Hi,
I had a morning off today and, since the weather was not good, instead of going for a bike ride I decided to go and listen to the new keyboards at a local dealer.
First consideration: the price. The Tyros (no HD) sells for 2500 euros, the Genesys (HD and CD writer) for 2800. Just for comparison, the 9000 pro (no HD) sells now for 2450 euros.
Second consideration: the looks. Well, of course this is an extremely subjective issue, but I think that the Tyros looks better. The Genesys has a rather dated silver look and the speakers don't help much either, while the Tyros looks "cute", with the lighted buttons and the colored display. Anyway, looking at the Tyros, you can understand why Yamaha says that it was designed for the home users; in fact it does NOT look very rugged and the tilting display, although nice, looks also very fragile (by the way, I think that Yamaha "borrowed" this concept from Technics: the display looks almost the same as the one on the KN 6500). Always speaking of looks, Scott was right pointing to the Tyros size; the Tyros I played was directly below a 9000 pro and they were almost the same size; maybe this means that the internal layout is ready for a future "pro" version?
Now the styles. Well, I have to make a premise here: being accustomed to the styles from the SD1 it's difficult to get excited about the styles from other keyboards; from this point of view, anyway, I think that the Genesys is closer to Ketron in that the styles are more complex and elaborated. The Tyros, on the other hand, has some really nice swing styles, but other styles sound frankly "flat"; coming from the SD1 (and the VA7), for me it was more or less like playing with a metronome behind, but I guess that all Yamaha owners know this feeling already. They are very simple styles, that do not interfere with your own playing and leave room for your add-ons. Yamaha has placed a lot of emphasys on the new styles that make use of the Megavoices, like the unplugged ones, but -frankly- even these are nothing to rave about, again compared with Ketron.
Finally, the sounds: here again Gem is closer to Ketron. The Tyros sounds really clean (I think that Yamaha and Roland have the cleanest sound among all the arrangers). The acoustic piano on the Tyros sounds better and I loved also the electric pianos and the organs; on the other hand I was really disappointed by the woodwinds: Yamaha thought well to replace the good saxophones of the 9000, but the substitutes are really poor; maybe this was due to marketing reasons (you cannot offer the same sounds over and over) but I wish they had come out with something better. I played also the famous "Sax section" heard on the demoes from Germany (American Patrol), but was unable to attain the same impact; true, I was listening through headphones and maybe with a good pair of speakers and a bit of equalization the result would have been better, but still I can understand the rumors about people complaining because they were unable to get the same sounds as the demo's.
The Genesys, on the other hand, has really good saxophones, very realistic, with the sizzling noise of the blowing player and velocity switches between soft and hard; another sound I especially liked was the acoustic bass, so I think that the Genesys would be really good to play a jazz song with a small combo (sax, bass and drums). Unfortunately, other sounds are not so good: the acoustic piano, for example, is not on the same level as the Tyros.
Coming back to the Tyros, I really appreciated the drums: there are new snares that sound really crisp and here again Yamaha seems to have borrowed something, this time from Ketron. So I think that, sonically speaking, the Tyros has something more to offer, both in terms of "cleanliness" and choice (you don't have more than 90 Mb of sounds for nothing...)
Final consideration: I have already seen on some websites styles for sale for the Tyros, but I haven't seen yet styles for the Genesys (just like there are very few styles for the VA7 but a lot of styles for the G 1000). This means that software producers don't believe much in the Genesys while they do believe in the Tyros? Frankly, I have a feeling that, from a commercial point of view, the Tyros could be a better value for the money, in that it will be no doubt easier to resell. Right now, considering the lower price, if I were looking for a Yamaha I would rather go for a 9000 pro; it's true that the Tyros has new sounds and styles but, overall, the Pro has more to offer in terms of hardware, expandibility, etc. When I stepped inside the shop I was ready to buy one or the other (or maybe even a 9000 Pro), but at this point I think that I will wait for a Tyros pro or a new Roland, if it will ever come out. Meanwhile, I will try to get the most out of the gear I already own.
Just my 0.5 euros...

Andrea,

Thanx for the very informative review. I hope people are waiting and doing hands-on comparisons like yours to really see the scoop on these new units, instead of diving in head first WITHOUT even playing one!

Andrea,
An excellent and well balanced review...thanks.
Terry

DNJ,
I hear what you are saying about playing one first. I have found though until one has it in their studio for a week or so and really has a chance to play with one, it's hard to judge.

