The Tyros 2 was reviewed in the Feb issue of Keyboard Mag.. It even has a quote/advice to the reviewer,,from Jim Eshelman...

Ok Fran, since I haven't received my Feb subscription issue of Keyboard Mag yet (and it's still not available at my local newstand either), please tell us more about that review: the reviewer's name, summary of reviewer's impressions, as well as what quoted advice our fellow forum member Jim Eshleman (Esh), had given in that review as well. Thanks.

- Scott

Scott, Stephen Fortner did the review..He was very impressed with the sounds and thought it was far better than the original..On the negative, he complained of sluggish response when pushing buttons...He appears not to be an arranger type guy..

He makes mention that the T2 can not compete with the G70 in the organ department..He also says the T2 is the best sax he has found..

He also seemed excited about the T2 vocalizer[this might go against his expert opinions]..

Jim was giving credits for his advice on proper timing while making chord changes in style play...apparently Fortner has some trouble with this...Jim advised playing slightly ahead of the measure of chord changes..Fortner continued with stating the T2 handled this well..

I'm having a senior moment. I thought I knew Stephen Fortner, but I was thinking of Scott Fournier with Roland. Time for another cup of coffee.

Joe

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Songman55
Joe Ayala

[This message has been edited by Songman55 (edited 01-26-2006).]

There are a couple sound reasons I stopped my subscription to Keyboard Magazine, one of which is their lack of sound articles and reviews pertaining to arranger keyboards. Nearly all of the articles related to synths, synth software, and all the associated gadgets and gizmos that interfaced with synths in huge recording studios. Additionally, many of the so called experts doing the reviews had very little technical knowledge about arranger keyboards and their operating systems. From my standpoint, Keyboard Magazine was great for firing up the wood stove.

Cheers,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Ditto !!

Ian

I'm on that page too I started subscribing to keyboard mag a little over a year ago because of a review they did on a Casio Privia digital piano. Each issue I waited for more articles related to arranger keyboards and they were few and far between. Generally, I've been disappointed with the content of the magazine, my last issue was delivered yesterday, I won't be renewing.

[This message has been edited by Stephenm52 (edited 01-26-2006).]

I haven't read the article yet but I can tell you what happened. First, some years ago I was disturbed by Keyboard's review of the Yamaha 9000 Pro - they gave it to a girl who worked solely in a commercial recording studio for review, and predictably her lukewarm review came down to "what do you need this for in a recording studio?". I complained that it should have been reviewed by a solo performer and preferably in actual live use, but my advice was ignored. Then Stephen Fortner, who is a very thoughtful writer as well as a contributor to the Keyboard magazine online forums (and now technical editor for Keyboard), did a review of the Roland G70 last year where he tried it out by using it with his band which virtually skipped over the arranger features. I publicly gave Keyboard Magazine a kick in the pants for that and pretty much let it be known that Keyboard on the whole was treating arranger keyboards unfairly. Stephen also did the Keyboard review of the Yamaha PSR3000, which was done better, but he agreed that arrangers overall were not being given their due by the magazine and promised that he would review the Tyros 2 by actually using it as a solo performer. He asked me for advice on features and use and it seems he found some of my tips helpful. I like Stephen Fortner and believe that his recent promotion will help guide Keyboard Magazine to a broader perspective.

In light of the above comments re. Keyboard Magazine, here's a link to a UK publication called Keyboard Player which I think is aimed more in the direction of the interests of most folks on this board.

They have reviews of over 100 Yamaha models and dozens of other brands as well. Here's the link. Enjoy!
http://www.keyboardplayer.com/hardware.php?manufacturer=Yamaha

Oh, I just noticed they make a charge to read each review - I guess that's not so cool.