Yamaha PSS-A50
| W × H × D (mm) | 506 × 54 × 201[1] |
|---|---|
| Weight | 1.2kg (without batteries)[1] |
| Type | Portable keyboard |
| Keyboard | 37 "HQ" (High Quality) mini-keys (velocity sensitive)[1] |
| Manufacturer | Yamaha |
| Release date | November 2019[2] |
| Standards | None[infobox 1] |
| Parts | 16[3] |
| Max polyphony | 32[1] |
| Normal presets | 40[1] |
| Drum presets | 2[1] |
| Effects | Reverb, Chorus |
|
|
The Yamaha PSS-A50 is a portable keyboard by Yamaha. It was launched in 2019 together with the closely related PSS-E30 "Remie" and PSS-F30, effectively relaunching the Yamaha PSS series, which had ended in 1997. It has an entry-level price point, retailing for circa 100 US dollars new. As of at least 2024, it is "discontinued" in the US,[4] but it is still sold in other markets (e.g. Europe and Japan), and can be imported worldwide.
Notable features:
- 37-key velocity-sensitive mini keyboard, same high-quality keybed as the (much more expensive) Yamaha Reface series
- Can be powered either by USB or by 4× AA batteries
- USB MIDI functionality
- MIDI out: can be used as a MIDI controller, sends all performance data including arpeggios and motion effects
- MIDI in: can be used as a tone generator (32-poly 16-part multitimbral)
- Single speaker and mono 3.5mm headphone output
- 40 normal instrument presets and 2 drumkit presets (Standard and Dance). These seem to come from the Yamaha PSR series.
- 16-part multitimbral,[3] 32-poly tone generator
- Does not claim General MIDI support; this is probably because it does not have the full 128 GM1 instruments and only has mono audio output. However, it seems to be partially GM1/XGlite-compatible, e.g.:
- Normal instrument presets use GM1-compatible numbering (with Bank Select MSB = 0)
- Drum instrument presets use XG/XGlite-compatible numbering (Bank Select MSB = 127)
- Typical Yamaha XGlite Control Change support: Portamento, Attack, Release, Brightness, Harmonic Content, Reverb Send, Chorus Send[5]
- Responds to GM Reset etc[3]
- Various convenient performance features:
- Arpeggios (not an arpeggiator exactly, more similar to a "styles" system with reharmonization of pre-recorded phrases stored in ROM)
- Phrase recorder/looper
- Motion effects (pre-recorded filter/pitch/modulation patterns stored in ROM)
- Sustain and portamento buttons (no pedal input)
- Metronome
Quirks
- There is no analog volume control, only a digital one. This means the audio output can be quite noisy at a low volume, because the noise floor is constant at all volume settings. If your headphones don't have their own volume control, you may want to use an in-line volume controller cable.
- The audio output is 2× unbalanced mono on a TRS (stereo, three rings) 3.5mm jack. This can interact badly with audio equipment expecting balanced audio: if you use a TRS cable to connect it to a mono input on your audio interface, you'll get silence. You need something with a TS (mono, two rings) connector, either a splitter-/Y-cable or a simple mono cable.
Trivia
- The rounded design, shared with the PSS-E30 and PSS-F30, comes from the design concept of "eggs for musicians".[6]