Comparison Yamaha PSS-E30 vs Korg Pa50SD

— Synthesizer. In this case, we are referring to classic digital synthesizers — keyboard musical instruments capable of reproducing the sound of various instruments and sound effects. The functionality of these models can vary greatly — from budget devices with minimal features to advanced instruments suitable even for professional musicians.

— Workstation. High-end synthesizers for professional use, capable of serving as not only a musical instrument but also as a control panel for recording and mixing sound. Therefore, a sequencer (see below) is a mandatory feature of such instruments. Additionally, workstations are characterized by advanced equipment appropriate to their class: it is among these instruments that you find models with full-sized hammer-action (see "Mechanics") 88-key keyboards, the user has access to a wealth of adjustments and connectors, and the sound quality and authenticity in low-cost models are good, while in advanced ones — nearly perfect. However, synthesizers of this type are quite expensive, so combined with their extensive capabilities, they are indispensable tools for composers, sound engineers, and other specialists engaged in both performance and music recording.

— Children's Synthesizer. The features of such instruments are generally clear from the name — these are synthesizers designed for children. Externally, these models differ from "adult" ones pr...imarily in the smaller number of keys (up to 49, often less) and the reduced size of the keys themselves for a child's hand. In addition, the performance characteristics and functionality of children's synthesizers are also, more often than not, more modest: for instance, the polyphony (see below) rarely exceeds 8 voices, and the overall sound authenticity is quite low. However, the educational capabilities of such instruments, on the other hand, can be very extensive, and in general, children's synthesizers are considered a good choice for initial learning.

— Analog Synthesizer. Instruments in which sound is created not through digital processing but by passing through a real electrical circuit. Very simply, the principle of operation of such an instrument can be described as follows: each key, when pressed, activates its sound generator at a certain frequency responsible for the desired note, and with additional settings (oscillators, envelope, filters), the musician gives this sound its color. From the user's perspective, the most noticeable difference in an analog synthesizer is the absence of built-in timbres — all details of the sound are manually adjusted by the musician. Analog instruments are more complex to operate, but on the other hand, they allow for effects that are not possible with "digital." Moreover, the coloration of the sound on analog synthesizers differs somewhat. Historically, instruments of this type appeared before digital ones; however, today, they are specialized solutions mainly intended for professional performers and used in specific musical directions.

The greater the number of keys — the wider the range of the instrument, the lower and higher notes you can take on it right during the game, without resorting to tricks like octave shift (see below). By comparison, a full size piano keyboard has 88 keys. However, in synthesizers, such an amount is rare, because. the instrument would have turned out to be too bulky and expensive, and not every musician, even a professional one, needs such an extensive range. Thus, 88-key keyboards are used primarily in high-end workstations (see "Type"). For ordinary synthesizers, the standard is 49, 61 or 76 keys ( there are also options for 73 keys) — this is usually quite enough (while the "golden mean" option is considered to be 61 keys). And small children's models can have 32 keys.

The size of the keys of the synthesizer — primarily in width.

— Full size. The keys are standard size, the same as on a piano keyboard. Such keyboards are designed for an adult and are used in almost all synthesizers that are not related to children.

— Small size. The keys are reduced in comparison with the standard width (and often also height). Practically not used in "adult" synthesizers, but they are almost mandatory for children's models (see "Type"). On a full-sized keyboard, some features are not available to a child (for example, chords with far notes), and small keys designed for a child's hand can correct the situation.

— Unweighted. Keys with a very low pressing force, literally "failing" under the fingers. This option is well suited for inexpensive synthesizers with passive mechanics (see above), but is rarely used in active models — a small resistance force makes it difficult to choose the optimal pressing force.

— Semi- weighted. Medium-strength keys, not up to the hardness of a full-fledged piano, but showing noticeably more resistance than unweighted ones. This variant is most popular among instruments with active mechanics (see above) — the force on the keys provides adequate feedback and at the same time playing such an instrument does not cause any special difficulties even for those who previously dealt only with unweighted keyboards.

