Topic: SX900 speakers fire toward audience vs older S models?

[Dnj]

 [video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFAm4rY80FI[/video]

at 1:27 thru 1:50 of this video they describe the Sx900 speakers were designed to
fire toward the audience vs older models that face the player?......
as I look at the demo they look the same to me ?...
I'm confused? 

Thoughts?

[Toril S]

I don't really think that is the case. But it may be that the XS speakers do a better job at distributing sound. My PSR 2100 was much better heard by my audience than my S970 and S975. It most have something to do with base and treble levels. As long as the speakers don't have their elements directly pointed at the audience it is not right to say this. And even if it were true, the speakers must be cranked up to very high levels for even a small audience to hear them well, so a PA system is a must in any case. The built in speakers are for the player only. Period! They just use this argument to attract buyers.

[Dnj]

I don't really think that is the case. But it may be that the XS speakers do a better job at distributing sound. My PSR 2100 was much better heard by my audience than my S970 and S975. It most have something to do with base and treble levels. As long as the speakers don't have their elements directly pointed at the audience it is not right to say this. And even if it were true, the speakers must be cranked up to very high levels for even a small audience to hear them well, so a PA system is a must in any case. The built in speakers are for the player only. Period! They just use this argument to attract buyers.

I understand your point,....BUT they did say it in the video,.... and that is the confusing party...
I've had every Yamaha arranger with speakers and this was new to my ears......let's see if it can be confirmed in some way.

[mikf]

Dnj - please note there is no need to repeat the whole previous post just to respond to it.

[Toril S]

So we need some help here from our XS owner  friends. Please report back to us. Start a recording on the keyboard. Step as far away from it as you can and listen! Do you hear it load and clear. When we get the XS900 in our store I will test it. Very interesting statement from Yamaha. Hm...

[EileenL]

Well it certainly dose project sound to the front as well as back. The speakers are certainly improved a lot from previous PSR models.

[DrakeM]

You can clearly see the speakers are pointed at you and not the audience 

Which is the way it has always been on the PSR models. 

[Graham UK]

SX Speaker distribution... Who's Conning Who !!!
Speakers facing up, that's were the sound is projected.
BOSE is a different ball game as they are Line Source Speaker.Speakers placed vertical in Line is the reason for the wide dispersion.

[EileenL]

Well I don't know how they do it but at rehearsal last week the members certainly said they could here it better than my 970.

[reya]

Eileen,

if I may ask, was that a spontaneous reaction from the members or did you ask specifically ?

Best regards
Rudy

[Eric, B]

From the Yamaha website: The onboard Expansive Soundfield Speakers ensure your performance sounds full and balanced no matter where your audience is. The innovative design of the speaker diaphragm provides a crisp, high-quality tone with high-definition response and balanced sound to a broad listening area.

https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical_instruments/keyboards/arranger_workstations/psr-sx900/index.html

Scroll down and click on the speaker.
The new designed diaphragm reminds me of Bose sound wave technology which would explain it.
Eric

[Graham UK]

Increasing the TREBLE give the impression of better dispersion.

[EileenL]

Hi Reya,
  My Husband walked down to where the singers were and said it was crystal clear.

[reya]

Hi Reya,
  My Husband walked down to where the singers were and said it was crystal clear.

Ok Eileen, thanks for that clarification !

Best regards
Rudy

[Graham UK]

You could make cardboard reflectors on the occasion for small gigs.

The inbuilt speakers are there for player monitoring and won't do justice to the keyboards voices.

[Fred Smith]

You could make cardboard reflectors on the occasion for small gigs.

The inbuilt speakers ... won't do justice to the keyboards voices.

Why not?

And how would cardboard reflectors "do justice to the keyboard's voices"?

Cheers,
Fred

[Pino]

The onboard speakers are approx. 30 degrees facing the player, there are no sound grills on the front of the keyboard or underneath, looking at their speaker sound dispersion on their website does not mention nothing to the front, just says sweet spot to the rear, front, left and right.
Pino


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[DrakeM]

I have played a couple times in small retirement venues of about 25 people and only used my S950's speakers. i had my external amp with me but it would have run everyone out of the room had I used it.

If the speakers are as Yamaha claims, then why don't they just make it clear to US that the speakers can cover a room of appropriately X number of square feet? Sounds to me like plain undocumented advertising BULL.  

[EileenL]

For me it is doing the job it says it will. I suggest you try it for yourselves rather than keep saying it can or it can't. Just going round in circles and helping no one.

[travlin-easy]

I have owned dozens of sound systems, none of which claimed to cover X number of square feet. They all, however, provided diagrams of their coverage.