In the music stores here, usually there are a half dozen other "players" blasting different boards and playing the same 3 chords for an hour, so it's hard to even hear what is going on....not to mention the 15 year old guitar players wailing away on some distorted mediocre lead lick.

Fortunately most places that sell these boards offer a 30-45 day refund policy in the US. So if I really hate the Tyros, I'll send it back and look for a different board, which at this point would either be the Genesys or the Ketron SD1.
Terry

Now your talking very wise Terry!!

Andrea,

Good review and I fully agree because I experienced the Tyros almost the same way you did. (e.g. I did not like the accoustic-piano dynamics/sound curves at all)

Roel

Roel,
"The Tyros sounds really clean (I think that Yamaha and Roland have the cleanest sound among all the arrangers). The acoustic piano on the Tyros sounds better"

I guess I got a different interpretation than you did from this.
Terry

HI: Terry
Boy oh Boy do I ever agree with this statement.
"quote from Terry"
"I hear what you are saying about playing one first. I have found though until one has it in their studio for a week or so and really has a chance to play with one, it's hard to judge."

When I first got my 9000 PRO it was a Love Hate thing for sure, I special ordered it without
playing one first, as there was no place I could find that had one to try out.
One day I would Love it & the next day I would absolutely Hate it. This went on for a month or more.
I gave my Dealer such a bad time about it he even agreed to take it back even though it was a special
order.
But after connecting it to a dual 32 band EQ it is great, I haven't regretted keeping the PRO for even
one minute. I still Love it after having it for 20 month's & believe me this is unusual for me to still like
some thing this long.

Enjoying the 9000 PRO
Denny

Hi Terry,

What I tried to say : ..... ALMOST the same experience....
I used ALMOST because there is one major exception : I did not like the Apiano's.

Sorry for this Terry. (English is one of my 3 foreign laguages we have to use now and then)

Roel

Dreamer,

Thanks for the post.

Roel,

Can you try the genesys and let us know what you think?

I haven't heard anyone compare the stock acoustic piano sound on the 9000 Pro with the Tyros yet, so if anyone gets the chance it'd be cool if you could see if the Tyros acoustic piano is better than the 9000 Pro, the same, not as good? Thanks...

Pro,
as I said the Tyros was mounted on a tier directly below a 9000 pro, so I took a chance to play that too. I can't explain well the difference, but the piano on the Tyros had more presence, yet at the same time was more mellow. To make an example, it was like comparing a Bosendorfer with a Yamaha. I don't know if they used the same multi-sample, but in this case this means that the Tyros has better converters or better filters or better whatever - fact is I liked the Tyros piano more.

I also went to the stores expecting to find Genesys (Tyros will not be available in the US for a while), but the two GEM dealers told me that they are not planning to carry it (as there is no demand for it - apparently I was the first person who asked them for it).

Instead I found a KN7000. I am not going to post a long review here - this would only promote the opinion prevailing on the Technics discussion pages that the people in this forum are anti-Technics.

I should say that the individual sounds are very clean. However, the styles are too organy for my liking. I could see how this keyboard would suit some people, but for my music the stock styles do not work. The other problem for me - I usually play with the left hand sounds (like bright piano) in pianist left-hand mode (three notes trigger a chord, while one or two notes played only play the LH sound) - this works really well on my G1000. In Technics, once you turn on the arranger chord, the left hand sound stops playing, or so the salesman assured me. By the sounds of it, the Technics is designed as a replacement for the accordion. The shiny buttons look chintzy, and for all its heft, to me the keyboard felt rather plastic-y (Not that I am against plastic, but to me it did not have a feel of sturdiness I'd associate with metal).

The other note - the display of the 7000 looks spectacular. Unfortunately, it does not seem to convey any more information that did the smaller display of the 6000, or then the monochrome displays of the many competitors do. The bottom portion, which displays mixer bars in default mode, disappears during various operations, like sound, style, mode selections, and you are still limited to multiple pages of only TEN entries each. Of course the graphic icons with instrument pictures look great, especially in color, but they add little to the usability of the instrument. The whole display business looks gimmicky - this feeling was exemplified when the salesman turned on the dedicated DEMO button and the keyboard started playing pre-recorded music along with animated movie playing on screen - I wonder how much of the instrument ROM is taken up by this sales demo.