— Weighted. Keys with high actuation force, comparable to that of a classical piano. Used only in professional hammer action instruments (see above) — high rigidity is a must for such mechanics (more precisely, for the response that it must provide).

The polyphony supported by a synthesizer, in other words, is the number of “voices” (tone generators) that can simultaneously sound on it.

This parameter is often described as the number of notes that can be played simultaneously on the keyboard. However, this is not entirely true due to the fact that in many timbres one note can activate several tone generators. As a result, for example, to play a chord of 3 notes in a timbre with 4 tone generators per note, polyphony of at least 3 * 4=12 voices is required. In addition, Auto Accompaniment and Preset Songs (see related sections) also use tone generators, requiring even more voices to work effectively with these features.

The minimum value for a more or less functional modern synthesizer is polyphony for 32 voices — and even then such an instrument can be used mainly for initial training and simple melodies. For a more solid application, it is desirable to have at least 50 – 60 voices, and in professional models (in particular, workstations where you have to deal with several audio tracks at once), there are models with polyphony for 150 tone generators or more.

In general, a more advanced synthesizer is likely to have more extensive polyphony, however, it is only possible to evaluate the class of an instrument by this parameter very approximately — instruments with the same number of voices can differ greatly in level. The only exception to this rule are children's synthesizers (see "T...ype"), which support up to 20 voices.

The number of built-in sounds provided in the synthesizer.

The number of timbres is often described as the number of instruments that a given model can imitate. However, this is not entirely true — rather, this parameter can be called "the number of instruments and sound effects." For example, the same instrument — an electric guitar — with different "gadgets" (distortion, overdrive) will sound differently, and in the synthesizer each such gadget will be considered a separate timbre. The “drums” timbre usually combines different types of drums and other percussion instruments — in other words, it allows you to portray both the “bass drum” and the cymbals without switching settings, just by pressing the desired keys. And some timbres may not have analogues among real instruments at all.

The more built-in timbres, the more extensive the possibilities of the synthesizer, the more diverse the sounds that can be extracted from it. At the same time, in high-end models like workstations (see "Type"), this number can reach 1000 or even more.

The number of memory slots for user tones provided in the synthesizer.

For Voices in general, see “Preset Voices” above. User timbres are sound settings that were not originally provided in the synthesizer's memory and are created by the user according to their preferences. This feature is indispensable in cases where the built-in set of timbres does not contain the necessary options. However, the capabilities of the User Voices may vary from model to model. So, one instrument only allows you to edit and supplement existing timbres (for example, add a “wah-wah” effect to a bass guitar and save such a bunch as a user setting), another makes it possible to set the sound parameters almost manually, and the third even allows you to load timbres through USB (see below).

The more user timbres in the synthesizer, the more personal “instruments” you can register in its memory.

The number of auto accompaniment styles (see above) originally provided in the synthesizer, in other words, the number of accompaniment options available to the user.

The more extensive this set, the higher the probability of finding among these melodies suitable options for a particular case. At the same time, the abundance of styles in itself is not yet a 100% guarantee that among them there will be a suitable one, especially since different synthesizer models can differ markedly in a specific set of melodies. So the list does not hurt to clarify before buying. Also note that the situation can be corrected by user styles (see below) — many synthesizers with auto accompaniment support them.

The range in which you can change the tempo of the programme played by the synthesizer — auto accompaniment, lesson tune (see above), metronome (see below), recorded sample, etc.

Pace is measured in beats per minute. Changing it allows you to adjust the speed of the synthesizer to the specifics of the situation — for example, slightly slow down the tutorial if it is too hard to master at the initial pace. The wider the range of tempo adjustment, the more options the musician has to choose from, especially in the area of very slow and very fast tempos.

Note that the traditional range of musical tempos covers values from 40 beats / min (“grave”, “very slowly”) to 208 beats / min (“prestissimo”, “very fast”), however, in synthesizers it can be more extensive — for example, 30 – 255 bpm.