yamaha have produced a beta leaflet for the tyros. There are no details, only a large picture confirming what I saw at Frankfurt. The only text of any detail is:

ultra realistic 'mega' voicing
hi res colour screen with new user interface and operating system (looks pretty cvp209 like to me)
optional independent hi fi speaker with subwoofer (so maybe a price with and without speakers)
ergonomic control surface with backlit buttons
materialising sept 2002

thats all there is so far.

Thanks for the info!
I sure hope it's Light-Weight25lbs (or Medium Weight -35lbs) and NOT heavy-weight 60lbs
rgtaa

its big, but can't be that bad without the speakers. maybe 9000pro weight or even slightly less, and less length too?

This was posted by Chris Bell today in our PSR Songs/Styles Groups:


"Hi Everyone

I've received a letter in my mail this morning from Glyn Madden (Yamaha
Club, UK) enclosing a brief brochure on the new Tyros. It gives very little
technical information, but the pictures certainly look good !

It reads as follows :

"For those of you who may not have seen the sensational announcement ... I
am extremely pleased to provide the following information about the exciting
new product from Yamaha - TYROS. There has been so much speculation about
the new keyboard in recent months that I'm sure you'll find the enclosed
mini-leaflet "taster" interesting ... From recent conversations I've had
with various members of Yamaha's staff this preview release seems to be born
out of their confidence, excitement and, indeed, pride in the new
instrument.

"TYROS is the new flagship keyboard. It is the successor to the PSR9000 and
9000Pro and is a highly unusual step for Yamaha, this instrument has a name,
not a number. The "official" reason for giving the instrument a name is
that TYROS has so many new sounds, styles and features that Yamaha feel it
should be recognised as being totally different from previous generations of
products.
Yamaha tell us that Tyros is the biggest single leap ever in terms of sound
quality - due to a new voicing technology called "mega-voices" which is
employed for the first time in this model. This technology allows far
greater sampling detail to be incorporated within some voice sections,
making them far more realistic. Having heard a recorded preview at a recent
Yamaha launch, I assure you this is really noticeable in the "style" section
where guitars really do sound like guitars - incredible!
As you can see from the enclosed leaflet, Tyros looks very impressive
indeed. It has a full colour screen (similar to the Clavinova CVP209),
separate speakers, with sub-woofer, and the new operating system, based on
the CVP Clavinova (which I love) and has been refined to make it even easier
to find your way around.
Tyros will be launched sometime during September but at the moment price is
unconfirmed."

The brochure adds :

"From the day electronics were first harnessed to generate sound, reality
has been the ultimate aim of keyboard designers.
Until now ... Yamaha Tyros ... beyond reality.
The product of an intensive development programme lasting three years, Tyros
takes reality in its stride and goes one step further.
The results will overturn all preconceptions of what can be achieved in a
keyboard instrument.
The waiting is nearly over ...
Tyros
ultra realistic "mega" voicing
hi-resolution colour screen with new user interface and operating system
optional independent hi-fi speaker system with bass woofer
ergonomic control surface using new materials and backlit transparent
buttons
materialising Sept 2002"

Hope you find this of interest

Regards
Chris"

THIS SURE SOUNDS LIKE IT IS GOING TO BE SOMETHING SPECTACULAR !!!!!!!!! BOB

I hope it's as good as all that. If you go back and read the "blurbs" of their previous keyboards that were done before they were released, you will find similar boasts.
Also, as we have learned from the PSR2000, just because Yamaha advertises certain features doesn't necessarily mean they will really be included.
DonM

will it have a vocalizer and hard drive?

Donny,
I'm sure they are still designing it. It will surely have all the good features, but the reason they are not telling us is almost certainly because they do not have the final version done yet.
Still, they have half the world drooling over it. We won't see it here for many months. If we see it here by Jan.1, I will make a public apology.
DonM
P.S. As usual, I welcome anybody from Yamaha to comment. They won't, because they figure any discussion is free publicity, even if it's semi-derogatory, as mine is.


[This message has been edited by DonM (edited 07-04-2002).]

I know for a fact that they are still programming, Don.