Regards,
Alex

Sorry dreamer no offence to your opinion. But it really makes me laugh when someone say that he went a day in a shope and played a keyboard and pass a judjment or compare it with another. I have had the Genesys over 3 weeks now, I have had a WK4 before that and to your surprise I am still learning about what the keyboard can do.
you said you heard the voices of both, I spent a whole day listining to voices on my Genesys and believe me I didn't listen to 1/3 of them, so how can you judge a book by the cover. For example the best Voices are from Page 5 onwords, I bet you even peeped in to adjust the reverbs on it?? What I am trying to say is that it is nice to go and listen to a keyboard but please don't try to compare because if you don't know how to set a keyboard up it is usless passing your judgment. Unfortunatley in the US this keyboard is not popular, but let me tell you if you hear the MIDI FILES and styles that GEM produces in conjunction with TUNE 1000 you will be more than impressed I will prove to you all when I have the time and put some recordings on CD for you all to hear and then judge upon what you hear. No hard feelings but for me this thing is all bull, I am not saying one or the other is better, but you have to really know a keyboard to get the best out of it.

Tony

Tony,
While it is true that one has to really know a keyboard to get the best from it. I think one can go into a shop and "A-B' keyboards and get a feel fairly quickly as to whether they like it or not. At least I can and I suspect alot of others can as well. Comparing one piano to another as they are both setup supposedly optimum for best sound from the factory is a fair comparison. What I think you are saying though is if one has a board for awhile they can dial in a sound to their liking, which I agree with.
Terry

Ziggy. I know where your coming from BUT i do not agree with you in some of what your saying.. Firstly, let me say that I certainly DO agree with you when you said that GEM produce Midi Files/Songs better than anyone else... Ive got both the WX2 and WK6 at hand when wanting to use it for a good Karoake session, no other keyboard can play songs the way that GEM can do it, i just dont know how they do it because if you load up a standard midi file on the GEM, it sounds poor at first, but load up a GEM specific song, it sounds like the record.. amazing... Ive also got some Ketron specific songs for my X1, and although they also sound amazing, i still think GEM just do it that little better...

But onto where i do not agree with you.. If a person goes into a keyboard shop and they try out 2 keyboards in a similar price range (as in this case the Tyros and Genesys), they ARE judging it fairly because that person is dedicating a small amount of time on both units... so first impressions DO definately count. Its also obvious that if you spend 3 weeks on the Genesys im sure you can make it sound amazing using all its tweaks.. Same was with my X1 when i bought it, for about a couple of weeks i was using it without any effects until i found the options to boost it up.. then it just sounded so much better, especially when finally finding sounds in later banks not obvious at first... so when judging new kbs, i think there is a balanced judgement.. its only when you look at one of them deeper than the other that the judgements can be distorted...

Ziggy is correct in the aspect that people who have explored the GEM have discovered that the best voices start at page 5. So if Dreamer didn't explore these voices, he might have missed a lot.

I'm glad to hear that the GEM has so many pluses. Maybe they will make a portable version that us weaklings would be interested in.

Beakybird

Hi Danny, that is what I meant Qoute "FIRST IMPRESSIONS" you can't judge by first impression, remember you are buying something that probably last in your hands over 3 years. You understand me better when I say that with Gem keyboards if you know how to set the Reverbs and all the other settings you can make it sound 10x greater, that is why I said don't judge by listining for a few hours. And the factory setups are not always the best !!! I myself have changed all the Styles setups on my WK4 and they sound 10x better then they where before.
So as always it always boils up to how impressed you where those couple of hours, but you will be judging something with what somebody wanted you to listen to and not the global ability of a keyboard.
Remember when you are playing live the more features you have at hand the more Pro you are and the more flexibility you have the better performer you become. So don't judge by the looks and if a button lights uo or if it is a touch screen. Jugde bye firstly the sound and second in my list is the flexibilety to set things up on a keyboard.
One example I've heard here is about the REAL PIANO. if he played it with the wrong REVERBS of course it sounded not so good because that is what is all about, and that is REVERBS if not used wright the you wont hear the ATMOST of it. One last thing I suggest is that when you go to listen to Genesys tell the SALES Person to let you hear the MIDI SONGS that comes with the keyboard and there you will listen to what Genesys can really do, because they use the REVERBS to the atmost. and I tell you judge on that on on just you playing the keyboard.

