A few years ago, as the Tyros was introduced I visited some demo-sessions and played it for some time in a music store (headphone)

Now after my trip G.. , PA1X and PA1XPRO, I 'met' a PSR3000 Yamaha in a local store and got impressed by it.
Some personal cons :
Separate power adapter.
Keyfeel (travel-depth, no aftertouch)
Built-in speakers.
Fixed position display/panel

The result of the 'meeting' :
I purchased an allmost unused TYROS and NOW realize it is the one for me!!

It must have been the Tyros speaker-sets that caused the poor sound-impression, because now on my own system the sound is AMAZING.

Operating is easy, the sound balance is OK, no touch display, the key feel is good compared to the PSR3k..... I'm used to it now.
I expect the SD1 to leave my house soon.

I agree with your impressions; the Tyros was the first keyboard to impress me with an almost Hi-Fi sound.
Congratulations for your purchase!

Too bad it's so far from here, I'm planning
to add a SD1 into my "family"
GJ

Take away the plastic feel with this new material called METAL on the case. Take away the speakers and you would have one sweet keyboard!

I like Yamaha, but i cant stand the quality, its very flimsy, to me it has a cheap feel. On the good side i love the features, and it has some decent sounds.

Phil

[This message has been edited by Pennywizz6 (edited 02-13-2005).]

Hi Roel.

Now you must understand why I changed SD1 by the Tyros.
Congratulations!

Cheers.
Armando

Congratulations Roel,
This is very interesting!
I'll contact you tonight or tomorrow by phone.

After all, 'love' was there, close to you, waiting for you, for such a long time, and you just couldn't see it...

-- José.

[This message has been edited by Route 66 (edited 02-14-2005).]

It may look cheap and flimsy, but I have done 140 gigs with my Tyros over the past two years and it's still chugging perfectly. My only issues during that time were broken music rack brackets and a DIRECT ACCESS key which wouldn't work. Yamaha repaired both of them quickly and without cost.

You can say all you want about construction and Yamaha support, but holding up to 140 gigs is no small feat even though I did baby my Tyros.

Al

Hey Al (kbrkr)

If you are gigging and use a music rack (or the Tyros speakers) you can get the adaptors that allow you to just slide the music rack arms (or the speaker fittings) on and of the keyboard for transportation.

The only suppliers I can find for these are in Germany but I got mine from the Rock Shop web site using international post and they work great. They are only a few dollars and make all the difference.

Regards - KF

Roel,
Congratulations on your new Tyros. I too switched from Ketron (X1) to Tyros. I'm very happy with the sound and styles. I don't feel that Yamaha did a good job setting up the default part balances. The styles are too loud and many of the solo voices are too soft. All of that is user adjustable so I just adjust to suit my ear. With a little eq the drums even sound as good to me as the Ketron drums did. I still wish power on settings could be saved, it's a pain to have to set everything everytime it is powered on.

I sold my X1 after Ketron abandoned it. I don't think they ever did release the last promised update for it.

Could you give us a comparison of the Tyros to the SD-1?

Don, how about a comparison after your switch from a Tyros to the SD-1?

Tom

Tom, just save the "power-on" settings to a registration memory. It's just one step.
I'll post a comparison soon. There is a huge difference, and a very steep learning-setup process with the SD1. I like some things about it better and some about the Tyros better.
What I'm REALLY looking forward to is the next generation of both keyboards.
Strange thing is NOBODY except HankB. has noticed any difference when I play. No positive, no negative--it's just like I didn't change.
DonM

Oh Man, thanks for the heads up on those brackets. I remember seeing them a year or two ago, but nothing since. Do you have a website address?

Thanks very much for the tip!

Al

Based on the weight and dimensions of the Motif series, a Tyros with a metal case would weigh around 40 lbs. I believe that most Tyros users would object to that increase in weight. The Tyros speakers are optional in the US.



------------------
Yamaha Customer Support
YCASupport@yamaha.com
714.522.9000

Steve,

While the light weight of the Tyros is definitely an attraction, a number of people (myself included) have a nagging concern about the build quality of Tyros.

I, for one, would buy a 40-lb Tyros in a heartbeat, if it had 76 keys (even though some of the high-end competitors, like Ketron, manage to fit a 76 key bed into a more compact and lighter box).

A question to everyone:

how many of you use joystick/mod wheel while playing an arranger keyboard? How detrimental is it to have it to the left of the keyboard, rather than above the keys?

