I purchased the first 2000 to hit town,not yet on display so could not try before buying. so many good people love it---I wanted to love it too--I do not love it! I knew within 3 days that it was not for me,thank God for return policy! A few reasons why:

Organs---the sounds are good but the "leslie" sucks. very poor simulation,the speed change is all wrong,no doppler-effect at all ,just a tremelo. I do not want "ball park" or theatre or church,
I want Booker T!

E. Pianos---I was hoping for a good Wurly--not there. no bite,no nasty,and again the vibrato is just wrong.


Drums---well,whats the right word,not just dull but---timid.


Styles---this was the biggest letdown of all. I just can't stand the sound of the auto-accomp. I'm not sure if its the sound of the instruments or the way in which they are played,but they make me want to leave the room!
When I tried out the Korg PA80, I could close my eyes and pretend that I was Playing with a band(untill I hit the fill button) I can also do this with a good drum machine. not so with Yamaha. There is an inherent artificial nature to the performances,and a "canned cheese"
sound that I just can't stand.

Well,I hope that I havn't angered anyone as that was not my intention,and I have no doubt that accomplished musicians like Scotty,Dave,Don and many others can make good music on this keyboard. I just wanted to post a dissenting view for the benefit of those who are in the market. The real point is that you have to try for yourself and only buy from a store with a good no hassle return policy so you can find what works for YOU.
as for me,I am going to give Korg another chance after OS3 comes out,because it did very good on all the points above that yamaha was a dissapointment . The pa80 is really in another league when it comes to styles and sounds,which is fair considering the price difference.Too bad that it is still a work-in-progress,but the potential is there for a truly great arranger.
If I can ever get my hands on a Roland VA5,I will give that one a chance too,but Yamaha is just not for me.

Bill E

PA-80..Too bad that it is still a work-in-progress,

Well, it will always be a work-in-progress. That's the point of FLASH ROM.

As for PSR2000, just edit the reverb and EQ, it will make a huge difference.

hi Bill,

I had reservations the first time I played the psr2k also. As soon as I put my hands on the light flimsy key feel I said to myself "this is a toy" and that didnt surprise me because I said that about the 740 also of which I still think the 2k is just that with a few more extras and cosmetics thrown in. When I sang thru the vocalizer I knew right away that the quality wasn't near the two 9ks I own and play nightly,(the mic effects weren't that bad) although it is an improvement over the 740 in alot of ways, but not "Professionally" speaking in my opinion. The 2k is a decent MID level keyboard "FOR THE MONEY" but it seems people are making it out to be the "ULTIMATE" unit which it is not even close. On Yamaha units you MUST get into the editing of styles, importing of other KB syles, multipads, sound parimeters, effects, to get them to sound right. To many people depnd on the "Out of the Box" styles and sounds. They can be excellent instruments if you take the time to learn and adjust accordingly its internal workings to make it shine. Don't be affraid to experiment, and don't think you saved $1000.00 or so vs buying a Psr9000 because it is a different animal in so many ways.

sorry if I was too honest,

donny nj



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 11-28-2001).]

I think if I were playing professionally (OH now thats a scary thought!) I would have the best pro board I could afford on the market. Making money from the equipment would put the "buying a new keyboard issue" in a whole different ballgame. I would probably be more concerned about sounds quality etc.

For some, their talents can shine bright on the meakest of equipment for others well we need all the help we can get! ha-ha I guess we all have different tastes! I haven't found a keyboard that I like everything about yet. Give and take is the best you can do with what they produce.

Arranger keyboards are like cars. I still have some Volkswagons (Casios) sittin around here. I bought their (Casio) Jetta model (MZ2000) and now I am going for the Toyota (camry) PSR2000. Boy I am losing it today! For a couple thousand more I could have....

What would a Lexus be? Anyone?

Hope I didn't offend anyone!

-Linda

Bill, I played PSR2000, VA5 and PA80, and I think there is a difference.

A lot people says piano sound on PSR2000 is good, but for my ears is not so good... I like its winds, strings.., but not its piano sound: VA5 is better, better (48 Mb for sounds, PSR2000 only 16 Mb).

PSR2000 keys are terrible, cheap plastic, like a toy; VA5 keys are another world.

PSR2000 styles are not so rich as Roland or Korg, (but more flexible, it is true).

At the end... PSR is a nice machine, and its screen is beautiful and easy. But sorry, I don't like its plastic colour, its keys... some of its sounds and styles.

Perhaps VA5, cheaper now, will be a best buy (if you needn't vocal harmonizer). And if money it is a problem, new EM-55 from Roland (same price as PSR1000) perhaps will have its chance to see.

