one year that had the killer engine in it that the model from the "improved" following year didn't have. Absolutely ridiculous. Gear head techy folklore anyone?

I found that S90 is really easy either to do just a "plug'n'play" or to carry them in a gig, cause the "master" feature (where you can program the sounds you're going to use in order) is really an aid. The bad thing is editing patches: I own also a Korg Trinity and there editing patches is really easy! But in S90 is a long process: connect to your pc via usb, edit the patch via Sound Editor, then push the sound into the keyboard.. BTW you can find it more easy than me..

The keys action is really great!! S90 has the best action i ever played (and I'm a classically trained piano player..)! The polyphony could be better (try using piano+strings with sustain and it will run out very soon), but is normal.. The S90 has great expansion capabilities (from the DX7 engine, to the Prophet 5 one..)

Here Yamaha did really an outstanding work..
Bright S700 is the best piano on a workstation, the presets sounds great for every genre, from rock to pop, from funky to metal..
Working along with the Sound Editor will give you the possibility to get what you want from this beatutiful baby :-)

I used 2 times in gigs and it gave me no problem.. I'll continue using it..

I didn't have problems (fortunately!!!!)

If it were stolen and if I had enough money, i'd buy it again! :)
Working with an S90/Trinity setup is greaat! So I can use Trinity for lead sounds and S90 for all the rest !

To let you know in advance...For the last three years I've used a Triton Pro-X (Classic) for my gigs (about 320 a year). It's the best keyboard I've ever owned, but I decided to replace it with the S90, because it 1)is lighter and fits in a smaller case; 2) has better action 3) I can't see the touch screen on the Korg during outdoor gigs when the sun is shining; 4)everybody seems to think the S90 is the shit. So this is not so much a review, but a question for my fellow keyboardists (the real pros -- not the guys who have been playing for 5 years): did I do the right thing? I'm really torn, would appreciate any input. pastman@sbcglobal.com. I'll follow ther format here...The Yamaha is somewhat confusing to use edit, easy to call up sounds.

Polyphony standard (64). Action excellent, effects good, expandable but the boards are old school, nice Midi capability.

Can't decide. Very used to Triton sounds (heavily tweaked), sound of the Yamaha is different, somehow less compelling (but I haven't edited anything yet, and the stock Triton sounds needed lots of help). E Pianos are great, organs dissapointing, section brass unexpected pleasure, not enough clavs, ensemble strings much warmer than the Triton, but as noted before, why the vibrato on the solo string stuff -- awful! I don't agree with (sorry) others who have said the 3 layer piano is so great, to be honest I liked but did not love it. The hard strike sample is too brittle and strident, actually some of the 2 layer pianos sound better to me. But there is much more musical linkage between the action and the tone, i.e. dynamics, phrasing etc., as compared to the Triton Pro-X which feels like an old beat-up Fender Rhodes (not entirely a bad thing!).

Never used Yamaha gear. Proudly stuck to my Rhodes during the eighties, considered the DX7 e piano one of the most horrible sounds to ever grace the planet. Time has proven me right!! (needless to say, I didn't work much during the eighties...) Heard Yamaha is quite reliable.

It's hard to change. I hope I was right (although I'm not going to go Tritonless, just swicthing to the 61 key non-weighted to go with the S90) to make the switch. I'd love to know what y'all think.

Don't read the manual, it will confuse you. Actually I never read manuals, this time I tried but gave up after a few minutes...sorry, but it's much easier to learn the basics by doing. Presents sound great (see below) except too much vibrato on the strings

Believe me, I have tried out all available keyboards on the market that somehow could be used as a stagepiano...this one is by far the best! I was first into the Roland RD-700, but the S-90 really stands out and the Roland is at least soundwise not comparable. The Yamaha has got best Keyboard action on the market. A few ago,trying and testing, I thought about a masterkeyboard + modules: The Fatar keyboards are not as good as the one built into the S-90 and it's built so cheap, I would not take it to the road. The Doepfer Masterkeyboards are expensive and make too much noise from my point of view. All in all I don't like carrying to much stuff with me, therefore the S-90 was the choice. Don't need onboard sequenzer and sampler when I'm on stage, therefore I went for the S-90 and not for my other options (Motif and new Triton) I first thought about.

Outstanding Electric Pianos and Organs, that was all I needed for playing in my funk band. plus an acoustic piano which works very well, not as good as the Yamaga PF-P100, though. All the other wonderful synth sounds, really great drums etc. I only use at home in my studio (and I already have Sequenzer, Sampler..so no need for the motif) Soundwise the best you can get, much ore powerful and expressive than the Roland stuff and not as thin as the Korg Triton.