I believe the Joystick/mod wheel is a holdover from the non-touch-sensitive synthesizer days, when players had to add expression using some analog means. I, for one, almost never use joystick on my Roland - when I am playing with the accompaniment going, I am too busy pressing the black and white keys (and occasionally buttons to change the settings). I can not take my hand off the keyboard to keep on the joystick. If I did, though, I would have found it easier to reach slightly above the keys than all the way to the left of the keyboard.

Regards,
Alex

I'm not worried about the plastic (PVC) body because it well engineered and feels firm.
The bottom-part looks like ABS but I'm not sure it is.

Ketrons' SD1 housing is metal and the wheels are well positioned above the keys.

Korg PA1Xpro is HUGE and the weight is HIGH, in fact not really suited to take on gigs.

My observations on the Tyros :
Compact 'leightweight' housing.
Very well organized panel/display.
Easy to operate.
After some time you get used to the keyfeel and easy/smoothly playable.
The styles are superb.
No latency, no polyphony problems.
Bright clear sound without noises.
Disk-handling sooo easy compared to the SD1.
Silent harddisk.
The buttons-clicking a little too loud.
The buttons-illumination a little too bright.
One Touch setting works great.

Tonight I tried some converted SD1 styles on the Tyros, but deleted them after that.
Original Yamaha styles are the very best and all converted stuff or other brand styles just sound not half as good.

The MIDI-file playback sounds very good...
Yamaha convinced me : They know how to build an arranger keyboard !
Some people told me : "You'll absolutely miss some best SD1 styles and want them on the Tyros!"

After almost nonstop-playing exploring the Tyros I cannot think of SD1 styles thatI want on Tyros!! (All we need, and more is in it)

Alex:
Oh yes I do use the pitch-wheel for harmonica, clarinet, trombone, sax etc.


[This message has been edited by Roel (edited 02-15-2005).]

I've been gigging with my Tyros for OVER 2 years now w/o a single problem with case durability. I for one appreciate its portable 27 lb convenience vs lugging those 40+ lb kb monsters of yesteryear.

As far as styles go, I find the Tyros internal styles themselves EXCELLENT, and with the exception of muting the internal style's auto accomp 'keyboard comping' parts, and playing them in live instead, for most all my performance requirements, the PRESET styles cover most all the bases. I feel that the only commercial styles that approach the quality of the Tyros internal styles are from: MidiSpot or Yamaha. I've long ago stopped wasting my time spending hours attempting to convert styles from other manufacterers as most of these styles are already INCLUDED by Yamaha. Better to spend time actually PLAYING the keyboard rather than tweaking I say. My 2 year love affair with Tyros continues. - Scott

I use the pitch-bend wheel a lot. I think I actually prefer it left of the keys, but I'm adjusting to it being above on the SD1.
Only problem I had with the Tyros is that a few of the buttons were getting hard to push. Rather than worrying about them, I sent it off to a new, gentler life.
Bring on Tyros II or SD2 now.
DonM

joystick/wheels are must haves for solo voices.I can't live without them.cause we play KB.not just piano.

Roel,
I agree with your evaluation of the Tyros and also the quality of the internal styles. I suggest you to try the styles made by Yamaha for the PSR 3000: even if they are all derived from the Tyros own styles, in most cases they have been reprogrammed with better results.

Of course styles will sound better on the kb they are designed for,
and so it is whatever brand we convert to / from. As long as it is
not within the same kb brand, it's even harder to tweak before the
result are fairly good/playable.
At the end I guess it all come down to our personal taste and needs,
also to what kind of musicstyle we usually play.

No doubt about that Yamaha are great stuff, but in my ears it can't
compete to the SD1 in the "live way" sounding, the "keyfeel" at the
SD1 are also really good if you ask me, and yet there are no Yamaha
or other arranger kb's that I've seen who are close to Technics KN
regarding to the easy, smooth and userfriendly composer and editing
functions.

As said as many times before at SZ's forums, give us a keyboard who
have the best from all brands, that would have been something, eh?

Happy playing, exploring and enjoying your new Yamababy Roel

GJ

I'm one more of those that jumped from Ketron (X4, in my case) to the Tyros. It's true I miss a couple of styles (mostly latin ones), like 'Bachata' for example (great for Juan Luis Guerra songs). But overall the Tyros is a more complete, easier to use and more reliable instrument. But I must stress that the portuguese Ketron distributor never abandoned me. On the contrary they always offered me great assistance.

-- José.