This is a little off topic but it all ties together. Keyboard companies are in somewhat of a dilemma. Today's MOTL arrangers, in many cases, sound almost as good as the high-end boards. I played a Tyros4 a while back at GC and after owning a PSR-s950 briefly I thought the PSR-s950 sounded almost as good as the Tyros4 I played. To most listeners in an audience the miniscule difference in sound quality is not really an issue. Especially if it involves Senior Citizens. God bless them one and all. Many Senior Citizens have at least some hearing loss, and therefore, they can't distinguish the finer details in music. Those with significant hearing loss anyway. Such as the intricate nuances or the expansive realm of highs and lows that gives life and breadth to the sound. So that ultra realistic electric guitar sound on that high-end model wouldn't be appreciated in most cases. Younger audiences appreciate sound quality to a greater degree because their hearing is relatively still intact. Young people and others who don't have hearing loss will appreciate a Tyros4 over the slightly lesser sound quality of the PSR-s950. Although that would not be the case in young people exposed to super loud Hard Rock music, etc. since their hearing would likely also be on the ropes. But I digress.

Back to the dilemma facing keyboard companies. So if Yamaha produces a Tyros5 (or whatever they decide to call it) and it costs $6,500... If they build it, will people actually buy it in sufficient numbers to garner a reasonable profit for Yamaha?

Let's face it. The world economy is currently in the dumps and in the United States the economy continues to struggle and people's income has been going down over the last several years because of the recent recession. Which is still limping along at a snail's pace I might add. If Yamaha produced an $1,899 arranger that sounds almost as good as their top-of-the-line model then most people would purchase the $1,899 model and would be pocketing several thousand dollars in savings in the process. And again some audiences wouldn't know the difference in sound quality and therefore most everybody is happy, including the guy (or gal) that saved thousands of dollars by purchasing that MOTL arranger instead of the "bank busting" higher-end model. That's why the new BK-9 seems so appealing. It has a decent price tag ($2,499) and it sounds excellent from what I've heard so far. So what I am saying is Yammie, Korg, Roland, Ketron and the others must give a viable reason for people to purchase that $6,500 arranger when in most cases the $1,899 arranger would more than suffice. And that's why high-end arrangers may be on the way out. The MOTL arrangers sound nearly as good and they don't break the bank. Things have come a long way in the last ten years. It makes logical sense to have great sound quality at a decent price. In other words, in most cases, the high-end models may not be worth the thousands of dollars in additional cost.

BTW, I'm not trying to diss Senior Citizens. A lot of Senior Citizens have good hearing, and therefore, they would know the difference between medicore sound quality versus excellent sound quality. I'm sure they would enjoy the PSR-s950 or any other high quality MOTL arranger currently on the market. It is up to the keyboardist whether or not he (or she) would want to spend thousands of dollars more for a slight increase in sound quality and a few more features. Which tells you right there that the Big Three and Ketron need to step up their game significantly if they expect people to fork over $5,000 - $6,500 for a 'modest' increase in sound quality over their MOTL sibblings.

All the best, Mike