Hi All,

Yesterday I had the privilege of playing both the Tyros 2 and the PA1X side by side for around 4 hours, so I thought I'd share some of my thoughts for the benefit of everyone. Let me start by saying that I'm neither a Yamaha nor Korg advocate having come from a Technics and Roland history and I'm now looking for a replacement for my KN7K. Therefore I'd like to think that I'm not biased towards either.

Both keyboards were played with their own speaker systems and neither were connected to any additional equipment or amplification. The Yamaha was using the Yamaha speaker system and the Korg its on board speakers. Both were played in their out of the box configuration. We played a variety of tunes from Bebop, Jazz, Ballroom, some old standards right up to some more modern pops and even some heavier metal type tunes.

Yamaha Tyros 2
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I'll start with the Tyros 2 as this is the order that we started in the shop. We began with a few previews of some of the sounds including the sweet, cool and of course the new super articulate voices. Yamaha have done a great job of the samples on the new Tyros 2. The sound was clear and strong and was very thick. The sounds were realistic and gave beautiful presence. The Super Articulate voices were also nice and sounded very sweet indeed. In particular the Brass, Organs and Saxophone sounds have made great strides. The sounds are clean and crisp and were very usable.

Taking nothing away from the quality of the sounds I must admit to not being blown away by Super Articulation. The concept of adding subtle nuances to sounds is not exactly a first and indeed triggering different samples from varying touch sensitivity has been something that most (if not all) manufacturers already achieve. Some of the effects (such as fret noise) are triggered by foot pedals and this also isn't anything that couldn't be done previously with other keyboards by assigning sounds to foot switches. What Yamaha have done though is to create this effect out of the box with no additional sound editing, making this very intuitive and usable.

Having said that though it's only the concept that didn't blow me away. The sounds themselves are beautiful and Yamaha have truly excelled themselves. Some of the sounds are still not quite convincing when played on their own, but I'd go as far to say that this is the best sounding Yamaha I've ever heard.

Moving on to the styles, these too impressed me. The intro's and endings are detailed and usable. And the styles themselves are beautifully rich and are also very usable fitting the musicality very well. I didn't notice any of the boom-ta-ta repetition that Yamaha have been criticised for in the past and my view is that the styles were well programmed and musical. The fills and breaks also deserve a mention as these fit the variations very well and transition cleanly providing a really subtle nuance to the music being played - just the way they should. There's also a great selection of styles fitting various types of music. For general playing I was able to find a style for everything I tried at the shop and wasn't left disappointed. The location of the fill and break buttons is also great, right by the left hand above the keyboard.

In terms of usability the Yamaha was a delight to operate. Having not used a Yamaha before (other than testing while selecting keyboards in the past) I was able to jump straight on and play without any trouble. The screen was large and clear and the buttons and controls are logically laid out and felt large and precise in their operation. The keyboard also felt good and was nicely weighted. I didn't notice any difficulties with odd sized keys and the touch sensitivity felt responsive and controllable. The overall look of the machine is very pleasing and the build quality seems to be of a good standard.

Korg PA1X
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After listening to the Yamaha I was wondering how good the Korg would be and thought that maybe it was a little unfair to demo the Yamaha first. However as soon as we started playing the Korg, a smile came to my face. The sounds were simply awesome. The nylon guitar that sounded so beautiful on the Yamaha sounded every bit as good on the Korg. In fact I'd probably go as far to say that the sound engine on the Korg had a slight edge over the Yamaha. Of course the way an instrument sounds is purely subjective to the individual but there's no denying that the Korg is every bit as competent with it's voices as the Yamaha. The drums had a positive punch to them and the bass was deep and clear. The brass sounds were also excellent and many feature the multi samples triggered by the touch sensitivity. In fact, despite the super articulation of the Yamaha, many of the Korg sounds seemed to have the same subtle nuances and in my opinion some were actually richer than some of their Yamaha equivalents.

Moving on to the styles the Korg, similar to the Yamaha, once again impressed with it's detailed and usable styles. As with the Yamaha I wasn't left wanting at any time and managed to find something to suit all of the tunes that I tried on the Korg. In fact some of the styles on the Korg and the Yamaha were very similar. This was particularly evident using the bebop style which featured the same drum type solo's for variation 4 which I liked so much on the Yamaha. Similar to the Tyros the PA1X set the tempo when switching from style to style which is a great feature. The Korg only had 2 fills compared to the Yamaha's 4 (one for each variation) and this sometimes caused the fills to be a little out of place within the current variation. However this didn't cause a great deal of issue and overall the styles were excellent and usable. Both keyboards featured a break button. The intro's and endings were also very good on the Korg and a particular feature that I liked was the ability to use and ending with no chord changed programmed. This meant I could add my own chord sequence to the ending and play along to really match the finish to my song.

The usability is really where the Yamaha put the Korg to shame. Although I didn't find the Korg impossible to use (I am a bit of a geek though) it certainly wasn't as easy to pick up. I would think that the learning curve to truly "know" the PA1X would be quite steep. On the plus side though those programmable sliders and the location of the controls were enough to redeem any misgivings in the operating system. The sliders are something every keyboard should have - they make control so simple. The keyboard also felt fantastic. The keys are heavier than the Yamaha's being slightly more weighted but the overall feel is responsive and precise. At no time did I notice any issues with polyphony despite my best efforts to "break" it.
The machine looked and felt well built and good quality but in my opinion wasn't quite as "pretty" an the Tyros. However I guess on the flip side I would say that the Korg had a more professional look.