Sorry, but it is my feeling.
Godwald

This is my first message to this superb forum. Are planning to contribute more later of the experiences of PSR2000. To summarize: I'm back with Yamaha after almost 20 years. Started out on used Yamaha Electones (B35, B805?, C55N with Leslie in the cabinet), Technics (AX7, KN800, KN1000, KN2000, KN3000) and Roland (E500, EM2000). After a month I have found that the PSR2000 is the most userfriendly keyboard I had. The sound was much better than expected, exspecially guitars, brass and woodwinds. The only thing I can remember now that I am missing, is the sound from one of the RockOrgans (Roland E500). But I'm optimistic I could tweak the PSR2000 to give a similar/acceptable organ. Another possibility is to add an external organ sound module.
I use the PSR2000 as a backing band for another instrument and for general musical education. And mostly, for the cheer fun!
Sorry about my english, thou :-). Dont have a spell checker yet or grammatical ...
I'm planning to share more of my experiences after I have gathered more information.

------------------
MB

[This message has been edited by Joysound (edited 11-28-2001).]

Of course..... at that point, I can pretend that I am playing with two bands ;-)

Bill,

I fully sympathize with you having owned both the Korg PA-80 and now the PSR2000.
I am not knocking the Yamaha as it offers a tremendous lot for the buck but when all is said and done what remains is the fact that you are listening to a 'keyboard'!!!! whereas listening to a (good) recording with the PA-80 you may easily mislead people thinking it has actually been recorded with a proper band, it is so much more realistic.
As to the sound quality, this will always remain a matter of taste and there are few ,even on this site, that only use one keyboard. The PSR may well be used side by side with the PA-80 (as Bluesplayer does) but it certainly can not replace it. In actual fact I begin to think that few keyboards do.
I also entirely disagree with those (Donny!!) that state how superior the 9000 is to the 2000 !!. Like I stated earlier, the 2000 even has a Dynamic Arranger which to the best of my knowing, is absent on the 9000.
The Yamaha bubble has burst once more for me, I should have know better........
(sorry Scott !!!)

regards,
john.

I have never heard the PA80, but I steered away from it because I heard that the fill-ins weren't that good and that the harmonizer wasn't that good.

I think that the PSR2000 is a great keyboard. I play professionally for elderly folks mostly, but I make a decent living for a gigging musician. I was playing the PSR 740. The advantage of the PSR 740 for me was its size and weight and, of course its many features. When you're setting up twice a day, you don't want to be lugging around a very heavy keyboard.

I really like the PSR2000's styles, and having access to the Yamaha CVP209 styles, some of them are really stunning. So the CVP209 style bank gives you access to another 60 styles or so.

I like the voices too, but also owning Gigastudio and having some real instrument samples, I am under no illusion that I am playing perfect replicas of instruments. But I like the voices and I get a lot of jollies playing them. Comparing voice ram might be misleading because the compression rates might be different for each keyboard.

The overall reverb on the PSR2000 is set a bit high for my taste, but you can set this to registration. Once you play again on the fly, the style reverb remains what was set with registration.

The vocal harmonies sound really good in my opinion. I performed today, and it really sounded like I had a group of three ladies singing above me.

The PSR2000 is easy to use.

It does lack storage, however. Luckily, styles load immediately from floppy, but no One Touch Setting or Registrations from floppy styles.

If I were hearing from Korg owners that the PA80 had four great fill-ins and a quality vocal harmonizer, and that it was easy to play, then I would be checking that keyboard out immediately. If the next OS is a major improvement, I will be interested in knowing that.

I like my Yammy so much, I am a bit incredulous that someone wouldn't like it. Fortunately, the keyboard doesn't have feelings because otherwise I might get a bit protective. But you can continue slamming the PSR2000. I will continue playing it - to the delight of my audiences.

Larry

Hi,

It’s always the same thing. All persons forget to divide the Mby of voices memory by the number of voices? VA5 has 48 Mby but more than 3600 voices, this is 14 Kby per voice (average). PSR 2000 has 16 Mby but only 800 voices; this is 20 Kby per voice (average). So the quality of the voices can not be very different between them. I have a Roland XP 30 with the expansion cards and I have heard side by side the XP 30 and the PSR 2000. Indeed there are good voices and poor voices in both.
A test (side by side I did): Go to a real horizontal (and can also be a vertical) Yamaha piano and hear the brightness of the two upper octaves sound mainly the second before the last (the same as the last in a keyboard of 5 octaves (normal pitch)). Now go to a Roland keyboard (5 octaves in the normal pitch) and play the same octave. Result: the sound has lack of the high harmonics. Now hear the same octave in a PSR 2000 or 9000; it’s not so bright as the real piano, but it’s brighter than a Roland VA5 is. Why? Is it missing memory to the sample or the manufacturer made a choice for this type of sound... may be. And it seems that some persons like of this sound instead of the approximation with the real one.

Regards
Carlos Rodrigues


[This message has been edited by Rodrigues (edited 11-29-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Rodrigues (edited 11-29-2001).]