Did my first gig after I had it for 1,5 days and was not too sure about wether I would find the right sounds in time etc and brought other stuff with me. Carrying my old stuff was not worth it, not soundwise and not for backup reasons. Yamaha products work - they don't break, their Operating System won't give you a hard time. Believe me I know what I am talking about. I am a proud owner of a Ensoniq VFX, which is in regards to reliability the worst thing ever built. And my 16 year old Yamaha DX7 II never let me alone!!!

never needed any Customer Support, so cannot tell

I still own a lot of gear (Akai S2800i,Ensoniq VFX-SDII,DX-7II,MKS-70) even though I sold a few boards, now that I have the S-90. After playing around with Synths/Keyboards for more than 20 years now, there is one thing I can say. The best acoustic piano ever built into an electric keyboard is to be heard from the Yamaha PF-P100 /P-150 I once borrowed from a friend. Even their never stuff (P-80) does not have this wonderful acoustic Piano, I have no idea why they change it in every machine....Besides, the one in the S-90 is really really useful, probably second best. Every other sound especially the electric pianos, organs, drums, synths are a dream come true! I would definitely buy it again, no doubt!

OK its a synth but editing is a little bit tricky because if you want to store you have to overwrite a User-Voice, you can't change a Presetvoice so that it keeps your changes. On the other hand the control levers are very good organized, you can control with 4 gliders on 5 differnet levels. Voice category search is very good to use to keep an overview over all those patches.

Keyboard action is very well balanced for such a multi-instrument. Effects are everything you can have, expansion possibilities are nearly unlimites (except good pianovoices). Midi controlfunctions are great, USB included. No sequenzer, but Sequenzer software for your laptop.

Well, here comes the most tricky question. I think all the epianos, snth voices, performances are very good, just on top of the market. But: Yamaha wants to get Pianoplayers to buy this Synth, and I myself, who own a P80 am not contented with these often praised 3layerS700 pianopatches. There is the S700 bright, which comes close to a p80, but in a direct comparison it sounds muddy to me. So I didn't buy the S90 because of its Pinaosounds which sounds to me not rich and clear enough. But everybody who does not want to play Solopiano and classical stuff will be contented, because in a mix it sounds very well, and you have the choice between very different kinds of pianovoices.

I don't gig, but if I had to, it would be ok, not too heavy.

Yamaha had some delivery problems, especially with the S90, so I had to wait six weeks.

As I said before, I didn't buy S90, because I would loose in the Grandpiano section the unbeatable P80 sounds. So I hope, Yamaha will bring out an Update of P80 with XG voices, voiceediting and insert effects (P250 is no alternative for Solopiano, it sounds too hard and agressive). But for all those who aren't into Pianomusic the S90 will be a fantastic Instrument.

This is my first real synth, but overall I've found it pretty easy to use and the controls well laid out. The presets sound great (especially the various keyboards and synth sounds) and there's plenty of scope for editing. Doing this is OK on the S90, but the bundled (very high quality) voice editor makes it a whole lot easier. Manual is fine for getting you up and running, but a lot of the crucial information is in tables, which can be hard to navigate. There's a lot of extra help on www.sninety.com though, which makes the learning process a lot quicker.

Polyphony is 64 notes, but this can be expanded with the plug in boards. Keyboard action is excellent, really beautiful, and encourages you to spend a lot of time playing. There are plenty of effects for what I do. I've not bought any expansion boards yet as I'm still finding my way round the basic S90, but am looking forward to being able to plug in whole different types of synth. MIDI capabilites are excellent - it works beautifully with the bundled SQ01 software and with Cubasis VST 3.0. No problems recording the various controllers such as the moudulation wheel and key aftertouch.

I love most of the sounds, especially the pianos, keyboards, organs and synths. Some of the string sounds and acoustic instruments are a little bit disappointing, but I'm finding ways to tweak these. Onboard effects are excellent. My playing is nowhere near the standard that the S90 deserves, but it puts up with me without complaint. I had an upright piano before and find the S90 more pleasurable to play.

Seems very rugged. I just use it at home so can't comment on live use. It's behaved flawlessly so far.

I've not had to deal with customer support but have heard good things about their UK support. The sninety.com web site is a great resource though, so I'll give it a 10 on that basis.

