Hello All,
Today I went to my dealers and to my surprise he was just setting up his Tyros display and K/b. He greeted me with the words "Hello.....you are just going to love this."
I have never seen him as animated over anything (with the possible exception of when I get my wallet out of my pocket! )He kept saying things like "I'll leave you to have a fiddle with it" and "I must get on but you have a play and tell me what you think."
These were the words coming out of his mouth but his hands remained firmly attached to the keys. "Oh...just let me show you this..." and " You have got to hear this" were all I heard for the next half hour.

Actually I heard the Tyros too and I could see just why he had trouble letting me at it! This keyboard is AMAZING! Ok so I finally got my hands on it so here is my semi review.....I have never owned a yamaha before and (until now) have been a technics man...(well more of a boy really )... so I have no real 'benchmark' to levvy against, but I know what I like. SO for what it is worth here goes....

The first thing is the look of the board. Very very sleek. Very robust looking and probably the best looking board I have ever seen. The buttons for intro's fills break and so on are transparent and light up red or greeny yellow from behind. On all the pictures I have seen I thought this looked cheap BUT in reality it looks really cool and would be a godsend for those playing live in dimly lit surroundings. The buttons themselves are very sturdy and when you use them they 'feel right' if you know what I mean. Not at all spongy. The other buttons for styles /sounds etc are very well set out, well spaced and being the same colour and material as the keyboard body makes them look professional and slick. Long and slim they give the board the appearance of being a 'workspace' (if that makes sense) and yet they are very unobtrusive. The colour screen of the tyros is superb and crystal clear. Selection of styles/ sounds is a breeze and VERY like the technics method. Press the style button on the left of the board and on screen a page of styles appears in glorious colour.

The keys were a delight to play imho. Very responsive, they positively encourage you to trill and flourish OK the SOUND!!!

I was blown away by how this board sounds. The styles were sooooo realistic. No matter how 'busy' the style every instrument seems to shine. From fret noises to crystal clear drums you can here it all. My words cannot do justice to how it sounds really you have got to hear it. The demo's on the web.....FORGET EM! The sounds coming from the Tyros are just so much better.

Playing a rock style I took my hands from the keys and seamlessly the Tyros style stopped playing and a drum solo began. (I don't know if the other yammies do this but I loved it!) put my hands back on and off we went again. Ok you might think but what got me was how realistic and natural it sounded doing it! I really wish I could describe to you all just how realistic it all sounds but you just have to hear it!

The electric guitars are among the best I have ever heard and the organ pre-sets were brilliant....the kind that make you want to play and play and play.

I am sure there is loads of stuff I have forgotten to tell you so just ask and if I know I'll tell you. Believe me you WILL love this board.

Scott......don't worry about it being to big ....if anything it is smaller than I expected....very well set out.....you will want it!!

Uncle Dave.....I know I know no speakers BUT you should hear the show styles and such....phantom on this board would be amazing!!! I played 'music of the night' with one of the show ballad styles (can't remember it's name) and it started out so innocuous...almost like background music but by the finish....WOW!! You would be forgiven thinking that Lord Lloyd Webber himslef was conducting the orchestra.

OK I have waffled long enough....very choppy review I know (can you tell I like it? )
Best to you all
Tony

Nice review Tony. Wish there was one nearby I could get my hands on.
Eddie

Thanks for the review Tony. May I ask where it was that you saw it?

Each day I am ever more excited about this board's arrival. I didn't know about the 'drum solo' feature you talked about!

Hello Eddie an JNic,
I am in the UK and my dealer is in Morecambe (famous only for Morecambe Bay Shrimps and a nuclear power station!)...For anyone in the UK (and near to me) The dealer is called Promenade Music. (presumably because the shop is on the promenade? ) Web addy is.... http://www.promenademusic.co.uk/index.html
Hey maybe I will get a discount for the ad?
Tony

Tony,
Great review and your excitement comes through. I am drolling at the prospect of when mine comes in. these reviews you guys are putting in that are laying hands on it are so much more meaningful from the average player.
thanks,
Terry

Thanks for your review.
All the reviews make me very curious and I will visit a demonstration next saturday.

I do love my SD1.... but .....

Roel

Thanks for the great review and witful commentary. As a long time Technics fan myself (like you), your review reminds me of my own reaction when first discovered Yamaha arrangers. Do I get a hint that you may be moving to the Yamaha Tyros now too?