My friend, Graham, is correct in that conventional speakers project sound directly in front of them, usually in a cone area of about 45 degrees. However, it appears as if Yamaha is not using conventional speaker cones, but instead, something entirely different is shape, design and material - similar to the Bose line array system speakers. From the above dispersion diagram, they do appear to have some forward projection, and even a bit of projection to the sides. This would be impossible with conventional speakers and materials.

I guess we'll soon find out when we get more information from users on this and other sites.

Good luck,

Gary

[EileenL]

Yes Gary,
  The speakers  now have a specific V shape to do them that allows them to do this and it really works.

[Darius]

Hello,
do you know a possibility to have a separate volume adjustment for the integrated speakers and the line-out (or even Sub-out on PSR-SX 900)?
To my opinion this is a prerequisite for using the integrated speakers for monitoring, 
Darius

[rcpilot]

According to the manual...the line out (Aux) is NOT controlled by master volume control. So, easy as using that into a mixer or other way...to control the output to external speakers...that way the master volume controls the internal speakers and you use external means to control the volume to external amplified speakers...it is line out in audio terms.
Lee

[Darius]

Thanks Lee for this good suggestion!
I confirm after a quick test on my PSR-SX 900 that the sound that comes out of the SUB(AUX) OUTPUT is not influenced by the position of the master volume knob.
On the contrary, the MAIN OUTPUT, the Headphones Output and the Internal Speakers, are controlled by the master volume knob.
Darius

[rcpilot]

I have tried going in front of my SX while playing a MIDI file, sounds great....and loud...every bit as good as sitting at the board. Remember the sound coming from a speaker does not only come from the FRONT of the speaker...it also comes from the rear, and side....and baffeling can make a huge difference too. I can tell you it works as advertised. It will be fine in a small venue...not a room for 200 people.
Lee

[btweengigs]

The "cones" or "diaphrams" of the SX speakers look very different than those on the previous PSR's. I think Eileen is right and will test it on a gig coming up with a small audience.

[CPAC]

I'm still debating between buying an SX900 or Genos and looking at several criteria.  Does anyone know how the SX900 speaker system compares to the Genos GNS-MS01 system?  (Not an instrument voice comparison but just the speaker systems). 
Thank you. 

[KurtAgain]

I compared the Genos2 + GNS-MS01, SX900 and SX700 at a dealer a few months ago. The Genos2 with the GNS-MS01 sounds better than the SX keyboards with the built-in speakers. But this is to be expected and is primarily due to the sub-woofer of the GNS-MS01. How much better is of course very subjective.

Don't get me wrong, the SX700 and SX900 sound very good. If you connect a sub-woofer to the SX900 or SX700, the difference in sound compared to the GNS-MS01 is, in my opinion, more a matter of personal taste as far as the speakers are concerned.

And of course your age plays a role. In general, by the age of 50, the ability to hear high-pitched sounds has already decreased significantly. The position of the speakers can play a more important role then.

Kurt

[mikf]

The built-in speakers on portable arrangers are cheap, convenient and passable for personal use. That’s all you can expect.
But pretty much any external system from about $100 upwards will be not just be an improvement in volume, it will be a huge improvement in quality.
Mike

[BogdanH]

hello CPAC,
It's impossible to really compare GNS-MS01 and SX900 built-in speakers, because it's impossible to connect GNS-MS01 speakers into SX900. That is, if you listen to GNS-MS01 speakers, you're actually listen to Genos keyboard (voices).

The only way that I can think of is, if someone would bother to connect SX900 line-out into Genos aux-in and then listen SX900 voices on GNS-MS01 speakers. However, such comparison would only be valid if loudness of both speakers would be exactly the same (cannot be determined by ear). But even then, GNS-MS01 would probably sound better -simply because satellites are pointing directly toward the listener.
I think that it's a bit misleading saying that GNS-MS01 has a sub-woofer (simply because it's a separate cabinet)... it's just a woofer and so don't expect wonders.

My personal opinion... quality of supplied speakers shouldn't influence the decision between Genos and SX900 -there are other much more important parameters.

Bogdan

[KurtAgain]

And so you got what was to be expected: three people, three opinions. 

Kurt

[DrakeM]

Well here is a fourth for you to consider.

Get 2 "Maui 5" external speaker systems (for stereo) and blow the Genos and Genos 2 out of the ballpark.
Cost on Amazon is $675 each. Keyboard and speakers $3650.

The additional cost would still be less than any Genos and the speaker system would last forever. 
That would be a savings of about $1350 or more. 

Plus the SX900 speakers are now your monitor system.

[J. Larry]

Yes, the onboard speakers of the SX 900 work well to self-monitor, while playing live.  Otherwise, an external speaker system seems a must.  I can’t recall ever using the SX 900 live without a set of powered monitors.