Well, I said I wouldn't purchase another 61 key arranger (Tyros2), but after auditioning the T2 at my local Music Store, I was compelled to purchase the Tyros2. Here's why...

1. Vastly improved styles - most of the styles seem to be more apprpriate for more songs. I am finding I can match more styles to more songs. The groove factor on the styles seem to be much better. I seem to get inspired to play better because I feel the beat much better. The beats are more snappy and in the pocket. I find the Rock styles vastly improved over the previous Tyros. There are more and better 60's, Twist, Blues, Oldies rock 'n roll styles. Also, more contemporary rock, and alternative rock and Hip hop styles which really can be applied to more recent music.

The intros, endings, breaks, fills all seem to be much more tastefully done and make use more judiciously of backing sounds. Also, they seem to be mixed and balanced much better allowing the melody to stand out more. I could more on this topic, but let's move on.

* Sounds, Sounds, Sounds: You'd be hard pressed to find any other board on the market with the variety and quality of sounds than the Tyros 2. Forget Mega this and Super Articulate that, the fact remains the Tyros 2 has some of the best samples on the planet, PERIOD! The electric Pianos are killer, the Brass and strings sound almost VST CPU like, and those killer Organs; They really improved the organs to the point that they now have made my Roland VK8M organ module obsolete.

One area lacking are in the Chiors; They could have done a better job in this area especially for worship and Gospel type music. This is surprising since the Motif has some of the best Chior samples on the market.

I find the Guitar voices absolutely breathtaking and very playable to the point that you can now sound very life like playing a guitar on the keyboard. Some of those rock guitars are absolutely awesome.

I have to run now, but more of my review to come....

Thanks for the review. Its great to read all these good reports! I've had a Tyros in my home for two weeks now, but I haven't yet touched it! I'm still in Australia and won't get back to NY until Thursday. Unlike the Tyros 1, the T2 seems to have hit the market to only good reviews.

With regards to the Motif/Tyros sounds, apparantly the engineers for the two keyboards don't fraternize. Apparantly they don't want the Motif and Tyros to have much in common. Don't ask me why...

Al,
congratulations for your Tyros 2; the more you play it, the more you will enjoy it!

Happy to hear you have changed your mind and joined us with the Tyros 2. Congratulatons. I liked your review, it is very in depth.
I would ask you to also post it in our Yamaha Arranger forum that we are using for the Tyros 2. Many people are coming there to look for info on this new keyboard as I am promoting that site in the Synthzone to all people that are not SJ members through my 8 email lists.
Thanks you and best to you. Hope to hear some tunes from you soon
Bebop

Congrats Al,

Maybe I'm next. The thing has great sounds based on what I'v heard so far. I'm thinking I'd miss 40 or so of the PA80 styles, and some of the superb synth voices, but not so much else. I think I used to be fairly handy at converting them, so I'd at least wanna give it a fair shot.

I'm leaning toward the T2 again too. I played the AJ2006 arranger live the other night. It's very easy to actually play and change variations, so it worked fine. The lead voices are incomparable, but I still haven't found an all in one GM solution for the styles, and navigating to change styles and voices isn't as intuitive as using a hardware arranger. I'm thinking about the time I might spend making a new and higher quality soundfont, I could probably work enough OT in that time spent doing that to actually pay for a Tyros 2, and then since I bring the laptop everywhere anyway, so I can still setup B4 for better organs, and a couple of analog softsynths, etc for the highest quality of lead voices.

AJ

Bebop,

Thanks, I will also post in the Yamaha group, I thought about posting there 1st, but I guess old habits never die easy.

Take care buddy.
Al

AJ,

The T2 may or may not be for you, but boy I bet it would be very fun and gratifying converting those PA80 styles to the T2. I'm sure other's would be very interested in those styles as well. I've installed a hard disk and my style collection and I've been slowly trying out converted styles from many other keyboards I've accumulated over the years. Talk about fun. Also, you might want to check out those custom voices that Steve Demming posted on the arrangerworkstation.com forum for the T2. There are some very nice Synth voices on there which really add a new dimension to the Tyros. So far, I haven't run into any dead-ends with the T2 and I am more than satisfied.

Regards,
Al

Hi Al, congratulations on your T2 acquisition. I too agree with your review assessment. With Tyros2's convenient new audio recording feature, looking forward to hearing some T2 demo songs from you. - Scott