I'd definitely buy one again if it was stolen and think it's great value for money. I played the piano until about 12 years ago (until we moved into a smaller house) and then just messed about on the flute, guitar, etc. I nearly bought an electric pinao to get back into playing, but am really glad I got the S90 instead. What I most love about it is that it seems to be so many things - a great piano, a great synth and an excellent MIDI keyboard. What I most hate is the fact that I work full time, so can't spend enough time on it. I was very close to getting a Motif (I'd looked at the Triton and Fantom) until the S90 came out. But I'd got used to sequencing on the PC, so this seemed the ideal choice. The only thing I wish it had was some way to design and import your own arps, without having to own a Motif. Apart from trying to rediscover my keyboard skills, I use it for composition, and for learning synthesis, and it's perfect for this.

Depends on what you are accustomed to. For me... 10

64 polyphony. hmmm. you have to purchase the plg boards to increase in increments of 64 voices.
I have played keyboard, piano, synths... for 32 years. This is THE BEST overall keyboard feel that will be acceptable to all types of musicians regardless of their chops. For piano players it is a delight. No sequencer so to speak but comes with software that works flawlessly with anything out there. Does have smf 0 for those times you need it out there.

Sounds overall are the best you will find in one box. It will work for any type of muzic. Basically the motif engine with an additional triple spike piano. Drums and arppegiator are KILLER and aresecond to none. Strindgs are good but samples come with vibrato added. I thought lfo's were made for this? That is the only drawback that I can see. But you can work around it. Wow, it is not the perfect synth but what is? If you find it call me.

Yamaha. Total Quality
This thing is built like a tank and it isn't going to break your back like my 01/w pro x.(pass me the hernia belt honey...)

Never dealt with customer support so I can't give an honest comment.

If lost or stolen it would be replaced in a heartbeat. If you get this board get the plg-150 piano board.and vl synthesis. I know it should be onboard equipment but these engineers need job security(Kinda like the power comp. on Long Island NY) Thank god it doesn't have a sampler. That is what gigastudio and the like are for. Have not seen a good usable sampler yet attached to a synth. (maybe the E-synth though but you have to love E-mu though and pay $$$)I have listened and played everything out there over the last three years and if you are looking for a great all-around synth with great action this is it. The rd-700 is not built ewell and the piano is lacking severely. the RD-600 is far superior in that aspect.The XV series of Roland are ok, this is the best value for the money.The new Kurzweils are not worth the money not to mention the learning curve.
I have owned Kurzweil PX-1000, Korg DSS-1, 01/W Pro-X(still have),Roland FP-8(still one of the greatest great piano sound to this day)and my friend's Kurz 2500XS. This board is as good as it gets for this price and ease of use.

Well, I must say I've been scared of Yamaha's operating systems on keyboards for awhile, but since getting a Yamaha 01V mixer and conquering that, I thought I was up to the challenge. I must say that with a quick read through the manual, the operating system is very logical and well laid out. It is a whole world easier than what I saw on the S80 since the screen is larger and functions less cryptic. On a whole, you can do a whole heck of a lot so you can dive in as deep as you choose. If you want to simply playback the wonderful sounds, your golden.

This is hands down the best keyboard piano feel I've ever felt on a synth - case closed - its my nirvana!! I've been searching for feel like this for 20 years! I've owned over the past 15 years a Fatar Studio 88Plus (my favorite feel up to now), a Kurzweil PC-88, and most recently a Roland RD-700 - the S90 blows it all away. Though I did like the Roland initially, it didn't respond to actual playing as well as I'd wanted - plus the piano sounds in it are horrible in my opinion. This instrument actually plays like an instrument - responds to the pianos beautifully - and the triple-strike piano sound is amazing. When I bought the Roland, I wanted a Motif but didn't want to pay for all that useless on-board sequencing and sampling which I do through my computer hook up. The S90 is exactly what the doctor ordered! It even acts as a hardware remote control for Cubase and other sequencers - awesome!! 3 Expansion slots and MLAN capability should keep this board around for many years in my rig. In my opinion, the Yamaha S90 is what the Roland RD-700 wants to be when it grows up.