Summary
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Both the Yamaha and the Korg didn't fail to impress. In fact it's now left me with a very hard choice to make. I would defy anyone to tell me that either of these keyboards is not as worthy as each other. In terms of sound and usability both of these keyboards I'm sure would perform very well and indeed there was little to choose between them. If I had to choose I would say that the Korg voices were a little more convincing but the Yamaha was much easier to use. When it comes to the choice I think my final decision will be made by the level of technical functionality that the board will provide. The Yamaha is a great looking instrument with an easy to use OS and a beautiful warm and rich sound. On the other hand the Korg has the benefit of the TC Helicon vocoder, lot's of add-ons and a real punchy and clear sound.

After putting these instruments side by side I'll now view all of those flame wars about whose is best with more contempt. Both of these machines are winners in their own right and deserve a place at the top of anybody's shopping list. They''re simply awesome and the only real answer is to own them both :-)

I think those 2 keyboards have the best sounds out there but the tyros is easier to carry

Hi dschultze, terrific unbiased & throughly detailed review. As a Tyros owner who has also auditioned the Korg PA1X, I came to the same conclusions. If the Tyros2 hadn't come out so early, I most probably would have most certainly purchased a Korg Pa1X Pro. I too find both keyboards have distinctly impresive different sounds & styles. The PA1X has some important more powerful features (audio sync drum loops, duo sequencer, more fills options), but the Yamaha Tyros1 (and now Tyros2, with the added incredible sounding live playable S.A. Voices and other improvments) offers a more intuitive user friendly navigation/operation 'on the fly' environment, suitable for live performance. I've ordered a Tyros2, but if/when cash allows, I may still eventually get a PA1X Pro too. Thanks again for your review, and good luck in whatever decision you make. Both are excellent choices. - Scott

Now go play a G70 and see how it compares - I would like to hear what you think.

Stunning to not see you fail both for not enough keys - you DO play the piano, don't you?

Did you hear any dropouts on the Korg (only 48 voices) if you play busy on top of the styles?

The decision making problem raised in this thread is exactly why I bought a Korg PA80 and a Tyros - 3 years ago. Funny thing is my Tyros has let me down quite a few times (glitches and bugs)and quite honestly been a bitter disapointment for the price paid. The Korg has been a joy but I still can't get around the operating system that well. Like I said at the time, if we could get Y and K to team up . .. Oh well I can dream.

Danny

[This message has been edited by pianodano (edited 10-14-2005).]

I half to agree .....I myself personally have had enough with 61 keys on stage, [ always having to use OCTAVE buttons to gain more range makes me nuts ] my next KB "WILL" have 76 keys for sure, most likly a Roland A-37. 61 keys cramps your playing style IMO.



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 10-14-2005).]

Donny are you going to go A-37 + Midjay? I'm thinking Tyros + Midjay. I don't need any more than 61 keys.

Tom

Actually the Korg has "62" note polyphony (voices). Korg considers it a "generous" amount. I consider it a stingy amount and definitely not up to par with Yamaha and Rolands high end Arrangers. Even the PSR 3000 has 128 note polyphony and it is considered a "mid-range" Board. And for that matter the PSR 1500 has "96" note polyphony for goodness sakes. And it is one rung 'below' the 3000. And it costs under a "Grand" btw.

Do the math.. 62 voices is less than "half" of 128. Tell me if the Korg won't run out of polyphony before Yammie's and Roland's 128 note polyphony Boards - all things considered. When you reach 63 notes of polyphony on the Korg notes will start to drop out. Yamaha and Roland still have "65" notes of polyphony left before they would start to drop notes.

With Arrangers getting more and more complicated with added features such as Multipads (on Yammie Boards) and multi-layered Voices not to mention onboard Vocal Harmony which also uses up polyphony, etc., etc., you need all the polyphony i.e. "HORSEPOWER" you can get. In that respect Korg, in my opinion, fails to deliver. Plus unfortunately it weighs a ton. Figurately speaking mind you. If you Gig with the Korg you better have the strength of a Lumberjack else you may end up spending a whole lot of money, possibly more in fact than the amount of the Korg itself - on medical bills. Or should it be

But if you don't have to transport it and don't mind the Polyphony issue then I'm sure the Korg would suit most people fine. I have played the Pa1XPRO and agree it is one great sounding Arranger. The Styles are superb and it has many great sounding instrument voices. But it too is on the heavy side for a 76 key keyboard in my opinion; weighing in at 45 lbs. As we know the Pa1X (the one with 61 keys and speakers) weighs in at 48.5 lbs. Ouch!!! My aching back! Not only would my back most likely ache but in most instances I would probably run out of polyphony too because of my style of playing. And that's two BIG minuses I'm unwilling to deal with unfortunately.

Or I should say 'fortunately' instead I suppose huh.

Best regards,
Mike

A-37 & Midjay is a very good combo that Im exploring as we speak?
Tyros/Midjay could work fine also but to me is overkill and unneeded luggage to carry around.
If you dont play out much then no prob.....
The Midjay sounds Awesome & is Super versatile & multifaceted!

Donny: Have you played & auditioned it? How about a full review?

Scott