True to form, Yamaha dropped the new PSR-SX620 arranger workstation while I was in the wilds of Alaska. Thus, these comments are late to the party.

The PSR-SX620 is the “value” SX model in Yamaha’s mid-range arranger product line. The SX models vastly exceed the E-series in many dimensions, so I won’t make any comparisons to E-series. If you’re truly short on cash, E-series is your best and only option. The initial SX620 street price (AKA Minimum Advertised Price or MAP) is $1,249.99 USD. Oh, just call it $1,250! A thousand buck keyboard is not inexpensive and the SX620 is the “value” model with respect to the SX720, SX920 and Genos 2.

Based on forum comments, SX prices vary greatly by geographic region. The SX620 does not always sit nicely below the SX720. Check the prices in your region as the delta between SX620 and SX720 may not be that big. It’s your call. The PSR-SX620 will be the top of the line portable keyboard in Japan; The SX620 is not on the Yamaha Japan web site at the time of this writing. If you want a more capable arranger-type keyboard in Japan, it’s STAGEA, baby.

Like the SX600 which it replaces, the SX620 has a decent enough spec:

• 1,002 Voices + 51 Drum/SFX Kits + 480 XG Voices
• 137 S.Articulation!, 34 MegaVoice, 31 Sweet!, 74 Cool!, 89 Live!
• 450 preset styles
• 416 Pro Styles, 33 Session Styles, 1 Free Play Style
• Style File Format (SFF), Style File Format GE (SFF GE)
• Chord Looper
• Record to USB WAV only
• Playback from USB WAV only

It’s the lightest SX model at 18 pounds. The SX620 does not have the newer FSB keybed and its non-touch color display is much smaller (4.3 inches) than SX720 and SX920.

The SX620 has Style Section Reset, but does not have Style Section Change Timing, Style Section Time Signature, and Style Dynamics Control. If you need these features, pony up for the bigger siblings.

The SX620 specs out pretty well in the DSP effects area. It offers roughly the same DSP effect presets as the other SX models. The SX920 is the king of the hill with VCM effects and 13 insert effects. The SX620 and SX720 allow 9 insert effects. Insert effects help make styles and MIDI songs come alive, so the more the merrier.

The SX620 has a redesigned speaker system with internal passive radiators. Each stereo channel has a 12cm speaker, 15 Watts per side. The bigger siblings add tweeters and bi-amplification (SX920). The redesigned necessitated a large front panel producing an “angry duck” kind of look. Some people are OK with the new front panel aesthetics, others dislike it intensely. Personally, the look is growing on me.

Connectivity is more limited than its sibs. The SX620 doesn’t have 5-pin DIN MIDI or secondary LINE outputs. Otherwise, you won’t be wanting.

Memory capacity is another way Yamaha differentiates models:

• 360 MB expansion memory (versus 1GB and 2GB)
• 1 MB per Song (versus 3MB per Song)
• 226 Multipad Banks x 4 Pads (versus 349 and 500 banks)
• 500 (max.) Records per Playlist file (versus 2,500 records)

The older SX600 has 100 MB of expansion memory. Given the size of modern-day flash, these capacities always seem chintzy.

Voice-wise, the SX620 has 1,002 voices up from 850. 51 drum kits up from 43 kits. As to voice category, here’ a comparison against SX600:

• 137 S.Articulation! (SX620) versus 73 (SX600)
• 34 MegaVoice versus 27
• 31 Sweet! versus 27
• 74 Cool! versus 64
• 89 Live! versus 71

Yamaha has a way of “promoting” voices to Super Articulation. Thus, you will find a few familiar sounds among the new SArt presets. Marketing and product tiering is a silly game sometimes.

Essentially, the SX620 has the S975 sound set. However, you will find a few surprise additions:

• Pianosphere (Pianos & E.Piano)
• PianoSweeper (Pianos & E.Piano)
• LatinAccSuper (Organ & Accordion)
• LatinAccForS (Organ & Accordion)

Yamaha voice names are not fully consistent from model to model (e.g., 80sSynthBrassProfit instead of BrassProfit), so your mileage may vary (YMMV). Plus, these guys can’t spell. Compare on the basis of MSB/LSB/PC number.

