Well, I finally had a chance to demo the Tyros today, at GC no less. I had been calling GC over the past "several" months to see if they had gotten one in. The last time I called was about 3 weeks ago and the salesperson stated that none of the GC's would be carrying the Tyros; that it was a special item purchase only, available only through their Warehouse. I read Terry's post earlier today where he spotted one at a GC where he lives and I immediately called the one in La Mesa and they had "two". One was on display and the other was boxed and for sale. (So much for relying on GC's salespeople for reliable info So I rushed down "and I mean rushed" in my car (with an ever pensive eye in the rear view mirror I might add and finally arriving in one piece I scurried in and scouted for the Tyros. It was located in the 'Home' keyboard department and not in the Professional keyboard department like Terry's was.

Okay, on to the meat of the discussion.
Somebody was playing it when I spotted it so I fiddled with a keyboard right next to it and the next thing I know he's up and outta' there. I sat down and plugged my headphones (Sennheiser HD 280 PRO's) in and went to work. The neat thing about the Sennheisers is they have a "flat" frequency response and are recommended for Studio application. They fit over the entire ear and eliminate much of any external surrounding noise. Plus they reproduce sound in very true, accurate tones. The first thing I noticed on the Tyros is there is lots of "eye candy". The lighted buttons really stand out so if you would be playing in a darkened establishment it would be easier to find your way around the Keyboard in low lighted situations. The next thing I noticed was the LCD screen. It is very bright and colorful and the text and such is very legible. It took me a minute or two to get acquainted with the Menu screen but I soon found myself moving about it fairly easily. The first thing I did was check out the voices. What was really cool in doing that was right above the Tyros was a PSR 2000. If I found a voice on the Tyros that intrigued me "that was also on the PSR 2000" I simply unplugged the headphones from the Tyros and slipped it into the PSR 2000 to compare them. Here is what I found; the Tyros has some very good voices especially the Guitar, Strings, Brass, and Drums. And I now know what they used all that extra ROM for. I believe that every voice on the Tyros has been redone using larger AWM ROM samples for "each" voice, not just the 'additional voices' on the Tyros, giving the voices more depth and realism in the process. Here's what else I noticed. The PSR 2000's comparable voices, ie., (the same ones that are on the Tyros), are almost as good in most instances and in some cases even better. Cases in point; The Sweet Alto Sax on the PSR 2000 sounds richer and fuller than the one on the Tyros. The Sweet Soprano Sax on the PSR 2000 sounds more realistic than the Tyros's imo. But there has been a big improvement in sound quality on many of the new Sweet, Cool, and Live voices on the Tyros, eg., the Sweet Harmonica, Sweet Violin, and Cool Galaxy EP to name a few.

I wanted to mention the Panel voice buttons on the Tyros have a couple of additons and one subtraction. There now is a button dedicated to "Saxes" and "Flutes/Clarinets". But the XG panel button is gone. PS: I never did figure out how to access the XG voices but there is a way, right?

The styles sound 'very' good. And the new multi-pad sounds are great too. It sounds like they've incorporated the Mega Voices into the Multi-pads.
The Key feel is a big improvement over the PSR 2000 but what wouldn't be, right?
Also the Live Grand Piano is only a marginal improvement over the PSR 2000 imo. And the Rock Piano on the PSR 2000 flew the coop on the Tyros. Why?
Another thing: there ain't no way on God's green earth you can play the Mega Voices by themselves. You can possibly play two of them sort of kind of but not "fully" as you should. That's why the Mega Voices are at the "end" of the 'Guitar' voice list. Out of sight out of mind I always say. To bad. If you could only play those silly things.

Coolest new feature on the Tyros- separate intro/ending buttons imo. And there 'lighted' too
Best new sounds on the Tyros- "It's not the Guitar sounds imo, it's the DRUM sounds. Great sounding drums. My hat goes off to Yamaha for giving the Tyros those great drum kits.

But would I buy the Tyros? Sadly no. Being the proud owner of the PSR 2000 with all its great features and sounds, and great bang for the buck price I do not see the "need" to upgrade at this juncture. But if I didn't have a Keyboard and I had deep pockets and wanted the "best" Arranger Keyboard on the market I would probably get it. Even though it doesn't have speakers, oops! "did I really say that?" , and the slooowwwww USB transfer rate and various other glitches. Most of the glitches will hopefully be fixed by a software update. For all of you thinking about getting the Tyros my advice is: If you have the PSR 9000/PRO or PSR 2000 don't bother unless your rich and must have the latest thing, etc. Otherwise, if you don't own a keyboard at the moment or you have an older PSR, or (older other brand) keyboard, then go for it!! The Tyros really does shine in many, many ways. But please take into consideration all the problems people have been reporting and carefully weigh the positives/negatives before you make your final decision of course.

Best regards,
Mike

You did a good job with that review---the headphones were a good idea for a noisy place like G.C.

hi mike,i agree with you ,i,ll probably wait to see if they bring out tyros 2hopefully like the pro system,by then i should be able to play really well and so reward myself,mike

I would like to add to Idatrod's fine review, that if you are planning or if you use your previous 9000 keyboards for gigging, the Tyros is a delight for both it's light weight and it's excellent visual ergonomics in dark settings. I will also say the file management in the Tyros is superior to the 9000.

But overall, the sheer number of quality voices on the Tyros was one of the reasons I upgraded from the PSR9000. The 9000 did not have a STEREO GRAND, nor did it have GREAT BRASS and STRINGS. The extra footage and effects on the DRAWBARS is also a great plus during live performances. I also use the new SWEET, COOL, MEGA Guitars to augment the guitarists in my band. Some of which cannot play the beginning of Just My Imagination. I use the Pitch Wheel with the Live Blues Guitar and you cannot tell the difference between the two of us.

Also, for songs like the Eagles Lyin' Eyes, I use the 18 and 12 string guitars to supplement the other guitar player to create that great, full, southern rock acousting guitar sound.

The Dyno Steel Guitar, which also was not on the 9000, is also one of my favorites with that cool "SLIDE" effect on aftertouch.

I also find the VOCORDER much more usable on the Tyros than on the 9000. Maybe it's just me, but I find it distorts less and sounds more real.

Like I've said from the beginning, the second most killer feature of the Tyros is the GROOVE factor!! The Tyros styles really rock and have that Killer Groove due to the new timing resolution as well as the drums and the reworked styles. I don't use the arranger portion of the Tyros for performances, but when I compose and rehearse at home, that arranger really inspires me. You know when a song has a great groove, you really get into it and that adrenaline get's running. I think that's what the Tyros does the best.

Al