[This message has been edited by ziggy (edited 10-23-2002).]

Okay,
let me point out a few things:
- I already own an SD1, a VA7, an XV 3080, an Akai 2800 and an Ensoniq ASR 10r (for what it's worth); besides, I don't sing at all, so when I stepped inside the shop basically I was saying to myself: "Let me see if I can find some new, interesting sounds to use in one of my next songs".
Well, I didn't!
What I have found is that the Tyros has a better sound quality (it's clean, and some of the sounds, like the electric pianos, are really sparkling, but the saxophones (and I might add also the trumpet, the flugelhorn and the trombone) were really too thin to be of any use to me: if I were to record a big band arrangement with these instruments, nobody would think "Wow, it sounds like the real thing!"
But the fact that some sounds are weak does not subtract from the overall sound quality, which is very good. For example, I have seen that Terry plays a lot of New Age music; well, I think that he will love the Tyros, because the sound is clean, sometimes even delicate and thus is perfect for New Age textures.
Always speaking of the Tyros, I think that the acoustic piano is good; Roel is right, however, when it points out to the lack of the dinamic response, but that could depend from the keybed: the Tyros keys have more or less the same feel as the PSR 2000 (Scott often refers to them as "flimsy") and it's really difficult to play a good piano from a flimsy keyboard. The sound, however, at least to me, is good; when I came back home I played the VA7 and I realized that they have a lot in common, so, if someone wants to know how the Tyros acoustic piano sounds, can try a VA7 and have a rough idea.
Now speaking of the Genesys: I have already tried to say, in a kind manner, that I did not like its looks; personally I could add that the fact that GEM is planning to release a version without speakers is a proof that they realized to have made a mistake. However, I could have lived with a poor design (I don't like much my VA7 or my SD1 either, design-wise), but then, coming to the styles, they did not add absolutely anything to what I already own and, speaking finally of the sounds, when I first heard the demo's on the GEM website, I thought that there was way too much reverb and I asked to myself "Why? What are they trying to mask?". Finally, when I played the keyboard, I did not in any way associate the overall sound with terms like "sparkling", "lush", etc. I have admitted that some sounds are really good, like the saxophones or the acoustic bass, but the overall quality of the sound did not convince me. Of course, this does not mean much, because I also think that my SD1 does not sound as clean as my VA7, but when I had to choose a sound for the sax solo in "Sweet Home Chicago" I did use the SD1, because the sound, even if it's not "clean", had other qualities, that were necessary for that song.
I even wrote that I would like to use the Genesys to record a jazz number, with just saxophones, acoustic bass and drums; too bad that I could not use the piano, because to my ears it was too metallic and that's a pity, considering that GEM makes excellent digital pianos.
Maybe, if I could borrow or even rent a Genesys and take it home for one week and record a song or two, MAYBE I would end up buying one, if I had no other keyboards or modules,
BUT...
since I had to pay more than 2500 dollars to do that and see IF I change my mind, then my answer is "No, thanks: I can think of many better ways to spend my money".
I hope I have been clear enough.



[This message has been edited by Dreamer (edited 10-24-2002).]

Dreamer don't think I am getting at you cause I'm not, but what I wanted to point out about Genesys is that if you don't know how to set it up it doesen't sound that good.

May I ask you some questions.
1. you said you like Sequencing!! did you hear any of the Songs that came with the keyboard?? if not I advice you to go and listen so you will see what a difference a Reverb does to a Voice.
2. Have you heard the keyboards on an ampliefied PA??? and if so was it of high Quality like say EV??

I am asking you all this cause it is differnet hearing a keyboard on it's speaker, to an Ampliefied sound.

I'm not telling you that tyros is not better in sound and sharpness, but my point is that I don't rely on demos, I rely on the result I get when I am performing live, and for studio reasons I beleive that Genesys is a winner too the edithing you have on Genesys wont be found on any other keyboard. Even though I bet you use a PC based sequencer.

What I hate is that because a brand is not that popular sort of everyone talks about Tyros as if this was something fallen out oh heaveen, I never did like Yamaha myself but that is just my taste.
Still I don't agree with you about the Grand Piano, in my opinion it sounds great, always if you use the wright reverbs with it. when you own a keyboard you will know the goods and the not so goods of it and that is why I made an ENPHASY on the fact that if you don't use the REVERBS correctly the end result won't be that good.

