well just got a look at both the 2400 and 2600... They look pretty nice.. Anyone know what the 2400 will go for here in the US?

Squeak

There's a post of some time back on the Technics forum about the 2400 and 2600. I think it was Technics Player who had seen/heard them at a recent trade show. As I recall, he stated these boards would have more contemporary styles and features than maybe what Technics had shown in the past.

Technics KN2600 looks good, especially doing away with the floppy drive and allowing digital audio out via USB. However, it does not appear to have a harmonizer (and if it did, I'd want to check it out first, as Technics attemts hat vocal harmony have not been great in the past), so if this is important to you, better wait for more definitive set of information.

EKO is also out of this category - check prices on their web site. It is like building a house - the base price is around $2000, but that buys you only an overpriced PC in a funky case. By the time you add all the important components, like screen, a pushbutton button panel, a slider panel, etc., be prepared to pay twice that much. Plus figure the cost of the software on top of that. Besides, it appears to still be vaporware - an interesting concept which has not yet come to fruition.

I would concur with part of UD's statement, that at this time PSR2000 is in a class by itself. What it lacks in sturdiness and expandability, it more than makes up in the very complete set of features, sounds, and the polished OS. In this it has a solid edge, IMHO, over the Rolands, Korgs, and Ketrons in the similar price bracket. I suspect that even the "low-priced" Technics will be almost twice as expensive as the PSR2000 is today.

One thing that Yamaha has that the others don't is XG. This is powerful stuff. I'm a heavy XG/sysex user and without it I'd feel lost. I agree with UD - the PSR keyboards feel lousy compared to others. I played a KN7000 for about an hour last Sat. and the keys felt really nice by comparison. Lots of features and above all, the organs have touch response. Nice styles too. But no XG and not much in the way of DSPs and effects so it's not for me.

Bryan

Pilot,
How do you use the XG soundset. I don't use the XG voices because they sound plain without any effects, and on the PSR550 you can only apply one effect. Do you need a computer to use it effectively? Do you use XG works software?
Starkeeper

Yes, the ORGAN Panel voices on the PSR 2000 do NOT have touch response but then again the XG ORGAN voices on the PSR 2000 do. Not much of a pacifier but there is at least some consolation to know that the XG Organs have touch response which comes in very handy for certain songs especially in a live situation where it counts the most. And the nice thing is that many of the XG Organs are right up there in quality as compared to the Panel Organs. One thing I've noticed though is I have to crank up the volume some when using the XG Organs versus the Panel Organs.

And yes, I agree that the PSR 2000 is the best bang for the buck right now and I also agree that the Key feel is very mushy and flimsy and I pray to God that Yamaha starts making their Arrangers with TRUE full size Keys like Korg and some of the others do. My fingers are normal in size I would guess but things get very tricky sometimes when playing my PSR 2000 especially on certain more difficult chordings and faster tempo'd songs. I can imagine a person with thicker fingers going nuts trying to play some fast Ragtime or any other real fast song with complicated chordings on Yamaha's Portable Arrangers. PS: Yamaha could have very easily incorporated TRUE full size Keys on the Tyros with all that extra empty space on the left and right of it. Also, it sure looks like the Tyros is an Arranger in need of speakers with all that extra empty space they managed to give it. Okay, okay, I'll stop. Yes Yammie I really do like your Arrangers but there is always room for improvement, right? And speakers too. Just joking. You can tell what I am hoping for on your next high end Arranger can't you.

Steve, if you read this try and put in a good word if you can to your product developers as to what is really important in the eyes of most Arranger Keyboardists imo, that is: TRUE full size keys, onboard Speakers, BETTER Key feel and response and of course there is a host of others things that time does not permit me to delve into right now but those three things I listed are at the top of the heap I can assure you.

Best regards,
Mike

Pilot,
I checked out "Total Keyboard" book on Friday at Indigo/Chapters ($9.95 CDN) and it is very basic, for beginners. I passed on it. Has a chord dictionary, don't need that either. Looking for intermediate instructions, especially accompaniment.
Starkeeper

While we're "pickin'" on the 2000's features, etc. I'll add to the notion that it's "plastic" in comparison to others. I recently added it to my setup, mainly for the price, styles, and positive features it offers. I've not been disappointed. However, one thing that surprised me (in comparison to my 6500)----you can't tweak the rhythm section after a tune is recorded into the sequencer, unless I'm missing something. That's important in a recording environment. After you've recorded an auto-rhythm track (song), then you decide the bass part is too loud, drums, or whatever---you can't adjust the levels of individual parts after it's in the sequencer! You've got to make adjustments and re-record the whole song again. If there's an easier way, someone please explain.

There's got to be a way to do what you asking with recorded songs. I can do this on my PSR-550, and I know you can even do this with the PSR-740.. What you're wanting to do should be under the "mixer" settings. I know on the 740 there was a dedicated mixer button.. On my 550 the mixer button is next to the "voice change" button.. Check in your manual under using the mixer..

Squeak

Starkeeper, I use only the XG organs on the 740 as the panel organs don't have touch response, just like the 2000. I can layer 2 voices on the keyboard (R1 and R2) which is often good enough but with XG I can layer up to 18 (but usually only 3 or 4). For this I use XGworks and I've updated all the tables for the 740 (and 2000) to give me access to the whole synth - 5 DSPs and all the voices and effects. I run the whole thing from the laptop for portability. I just save all the settings to a .syx file which is instantly loadable and that gives me a lot more settings than I can store in the registration memories. You can probably use XGworks straight out of the box with your machine as it doesn't have all the DSPs. Or a cheaper way to go would be XGEdit which does all the sysex but isn't a sequencer. It's shareware so you can download and try it. There's a link to it in the Yamaha Zone of Synth Zone.

Sorry you didn't like the book. I'm not exactly a beginner myself but I thought it was a nice book to own. It's good for showing to visitors who think they would like to learn a keyboard.

Idatrod, I measured my two PSRs and my grand piano. Five octaves is 33 inches on the piano and 32 1/2 on the PSRs. I can't tell the difference. I can stretch an eleventh on both and it feels just the same.

Bryan