It isn’t strictly correct to say that the SX620 is exactly the S975 sound set. The SX620 picks up new guitar voices from its predecessor, the SX600:

• CavacoLegato (Guitar)
• CavacoRR (Guitar)
• CavacoStrum (Guitar)
• Cavaco (Guitar)
• CavacoMute (Guitar)
• ViolaCaipiraLegato (Guitar)
• ViolaCaipiraRR (Guitar)
• ViolaCaipiraStrum (Guitar)
• ViolaCaipira (Guitar)
• ViolaCaipiraMute (Guitar)
• ViolaCaipiraSlide (Guitar)
• Bandolim (Guitar)
• BandolimTremolo (Guitar)
• BandolimTouchTrem (Guitar)

The Megavoice listing reveals internal multi-samples. There you’ll find the Bandolim, Cavaquinho and ViolaCaipira in both the SX620 and SX600. These guitars are not on the S975.

I don’t compare bloops, bleeps or things that bang in the night. So, I’ll leave it to you to compare synth sounds and drum kits. New kits include: Punchy EDM kit and Trap kit.

As to new styles, you’re definitely on your own! Yamaha posted 20 style demo videos to the Yamaha Global channel on Youtube. If you have 25 minutes, a bunch of them are collected here. A few of the demo styles are on Genos 1, e.g., R&BSoulBallad, 12/8 PopBallad, Amazing Gospel. The styles are pretty much what we have come to expect from Yamaha’s style developers — studio-quality sound. Frankly, I couldn’t hear a huge qualitative difference between the SX620 demo videos and Genos 1.

I wish the SX620 display was bigger or that the videographer zoomed in. I want to cop their chord progressions. 🙂 Check out my page with free Chord Looper banks.

Speaking of chord progressions, SX620 has Chord Looper, one of my favorite features. The 12/8 PopBallad demo shows the Chord Looper in action. In this case, Chord Looper remembers the eight chord sequence beneath the ballad: F – Gm7 – Bb – C – Dm – F/A – Bb – C. Once set, Chord Looper handles the changes for the player who can concentrate on melody and fast fingering controls.

What conclusions can I draw without playing the darned thing? I played an S950 for a few years before upgrading to Genos 1. It made a lot of good music and I had a lot of fun with the S950. So much so, that I happily bought a Yamaha CSP-170 digital piano with a similar sound set (minus the high-end piano voices, of course). On the basis of sound quality, I don’t see how you can go wrong with the PSR-SX620.

Folks in the know recommend careful comparison shopping as far as price is concerned. If you can buy an SX720 for a small upward delta, do it. You will get more voices, styles, features and expansion memory. The ability to add new voices and styles is important because Yamaha is taking 5 to 6 years between full, major releases. Never rely on minor software updates; buy a keyboard as it is today.

Hopefully, demo units will roll out to stores shortly. In case you missed it, my site gave a sneak peek nearly four weeks before the official announcement. Keep it locked here.

Bonus: Chord progressions!

Rave (EDM) Main Floor

    |: Cm | Ab | Eb | Gm :|

Disco Pop

    |: Gm7 | Cm7 | Fm7 | Bb :|

R&B Soul Ballad

    |: Cm7 | Gm7 | AbMaj7 | Dm7(b5) :|

Reggaeton Groove

    |: Cm | Ab | Eb | Bb G7 :|

12/8 Pop Ballad

    |: F | Gm7 | Bb6 | C | Dm | F/A | Bb | C :|

Dance Pop

    |: Dm7 | Am7 | Gm7 | A7 :|

Amazing Gospel

    |: F | C/E | Gm7 | Csus4(7) :|

Copyright © 2026 Paul J. Drongowski