Tony

Tony,
You're debating the sound issue again.....what you hear in the Genesys sound tweeked or not with extra reverbs....may not be the same sound Andrea hears and likes.

I personally favor the Yamaha pianos to my ears, you like Genesys....that's ok. Andrea is just giving his opinion about the sounds one to the other and it is right, because that is what he hears.

IMO arrangers sounds should not have to be taken home and tweeked for a month to get them to sound 10x's better. I think if the board doesn't sound good out of the box....I'll pass on it. If I wanted to tweek, I'd buy another Motif or Triton workstation to tweek.

I don't think any of us, myself included think the Tyros "just fell from heaven" it's just a new board with some very cool new features. If you're a Yamaha fan, that's exciting, if you're not then it's a whole lot of talk over not too much. I already know it has some short comings, like the o/s upgrading which Yammy had their heads in their a**&^ when designing this.

EVERY board has things that we will like and not like. To me the basic thing we buy a board for is what it sounds like to us, then we have to weigh whether the sounds make up for the shortcomings.
jam on,
Terry

[This message has been edited by trtjazz (edited 10-24-2002).]

Tony,
I hope not to have hurt you with what I said about the Genesys; I am sure that my needs are completely different from yours. Just to make an example, I don't sing and so harmonizers are to me nothing else than a waste of space inside a keyboard; I know that GEM keyboards have very good sequencers, but unfortunately I do not use sequencers at all, because I record my tracks directly into a program like Cool Edit Pro as .wav tracks. Finally, I am not a professional musician so I cannot buy a keyboard and deduct it from my income (too bad...) and so have to be careful to buy keyboards that will keep more than others their value over time. All this is to say that my priorities are different from yours and that's fine; you have to admit that I didn't go raving about the Tyros because I think that I pointed out its shortcomings too, and in fact I didn't buy one!
Since this Forum is a place to exchange opinions and stay informed and since nobody here works for Yamaha, GEM, Roland or Ketron, I think that we all can point out what goes or doesn't go in a keyboard and this should also encourage manufactures, who seem to monitor this Forum, to improve their products.
I agree that you know the Genesys much better than I do and so am ready to listen to any demo you can record with it or, if you simply make a list of all the sounds you like most, I promise that I will go back to the store and listen to them all. On the other hand, if you say that I have to tweak them to get the best results, then I agree with Terry: a keyboard should sound great right out of the box, otherwise what are sound engineers paid for?
Friendly,
Andrea

Ziggy,

I believe that Dreamer point is the following: If he is buying a new keyboard to replace all what he has, then the Genesys would be a strong contender especially if they can do something about the Piano sound (I have not heard it by the way).

But Since he already has some very good quality keyboards and sound modules, he does not see in Genesys the justification to pay thousands of dollars to get that new keyboard. Notice that the impression that he got about Genesys is that it is closer to SD1 which he already owns. That is nothing against Genesys.

I think that the real criticsm was against Tyros because he does not have a yamaha keyboard and an addition of yamaha keyboard will complement his collection. However, he was not impressed enough with Tyros to add it.

Guys you did not get my point. I am not a sort of fanatic person about keyboards, I use it to earn mony and because I love doing it.I have nothing about what ANDREA said in fact I am glad he went and heard what's new in the market. My point was that in a few hours you can't judge a keyboard, and here we are talking about the top of the range keyboards. that is all I wanted to say, and because he was talking about a keyboard I already own so I think I can tell you all better about that keyboard, I haven't heard the Yamaha , I have heard the demos like all of you, and they sound great, so you don't think I have something against Yamaha.
But. Terry it seems you too got me wrong, because the way you wrote you sure did get me wrong or I didn't explained myself well enough.
ANDREA I asked you if you heard the MIDI Songs because there you will see what you can make out with that keyboard, and if you ever by that shop pop in and ask him to listen to the songs that came with Genesys and then you will know why I told you so.
More than this I cannot add. Subject is closed on my behalf.

Tony

It is not possible to say a piano sounds
better than another one. If you do not like
a pianosound than this is strictly personal.
Did you ever think about the fact that there
many factories that make accoustical piano's
and they all sound different, even two of one
factory are not the same. The factories make
cheep and very expensive ones, they sound
very different from eachother.
A very good sampled sound from a very cheep
piano does not better than the original.
At the same time we can say that a bad sample
taken from a very expensive Steinway is a
Steinway sample but how it sounds....?