Triple-strike piano is beautiful and above all - playable in relation to the keyboard!! A wonderful sound and expressiveness - and I'm comparing this against my Gigastudio Gigapiano which has always been my favorite sampled piano - the triple strike piano - though not perfect and a bit dark (can be tweaked to death with EQ so no biggie) is the best I've heard on a keyboard and the importance of how it sounds in relation to the keyboard's action cannot be understated. The other sounds come from the Motif and are excellent. I particularly was impressed with the B3 organ sounds - and I use NI's B4 as a reference beyond the real thing. The S90 organs hold up and would be perfect on a gig - even recording within a mix. The electric pianos too are really nice - they overdo the effects on the default patches, but you can fix that as desired. Then there are all the great synth sounds, drums, basses, etc. - arpeggio settings are cool, let's see - its a Motif without the hype and extra weight and crap so that should sum up the quality of the sounds - its going to take me years to get bored with the default presets and I have 3 expansion slots as well!! sheesh!

Looks rock solid - its new so I can't tell. I don't like the particle board bottom (like the Roland had) but I guess manufacturers are doing this to lighten the load so we'll see how it holds up. I'd use it without backup on a gig now based on not being able to afford another - if I could I'd have one in each studio I work in!

They have good websites and a forum at www.sninety.com where I got most of my info before buying - people are helpful. I hear they are good. I'll give a high rating here because people should believe how good this keyboard is!

Again, I'd buy another without losing the first if I could afford it - simply stated the S90 is my weighted synth nirvana! Get one - get one now, and, no I don't work for Yamaha. I think this board is an instant classic and will be remembered for years to come...and its not the most expensive board you could buy so go now and buy 5!!

Factory presets sound excellent and are very useful. The manual could use more detail about editing.

I wish for more polyphony onboard but since it has 3 slots for adding more it's O.K.I like the built in fx. Programming is deep= lot of options.
The keyboard is a JOY to play. Unlike many other actions on the market like PA4/PA5 (Roland) it repeats well. It will not likely to break like my A90EX(w.PA4) did. The S80 and the RD7009(w.PA5) was also good but this one is the best action yet.

Souds are realistic easy to use very well set up for live or studio work. All sounds are refined and inspiring. The piano sample is as good as anything out there now perhaps the best .
I like the built in fx too. I played it through my Bose P.A. and the "balls" came out. Headphone (AKG240) or P.A. either way..... fun!
Connection to the sound is first rate. I'm impressed.

Yamaha has proved to be reiable over the years. I've had Korg, Roland, Sequential, Oberheim you name it.. I learned to trust Yamaha the most.

I've talked to them about the S80 and S30 models in the past. They are a little slow to repond and "not always on the ball".

I would have to replace this one if stolen. I love it and just can't seem to find faults with it ...yet (...I was looking hard).
I've been playing professionally for 27 years and the S90 is the the best keyboard I've ever had (and I did have many...)

I was able to change between voices after playing around with it a bit. I had to crack open the manual to find out how to play the demo songs. I haven't tried yet to change do any editing, but it will require more use of the manual.

It has everything I want, and more--far more abilities than I will use. The feel of the keys is superb. I compare it to my Yamaha Clavinova, which is great. The S-90 seems even better.

This is the highlight. This is the first criterion for choosing a synth unit; other features are gravy. Nothing can make up for poor sounds. I use almost exclusively the 'real' sounds, that is, voices mimicking real instruments. These, to my ears, are very accurate. The quantity of sounds available is surprising.

It's a heavy duty unit, very sturdy. It doesn't seem to have a weak spot.

I haven't had to deal with tech support for Yamaha.

I love it. I played many competitors, including multiple units from Yamaha, Korg, and Roland. I am convinced I got the finest stage piano available today. As far as the value, I don't think any keyboard I saw represents a fantastic value. I buy a lot of music gear, and in my opinion, keyboard/synth gear is overpriced compared to guitars and amps. But, relative to other similar products, I think it's worth every penny.

Actually compared to the S-80 this is more user friendly. In the S-90 you do not have the pages of menus of effects and what not. They have them right in a separate set of controls which is nice. The layout otherwise is pretty similair to the S-80

The action is a tad different than the S-80. I personally liked the S-80 a little more. The S-90 has an action that is the same no matter where you are on the keyboard. The S-90 still accepts the PGL boards which was cool. I took the one I had out (PGL-150PF)and loaded it into the S-90 first thing. The way you do it is actually easier than the S-80 was to load the card in. You still can accept Smart Media cards.

Most people probably have heard about the S-90 sound set as the same as the Motif so there are not many suprises here. You have the addition of the triple strike piano sample. Most people have complained about noise within their units but it seems to be isolated cases that people made more of than was neccesary. Certain units contained the problem and Yamaha offered to replace them. You can really have fun with the performance modes. I miss some of the internal sounds from the S-90 like "RT Rhodes". The patch "sweetness" comes in a close second. I have not worried about aftertouch and a lot effects so far.

