Picked up a PSS 560 at an estate sale yesterday for $20 in perfect condition. This thing was packed with features for the time it was released and is a fun addition to my small PCM keyboard family. Some really unique timbres on here, I think the duet feature is pretty cool.
Lol!! This was soooo nearly the direction I went down in 1986. Aged 14, I spent about 3 months dithering between the PSS-460 and the Casio MT-500 (the one with the yellow drum pads) as a replacement for my MT-45. Ended up buying neither when the sales guy at Andertons showed me what the 'brand new Casio CZ230S' could do, especially with respect to sequencing my own stuff. Went down the slippery slope of pro-synths and MIDI gear after that introduction, but will definitely pick up one of these PSS-460's just for funsies !
I've had mine for years, found it in a Welsh charity shop and it's still the most magic brilliant bit of kit and absurdly versatile, I run a bloody punk band and we still use it!
I bought a PSS-470 several years ago after seeing 8bitguy's video on it, it's the exact same keyboard as this, both internally and in shell design, with the only difference being the colours of the buttons and sliders. I absolutely love mine, modded it with a 1/4" mono output just taken straight from the left speaker, was very easy to work with and I love the PCB designs of older electronics like this. I've looked into modding it to take MIDI input, and I'm definitely looking forward to when I can justify buying the parts to do so. Fun fact, for anyone familiar with the Ad-Lib and Soundblaster cards that were used by old computers to produce sound, including the playback of some of the most iconic game soundtracks of all time, that's basically what this is, it uses the same synthesis chip that was used in those cards, and because of the level of control Yamaha designed this thing with, it is pretty easy to recreate the soundtracks of a lot of DOS games. It also makes these things great for chiptune composers.
Very nice Synth, with the famous YM3812 shipset ! The ship of the Sound Blaster sound card. The FM section can give you infinite sounds, and the possibility of programming rythm patterns is incredible for a "Toy" synth
@@qix6424 you have multiple options available for some preset settings with the digital synthesizer function. For example multiple variations of the square wave each with what is essentially a somewhat different form. Then you can set multiple preset settings for modulation, attack, decay and spectrum. Which while it gives you a lot and i mean a LOT of options does not give you infinite options. You can however use the sliders for the synthesizer to edit the preset sounds when the synth is turned off. I already made a Synthwave track with this keyboard (PSS570) and it was sure fun to do so :) it does not have any way for you to edit the oscillators though. Which makes it both limited AND simple. Everyone would be able to understand the keyboard. (Well except the small kids who got the keyboard for christmas back in the day XD) it was sold as a toy yes but holy moly is it an advanced toy keyboard. Especially given it has 9 tone polyphony. Which.. yeah even most modern toy keyboards barely go over 2 note polyphony. And the sounds.. oh heck ye the sounds are just wonderfull
@@DUBDANCER I am somewhat an amateur, I bought this keyboard with the fantasy of being able to replicate the tone used for the Mario theme - square wave etc. You are correct, as in, yes, there are indeed multiple functions, but my intention to create the tone for the original Mario theme is but a fantasy. You can still create some pretty cool sounding stuff on it though - which for a kids toy from 1987 (or indeed now) is priceless.
@@quizpubbob if you'd want to replicate NES sounds you need a squarewave keyboard or a real syntheziser XD the ym3812 ist vastly differently from the costum sound chip in the NES you can replicate DOS music with it but not NES music :)
I was lucky enough to get this one and the 470 and 480 . I was amazed at how good this sounds for a retro keyboard . It has a great variety of sounds and by adding after market effects it truly is all you'll ever need as an amateur keyboardist . I'm more of a guitar player then a keyboard player but hAd one of these in 1989 and I'm glad to have another . Great review by the way !
After watching this video I was sold and decided to buy a PSS-470 off EBay which is basically the same as the PSS-460 but with a different button colour scheme. At the same time I got rid of a cheap and nasty Acoustic Solutions MK2054 toy keyboard that was just a cast off from my late great aunt. An Acoustic Solutions keyboard for a Yamaha PSS-470, it's a good swap if you ask me. Yes I really bought a Yamaha PSS-470 in 2018!
Just stripped mine down and did a full clean and service. Picked it up for £20 at a charity shop a while back and it's far more fun than it has a right to be..
