George,
Amen to that! Yes that board deserved the "F" you gave it I myself was shocked at how "sh@tty" it sounded. Even with the latest OS update it still sounded poor and below the competition. I too asked "where are the QS sounds! I only assumed they'd build upon those, but boy were we wrong I had that board out and back in the box in less than 8 hours. Sent it right back! Can't wait to get my Juno-G.

Squeak

Good to see you back Squeak.
Have you thought of using softsynths?
Hypersonic2 might well give you some very good sounds.

I would like to add my thoughts on this topic of the PSR 3000.

I have played alot with the KN7, Tyros 1 and 2. I currently own a PSR3000. my previous board was the KN6500.

having the technics, I wanted something with far more contemporary patterns and a much punchyer sound. I walked into my local "Allens Music" store in Sydney and there was a Tyros 1, PSR 1500 and PSR 3000 next to eachother.

in the shop the PSR and the 1500 sound very tinny and "cheap"

Unless the PSR 3000 has a decent set of speakers hooked up to it - it sounds no where near its potential.

take it into a quiet room, plug in a set of speakers equivalent to the Tyros speakers and tweak the EQ and the board comes alive. It sounds sooooo close to the quality of the Tyors. You really have to be very perdantic and actually look hard to find the differences.

I found it a huge jump from the technics range. patterns are much more fuller and clearer, Drums sound so much more realistic.

I hated how with technics all the panel sounds have all this reverb and chorus effects packed on them.

If you are into Accordians, organs and solo brass voices than the technics still shines in that department.

For those who have seen the Michele Voncken demo videos of the Tyros 1 and Tyros 2, if that guy did the same on the PSR 3K you would all be amazed. yes there is a demo of Michele Voncken on the PSR 3000, and it is a major let down becuase he does not play anything like he does on the Tyros keyboards.

My comparison from the PSR 3k to the Tyros 1 is the following:
Tyros has better key feel
Tyros has more voices - mainly synth and pad
PSR has in built speakers
PSR can have USB thumb drives

the style count is irrelevant as styles can be interchanged between the two boards.

put the 2 boards onto the same set of speakers and I garantee no one would be able to hear the differences.

Thanks for reading.
Nick

Well I'm waiting for the day Yamaha gets their act together and (re-releases) the DJX, and builds off the original, and not the cheap stripped down II version. The original DJX had some of the coolest modern styles (and it was an arranger).

Currently I don't think any arranger out there has the more modern appeal to it with styles. Since I am a Roland fan I will probably look at the new Roland E-60 or E-50 as an add on arranger to my growing synth collection.

Squeak

Squeak,when yamaha bought out their flagships,9000 and pro, everyone said what great boards, well built,great keys,but why can,t they make it lighter,many that have the tyros 2 have said that there are vast improvements ocompared to the 9000 & pro,and far lighter.You have to be fair ,Yamaha listen to the members here and they deliver lots of what is asked for. Maybe your standards are much higher, and yamaha are not for you .mike

I agree with Squeak's review. The special voices are excellent, but the regular voices, except for guitars and electric pianos, are boring and some are unusueable.
They don't have any modern styles (not that I would use them anyways ).
That being said, the PSR1500 and PSR3000 have no competion, unfortunately.
I'm looking forward to demo the E60 and would like too see Squeak's review.
Starkeeper

Mike,
I don't think my standards are high (hell I used to have the Casio WK-3500--and loved that board)--

Personally I think Yamaha focuses too much (lately) on the signature voices, and not enough to the panel voices.

Like I said my simple Roland RS-70 that only cost me $629.00 has panel voices that blow the 3000 away (including the grand piano--of course my opinion on that considering how subjective sounds are). Personally I can't stand the pianos on the upper PSR's and have always liked Rolands to all others.

I think I was very fair in my review. I really dug into those keyboards, and spent hours on them (not minutes, but hours--tweeking this tweeking that and so on).

Sure those signature voices shine, but for me that's where it stops. Plus the drums, my goodness! Sorry, but I still say they lack any punch. Yamaha has always been weak on the drums with the PSR's (and I know I'm not the only one here who feels that way too). Rolands drums have so much bite to them, and the pure sound has all the natrual effects from the kit, such as hearing the snare buzz when hitting the toms and bass drums, plus ghost notes as well. Roland has got their sh@t together when it comes to drums!

Of course the 3000 works well for many here because like I said it fits their styles of music (being more traditional--as arrangers have always been designed primarily for) which is fine, but it falls seriously short for anything modern.

Squeak

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 05-30-2006).]

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 05-30-2006).]

Squeak, many opinions vary on all boards and that is fine,even tyros owners have qualms, like more keys. Your opinion is also good because justified critism is what makes manufacturers listen,maybe one day all the benefits from the best boards will be found in one board,and then everyone will be happy,well maybe, 8> ).

[This message has been edited by nardoni2002 (edited 05-30-2006).]

Squeak,
I'm glad you spent the time with the 3k and found it wasn't for you.
We all hear with different ears,and we all use our boards for different purposes.
I played the RS-70 and found it totally useless for what I do,which is playing "live" with a style backing.
It probably serves some purpose,but it is not on my list of keyboards to own.
Thankfully the 3k is perfect for my needs,and, as I have already said,it is by far the best arranger for the money,and better than some other brands that cost a lot more.
Again,sound is subjective,but after playing the RS-70,I feel that it's sounds are no where near as rich and powerful as the 3k.Of course,that is my opinion.
The RS-70 is an entry level synth and as such,it falls short of the other offerings by Roland both in key feel(the one I played had already developed noisy keys) and polyphony.Also not having aftertouch was a serious omission.The D-Beam was fun.
Perhaps the Juno G will be what you seek.
The MO 8 is a nice board...I played one this past weekend.Lovely action...all smooth and brimming with quality.

All the best, and may you find the right keyboard for your needs.
Ian

Ian,
The RS-70 or probably any synth for that matter isn't going to work for anyone who likes a "style" backing --considering the RS is just that "a synth"

I'm not comparing the RS to the entire voice set of the 3000. I'm not comparing the RS's voices to Yammies sweet, cool, live, and mega voices.... Those voices shine all on their own I'm talking about the RS-70's 64mb sound set as a whole compared to the panel voices of the 3000 with disregard to any "special" voices.

What did you play the RS through as well? I'm using a set of "Berhingers" (Former Roland Micro Monitors-same speakers with the Berhinger name).

I'll throw some demos together and email them to you (since you've already played the RS, and have an idea of what it sounds like).

Squeak