All Posts by Jaime Echagüe

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Digital Pianos Roland BK 5 – Review. Is it worth it?

The Roland BK 5 is an electronic keyboard with full synthesizer functions very powerful and comparable to the keyboards of the Yamaha PSR S series. So we can consider it professional

Sound and Synth Functions

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It has more than 1172 sounds and a polyphony of 128 notes. That’s the amount of notes that can sound at once. This includes what you play and the accompaniments.

It has a very expressive piano sound and electric piano also very achieved as you can see in the video in this section.

On the other hand you have more than 305 rhythms or accompaniments. These accompaniments synchronize with what you’re playing and enrich your performance. We would say that they follow you so that you can have a string accompaniment while playing classical piano for example.

In addition, the Roland BK 5 brings a lot of rhythms and accompaniments with very interesting Latin sounds.

The Roland BK 5 has full synthesizer functions and on the left wheel you can set which parameters you want to affect in real time. Modulation, etc.

In addition the Roland BK 5 has the accompaniment function. So you can play without worrying about the harmonic accompaniment of the left hand. It’s done by the keyboard itself (Pianist Mode).

Of course it brings many reverb and chorus effects. More than you’ll ever need… and attention to the Hammond organ sound, very good as you’ll see in the video. After the video follows the review.

Quick Control Commands

Very good pads or One Touch buttons, in which you can save sounds to access them quickly. A basic in this type of keyboards that are always needed.

It has highly recommended sounds for creating soundtracks for movies and videos.

Connections and MIDI

It has MIDI output so you can use it as a MIDI controller and do things like record a MIDI track on your computer and then automatically turn it into a music sheet or transport it in tone in a few seconds with any program that supports MIDI tracks.

You can also record multiple tracks in wav format on your own flash drive and work from it. So you don’t have to load them on the computer. It also has controls to delay the tempo of the theme or accelerate it without affecting the quality.

It has an auxiliary input IN mini-jack so you can add any sound that will pass through the keyboard and sound through the speakers so that you can treat and synthesize it. In the video they use it to connect the voice microphone through a pedal.

It has sustain pedal input but it is not included. This is vital to keep the note in time even if you stop pressing the key.

Extras

Pay attention to the Loop functionality that allows you to mark a point in a start and end song and repeat those pieces in a loop. This can be very useful for study or interpretation.

It has a voice suppressor so that in a song you remove the singer’s voice and only the accompaniment of a song that you have in the flash drive for example…

With the MIDI functionalities on the keyboard display I can see the lyrics of sounds I have downloaded and the harmony. Very good as Karaoke functions. It has video output to do Karaoke on a monitor.

It’s got 12-watt speakers. Quite powerful for accompaniment of other instruments even outdoors. But if you need it, it has a stereo line output to connect it to any amplification system with what it’s worth as a stage keyboard.

Keyboard and Hammer Action

It has a sensitive keyboard, but it’s not Hammer Action. It’s not optimal for learning classical or conservatory. Its intention is more for people who already play a certain level of piano or who want to experiment with modern music.

Yamaha PSR S670 vs Roland BK 5

El Roland BK as a weight of 7 kg. Really portable

Both keyboards are for similar purposes. The Roland BK 5 has more sounds although the Yamaha S670 is much cheaper and the interface is more usable. Yamaha has more worked usability. The Yamaha PSR S670 has hit the road and the Roland BK 5 has been loaded. Don’t miss our review of the Yamaha PSR S670.

Both have 128 polyphony notes but the Roland BK has sounds with a very remarkable expressiveness. Although the Yamaha PSR S670 wins by price.

Both the PSR S670 and the Roland BK5 have a set of sounds to create very interesting electronic music and both have line output for live.The Roland BK weighs about 7 kg.

He’s tremendously portable and that’s his forte.

Where to buy the Roland BK 5?

Right now there two good options to buy it. Amazon and Thomann. Roland BK 5 is growing again in popularity

For a similar price you have the following pianos and keyboards:

 

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Digital Piano Yamaha CLP 685 – Full Review. Is a good professional Piano?

The Clavinova Yamaha CLP 685 is the top model in Yamaha’s Clavinova range. They are digital pianos with a long journey and most of the things we talk about in this review and in the video are valid for the other pianos in this range. At the end of the review, you will find the video we have made in collaboration with Yamaha.

