PSR Keyboards (11 Boards) > PSR-E Series

PSR-E363 : does it transmit accompaniment data along with the user performance ?

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pquenin:
Thank you for your feedback on the Casio sounds. I have seen a blind test on Youtube, and to my ears the piano sound of the Casio is better, but don't know about the others sounds, so it's good to have your opinion.

Can I ask another question about PSR TUTORIAL ? Are the ressources here on the PSR Turorial site for the "big" PSR machines only, or can owners of cheap PSR like the E363 take advantage of what is there ?

SeaGtGruff:
Yes, I thought the Acoustic Grand Piano tone sounded very good on my old CTK-710. In fact, when I compared the CTK-710 and PSR-E433 side-by-side I actually thought the Casio sounded "cleaner" than the Yamaha-- although I think that's because the CTK-710 didn't have reverb, whereas Yamaha usually has the reverb turned on and turned up a bit for their preset voices. It's funny, but I generally prefer little-to-no reverb for certain types of voices-- such as the acoustic piano-- whereas some people seem to prefer those same voices with some reverb added, so go figure! Anyway, I think I turned off the Yamaha's reverb to get a "fairer" comparison between it and the Casio, but I don't remember which one I liked better in that situation. In any case, Yamaha's sounds are generally much better than those of the Casio CTK/WK models.

As for your question about this site, many of the lessons simply won't apply to the PSR-E models, or will apply to only a very minor extent, due to the differences between the PSR-E models and the PSR-S models with respect to things like the panel controls, the screen display and function menu, the degree of complexity (or lack of same) in the registrations, the music database and OTS features, etc. That doesn't mean you can't benefit from the lessons, because some of them might contain general tips or advice that would be helpful to know, although the specifics might need to be modified to account for the simpler feature set and interface of the PSR-E models. To be honest, I haven't watched the lessons, so I can't speak intelligibly about them.

However, you should certainly be able to benefit from the style collections on the main site, as well as the individual style files and song files that members have posted in the forum. But you should be aware that in many cases you won't be able to use the style files "as is," because they are SFF2 files whereas the PSR-E models can play only SFF1 files. You can still use the SFF2 files, but first you'll need to use the "Style Format 2 Converter" utility from Jørgen Sørensen to change the SFF2 files into SFF1 files. One of the nice features of this utility is that you can run it on an entire folder of style files, rather than having to process each file individually, and it will automatically convert any SFF2 files in that folder while skipping any SFF1 files.

Another thing you'll want to do is "revoice" the style files and song files so they don't try to use any voices that don't exist on your particular PSR-E model. In many cases this won't be absolutely necessary, because Yamaha's XG system is designed such that if a style or song tries to use a voice that doesn't exist on a given model, the keyboard will usually fall back to whichever GM1 voice has the same Program Change value as the requested voice. But in certain cases the "missing" voice will result in silence rather than falling back to the equivalent GM1 voice. And even if the style or song plays okay (i.e., no "silent" voices), you'll probably still want to revoice the file so it picks the best possible voices for each part. For example, it's not uncommon for files to use GM1 voices so they'll be compatible with the greatest number of keyboard models-- and in the case of song files, not just models from a particular manufacturer such as Yamaha, but also models from other manufacturers such as Casio, Korg, and Roland. So even if all of the voices that are used in the file are voices which exist on your given keyboard, there may very well be better-sounding voices available on your keyboard-- or you might simply prefer to use a different voice for a given part, such as a Nylon String Guitar rather than a Steel String Guitar, or a Trombone rather than a Trumpet, etc. And you might also want to tweak other settings in the file, such as the volume and panning of the voices, or the type and amount of reverb, etc. These sorts of revoicing changes are best done on a case-by-case basis rather than in bulk with a batch process, but you don't need to revoice all of your style files and song files at once; you can work on just the one(s) you want to use at that particular time.

pquenin:
Thank you for taking the time to write this very detailled answer  :D :D :D
I'm interested by creating style files so I will take a look at all the tools available for this task, and maybe write one myself...

SeaGtGruff:
You're welcome! And I hope you create a lot of nice styles. :)

Back to your original question, I'm fairly certain the PSR-E363 must output MIDI data for the styles and user songs, and that the "PC mode" function must have been removed because Yamaha deemed it unnecessary and/or confusing.

But I do encourage you to consider the PSR-E453 as having more options than the PSR-E363.

By the way, when I mentioned picking up the keyboard with one hand, the body at the very front of the keyboard, immediately below the keys, is curved in such a way that it's easy to grab and pick up the keyboard with one hand using that curved part. To me, that's the ideal way to move the keyboard (if it isn't in a bag or the box), because the curved part is like a handle and the back portion of the keyboard is a lot heavier than the front portion, so carrying it that way like a suitcase puts the heavier portion down toward the floor-- i.e., so it's bottom-heavy rather than top-heavy-- and assuming you've grabbed the "handle" near the center of the keyboard then the weight is evenly distributed from one end to the other. :)

AnupamEnosh:

--- Quote from: pquenin on January 16, 2018, 07:44:11 AM ---Thanks for the reply. Yes, this is what I have also read in the manuals, but I have still a doubt...
In my local store I have seen a PSR-E453 for 250€, a bit more that my budget, but very tempting.
Or maybe a Casio CTK-4400, it has all the E363 have and more, but I have never seen or touch a real one...

--- End quote ---
I have tried the CTK 4400/860IN and my conclusion is that similar priced models of Yamaha (E363) pack in less features/controls, but in terms of output, the latter outperforms the former. Though a few points are noteworthy, that (1.) Casio has better Piano and Bass sounds, and a much wide selection of voices in different categories is available, (2.) Yamaha voices have more reverb (3.) After E343/433, Yamaha totally replaced its shiny smooth keybed with mildly rough or not-so-soft keys, so that feel goes missing, while Casio retains it same shiny keybed, it has its own downside, (4.) Yamaha lacks EPs and (5.) This is my personal opinion, Yamaha is much better aimed solo instrument, than a Casio, in my country learners prefer Casio due to its cheaper price, but intermediate level players blindly go for Yamaha, or better options.

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