Fran & Esh: Thanks for filling us in with your capsulated summaries. I look forward to reading the full review as soon as my subscription copy arrives.

On the subject of Keyboard Magazine itself, though it doesn't cover arranger keyboards much, it's come a long way from a mere 5 years ago, when not only were there absolutely no arranger kb reviews, but arranger kbs were not even mentioned in the new products section. Now, new model arrangers are typically included in the new product annoucements section.

I for one, continue to enjoy reading Keyboard Magazine. Not only does it include reviews of the latest keyboard related equipment/software, but I especially enjoy the articles about legendary, as well current and upcoming keyboard artist-composers, as well as keyboard playing tips from them. One of my fav KB mag features (monthly) is: "PLAY" in which the magazine's featured artist shares their keyboard playing secrets, with different specific tips tailored for the beginner, intermediate, and advanced player, of which frequently includes music transcriptions of their music as performed on their CD. I especially enjoyed Bill Evan's classic rendition of "My Romance" in the Dec 2005 issue. I enjoy reading about the varied artists & styles of keyboard inspired music even if it's not specifically arranger keyboard oriented (yet). Once interest among the aspiring American synth/keyboard musician buying public becomes more widespread in this Country, keyboard magazine articles specifically targeted to arranger players should follow, but this can't happen until respectability for arrangers among legitimate musicians takes hold here, and the key (I believe) is gaining arranger keyboard endorsements from widely respected pro keyboard/composer musicians in the field. - Scott

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

renig,
I once bought a review from them, it is very easy
Saves you from subscripting, if you need only one review

Keyboard Player magazine is not a cost effective subscription for those of us who live in the states. A 1 year subscription costs 69.4372 USD. That's outrageous for a magazine subscription. Keyboard magazine is $15 per year for US residents and $30 for Canada and Mexico.

I'm with Scott on this, I subscribe to Keyboard maagazine and find their coverage quite good and I was very surprised to see the Tyro2 in this months issue. They have a section on new equipment, samples, software, Tips & Tricks, even the advertisements are informative. Well worth the subscription price.

Gary: I bet Dura-flame logs cost about as much as each issue of Keyboard Magazine, so you might as well read the darn thing!!!

Rgds,
Al

I also agree with Scott..

Dittos to Fran and Scott.

A while back, it seemed like the WHOLE issue of Keyboard Magazine was geared towards higher-tech groups at a higher level of involvement than that of the common keyboard player and those interests.

Over the past year or so, I have seen coverage in Keyboard Magazine that has brought me back to a point to where i at least take a peek into each monthly issue on the magazine rack (and buying most issues again)

They have covered the Casio, Roland, Yamaha arranger boards and electric pianos...
EVEN THE ROLAND ACCORDION (with good detail, i thought)

I use to be able to pick up an issue on most grocery and convenient store racks. Now, those racks are saturated with guitar and bass magazines.

Stephen Fortner is a great guy and he's doing an excellent job as the new Moderator of Music Players 'Keyboard Corner' Forum.

Also, his reviews are timely and well laid out and he gives you an extensive look and insight into the products he reviews. His views are basically unbiased and untainted from the Company's products he reviews which, of course, is how it should be. So many professional product reviewers tend to be biased - READ: "bought" but not so with Stephen. The same can be said of Jim Aiken who reviewed the original Tyros.

As soon as this months Keyboard Magazine comes in the first thing I will do is read his review of the Tyros2. Although it may be slightly different than mine.

>> I finally got to play a Tyros2 firsthand and will attempt to give you my take on it.

Okay, first off I played the Tyros2 at a local GC and the nice thing about it was the Tyros was sitting right next to it so comparing the two could be easily done whether visually or playing them, or examining their respective features.

My take on the new look is honestly?? - well it looks like a sawed-off Tyros to me. The button lay out is visually similar to the Tyros but that stealth look has nothing on the Tyros' look in my opinion.

Next is the Keybed which is suppose to be a vast improvement over the Tyros' keybed. Well... I did like it but I also like the Tyros' key action. The Tyros2 has a 'slightly' stiffer action but there is not much difference at all compared to the Tyros. In fact my Tyros has a superior keybed to the Korg Triton Studio 76 keyboard in my opinion. The Triton Studio 76 feels more like my PSR 2000's keybed to me. In my opinion the Tyros2' keybed feels exactly like the Clavia Nord Electro 2's keybed. That's neither here nor there except the Nord Electro 2 sells for $1,695.