We also detail where you can buy it at the best price. The good thing is that being a digital piano you can buy it online and save a lot of money. There is only one place in Europe where you can buy items of this price online and you get it without any problem. No doubt It is Thomann, but in Asia and the United States the best option is Amazon:

In Europe Thomann is a good choice:

  • Free Shipping
  • Full warranty. If you have any problems, they take care of everything.
  • 100% reliable payment.
  • A leader in trouble-free shipping.
  • best price.
  • Best Reputation: They are the leading online store in Europe and have the best catalog and information.

Mechanical System

This is one of the highlights of the Clavinova series and the Yamaha CLP 685. The aim is to look as much as possible like an acoustic grand piano.

It has a GrandTouch keyboard with little long keys and has more depth (the top of the key) to have much more control over the interpretation.

On the other hand, it has the simulation of a double escapement of a grand piano. This allows you to play a note again without having to raise all the drafts of it. Very necessary for legato passages.

The Hammer Action is very precise, each key has a different weight. It doesn’t go into zones like other lower-end digital pianos. And the Yamaha CLP 685 has a Hammer Action very faithful to that of the grand piano.

The white keys are made of synthetic ivory and the black keys are made of synthetic ebony, which is important because when you play for several hours you sweat and these materials are very absorbent. In the Hammer Action of the CLP 685, the initials carry the X which means that it has an exhaust (all of the Clavinova series).

As for the pedals, it has the same pedals as a grand piano. The resonance system has a gradual response system that perfectly simulates that of an acoustic piano (you will see it very well in the video of the review).

Sound

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With 256 polyphony voices (the number of notes that can sound at once) the Yamaha CLP 685 has legendary sounds in its extensive catalog.

In the review, you’ll hear Yamaha’s CFX grand piano. The maximum of its range in Yamaha. The sound is directly recorded from one of these grand pianos. In the video of the review, you will see several samples, such as the sound of the grand piano C7, very good for salsa and Latin music.

The Yamaha CLP-685 comes with more than 400 XG sounds with very extreme quality.

It’s important to talk about tri-amplification. The Yamaha CLP 685 has an amplifier for basses, another for mids, and another for basses. With 50 W each you can play in small auditoriums without extra amplification.

A very important aspect that makes this digital piano look like an acoustic is the VRM or virtual resonance modeling. The video explains very well but basically it is a system that calculates all aspects of resonance that occur in an acoustic piano in order to simulate it perfectly and have the complete feeling of being in front of a grand piano.

This piano has the possibility to study with headphones and even divide the keyboard in two so that teachers and students play both with headphones.

Studying with headphones for many hours is very tiring so this piano brings a binaural sound that gives you the feeling of playing without headphones even if you have them on. You can hear it in the video.

Connectivity

Of course, this digital piano has USB Midi To host so we can do such wonderful things as record a MIDI track with programs like CUBASE and then export it to score directly. It also has MIDI output with the classic connector if you need it.

It also has a USB port so you can record what you play on a flash drive. This is very useful.

You can also connect your mobile phone to listen to a Bluetooth song and play on it. And record it on the flash drive at the same time for example… great, isn’t it?

All these things that we have advanced to you and many more you have in this video review. So don’t miss it and give it to the play that will surely give you a lot in your search for the piano you want.

We hope that this post has contributed to you. If you’re thinking of something more portable to play on stage in the future, take a look at our selection of Yamaha’s best portable pianos.

Where to Buy Yamaha CLP 685?

This type of digital pianos are very expensive and it is true that you can save a lot of money buying online. After all, from a physical store, they also have to transport it to you. With what risks the transport always has. That’s why it’s very important to buy it at the most reliable store known

.I have bought very expensive items online and always recommend Thomann and Amazon. They have a total guarantee and a lot of experience transporting instruments of any size. Here’s the direct link to the Amazon shop of your country and Thomann in case you live in Europe:

For a similar price you have the following pianos and keyboards:

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Digital Piano Yamaha PSR S670. Full Review. Is It a good Choice?

