Well... I finally made my mind up and came home with....A new top end arranger. I spent approximately 3 hours at Alto Music this afternoon, and as had been promised, the KB manager set out a Tyros 2 for me to play on.

So there I was... jumping back and forth from The T2 to the G70 and in between playing around with the PA1x as well. In reality after my first five minutes or so on the T2, I pretty much knew what I was going home with. Played through similar amp setups, after going a little deeper into each board, near the end of it all I had actually jumped the PA1X up to second place.

So what did I come home with ?
The T2. This was no easy chpoice by the way. all three of the top enders had some great attributes, and each had individual strengths that I would love to have been able to take and combine into one board, but alas we all know it doesn't work that way. I really liked the G70 styles, the key feel and the extra octave of keys, but in the end the T2 won me over for a few reasons that mattered more to me.

I can't think of a better way to explain it except that it feels a bit like an old friend. It shares some common attributes with all of my previous Yamaha arrangers, even though none of my previous Yamaha arrangers were the top end board in their heyday.

What it doesn't share is the key feel of my old PSR's. It feels and plays exactly like my Motif ES, and it seems to have identical pitch / mod wheels as the ES as well, so for me.. it's a real winner in that area. There is just so much aftermarket stuff too for the Yamaha's, heck Jorgen Sorenson's and Michael Bedesem's free apps alone give an edge to Yamaha for me. I'm really looking forward to modifying and creating my own styles and multipad loops and sounds again. I missed being able to do the latter at all in the PA80, and I certainly won't miss the extra steps and work needed to modify and create styles in the PA80.

As far as the sounds.. my goodness they've "matured". It felt almost as if I was playing a Motif ES with styles, ( kinda like my software setup, but much more convenient ) and for me that's a very good thing. The SA guitars are as good as anything I've ever heard coming from any hardware, and some may even give my soft sounds a good run for the money as well.

So does this mean I'm abandoning software altogether ? No way.. I still look to my "softies" for the highest quality lead sounds when recording or even playing with a band, especially for guitar, drum, and synth sounds, but I also no longer think I'll feel the need so much to use my laptop as a sound module when I play live. It had gotten to the point where I really became tired of many of the PA80's lead voices.

I promised one of my current boards to my grandaughters when I got my new arranger, so the game plan at this point is to give them the PA80, keep the Motif ES / software arranger setup as my first backup, and keep the MZ2k as my "third stringer" and "fun to knock around with" board. That may change however... They both seem to like the MZ better than the PA80, but I'll let them play both some more, and then give them which ever they choose. Also, somewhere down the road, I am considering selling the ES and getting a dedicated controller, something with 88 keys and real piano action. I really never wanted it much in the past, but lately I've become partial to "true piano feel" . I really enjoyed playing around with the Yamahas ( Clavinovas ?? ) at the music store after I had made my decision about the T2.

AJ

AJ,

I can only imagine what a tough choice that must have been for you. All the various features of each of the boards that you were trying certainly wouldn't have made it easy. I know that the Tyros 2 SA Voices really are impressive. Good luck with the new board, and congrats on choosing the Tyros 2

Regards,

Dennis L. Almond
aka...TwoNuts


[This message has been edited by TwoNuts (edited 08-11-2006).]

Congrats in your new Keyboard....I know you will enjoy it VERY much..!

Congratulations!
I would have bought them all... just kidding!

Amen to that. If it wasn't for the fact that, because of my schedule, and cartage limitations, I really only want to have to bring ONE keyboard to ANY gig, I'd have a T2 in a heartbeat but for that........

I can only hope and pray that Yamaha incorporate the SA voicing in a Motif rack module. I don't care what it costs, I'd buy one!

Have fun with your T2. Maybe, if you liked the G1000/70 key-bed feel, look around for a good condition used Roland A70 controller....... same keybed, roughly.

Well Done. I think its the best of the big 3 too.

Sounds like you are going to have lots of fun, and many sleepless nights.

Congratulations,

Gary

------------------
Travlin' Easy

AJ

Congratulations on your new T2. Your going to love it. I find the T2 actually grows on you more over time once your really start taking advantage of it's features. Sure wish I could have watched you at Alto go through your analysis process. That would have been fun!

Regards,
Al

AJ.....congrats on your new KB...you made a wise choice....looking forward to hearing some great songs form you once you get situated with the T2.......keep us posted on your progress!!

Hi AJ,

Congatulations on your new baby.

You'll have a great time with this beauty.

Ian

AJ,

I was in the area yesterday and stopped by Alto, too. Sorry I missed you...it would have been great to sit in in your decision-making process!

Congrats on the new board. It's a winner.

Tim

All the best with your new toy, you will not be able to keep your hands off it

Thanks all.