I have the Yamaha PSS-560 which was the flagship model of the PSS keyboards, it is the same as the PSS-480 except the rhythms on the PSS-560 are PCM Wav (on the 460 they are analog). But this is what is now considered a "work station" keyboard. I think the PSR-S670 today is equivalent of what the PSS-460 and PSS-470 keyboards were at the time. The PSS-560/570 would be equivalent to the PSR-S775 today.
i still own my pss170 100 voice voice bank that i got as a kid in the 80s, to this day i still experiment with it thru all my gear when want a change still mint, goes back in its box on the shelf between times :) great vid :)
the pitch might actually work, it is meant as a tuner so it moves in small intervals. if you hold it down and press a key you can hear it slowly increase in pitch a small amount
This thing was really capable of making some music. Activate certain functions and it really came to life. People have hard modded/circuit bent this keyboard to have even more features. Yamaha might make some good instruments, but they really do last.
When keyboards had style, personality, character! Unlike the cheap plastic digital junk they release now! PortaSound and PortaTone of 80s and 90s rule!
@@gelatinous6915 I meant with digital outputs only. The porta sounds and portatones have analog outputs. Now you've learned something, go eat a cookie, pal.
I ran this through camelphat and my life changed. It’s so hard to explain, but the signal or whatever feels like electricity is coming out of it. I’m a fm pss junky now. Looking for every one I can find. I really don’t need to, but I’m so curious. If you guys find this and everything works, buy it. Don’t even hesitate.
Funny, this was my first Synth. Still have it. The tempo increments by 10.(100,110,120 etc). My next experiment is to put it through zoom ms-cdr50 n check if I can use it in my productions. I love the accompaniments, but can't mute the bass. Otherwise it would have been a great chord ptn player.
Weren't these are the ones were the Amiga 500 sound cards I could be wrong? Cheers I have a 470, it's great fun; solid build. Lovely with effects. Could this be considered a proto-V.A? Thank you.
Yes you are talking about the PSS-560. The Yamaha PSS-560 was the flagship of the PSS series during this time, it had both analog and PCM rhythm, the PSS-460 (the one in the video) was the model slightly below which is only analog rhythm, also the combinations for the Custom Drummer from the 560 are not on the 460, you have to manually create your custom drum pattern...the other difference is the PSS-560 has 3 bass/4 chord variation patterns, the PSS has less, and you can't re-voice the chord or bass patterns.
They are both different keyboards, there is no "right or wrong" answer as to what is the best beginners keyboard. The PSS-460 is perfect if you want FM sounds but the PSR-E463 is much more up to date and sounds more realistic. If you want FM sounds buy the PSS-460, if you want modern PCM instrument sounds get the E463. If you want both then buy both. Many professionals use both modern PCM keyboards and synthesizers for specific sounds.
![[Part 1] ทารกน้อยถูกทิ้ง👶 หญิงชราเก็บขวดขายเลี้ยงดูเขาจนโต #โลกการละคร](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nPTDvFCExks/mqdefault.jpg)
Picked up a PSS 560 at an estate sale yesterday for $20 in perfect condition. This thing was packed with features for the time it was released and is a fun addition to my small PCM keyboard family. Some really unique timbres on here, I think the duet feature is pretty cool.
Lol!! This was soooo nearly the direction I went down in 1986. Aged 14, I spent about 3 months dithering between the PSS-460 and the Casio MT-500 (the one with the yellow drum pads) as a replacement for my MT-45. Ended up buying neither when the sales guy at Andertons showed me what the 'brand new Casio CZ230S' could do, especially with respect to sequencing my own stuff. Went down the slippery slope of pro-synths and MIDI gear after that introduction, but will definitely pick up one of these PSS-460's just for funsies !
I've had mine for years, found it in a Welsh charity shop and it's still the most magic brilliant bit of kit and absurdly versatile, I run a bloody punk band and we still use it!
Mom had one of these, it's mine now. I played that thing all the time when I was a kid. I still use it when I record sometimes!
My grandma has this exact keyboard and I'm hoping I can get it from her for Christmas as she lives by herself and never uses it
I had this very keyboard in the late '80's. I couldn't - and still can't - play for toffee but this video took me back.
Took me back as well. I got one for Christmas in 86.
I heard that Brian Eno has two of these because he liked them so much!!
I bought a PSS-470 several years ago after seeing 8bitguy's video on it, it's the exact same keyboard as this, both internally and in shell design, with the only difference being the colours of the buttons and sliders. I absolutely love mine, modded it with a 1/4" mono output just taken straight from the left speaker, was very easy to work with and I love the PCB designs of older electronics like this. I've looked into modding it to take MIDI input, and I'm definitely looking forward to when I can justify buying the parts to do so. Fun fact, for anyone familiar with the Ad-Lib and Soundblaster cards that were used by old computers to produce sound, including the playback of some of the most iconic game soundtracks of all time, that's basically what this is, it uses the same synthesis chip that was used in those cards, and because of the level of control Yamaha designed this thing with, it is pretty easy to recreate the soundtracks of a lot of DOS games. It also makes these things great for chiptune composers.
can't believe I wanted a moog one when this is out.
