Yamaha has been one of those manufacturers at the forefront of today's synthesizer and keyboard market. Responding both to the demand for analog circuitry emulation and control as well as aspirations of authentic pianistic duplication, Yamaha has unveiled two of its latest synthesizers. Bearing weighted-action keyboards as well as features you will find in the Motif XS, the Yamaha S90XS and S70XS have just entered the synth arena.

The S90XS and S70XS features all the Voices, Performances, Arps and Virtual Circuit Modeling effects found in the Motif XS. All in all, the S90XS and the S70XS sport a total of 456 MB of instrument samples, 142 MB of which have been dedicated to piano waveforms including a newly handcrafted S6 acoustic grand piano sample. Adding more pianism to these instruments is a balanced hammer action keyboard totaling 88 keys for the S90XS and 76 keys for the S70XS. Add to that an intuitive panel with a lot of controllers to shape every parameter you require, the S90XS and te S70XS merges piano ideals with real-time sound-shaping synth controls.

Other features include the Performance Creator which allows you to create layers and splits easier as well as interactive performances complete with drum grooves in just a push of a button. A combo input jack allows these synths to receive input from guitars or vocals including effects, parameters for which can be instantly accessed via the control surface. The S90XS and S70XS also has direct USB recording and playback functions to allow performances to be recorded in 16-bit/44.1 kHz resolution to either external USB devices or in its internal memory that has a capacity of about 18 minutes. These synths can act both as a master keyboard and multitimbral tone generator and also have a DAW remote function with 50 different control templates to provide easy control over DAW software and VST instruments directly from the control surface.

With such functionality that combines high-quality sound with pianistic feel and a wide range of control options, it's no wonder that the Yamaha S90XS and S70XS have won Best In Show honors at Summer NAMM 2009. The S90XS will sell for an MSRP of 3,799.00 USD and the S70XS an MRSP of 3,699.00 USD and will be available by September 2009.