Imagine if I came home with all three Dreamer.. LOL

I tell ya ..it really WAS a tough decision. Familiarity played a big part. I enjoyed the features of my PSR2000s, but I just didn't enjoy playing them. The T2 is like a 2k on steroids, and then some, but also it feels right when I play it. I really struggled with it a little, but in the end, surprisingly ( or maybe not so.. ) the battle was between the PA1x and the T2, not so much the G70. Familiarity.. both the PA1x and Tyros2 have many features in common with their predecessors. The thing that swayed me away from the PA1x is that although some of the lead voices really are improved over the PA80, I still like the ones that have become my staple sounds better in the T2.

I could see so much potential in the G70, and I've always been a guy who likes to tweak, hence my fondness for the Korg stuff, but the one place I don't want to tweak much is when I'm playing live solo.

While I do miss the more "in your face" quality of a few of my favorite PA80 styles, I don't miss the poor fill ins that went along with some of them. I also remember how I was able to liven up the PSR2000 styles by turning off some of the internal style parts and adding some corresponding multipad parts. I enjoyed making custom multipad phrases for my 2K's.

Well... we settled it this morning. The grandkids want the MZ2000. It's no big deal. They live with me, so it only needs to travel a flight of stairs and a few feet after that. I don't know what the PA80 would command if I wanted to sell it, but I'm guessing at this point it isn't going to be enough that I want to sell it, so I'll probably keep it. Besides, the synth sounds in it are still quite relevant and fat sounding, even compared to the Motif ES.

I'm still leaning toward selling the ES. It's not so much a money issue as it is a space issue. For now it's ok, but once I get a weighted 88 key controller, space is gonna tighten up in here a lot.

Tim.. Sorry I missed you yesterday. It would have been really cool to have you and Al there at Alto with me.

Gary.. I already had my first sleepless night... LOL.. probably more to come.

Dennis.. The SA voices were huge for me. I heard them and I played some of the other voices and I was thinking.. Finally.. I can simply bring the laptop as a storage only device. I don't need to call up lead voices from it. After playing with the T2 at home here though, it's pretty evident that I'll want to play the few midifiles I occasionally use through the laptop's sound modules as well. No big deal.. because I don't use very many midifiles in the first place.

Thanks too Al, Mdorantes, DNJ, Ian, Diki, Coaster Tim, and Rolandfan ( hope I didn't miss anyone ).

BTW Diki, I had not checked my email for quite some time, but I did finally get yours. I'll check the function you were asking about on the PA80 after I move the MZ and can set it back up in here, but I'm quite certain it works as we discussed.

Regards all

AJ


[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 08-12-2006).]

Hi AJ



Thanks a lot.
Your appreciation is most welcome!

Kind Regards
Jørgen

------------------
The Unofficial YAMAHA Keyboard Resource Site

Hi Al, welcome to the world of Tyros2.



Admittedly, out of the box Tyros2 (and Yamaha arrangers in general) lacks the 'in your face' sound you may be more accustomed to, but once you tweak the Tyros2's overall EQ/Compressor settings, raise the style's drum track and style part volume levels a bit and increase efx levels (reverb, chorus, dsp), I think you'll discover that Tyros2 delivers the kind of 'in your face' sound you're seeking.

For added punch, I set my Tyros2 Compressor Setting Type to: Full Bit, with Threshold Offset to: +10, and Gain offset Low: -2, Mid: -2, and High: -5.

Scott

Ive found the pa1x ootb sounds very good. Tyros sounds good but after tweaking is unbeatable. G70 sounded disappointingly poor ootb. I also got the feeling that the korg guys did alot of work on the pa1x ootb sounds...when i got to try the t2 in january i adjusted the eq and words cant describe how beautiful it sounded...theres something magical about it...i feel that my playing improves when i play on a tyros. The sounds the multipads the styles all together took me to cloud9. I am sure all u t2 owners can relate to what im saying.

I certainly can relate rolandfan, I keep bumping into Scott Yee up in the clouds.

Jorgen,

You're quite welcome, but it is I who should be thanking you. Your site is an absolute blessing for those of us who play Yamaha arrangers.

Scott-

I agree about the EQ settings, something that the PA80 sorely lacks ( a master EQ control ). I took the MZ2000 off of my double tiered stand and now have the T2 and PA80 above it. The really cool thing about that is that I can see everything perfectly on the T2 with the display tilted up. I then played styles from each. The PA's are a bit more "in my face" oversall, but they are not nearly as crisp and clean sounding, and the fills, the fills, and ... the fills .. same old story.

I love being able to turn off some of the style parts and then adding a multipad to replace. Of course it's simple enough to modify or mix and match style parts in the style sequencer, but using the multipads in conjunction with the styles is simply instant gratification at it's finest, with a minimum of effort expended.

I surely feel inspired rolandfan.. This T2 pretty much speaks to me, saying.. "play me play me".

AJ

Hi AJ,
congratulations on your new T2.
Sounds like a great choice.

best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bluezplayer:
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