I know right and at a fraction of the cost, close your eyes, you can’t tell the difference 😂
Doesn't even have percussion. What were they thinking?
The move one is trash compared to this
lol The Moog doesn't even have auto chords! Plus this has 8 bits... the Moog doesn't have any!
Very nice Synth, with the famous YM3812 shipset ! The ship of the Sound Blaster sound card. The FM section can give you infinite sounds, and the possibility of programming rythm patterns is incredible for a "Toy" synth
So is it a soundblaster synth? Or is the editing to limited? Been trying to get one of the ym3812 keyboards.
@@qix6424 I have bought one, my first day. From what I make of it so far it seems to be limited in terms of far you can edit it.
@@qix6424 you have multiple options available for some preset settings with the digital synthesizer function. For example multiple variations of the square wave each with what is essentially a somewhat different form. Then you can set multiple preset settings for modulation, attack, decay and spectrum. Which while it gives you a lot and i mean a LOT of options does not give you infinite options. You can however use the sliders for the synthesizer to edit the preset sounds when the synth is turned off. I already made a Synthwave track with this keyboard (PSS570) and it was sure fun to do so :) it does not have any way for you to edit the oscillators though. Which makes it both limited AND simple. Everyone would be able to understand the keyboard. (Well except the small kids who got the keyboard for christmas back in the day XD) it was sold as a toy yes but holy moly is it an advanced toy keyboard. Especially given it has 9 tone polyphony. Which.. yeah even most modern toy keyboards barely go over 2 note polyphony. And the sounds.. oh heck ye the sounds are just wonderfull
@@DUBDANCER I am somewhat an amateur, I bought this keyboard with the fantasy of being able to replicate the tone used for the Mario theme - square wave etc. You are correct, as in, yes, there are indeed multiple functions, but my intention to create the tone for the original Mario theme is but a fantasy. You can still create some pretty cool sounding stuff on it though - which for a kids toy from 1987 (or indeed now) is priceless.
@@quizpubbob if you'd want to replicate NES sounds you need a squarewave keyboard or a real syntheziser XD the ym3812 ist vastly differently from the costum sound chip in the NES you can replicate DOS music with it but not NES music :)
I have one of these! It’s a very interesting board that despite being a toy, you can make some real warm pads and a glassy leads.
I was lucky enough to get this one and the 470 and 480 . I was amazed at how good this sounds for a retro keyboard . It has a great variety of sounds and by adding after market effects it truly is all you'll ever need as an amateur keyboardist . I'm more of a guitar player then a keyboard player but hAd one of these in 1989 and I'm glad to have another . Great review by the way !
Had a PSR 70 growing up. Loved that little thing. Looking back it was so simple, but it sounded fantastic.
After watching this video I was sold and decided to buy a PSS-470 off EBay which is basically the same as the PSS-460 but with a different button colour scheme. At the same time I got rid of a cheap and nasty Acoustic Solutions MK2054 toy keyboard that was just a cast off from my late great aunt. An Acoustic Solutions keyboard for a Yamaha PSS-470, it's a good swap if you ask me. Yes I really bought a Yamaha PSS-470 in 2018!
That is a good swap. I would do the same.
Just stripped mine down and did a full clean and service. Picked it up for £20 at a charity shop a while back and it's far more fun than it has a right to be..
I have the Yamaha PSS-560 which was the flagship model of the PSS keyboards, it is the same as the PSS-480 except the rhythms on the PSS-560 are PCM Wav (on the 460 they are analog). But this is what is now considered a "work station" keyboard. I think the PSR-S670 today is equivalent of what the PSS-460 and PSS-470 keyboards were at the time. The PSS-560/570 would be equivalent to the PSR-S775 today.
The 460's drums are FM I believe.