Question for Dreamer or maybe one of the current Genesys owners could help out...When trying out the acoustic pianos on the Genesys, do you remember which piano voices you listened to? Were they the Family-Presets or single voices?

Here's a cut and paste from the owners manual.

...each sound preset has been professionally created to offer the correct effects and other settings for the sound it contains. You can think of the sound presets as a kind of "showcase" of the best sounds that the Genesys has to offer.

Now this refers to the Family-Presets and in the Piano Family there is StereoGrand and RealPiano (and others). Did you listen to either one of these?

Or did you select single mode and pick individual piano sounds digging down into the 16 banks of single sounds (8 sounds per bank)?

I'm curious as to which single sounds were used for the Family-Preset StereoGrand or RealPiano. Was it Piano1 (1-1-1) or did they use a piano voice (or voices) found in a different bank (some folks say the good stuff can be found in the deeper banks)?

mike

Mike,
I listened to the Stereo Grand.

Mart,

Don't you think some sampled pianos are more realistic than others? It seems that, while acoustic pianos vary in sound, most sample-playback pianos do not do a good job of emulating any acoustic piano over its dynamic range.

[This message has been edited by Clif Anderson (edited 10-24-2002).]

I agree with Ziggy about the Genesys and have also spent 2 days on a Tyros at my local shop.
I own a SD1, Genesys, Roland G1000 and Kurzweil K2600. There is no such thing as a best keyboard and there never will be as people just have different tastes and requirements. All keyboards have their good and bad points. To me the Tyros sounded weak in all departments and as for that piano being good, I'm not going into that. If the price was lower then it would offer better value, but I still wouldn't buy one.
I was very dissapointed with the Genesys for the first 2 weeks as there were operating problems, but Gem have sorted these out in an update. I don't use midi files but as Ziggy said, they do sound great.
I'll stick with my SD1 and Genesys for live use as they are the easiest keyboards I've worked with in ages and I've gone through loads over the years. The built in CDRW saves me time having to work with my PC or Mac as I can record straight away.

Question to Ziggy:

Can you control the volume that comes from the speaker separately from the volume that comes from the main stereo outs?

sk800, If you are asking me about the output left+right that feed to a PA system the answear is this. No you don't have a left and right chanel slider. but you can PAN the sounds in real time, now that you asked me that question, on the same subject I tell you that you have another 2 extra output so you can root say the Drums from out1 and say the base from out2 to feed into another PA system so in all you have 4 outputs coming out of the Keyboard. one other thing nobody seems to mention about the Genesys that it has a 32 channel SEQUENCER and guys that helps no need for program changes.

When performing live, it will be nice to determine the output of the speakers independently from the output jacks that go to the PA. Some even disable the speakers, but it will be nice not to disable the speakers and simply determine its volume independently.

Of course Clif some samples of acoustic piano
are more realistic than others. And this is
an important point, how many octaves of the
samplepiano are realistic!

sk880user. I can't seem to understand what you mean cause you can adjust the levels through your PA MIXER. so I don't seem to understand why you should have a seperate output LEFT + RIGHT volum controler, becuae you simply don't need it.I always MUTE the keyboard speakers when I am playing LIVE I only use them at home when I am editing.

Here is the reason why:

1) Usually, the speakers are muted during live performance. That is the habit of professional musicians. But I disagree with the rest. I believe there is a value in the internal speakers of the keyboards during live performance.

2) Surely, the external volume can be controlled from a PA assuming that there is another person helping you with the PA. But what I do is I control subset of that volume from the keyboard. I believe it is very convenient and very important especially while I am performing like crazy and do not have time to worry about other instruments.

Once I performed in a Church that had a digital piano by Roland. Similar to Yamaha P200 (portable with speakers). There was separate volume slider just for the speakers. That was wonderful! It made life so much easy.

sk880 <> As I always say everyone has his own needs, but in my case I don't see that is an issue, Firstly I am a singer so if I have my keyboard speakers on I will surely get a feedback from it especially when I go upbeat. I don't have a second person to set my PA, I manage to do that myself, but then again I have a Spirit Folio Power Amped Mixer so all the sliders are very easy to handle. So every one adapt to his or her setup. But honestly I never had any problem with setting the left and right chanels while I am performing live.
Tony