If my memory and info are correct, the Tyros will sport 96MB of ROM, double the 9000Pro and 3x the PSR-9000. This in itself will allow better sounds. Is this all there is to mega-voicing or is there something else. 96MB leaves lots of room for improvement (planned obsolescence), as anyone familiar with Gigasampler, etc. will understand.

I wonder about the weight. Without speakers it should be less than the high-end PSRs have been, but the prototype "looks" heavy in the photos.

The Motif was the last synth introduced by Yamaha. So the use of cognizable names appears to be a trend.

I have the Motif. It has 84 mb of wav rom and includes some outstanding sounds. I never liked Yamaha sounds before in the way I like them on the "Mo". Having said that, there are still quite a few sounds that aren't realistic. So what's so "different" about this supposed new technology ?call me skeptical, but I too have seen many wonderful boasts from Yamaha in the past ( and all of the other companies also to be fair ).

You can add more rom..that's great on the sound / sample end of it, but how that does that improve emulating the dynamics of certain expressive instruments with keyboard based controllers ? Has someone at Yamaha figured out or invented new ways to set synth parameters up to add expression ?

Yep Cliff, I understand... even in working more with soundfonts than samples ( I do have and use giga too though ), I've come across soundfonts and sample libraries for ONE piano voice that would barely fit into the Motif if I had the optional 64 mb SIMMs in it. I never bothered because I find it so much easier to load samples into software, but the point is.. 96 mb seems like alot ( and is compared to the average wav rom tables of the current synths, but it doesn't necessarily translate into more expressive sounding instruments IMHO, nor will it necessarily compete on a level playing field with some of the software based sampler.

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 07-04-2002).]

Hi Bluezplayer

You are right that adding more ROM does not translate into more expressive instruments, but it does add to the realism of percussive and plucked instruments. ROM is used in sample-playback synthesis, which is weak when it comes to real-time control to emulate wind instruments, for example. (I should add that Scott Yee, who is an order of magnitude better musician than I am, is pleased with the way his PSR-2000 has dynamics built into the samples themselves.)

Analog synthesis and analog-modeling synthesis are very expressive technologies. Physical modeling is good for emulating expressive acoustic instruments. These can be added to the Motif and to the 9000Pro as plug in cards.

However, even if you have the synthesis capabilities, you need a way to control them. On almost all arrangers, the emphasis is on buttons rather than on continuous controllers. For the most part, arrangers are limited to a pitch bend wheel, a mod wheel, aftertouch, and footpedals. Aftertouch is absent or poorly implemented on most (but not all) arrangers. Someone pointed out under another topic that no arranger has a ribbon controller. Compare the continuous controllers available on arrangers with those available for analog synths or the new Neuron.

I can't blame the manufacturers too much. I remember someone who bought a PSR8000 asking how to turn off the aftertouch. But as arranger keyboards become more mainstream (in America, they already are in Europe) there will be more demand for realism and expressiveness. Hopefully, the response from manufacturers will not be long in coming.

That's exactly what I think too Cliff.. None of the arranger manufacturers have mentioned ribbon control as a possibility. I do agree that the quality of the sample is key to a more realistic emulation and it makes sense that the better and fuller the sample, ( hence requiring more memory ) the more realistic the reproduced sound. Tyros, when released, may or may not have the best sounding samples on the arranger market. My question is will it also include better ways to express those sounds ( continuous controllers as you stated ) ? If not, yes, I'll certainly give it a look, but I'm just not expecting it to "blow me away ".

BTW Cliff, How are things in karmaland now that the new OS is out ?

Hi Bluezplayer

I guess you might be referring to the hemorraging of the KorgKarma Yahoo Group when OS 2.0 failed to show when projected. The group had been growing about 100 members a month, then dropped from 1526-1470 as the due data past. Since OS 2.0 arrived, membership growth has resumed, recently passing 1530.

I haven't had a chance to try out the new features personally. I have promised to spend more time with my keyboards so I will have more to contribute next time I get together with forum members. But somehow my life is presently consumed with Chinese Classical Dance (my kids do the dancing, I do the videoing and chauferring). Well, I am sure I am not the only one on this forum with a life full of left turns.