Had one of these and used it live. Ran it through some guitar pedals like a pre-amp, maximizer and a compressor and it came to higher life 🤣
Hey man, may I ask how you ran it through pedals?
jonny alec go to guitar center get the cable with left and right 3.5mm to the 1/8th, like 15$
@@jonnyalec5646 3.5mm to 1/4" adapter with a 3.5mm cable, or visa versa with a 1/4" guitar cable
Just got me one of these bad boys, beautiful sounds and so underrated
i still own my pss170 100 voice voice bank that i got as a kid in the 80s, to this day i still experiment with it thru all my gear when want a change still mint, goes back in its box on the shelf between times :) great vid :)
still have this yamaha, and its works. semarang 27 sep 2019 :)
Damn. Mine is broken and I don't know whats wrong with them. I don't know where I need to bring this beast at Jogja.
you played the hell out of that ..im impressed, and i subscrbed,i had that in highschool,classic lil thing
great demo man. i've had one of these since i was a child. hand me down from my dad! i love fooling around with the custom drummer.
I bought two of these things 😂They really are rad and very retro!
the pitch might actually work, it is meant as a tuner so it moves in small intervals. if you hold it down and press a key you can hear it slowly increase in pitch a small amount
i also found that turning off the stereo symphonic mode would reduce the noise at the output
It’s an fm synth, distant relative to a dx7, so you can get fm sounds on a budget
This thing was really capable of making some music. Activate certain functions and it really came to life. People have hard modded/circuit bent this keyboard to have even more features. Yamaha might make some good instruments, but they really do last.
I've circuit bent the fuck out of mine- I can patch up distortion, feedback, fills, and all kinds of glitchy fun.
“This must be the place.”
what do you run your cables into? mixer? pa? thx!
just scored one of these for 18 bucks USD on ebay, can't wait
When keyboards had style, personality, character! Unlike the cheap plastic digital junk they release now! PortaSound and PortaTone of 80s and 90s rule!
...the PSS-460 is also a digital synth
@@aretard7995 Yes, like the PSS-390 which I possess.
Shhhh nobody tell him they were digital
@@gelatinous6915 I meant with digital outputs only. The porta sounds and portatones have analog outputs. Now you've learned something, go eat a cookie, pal.
@@RaptureMusicOfficial Name a synthesizer that doesn't have an analog output.
It's default is 120 bpm too for its rhythms so that's handy with no bpm control.
I ran this through camelphat and my life changed. It’s so hard to explain, but the signal or whatever feels like electricity is coming out of it. I’m a fm pss junky now. Looking for every one I can find. I really don’t need to, but I’m so curious. If you guys find this and everything works, buy it. Don’t even hesitate.
Circuit bend it!!! There's all kinds of distortion patches you can get ;)
Funny, this was my first Synth. Still have it. The tempo increments by 10.(100,110,120 etc). My next experiment is to put it through zoom ms-cdr50 n check if I can use it in my productions. I love the accompaniments, but can't mute the bass. Otherwise it would have been a great chord ptn player.
Me too its my first Synth many ago
the sound blaster keyboard
Just plug a Zoom MS 70 to it and you have a great synth 😁
Weren't these are the ones were the Amiga 500 sound cards I could be wrong? Cheers I have a 470, it's great fun; solid build. Lovely with effects. Could this be considered a proto-V.A? Thank you.
Same chip as classic Soundblaster
There is a posher version of this - Yamaha anyway, in my loft - bugger, it means that I have to up there now!
Yes you are talking about the PSS-560. The Yamaha PSS-560 was the flagship of the PSS series during this time, it had both analog and PCM rhythm, the PSS-460 (the one in the video) was the model slightly below which is only analog rhythm, also the combinations for the Custom Drummer from the 560 are not on the 460, you have to manually create your custom drum pattern...the other difference is the PSS-560 has 3 bass/4 chord variation patterns, the PSS has less, and you can't re-voice the chord or bass patterns.
nice review. which will be better PSS 460 or PSR E 463 for beginners. and what will be the price of two> thanks.
They are both different keyboards, there is no "right or wrong" answer as to what is the best beginners keyboard. The PSS-460 is perfect if you want FM sounds but the PSR-E463 is much more up to date and sounds more realistic. If you want FM sounds buy the PSS-460, if you want modern PCM instrument sounds get the E463. If you want both then buy both. Many professionals use both modern PCM keyboards and synthesizers for specific sounds.
how to turn off the rhythm? like they are the same sound as the orchestra
Still have one...
can i use this as a midi controller ?
There's no MIDI.
Could hear sounds of Ultima off and on.
Tengo uno igual .
Yo tenía una de esas!!
It's got MIDI in/out, hasn't it?
t55a2 Unfortunately, no, this one didn’t have midi
But it's so HUUUUGE !!!
It's tiny, it is a keyboard designed for Children!