I have some info that might just convince some of the naysayers regarding 76 vs. 61 keys and why Yamaha chooses (unjustifiably so in my opinion) not to make the former i.e. "76 keys" on their high-end arranger line.

For my illustration I am going to use workstation figures for Roland's new Fantom G flagship. Roland officially released the Fantom G just days ago in Japan with shipments of the Fantom G to the U.S. and abroad starting soon. Roland is confident that the new Fantom G will hit a projected sales mark for the first year of 10,000 for the G6 (61 keys), 7,000 for the G7 (76 keys) and also 7,000 for the G8 (88 keys). Here is the url for the statistics if you would like to look for yourself: Fantom G released! >> After you get to the page you will then have to use a translator site to translate the url page. Google language tools is a relatively good one for translating japanese into english, which can be found here: Google Language Tools PS: For PC users you will most likely have to have the japanese language pack from Microsoft installed to view the page properly.

Notice if you will that the biggest seller in the G line will be the Fantom G6 (61 keys), at least in the first year anyway. No surprise really because it is a well established fact that 61 key keyboards are the biggest seller for those manufacturers that make a 61 key version in their product lines. One of the biggest reasons 61 key boards sell the best is because it is also a well established fact that they are the least expensive of the bunch. If people can get all the features and sounds of the extended range keyboards at a cheaper price many times they will opt for the cheaper 61 key alternative obviously. Money doesn't grow on trees as we know and a good segment of these 61 keyers are younger dudes who don't necessarily have the resources to buy the more expensive extended 76 and 88 key options. Next in line is the Fantom G7 (76 keys) which will boast a projected sales of 7,000 units. Seven thousand Fantom G 76 key units selling in the first year is nothing to shake a stick at and most likely Roland will have turned a nice profit within the first year of selling the Fantom G7 (76 keys), recovering all R&D and other associated costs by then. And since a product line usually lasts 3 to 4 years Roland is expecting the Fantom G line i.e. G6, G7, and G8, to eventually outsell the previous generation Fantom X line thus making the Fantom G Rolands most successful workstation ever. And finally... pay particular attention to the Fantom G8 (88 keys) which also has a sales projection identical to the Fantom G7 (76 keys) with a projected sales of 7,000 units according to Roland.

My point is: If 76 key keyboards are such financial losers for manufacturers why then doesn't Roland also quit making the 88 key version as well?? Since the 88 key Fantom G8 has the same projected sales figure as the smaller 76 key version why then does Roland continue to make either one of them for that matter i.e. 76 or 88 key?? I'll tell you why my friends, it is because they "both" make a handsome profit for Roland and company. You may think it unthinkable if Roland were to actually quit selling the full sized 88 key versions of their workstations because true pianists must have 88 keys. Yet the 88 key version of the Fantom G does no better in overall sales than the 76 key Fantom G. If Roland can turn a handsome profit on the 88 and also the 76 key Fantom G could Yamaha expect anything less?? Especially since the Yamaha name has greater worldwide recognition compared to all of their competitors and also has a much greater market following?? Do you get my point?? Of course Yamaha 'could' make a HUGE profit on a 76 key high-end arranger if they indeed attempted such a "scary" scenario once again!! Scary in their eyes maybe; but as the old addage testifies to: "Nothing Ventured Nothing GAINED!" And furthermore: Failure i.e. (PSR 9000PRO) is the Backdoor to "success" i.e. 76 key Tyros"4" - since we already know that the Tyros3 will be 'lacking' those extra 15 keys.

Hey... if Yammie doesn't want to risk making a 76 key high-end arranger again that is up to them. Myself and others are just poking holes in these (excuse my french) "lame" excuses as to why they don't.

>> Now I know why Ian was sent here among us by Yammie central. Besides espousing his employers products, which is fine and dandy and I have no qualms with him doing so by the way, - his main imperative from Yamaha is to try and convince us that 76 keys are evil in Yamaha's high end arranger marketing scheme of things and a foreboding token of what lies ahead for Yamaha apparently . His main nemesis though, being Diki and others like myself, won't bend to Yamaha's will and way of thinking and as a matter of fact, we the consumer, are just trying to give Yamaha a much needed wake up call with our objective opinions and insight and we only do it because we actually and truthfully want Yamaha to thrive as a company, and more importantly, to simply offer the same options that all of their competitors currently do. We keep beating this apparent dead horse in hopes that this apparent dead horse will eventually feel the pain and prodding and wake up from its unconcious state of mind and once again become "alive" and start living outside the tepid, tip toeing scary box it finds itself currently in. At least that's the image I get when listening to our beloved Ian. [img]http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/wink.gif[/img]

Best,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 03-31-2008).]
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Yamaha Genos, Mackie HR824 MKII Studio Monitors, Mackie 1202 VLZ Pro Mixer (made in USA), Cakewalk Sonar Platinum, Shure SM58 vocal mic.