So what I am saying is if you bought the Tyros2 hoping for a vastly improved keybed over the Tyros you may be disappointed. There is not that much of a difference at all and I am quite satisfied with my Tyros' keybed thank you.

Of course the price of the Tyros2 is $4,095 retail but they are selling for $3,495 at most retail establishments. Oh btw, the price of the Tyros has dropped from $2,995 to $2,495 at GC which is actually the same price when the Tyros first hit the streets back in late 2002. You may be able to dicker with the salesman and get the price even lower.

I talked to the Keyboard manager at GC and he said he would sell me the Tyros2 for 3 Grand even. But little does he know that even at that low??? price - I won't bite. 76 keys or nothing remember?

On to the Voices. Ah.. the SA Voices.. Yamaha has made an improvement but after playing them in person there really is no major difference over the Tyros' Sweet!, Live! and Cool! voices to my ears. Although there are exceptions like the SA Tenor Sax which is a big improvement sonically. The SA Trumpet is quite nice also. But for the SA Guitars the improvement is miniscule to me with the exception of one or two and in some cases no improvement at all. In fact, I think the biggest area of noticable improvement with the SA Voices is for the Brass and Woodwind (Tenor Sax, etc.) instruments. I like the SA Strings a lot too. Also the Brass 'Falls' and 'Shakes' are a neat little feature but with the Falls you need to really pound the keys hard to get it to kick in. Of course you can set the Touch sensitivity to Soft1 or Soft2 and it makes it easier to do the Brass Falls but if you're not careful the Falls may kick in when you aren't expecting or wanting them to when setting the sensitivity to Soft1 and especially Soft2.

I also noticed the multitude of extra Sweet!, Live!, and Cool! Voices were a mixed bag. Some were pretty good while others were just so so to me. Perhaps Yamaha is slacking up on what makes a Sweet!, Live! or Cool! Voice - a Sweet!, Live!, or Cool! Voice?? Is it starting to turn into a gimmickry type of scenario where they increase the numbers but not the quality of the Voice so much? Humm...

Also on the Board layout the Tap Tempo button is too close to the Tempo buttons in my opinion. A mistake could be easily made if done in a hurry or in low light situations seeing how it is closer and the Tap Tempo button is smaller and less distinguishable. Apart from that I did pretty much like the layout, and the buttons had a nice solid feel and look to them. The other thing I DIDN'T like was the Lyrics and Scroll buttons were separate from the LCD screen which seems a little inconvenient because you have to reach farther instead of it being right in front of you as it is on the Tyros.

There were some additional Organ Voices and even one SA Organ Voice but the elusive B3 emulations on Yamaha's high end Arrangers is still no where to be found. Why can't Yamaha make a decent B3 sound especially when you're paying upwards of four - count em' four $$$$ Grand? Mystery of mysteries if you ask me.

In fact if you notice the Cool! 'Hold It Fast' 'Rotary Switch' and 'Jazz Slow' Organs sound pretty much identical to one another with only a very slight hint of differences that are almost indistinguishable from one another. Wouldn't it have been more economical and discrete for Yamaha to just put in one of those Cool! Organs instead of putting in three that are basically identical to one another? Humm?? Cool!, Live!, Sweet! whaaaattt's... going on??

Of course most of us know by now that the Tyro2's Sampler is not really a real Sampler. Yes, you can load .wav Samples but you can't edit them like you can on a real Sampler found on the Motif ES, etc. A technicality which is a major oversight in my opinion.

Still all in all the Tyros2 is a great Board for those wanting a high quality, high end Arranger that has plenty of cutting edge features (except a 'real' Sampler [img]http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/biggrin.gif[/img]) and the Tyros2 has obviously been a promising and concerted effort on Yamaha's part to give us the latest/greatest in today's Arranger market.

I also liked how Yamaha gave the Tyros2 more and varied Multipads. 40 more Multipads than the Tyros and there are some really cool ones. No pun intended. [img]http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/smile.gif[/img]

The Live! Drum Kits were nice but there are only 9 compared to the Tyros' 13. But the addition of the Live! Symphony and Live! Standard2 kit was a bonus.

