DGX505

The DGX-505 is the top of the line in the Portable Grand series and is destined to be one of the most popular portable keyboards we've ever made, based on sales of the model it replaces – the DGX-500. It comes with everything shown; wooden side panels, matching wooden stand and sustain pedal. It has an attractive, easy to use panel and a wealth of features including 88 lightly weighted piano-style keys, high resolution stereo piano sample, SmartMedia storage, USB computer connectivity, a large bitmapped LCD screen capable of displaying notation and lyrics for songs, pitch bend wheel for more expressive playing of string and brass instruments, and a six-track sequencer that is designed for the utmost in simplicity; two button pushes and you're recording. For those interested in learning to play, we've beefed up the "Yamaha Education Suite" (Y.E.S.) found on previous models with a new interactive version, Version IV, which includes "Your Tempo" and "Repeat & Learn" modes. Finally, the new performance assistant technology allows you to play along with songs and not make a mistake – guaranteeing even a complete beginner a rewarding musical experience!

For the utmost in simplicity, compatibility and portability, the DGX-505 features SmartMedia storage (card optional), offering up to 128MB of high-speed access to songs and styles. Unlike audio files, MIDI songs and styles are small files, allowing you to store literally hundreds and hundreds of your favorite tunes on a card that is not much bigger than a postage stamp. For convenience, there are a couple of ways to get data to the card. You can connect the keyboard directly to your computer, using the USB jack on the back, and transfer songs and styles directly from your computer to the card (PC only). Or, if you don't plan on having the keyboard in the same room as your computer, simply pick up a memory card reader for your computer from your favorite electronic supply store and transfer data that way.

The DGX-505 has many state of the art features to make connecting to your PC as quick and easy as possible. These features include the PC Button, which takes a snapshot of your MIDI settings so that you can instantly return to them with just the press of a single button, and a USB port for transferring song data from your computer. In addition, the USB port acts as a MIDI interface, freeing you from having to purchase other MIDI peripherals like cables and adapters to play music. Simply connect to your computer, open your favorite music software program and hit PLAY. That's it.

Have you ever played a song and wondered what it would look like as sheet music? The DGX-505 can display the score to a song whether it comes from the Internet, the internal selections or ones that you record yourself, and the pages scroll automatically when a song is played back – no more page turning! And for singers, the screen also displays chords and lyrics to XF compatible songs. For examples, please visit www.yamahamusicsoft.com. And for those that want to learn to play, notation adds a new dimension to the Yamaha Education Suite, allowing you to hear a song while you follow the notes in the display

Learning to play songs moves to a new level of simplicity with the new "Your Tempo" learning mode. Call up a song, press the notation button so that you can see the music, press left hand or right hand or both at once for two-handed learning, and the keyboard and notation will speed up and slow down as you do, literally following you through the song. If you find one section of the song a little difficult, simply engage the "Repeat and Learn" button and the DGX-505 will stay on that section, repeating it until you feel comfortable. Then move on to the next section. The Yamaha Education Suite also works with Standard MIDI Files (SMF), allowing you to learn songs of your choosing – and the keyboard will show the music notation to those selections as well!

Playing piano is fast and easy with Yamaha's Portable Grand function. One dedicated button brings up a great sounding piano, stunningly rich and authentic in its sound and exceptionally responsive to your playing touch, as well as setting up the keyboard to play as a piano in full keyboard mode. On top of all this, a wealth of special piano-only "Pianist" styles, like Slow Rock and Stride, provide professional sounding piano accompaniment that change chords automatically as you do, while you play a piano melody on top!

The DGX-505 comes equipped with 494 voices that include a high resolution stereo-sampled Piano, a selection of Sweet! Voices including Trumpet, Flute, Pan Flute, Soprano & Tenor Saxes, Cool! Voices including Galaxy Electric Piano, Suitcase Electric Piano, Electric Piano & Organ, Live! Voices including Piano, Warm Grand & Orchestra and 10 Drum Kits and 2 Sound Effects Kits.

• Sweet!
Voices are special voices from Yamaha that reproduce all the natural expression and vibrato of their respective acoustic instruments.
• Cool!
Voices feature long samples of electronically amplified instruments.
• Live!
Voices use stereo samples to ensure the most accurate reproduction of each instrument's natural presence, resonance and vibrato. It all adds up to great sound.

And for the utmost in compatibility, the DGX-505 is both General MIDI (GM) and XGlite capable. The Internet has thousands of MIDI song files available and you can rest assured that your DGX-505 will be able to competently reproduce these files.

You are also able to create sound mixes of your own using Layer and Split modes. Split mode allows you to have two different sounds on the keyboard at the same time, like piano on the right and bass on the left. Layer mode allows you to combine two sounds across the keyboard range. For example, you could play Piano and Strings at the same time. You're only limited by your imagination.

Performance assistant technology is a new feature from Yamaha that guarantees that you can't play a wrong melody note or chord. Here's how it works. Select a song, press the Performance Assistant button and select from either chord or melody mode.

• In chord mode, play the keyboard – any notes you like. Every note you play will fit the music! If you move up the keyboard, the pitch goes up. If you move down, the pitch goes down. Play a perfect arpeggio, or play chords in time with the music, or really "go for it" and play a solo.


• In melody mode, simply play any note in time with the melody and the keyboard will play the correct pitch. For example, you can play the melody simply by tapping one key. Even if you can't play piano and can't read a note of music, you can still have some musical fun.

• 2-Way Speaker System

Separate woofers and tweeters deliver sounds with clarity and precision for more lifelike instrument voices.

• Bass Boost System

A special port on each speaker adds a powerful impact to bass sound reproduction.

• Stereo (Not just 2 Speakers)

We all know that stereo sound adds realistic character and spatial depth. But how can you tell if the portable keyboard you're looking to purchase is stereo or not? With Yamaha, the answer is simple. All Yamaha Portable Keyboards are true stereo.

• Digital Signal Processing (DSP)

Enhances sound quality with sophisticated digital effects like Harmony, Reverb & Chorus.

• Advanced Wave Memory (AWM)

Yamaha Advanced Wave Memory technology delivers amazingly realistic sound.

What's polyphony, you ask? Simply put, polyphony is how many notes a keyboard can reproduce simultaneously. The DGX-505 has 32-note polyphony allowing you to play intricate arrangements and dense musical passages.

The DGX-505 comes with 135 built-in styles, waiting for you to play along with. It's just like having a built-in band. Call up your favorite style of music like Rock, Big Band or Country, press a chord or play Single Finger mode, and the DGX-505 will follow you through a piece of music, providing all of the drums, bass, piano, guitar, horn and string parts for you. And to make it easy and fun, when you select one of the styles, the One Touch Setting function will automatically configure keyboard parameters, such as voice selection and digital effects, to match that selected music style.

For a demonstration of "What is a Style", click here (1.3MB download – requires Macromedia Flash and computer sound.)