Hi there Scott,
You may not believe me but I just sold my trusty kn6000. I had decided to buy a 9000pro, I have always liked this board and after playing it properly at my dealers fell in love with it. So my mind was all made up. When I played the Tyros it has made things a bit more complicated I really don't know what to do now. If I want the Tyros I will have to wait....he does not get them in to actually sell for a while yet and even then he has pre-orders to fill first. Already having sold the 6000, this means I will have no board for however long it takes. I play every day and yesterday and today have been bad enough without a board!!! I know I have the piano but it just is not the same!
Soooo it looks like I will opt for the pro but am trying to hang on maybe a week at least to make sure I am doing the right thing. One thing is for sure though.....I am totally sold on Yamaha keyboards at the moment. I have played the KN7000 and whilst I like it (and it is a great improvement on the 6000/6500 it was not for me. I know I will get flamed for this so I will state now that this is ONLY my opinion but the 7000 is simply not in the same league as the Tyros. I thought the tyros fresh and new whilst I thought the 7000 was more like reading a classic novel,...brilliant, thouroughly enjoyable but you know that you were there before. (Just my thoughts mind!)
best to all
Tony

Hello Tony, Nice to read your review I can imagine your excitement having heard the Tyros, as when I got the Pro, it made (to a large extent) the KN6500 look and sound rather Bland by comparison, and for me, that was the end of the line for Technics. I have been with them a long time, and had most of there top boards. It was time for a change. And whilst I have a Roland Piano now, a "keyboard companion" to it would probably be a Yamaha. They are SOOOOOOOO Warm!! By the way, I received the Demo video from Technics today (kn7000/PR804), and seen and heard the KN7000 in quite some detail/ some nice toons, especially the Kylie one. However, it reminded me a wee bit of that novel you read a week or so ago - it has to be said

Glad to see you sold the KN6000 Tony.

Oh Tony, By the way., I’d say……………:::

WAIT for the TYROS! - You “might” regret it later. In the meantime, you can practice some scales and arps on the old Joanna


Tony

Hello Jupitar,
Wait you say ....WAIT?...I know that is the sensible thing to do but come this time next week, when I have been without a board for a week I bet you I am trawling the music shops

I too have had most of the high end technics, 2000, 5000, 6000 and then decided not to trade up to the 6500 when it came out. Thought I would just get the add on card and never got around to it! I always thought the Pro looked amazing since it came out but have only recently had the chance to play it properly. I was amazed at what I had been missing!

I have a question for you (as a former Pro owner).... I mentioned the feature on the Tyos where whilst playing a style you could remove your left hand from the keyboard and the style would stop playing on the appropriate beat and a drum solo would begin. (this was not just the drum track playing on without the instruments playing it was an actual sequenced drum solo!) Put your hand back on and the style kicks in again. Does the Pro have this feature?

BTW you are right to call my piano an 'old joanna'! It is an old Technics PX7 (remember them!) and sounds awful on it's own. Always had it hooked up to the 6000 before so I could use the piano voice. I am looking on ebay for a cheapish piano module to keep me going! I even contemplated buying the korg sp500 stage piano to put me on but was put off by the fact that there is no floppy! SEE I am at it again....can I spend money? I need no encouragement! Buy a module off ebay and wait for the tyros THAT's THE PLAN
Best to you
Tony.....t'other one

I have to ask something... Is this the same company who's keyboards back in the days of the PSR8000 was IMO a "same old story" type kb??? Let me explain.... Ive had been a fan of yamaha since my teen days when first owning the delightful PSS-780 (you know the one with the joystick and multi coloured fill in pads! It all started then for me, and when i was able to afford my first "real" keyboard, i stuck with Yamaha and got the PSR-500. At the time, i loved it and went on to get upgrade to the PSR510, PSR620, PSR7000 & lastly the PSR8000. So thats around approx 8 years of Yamaha experience. By the time i got to the PSR8000, it got to the point where id heard it all before, because in each of the mentioned kbs, it resembled one another. Maybe i didnt do the PSR8000 justice (like maybe someone who had used a Yamaha kb for the first time would of), but i was pretty dissapointed with not how it sounded, but how similar it all was... I guess that this is where i can relate to those who are experiencing the same thing with the mentioned Technics past and present kbs.

So after the PSR8000, i didnt bother with the 9000 series and jumped from the PSR8000 to the Korg i30 to the GEM WK series to finally the X1 (not counting the recent purchase of my 2nd board which is the PA-60) i am just talking about my main kb. The way the Tryos has been described here WAS the same feeling i got when trying the X1, simply because it was something very new and totally different from the Yamahas.. Never looked back really..

Now, when i hear of something like the Tryos coming onto the scene with many glowing opinions, i am thinking "can this possibly be this good from the same people that made the PSR8000 which i was dissapointed with?" Granted, that the PSR8000 is an old board, but it wasnt that long ago since it was Yamaha's best board. And i am sure that people still use it to this day...

So what i am saying really is can Yamaha really produce a kb thats drastically different from previous past models OR can people see any resemblence of the PSR8000/9000 in the Tryos? Because if your saying its completely different, i may have to take this seriously and perhaps "dare i say" return back to my first love one day!!!!