Conclusion:

If you have a Tyros, then the Tyros2 will NOT be a vast improvement for you in my opinion. There are subtle differences but they are mostly cosmetic in nature. The SA Voices have improved things but the most noticable improvements to me regarding the SA Voices were in the Brass and Woodwind categories. Next is the SA Strings with the "Piano/Mezza Forte/Forte" additions and pulling up the rear are the SA Guitars in my opinion. Still you can't knock the SA Voices. Yamaha is to be congratulated for implementing this new Voice realism into their Keyboards.

If you've got money to burn and want the latest/greatest (philosophically speaking) - high end Arranger keyboard and don't already own the awesome - and I might add - much "less expensive" Tyros [img]http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/wink.gif[/img] then go for it! The Tyros2 is very appealing if you only need 61 keys and don't mind lugging around 5 extra pounds compared to the Tyros. [img]http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/wink.gif[/img] Just make sure when you wield the Tyros2 around that you be careful of those pointed edges.. if you know what I mean. [img]http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/biggrin.gif[/img]

Best regards,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 01-27-2006).]

Stephen Fortner gave the Tyros 2 a KeyBuy award and openly said that it sounded better than many top workstations. He called the Super Articulation keyboard a "revolution" worthy of a KeyBuy alone. And he also took up the call for more pro features like XLR mix input, 76 keys and PLG expansion compatibility. It's a very good review.

Thanks Jim. I'm glad Stephen took the initiative and stated publicly that Yamaha should make a "PRO" version of the Tyros2. XLR inputs and a Low-Z Mic input and with the possibility of PLG expansion capability and of course 76 keys would in my opinion be a big seller for Yamaha. It would be the proverbial Golden Egg in a golden basket if you ask me. But only if they keep the weight down to under or around 30 lbs. (easy to do in my opinion) and the price has to be lower than the competition. Also they should put in a 'real' Sampler like the one on the Motif ES.

Best regards,
Mike

You guys are all dreaming.
In my opinion,Yamaha will ,in all probability ,not make a 76-note version of the present Tyros instrument.
The reality is that Yamaha can barely keep up with the demand for the 61-note Tyros 2, and, realistically the limited number of sales to "pros" would not justify,to Yamaha's accountants,the fabrication of such an instrument.The Tyros is just a high end PSR despite the name difference,and is sold like one.The PSR-9000 pro was a great instrument,but not a sales success for Yamaha(read...money maker).That's why they haven't made another one.
Very little Yamaha arranger stuff was intended for pro use...it's just that some pros were resourceful enough to see the potential in the one man band...more money,less hassle with other band people,and the ability to play what music you want.
I've seen performers use everything from cut-down Electones to butchered CVP Clavinovas,to using PSR-310s or smaller.......bottom line...if it does the job,use it.
I use a PSR-3000 because it is cheap,light and gets the job done...and I make a profit.
If I had to have 76 or 88 notes,I'd use a controller with the required number of keys...and I'd stop waiting,hoping and wishing!
Yamaha expects us to adapt to their instruments....it's not the other way around....the hue and cry for a 76 note arranger would have to be of a much larger volume than the few people on this forum that seem to need it...I don't think for one second, that Yamaha would worry about these people going to another brand like Korg or Roland...they simply would not miss the money these people spend.
There simply isn't enough demand to justify making one,and the limited number of people who think they will make it(if they demand it) are just waiting for nothing....they may as well get that Korg or Roland.
Sure,we'd all rather Yamaha made a pro Tyros2,but it's not going to happen in the near future.
Again,it's my opinion.
Ian
PS Look up the meaning of the word "Tyros".




[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 01-28-2006).]

Ah, Keyboard Magazine. I am a charter subscriber and felt that one day I would be able to sell my collection for $$$. Last month I dropped the four cases of heavy glossy paper into the paper dump at my church. No one wanted the old issues. Lately, the mags have moved quickly from the mailbox to the floor to the dust pile. Yeah, I've noticed that the most recent issues have covered less exotic gear, but this 55 yr. old is out of the loop when it comes to most of Keyboard's ware.