Yamaha Portasound: The amazing evolution of the PSS series

I love Yamaha's PSS series of the late 80's. "Portasound" underwent a rapid and fascinating evolution during its lifetime. This video draws on some old and low-quality video, but I think you'll enjoy watching the miniature PSS series grow from toy-board into competitive FM synths that will be coveted well into the new millennium.

[thomasstillman]

PSS 470 connected to a
Zoom G1Xon multi effects pedal with built in looper, and a Tascam 4 track cassette recorder, gets the job done on a super low budget!
Very versatile 😎👍

[aaronwalderslade]

My first keyboards for years 480, 560 and 680. I also had (still have) a VSS-30 Yamaha sampler and a VSS-200 that was given to me. I created choirs and orchestras on my VSS-30! Fond memories of those friendly Yamaha sounds, and trying to make them sound bigger with my bucket brigade reverb from Tandy! I still miss the 680 (the wedge) with its fantastic quantizing sequencer, drum pads and intuitive layout. Never did get used to the tiny keys though.

[jazzualdo]

Recently I got PSS 390. Great feature with sliders for changing the sound in a real time.

[PolaroidsofthePyramids]

I love so many the the PSS keyboards, but I have to say that my faves are the PSS-100 and 790. The 100 has nice synth capabilities and almost feels like you're playing the synth card of a Nintendo NES. The 790 is such a zany beast and the vector joystick makes it a blast to play.

[cindygroves]

I had the PSS-680 - great little keyboard! It was fun messing around with the FM sounds. It was the best portable keyboard I owned.

[duanekimball]

I have a PSS-790. I must have bought it around 1990. Fun to goof around with

[andresgaron]

I have a 480 and I love the two op noise on this keyboard. The dirty bass it's very harsh and peaky. It can fit in the mix very well.

[ruscular]

a year ago I had the PSS 480 sold it for rent money during the pandemic, and just bought a replacement PSS 680 for $80 goodwill sale on ebay, untested and everything is working and in great shape. Its unbelievably in great shape. Better looking than my old PSS 480. Secret is that Goodwill never test their keyboard.

[kimthompson]

I'm lucky enough to own the PSS 460, 470 and the 480 . Along with a PSR36 . Great review !

[heroknaderi]

I enjoyed all of them one day I might add some to my collection.😁😁

[cam-inf-w]

The man who invented midi and the prophet 5(polyphony in synths), dave smith, passed away recently. Rest in peace you important soul. ❤ your inventions will always impress, the beauty only being surpassed by how useful and easily it is to take for granted.

[chetankorg]

I used pss 290, pss 390 and pss 51, all were amazing Synth

[argetech]

The PSS-480 was amazing! It had 12 note polyphony, 49 mini keys, Full MIDI In-Out-Thru. Full 16 midi channels! Drums were on channel 16. For a little unit, it has a lot of professional features. It was a good controller, and it could be used as a sound source! I was able to make some crazy synth sounds using the built in synth-section. I made many songs with it using the QX-21 two track sequencer! I really loved it!

[RaptureMusicOfficial]

The PSS-390 is one of the first Yamaha keyboards I owned in the 90s! The synthesizer is quite pro and you can make almost DX7 like sounds with it! Also the styles and sounds are quite cool, great keyboard! :)

[sonicmistress]

Today I picked up a PSS-570 for £20....This thing is pretty sweet...It's like Jeckyll & Hyde and I love it, one minute it's a Yamaha KB from the 80's, one push of a button and it becomes something else. : )

[didierasseko]

In the 90's I Had the PSS790. Wonderfull keyboard 😍

[thehellezell]

I picked up a $20 PSS560, it's a fantastic little synth that has some surprising features for the form factor.

[myousickoflife]

I have a pss-80 now had one similar as a kid as well.

[leemearns]

I own a PSS-780, it was my first synthesizer. I purchased this from a school friend in the early 90's.
It's great for sound effects, great leads and bass sounds can be achieved with it and they can be pretty fat sounding but does have it's limits.
I also have a PSR-630, also contains great sounds but obviously more hardwired as this isn't a synthesizer.
All machines have their limits, it's what you do with it and getting enjoyment from it that counts.

[ohiorichkidbeats]

damn that 580 was sweet, kinda sounds like the same kinda futuristic sounds inside my hybrid 3 program that came with my akai mpc studio software in the year 2015, i see yamaha was ahead of the game especially when it came to new tech and innovation