Yamaha PSS-A50 Mini-Key Keyboard

From performing to recording, this mobile keyboard can do it all.

The PSS-A50 features 40 instrument Voices plus two drum kits, all with sound quality more like that of a professional Yamaha synth than anything else, with Pianos, synths, basses, strings, and more all sounding like today's hits.

The experience of playing these sounds is just as high-end, thanks to a velocity-sensitive, 37-note keyboard inherited from the Yamaha reface family of specialty synths. The reface line has won critical acclaim for feel and expressive nuance previously not thought possible from mini keys, and those keys are here.

Activate the arpeggiator, and the true power of the PSS-A50 is unleashed. It goes far beyond traditional arpeggio fare, offering a selection of 138 musical phrases suited to the various instrument Voices — including the drum kits for beat creation — as well as a myriad of up-to-the-minute musical styles. What's more, the Phrase Recorder performs looper-like recording, letting the player create custom phrases then play them back continuously while building up the rest of the groove.

The Motion Effect button adds important musical expression such as filter sweeps, pitch dives, and modulation, and its effects are captured by the Phrase Recorder right along with the notes. Likewise for sustain and portamento, which are triggered by another button.

When connected to a computer with the included USB cable, the PSS-A50 can function as a MIDI controller for software instruments hosted on a computer, or even record its output as multi-track MIDI data into a DAW such as Cubase.

At under 20 inches wide and weighing just over two and a half pounds, the PSS-A50 easily slips into a backpack, and it's built tough. It can run on four AA batteries or via USB bus power, so if it's plugged into a computer (or a phone charger or a "power brick"), no batteries are required. For jamming in private, a stereo headphone output mutes the convenient built-in speaker.

"This much music production capability in a keyboard this tiny and affordable is unprecedented," said Ben Harrison, marketing manager, Digital Piano and Portable Keyboard, Yamaha Corporation of America. "It's ideal for the aspiring producer, but we think even pros would get addicted to it as an idea machine."

Features

• High quality and touch sensitive mini keyboard
• 42 Voices (instruments)
• 138 Arpeggio types
• Phrase recorder
• Motion Effect
• USB-MIDI connection
• Light and compact
• Built-in speaker / Headphones jack
• Battery and USB bus powered (USB power adaptor is sold separately)