Hi gang:
I wonder how many 2K owners have delved into the XG sounds on the 2K? ...I mean, BEYOND the Piano related voices that you get when first pressing the XG key on the Voice select pad.
The manual does not tell you how to get to the rest of the XG voices (you know, reed, brass, guitars, etc..) They are AMAZING! I wonder if I am all along on this? (in which case I am terribly embarrazed)
I had the 2K for almost 5 months now, and I just came to discover this voices. With all the recording I've been doing lately, this is like discovering "treasure island".
Just in case you are one of the folks who didn't know about this, you get to this voices by selecting the "UP" option in the Voice select screen (after pressing the XG key). I hope I am all alone on this.
regards,
Mario

I use quite a few of them. I discovered some good ones when the OTS on some user styles I was trying out called up XG voices instead of panel voices.
DonM

I currently use the XG voices on my PSR630 and they work pretty well in a "midi file playback" situation. I develop midi files on my PC - I have a YMF744 chipset soundcard - and find this gives reasonable approximations to those on the 630, although there are some differences.

The 2000 is certainly a big step up in terms of XG quality based on my auditions of my own midifiles played back on the 2000.

I've always considered the XG implementation on the "lower" keyboards (6xx, PSR1000) to be equivalent to the MU50 expander, and the implementation on the "higher" keyboards (7xx, PSR2000, 8k, 9k) to be the equivalent of the MU80 (or better) expander.

One comment I've seen around is that the XG voices are not so "lively" as the panel voices. This is certainly the case when comparing with lead and sweet/cool/live stuff, but used in ensemble settings (i.e. midifiles) I find they blend very well.

Talking of midifile playback, you can adjust voice characteristics quite a bit using sys ex and controller settings embedded in the midi file. e.g. I find slight harmonic content changes in string pads gives them less of a drone effect in some circumstances.

Have fun exploring!

Layering XP voices with other PSR2000 voices provides even MORE great voice/sound options. In spite of the OS update fiasco, I still think the PSR2000 is a terrific sounding, economically priced lightweight KB option, even for the professional player. - Scott

Mario
I've had my PSR2000 for 3 months plus and I seem to find something new I haven't run across before every other week. I did however discover the XG voices about one month into ownership.
I agree with Scott, this is one great keyboard. In fact I'm considering selling the KN5000 as I rarely use it anymore.
Continued luck in searching and finding the many hidden features of the PSR2000.
RicRob

Well guys, I guess I was all alone on this. I am glad all of you came accross these voices earlier than I did. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the main set of voices on the K2, I just felt that I didn't have as many choices. Here again,(without making excuses) I blame the K2s manual, I search and searched for a way to get to this sounds and I couln't find them, until by accident I hit the "UP" option on the display and, whalla! there they were.
What I find however as a pattern with Yamaha KBs is that you can not pay them a "complement" without having to "bitch" about something else they've screwed up on.
Oh well, as it's been said, not such a thing as a perfect KB. It's just the degree of imperfection we are willing to put up with.
Regards,
Mario