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...