Yamaha PSR-E283

Although NOT USB compatible nor is it touch sensitive, Yamaha's basic PSRE283 five octave keyboard is nonetheless well built,  with 410 onboard voices (plus 18 drum kits), as well a collection of world rhythm accompaniments.

Teacher's may want to take note (!) that this entry-level model offers a bank of sound effects onboard ranging from sheep through to car horns and other world sounds. A possible distraction in a classroom environment but useful when such sounds are needed!

However, the PSRE283 is played in the time-honoured way with single or fingered chords on the left, and melodies with the right hand, and the results are heard via stereo 2.5w speakers (with or without the multitude of onboard effects such as EQ, reverb, chorus and ultra-wide stereo)!

With a minijack line input socket, you can also connect an i-Pod and playback through the keyboard speakers and 'jam' to your favourite songs. Alternatively, a simple (300 note capacity) 1-track song recorder is onboard for those who wish to experiment with recording and playback.

Supplied with a mains adaptor, the PSRE283 offers 32-notes of polyphony, and it adopts a sleek chassis whilst sporting small bass boost ports to emphasise the lower frequencies. An LCD display sits in the middle and helps with navigation and displays pages of information.

Suitable for Keystage 1 and 2, the PSRE283 is clearly a beginner's model and the lack of USB/MIDI and touch-sensitive keys limits it's use for those who wish to connect to computer music software.

For this reason, the next Yamaha keyboard model in the lineup (PSRE373) has USB connectivity as standard for linking to PC and MACs, as well as touch-sensitive keys, giving an added layer of player expression.

School customers can click 'Request Quote' for educational discounts and 'quantity prices' or ring us for special pricing on (01752) 313300.