Yamaha PSR S670 In-Depth Review and Where to Buy It

Yamaha’s PSR keyboards are electronic keyboards designed for a wide variety of sounds and are highly focused on music production and DJ.PSR keyboards are starting to get serious about performance from the Yamaha PSR E463 for less than 300 € but it is the PSR S line that we can already consider with a professional approach.The Yamaha PSR S670 is a wonder we have found at a more than affordable price.

Where to Buy the Yamaha PSR S670?

Amazon

  • Free Shipping and the possibility of shipping in one day with Amazon Premium.
  • Full Guarantee but they are no experts in music equipment
  • A leader in fast shipments.
  • The price change a lot daily.
  • The best option in the USA and worldwide

Thomann

  • Free Shipping, the best option at Europe
  • Full warranty. If you have any problems, they take care of everything.
  • 100% reliable payment.
  • A leader in trouble-free shipping.
  • Usually the Best Price.
  • Best Reputation: They are the leading online store in Europe and have the best catalog and information.

Along with other more professional models, the Yamaha PSR S770 (you’ll see the post also the S775) and the PSR S970 (also compared to the S975) the Yamaha PSR S670 brings controls to modify the music we play in real-time.

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It has a modulator and synthesizer so we can create and mix in real-time.

The Yamaha PSR S670 has a 16-track sequencer to create your own mixes in which you can use all available sounds (which are hundreds) and an 8-channel sequencer to create rhythm patterns.

Have a look at the following video to listen to some of the sounds this keyboard has. They sound very successful and with a very professional sampling. Read on after the video that the review follows.

 

Let’s analyze some aspects that are not discussed in the previous video.

 

Sonido y Funciones DJ

It originally comes with 416 different sounds + 34 Drum kits and a 480-voice expansion with Yamaha XG expansion modules.

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As you may have heard in the video, the sounds are much more real than in Yamaha’s E series. There is an important qualitative leap in this quality.

In addition, the Yamaha PSR S670 has a polyphony of 128 notes and this is important in a keyboard intended to have DJ functions. The polyphony is the number of notes that can sound at once. This includes accompaniments and other tracks that may sound while you play. With 128 you have a good polyphony without limitations.

It has 44 reverb types and 73 chorus types and very advanced arpeggio functions and helps to play difficult passages. You can record a lot of sounds and mix them live. On the other hand, although it has internal memory you can put a flash drive and work on it in real-time.

It has modulation wheels and a large number of PADS buttons for saving sound settings. All very configurable. You can configure a large number of “shortcuts” to the functions and sounds you want to have available while you work.

Bring lots of voices to create your own music from scratch and have input so you can plug in your computer or a mic and use it in your mixes.

Of course, it has metronome functions for transporting scales and has an octave button.

Designed for life has the most important thing missing from the E series keyboards, has stereo line output so you can connect to any amplification system without the need for an injection box.

Touch and pedals

The keyboard has several sensitivities but it is not Hammer Action. His goal is not that you learn to play the piano but we like to touch.

As far as pedals are concerned it has an input for a sustain pedal and that you can maintain the note. In the end, it is a very important expressive resource on the piano. But you have to buy it separately, even though it doesn’t cost much.

MIDI connection

Of course, it has a USB MIDI connection for you to connect to your computer and you can record MIDI tracks that can then be exported to a score directly.

Of course, the Yamaha PSR S670 has everything you need to create professional-level music. And all this in the price range of less than 600 €. This is brutal as a price.

It is important that you keep in mind that the lower end electronic keyboards. Both Casio and Yamaha are a little bit to play, compose and mix but if you want to play live and not limit your keyboard is his minimum start with this range. And if you already know how to play a little piano you can play any kind of music. It has a professional sound (very good sampling) and a very good sensitivity. It’s good for salsa, funk, jazz, classic…

Where to Buy Yamaha PSR S670

Buying online you can get the best prices and today this format surpasses the sale in a physical store.

It’s important that the store you choose has a great reputation, a full warranty, and reliable shipping service.

The leading store in Europe that all musicians know is Thomann. Here you have the direct link to the article. But if you live in the United States, Canada, or another place where you have as well the direct to your Amazon website:

If you have been interested in this article you should also see the following articles:

For a similar price you have the following pianos and keyboards:

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