Yamaha makes very Road worthy stuff. I think some of the manufactuers could learn a few things.

Never really had to deal with them but there is a site. www.sninety.com to help you with certain things.

I would definatley replace this if stolen just because it is lighter than the S-80 and still the same quality. I got it for such a steal as it was. This is a great stage instrument.

If you are experienced with synths and keyboards, this is as easy as any of the others. Yamaha's architecture can take a little longer to get used to than some others. But once you get a feel for it, it's a piece of cake.

Read below for feature list. Or go to sninety.com

The piano is tremendous. This unit features the same keybed as the Motif 8, and it is a perfect complement for the pianos. The EP's are standouts. It has typical strengths and weaknesses of Yamaha. But all the sounds from the Motif are here, plus the new piano. As everyone has said, this is a real keyboard player's keyboard.

Yamaha has been great. I've used their products for 21 years. Never had a Yamaha break down. Of course, I never owned a CS-80 either! ;-)

Their products have been so reliable, I've seldom dealt with the company. When I lived in So Cal, I called their plant in Buena Park a few times though. Seemed to be knowledgable and helpful.

I've also been playing professionally and buying keyboard gear for a long time - since 1976. I'll have to agree with Anonymous and let you know that Matt's review truly is way off base here. Maybe he was playing something else and mistook the S90 for it. Or perhaps, since he is new to keyboards, he mixed it up with something else. In any case, S90's are very solid, not plastic-y at all. Great keybed - same as Motif 8 according to Yamaha. It's a very pro piece and the absence of the sequencer and sampler are for a reason: Yamaha wanted to simply make the Motif 8 available to those who wanted the sounds but didn't need any more onboard sequencers or samplers. Excellent choices by Yamaha to keep the cost down. This piece matches up well with units like the Roland RD-700, but I believe is far better. I replaced my S80 with this. It is far superior, IMHO. Sorry Matt, not wanting to diss your opinion. But I think there's some inaccuracies there that could be misleading to some.

If you want a real player's piano w/ great EP's and other bread & butter sounds, as well as an excellent synth, this is by far your best value. I use it in conjunction with a Korg Triton, Roland XV-5080, Emu Proteus 2K, and several other older modules. The S90 and Triton are my primary sound sources, though. For live work, the combination of the two can't be beat.

If a stoneage man finds a remotecontroll for a TV he'd understand shit... Unless someone explains to him that by pressing the on button the TV turns on. Everything is "easy" when you know how. However, if you only want to play presets you won't need any manual to run this baby. It's easy browsing around. The patch editor is SWEET. Makes editing really easy if you know what youre doing. Many of the patches sound really good anyways but the possibilities are huge.

I'd say the big plus for the S90 would be the PLG cards and the keyboard action. The PLG cards enables you to plug in complete synthesizers such as the DX7 or the AN1x into the S90. The new synth gets completely integrated with the S90 so you can use the S90 voices and effects together with the DX7 plug in for instance. The keyboard action is something of the finest I've played. Artificial that is but it actually beats many accoustic pianos as well imo. I'm not sure how much minus I should give for the non-sampling feature, I prefer external. The non-sequencer however I'd say gives one minus.

The dynamic is extraordinary. You can play whatever you want to on this one. The response to the keys are amazing. Perfect 10.

Of course it's reliable!

Check www.sninety.com. Yamaha answers questions themselves on the forum.

I would buy it again, if I had the money. I checked all the synths out there before buying and this is the one that fitted my needs best. I've been playing piano for 10 years and must say I'm especially impressed by the finish of this product. It feels really solid and as I said the feedback is amazing. What I really like is the quality, warmth of the sound. I'm not talking about the presets now but the image picture. It's thick and warm. It is really inspiring to play this piece and I get ideas for songs from many of the presets. It's also fun just to play around with the voice editor without thinking and see what you end up having. :) Not always usefull though. If not a must-buy, this is a must-check-out.

Better than the average Yamaha operating system

This is a players instrument. It plays and feels like a real instrument. Not a workstation. The previous reviewer could not have playing one of these things.