Obviously, the best thing to do is to hear it for myself, but i dont have dealers near me locally so it would mean travelling around to find somewhere... so thats why i trust this message board 100%

Nice comments anyway about the Tryos, definately a kb i will need to look at.. if it can convert an old Yamaha veteran like me, then i think it will definately be something special!!!

[This message has been edited by DannyUK (edited 10-05-2002).]

TonyW: It will be interesting to find out if your patience lasts long enough for you to wait till a purchaseable Tyros arrives . Perhaps you could find some way to convince your salesman to sell you the one you auditioned.

TonyW: Very Interesting to hear that on the Tyros that when you lift your LH (auto accomp portion) off the keyboard, all auto accomp style parts cut out, and a drum solo comes in instead. Is this actually a Drum 'SOLO', or just the drums continueing as before, but without the OTHER accomp parts? On the PSR2000, when you press the ACMP button while playing, it stops all auto accomp parts except for the drums, which continue playing the drum pattern of the selected style variation.

Jupiter: So do I hear a hint that the Tyros may be in your future too?

Danny: I think you're right about Yamaha styles having a similar sound. The Tyros styles are actually not really revolutionary. In fact many of them are the same ones already included in the PSR2000, PSR9000/9000pro, but re-worked with the Tyros' new improved mega voices. What I like about the Yamaha styles are that they are usable for a WIDE variety of songs and that they don't get in the way of my own playing. Styles should maintain a supportive backup role and NOT dominate the mix. Some other brand arranger styles (imho) tend to be over produced, busy and distract from the LIVE playing. I expect that the audience comes to hear US play, not to hear the auto accompaniment styles.

Scott

Hey DannyUK

I think we share a brain, as both you and I went through the same keyboard path, although I started a lot earlier in 1988 with the DSR-2000. That was one of the first "FM Synthesis" (ooooh) stereo arrangers out there, and one of the first in which you could create your own styles, a whopping 16 of them to complement the 32 built in. I still have it, and laugh when I play with it, it sounds like a toy. Although my parents would scoff at that, in 1988 they paid 1850 for it!

Hello Tony

wait, wait, wait

I for myself have bought a PSR 290 and play this one for this weeks , until the Tyros will arrive.

And later may be i will sell it or not

Greatings Volker

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Scott, absoultely agree with ya about Yamaha styles being very usable. When i had the PSR8000, i still kept it for over a year and gave it a good running over, so even though it felt like i was using the same styles all over again, i still liked the idea to some degree because you can comfortably replace your keyboard without too much distraction. This is fine, but when a new kb has about 70% of old styles, then it can get annoying. Even with the recent purchase of my PA-60, i would think about 40 to 50% of styles are from the i30, which again isnt too bad AS long as there are some nice new styles you can alternate too. I found that with Yamaha they didnt in the past include too many new styles, but rather just upgraded existing styles using the new technology in the new kb. For me at least, possibly the worst jump (in terms of styles) was from the PSR620 to the PSR7000, even though the sounds were much better on the 7000, the styles were 90% the same bar a couple here and there. However in terms of playing along with a Yamaha keyboard, theres no doubt that they do the job very well. And i know what you mean about busy styles, as both my X1 and PA-60 are guilty of that, more so the X1 actually, theres a few styles that sound like a fairground UNTIL i start to turn off certain instruments in the tracks so i can hear whats going on!

Jnic, i still have the PSR500 though i regretted selling the PSS-780 because that was my first kb, but because it had small keys, i wouldnt be able to use it today as my hands have grown bigger since!! lol..

Nope, can't remember seeing that feature Tony, maybe a new mark in the tyros? . Anyway Tony W, got your "PSR 290" yet to practice on, before you get the tyros in a few weeks

Tony

Wow seems we are all on the same wavelength here!

I joined yamaha as far back as the cream coloured 49 note PS30, mono grill speaker, colour fluted rocker switches, sliders and a chiff chiff thump drum section! Oh and musn't forget those arpeggios! After then moving up to an Electone B405 double manual, I ventured to the Casio VL1 when it came out, a couple of stylophones and soon the charming PSS680, what was the start I reckon of arrangers from the yammy stable! I had a Kawai K1 for a little while (because I liked the string piano voice!), then the 680 became a 780, a Roland soundcanvas joined the scene and a yamaha vss100 sampler! Soon the K1 went out and a psr520 came in, a great machine and for the first time a nice piano sound! I added a Yamaha TG500 for more lush pads, then soon the psr520 was replaced for a PSR730... which then became a PSR740, and then a PSR9000.... and next..? Need I say!

Simon


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Simon G.K. Williams
simon@svpworld.com
Creative Music & Multimedia
http://www.svpworld.com
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