All manufacturers keys have a certain sound quality.
This is typical Yamaha...excellent

Yamaha builds good stuff

Never had a problem with Yamaha

Just had to let everyone know that the previous review was way off.
I have been playing piano and synths for about 30 years and have about
60 in my collection. The keyboard action on the S90 is the pefect
blend of weighted and quick enough for detailed drum programing.
By the way, the keyboard is exactly the same as the Motif8.
All metal constuction...built like a tank.
I don't usually do this but I couldn't belive what I was reading.

I have been waiting for this board to come out, as I was in the market for my first synth and this seemed to have everything I wanted. It seemed as easy as the Motif 8, Roland XV-88 and Korg Triton Studio Pro

Go to www.yamahasynth.com for features, no sense in repeating things other people have already said

I only played this once, but all the sounds seemed fine, the key action seemed a little mushy compared to the other boards I tried.

The #1 reason for me NOT purchasing this board was the fact that it felt cheap. I dont know how other people have listed this as being built like a tank. The body is made of plastic, and when you are playing anything but with a soft touch you can hear the BODY rattle. I turned the volume down on the S90, Motif 8, Roland XV-88 and Korg Triton Studio Pro, and NONE of them except the S90 made these noises. This was enough to make me forget about getting the S90 even though it is priced really well. The Roland was next on my list but it does not have an onboard sequencer (understandably so, but I am one of those rare ones who wants it there), and the Triton was just way too expensive. I ended up taking a Yamaha Motif 8 which felt like it had a better key actoin, and built with more quality. I would normally blame the S90 for being loud as it was a floor model and who knows how much it was abused, but this board was only sitting on the floor for 4 days before I tried it. If it was going to fall apart that soon, how would it hold up in the long run?

Can't really say as I haven't tried. Support for the Motif seems good with their website www.motifator.com

If you have the money to get something more high end than the S90, then do so. I was extremely disappointed in this board's construction and feel. If you dont have the money to get something better, save up and wait. If you are going to drop around $2000 for a board that feels cheap, why not spend a little more on something you can feel confident in? That's what I did.

Bought this one a few days ago. Ease of use, hmmm. A typical Yamaha product, meaning that without the manual, you're not going to get anything done. Master Mode makes no sense at all. Software works, sort of, after you tweak it on a Mac, anyway. Patch editor doesn't really help in this case.

Good polyphony (64 voices). Great keyboard action. Effects OK. Expansion via 3 PLG slots and MLAN option (NOTE: MLAN is the only digital IO supported at this time. ($550 to get this and you need another $1200USD for a break out box to connect with anything not made by Yamaha at this time).

Also crippled Microtuning with 31 presets (same as Motif series). These microtuning presets are not useful. (Needless duplication as in same tuning applied to 12 pitches. I would just use Voice or Performance tuning to do the same thing.) Yamaha discontinued progammable microtuning in all their new keyboards, including PLG cards. A very poor design decision, but then again, it's Yamaha. Can you tell I'm a bit bitter. Try playing Gamelon or Arabic music on this keyboard (forget it).

Great sounds, of course. Great keyboard. Best piano style action in the business (One thing Yamaha does right.) Effects are pretty standard.

n/a Just bought it.

Forget it. It's Yamaha. You can get alot of support via INDEPENDENT support groups, for example www.sninety.com. But Yamaha doesn't listen to user feedback. If you're machine breaks, however, you're covered.

Well, I like this machine so far. The keyboard is great. Lots of inputs for pedals, breath control, etc. Fine sounds, especially via the PLG cards. But the lack of proper microtuning and overpriced digital connectivity are reason to perhaps consider a Korg.

I checked out the S90 at the Summer NAMM. The interface is identical to the Motif so it was easy to get around on. I have a Motif , but use Cubase for sequencing and sampling so the S90 makes sense to me

The S90 I was checking out had the new Percussion and Drums PLG cards in it which sounded killer. Three PLG slots, same action as the Motif 8 and all tghe features of Motif except no sampling and no sequencing ( you can store SMFs to a Smart Media card and play them back directly so you don't need to take a computer to the gig).

All my favorite Motif sounds plusa new piano. Three layers very expressive, the guy said it was the same piano as the S80 , but with three different velocity layers. It was really good for ballads and jazz stuff , but could also get bright if you hit hard. I really liked it , but pianos are amatter of personal taste so you have to check it for yourself.

Yamahas are always built like tanks. this one is non exception, but it was surprisingly light.

They already have a website dedicated to the S90 up and running months before the keyboard ships !! Cool

Looks like a logically addition to the Yamaha line up. Motif sounds,a weighted action 88 note synth and at a reasonable price. Looks nice too.