I've spent the past two days at NAMM and I want to report my findings while everything is fresh in my head.
Let me start with Ketron. There is nothing new from Ketron in portable keyboards but they did have two new upright pianos in both gloss and satin finishes which had the guts of the SD1plus inside them. I got to visit with AJ at the show and I got a lesson on sequencing on the SD1plus. If there will be new products, I would think we are at least a year away.

Generalmusic also had nothing new to show at this show in the portable products. I was hoping to see a Persian version of the GenesysPro but it was not at this show. The new products I saw were home type pianos in wood finishs which incorporated the new Drake processors found in the ProMega 2 and Promega 3 stage pianos. They sounded great but I'm more interested in the slab style pianos for my store and I've been told that soon we will see some new lower priced stage models.

Casio showed a new slab piano with a really nice 88 key action with a MAP price of only $499.00. It sounded pretty good and will surely be a very good value for someone needing a really good feeling inexpensive and light weight digital piano. The WK3000 and WK3500 will be current at least for another year.

Roland. There were two new models. The EXR3 and EXR5 keyboards shown from the MI division and the identical models with different model names shown at the CK division. I hope this will not confuse buyers because the CK models although identical will most likely be more expensive at the piano and organ stores compared to the mi stores! At first, I was hoping that these new models were going to be the high end replacements for the VA7 and VA76 that we have been expecting, but after hearing these and seing their features, I was actually quite impressed by their low price of $595.00 retail for the EXR3 and $795.00 retail for the EXR5. The EXR5 adds a floppy drive and superior speaker system (Bass Reflex on the EXR5) with Digital Bass Enhancer. Both feature 61 key arrangers with 510 tones and 20 drum kits including stereo sampled pianos from the RD series. Over 100 music styles with new Cover function for interactive arranging. This allow you to instantly change the voicings of either a song or style in real time while playing. There is a 16 track sequencer for playing back SMF files and for recording your own songs. USB port for loading new songs and styles. Flash memory supports updating styles and songs up to 1.5MB of data. There is also Roland's V-Link video control for integrating video and music. All in all, this is a very good product and will be a real competitor to Yamaha's PSR550, which actually is now discontinued and no replacement is being shown. I think those that saw the EM55 and thought this was too expensive and liked some of the features of the Discover 5 will like these products. Delivery is to begin this month. As for a new model, I spoke with one of the Italian design team and he assured me that a new model, will be out ASAP and we will not be dissapointed. We spoke about touch screens and I was told that if a touch screen would be used, it would be of a newer type not yet seen in keyboards for greater accuracy and there would still be buttons if one prefers. I tried to get an introduction date but I did not get one. An interesting thing that has happend in Italy is that Roland Japan has taken over the management of Roland Italy so that many at Roland think this will be a positive step in the creation of new Arranger products.

Korg had their new PA1XPro and their new PA1X keyboard with 61 keys and speakers. First, the price of both were raised by $200 retail because of the change of the Euro dollar vs the US dollar. The PA1XPro is now $4500.00 retail with a mapp of $3500.00 and the PA1X is $4300.00 with a mapp of $3499.00. Remember, the PA1X does not come with the 20GB hard drive in the PA1XPRO and that means you also don't get the Real Drum and the Turkish/Arabic expansion card files free on the hard drive. This is a savings of over $700.00 if you had to buy these two cards from the PA80 series. I got to hear the new PAXEXBO1 Concert Grand Piano 16MB PCM Expansion Board. It sounds great. It is the Grand Piano from the Triton LE which is warm, rich and beautiful with a retail price of $200 and a MAP of $159.00. This is really worth the extra price if you want a great Piano sound. The PA1X with it's 61 keys and speakers is smaller, and they did this by putting the volume, etc. sliders right under the touch screen where on the 76 key version they are along side the touch screen. However, this adds depth to the PA1X so it is not as narrow as the 76 key version. There was a newer operating system in the 61 key version which allowed for a few new features and this will be available soon for the PA1XPRO. I like that now you can select the Single Touch presets from the touch screen rather than only from the 4 dedicated switches below the screen. The two boards were demonstrated amazingly by the designer from Italy, a Korg tech from the UK and from one of our US product demonstrators. I also got to meet with my friend Malcolm from Korg US and we discussed many additional options for my middle eastern customers who love the PA products. Korg has also given us the price of the MP3Player/Encoder Option which is $225.00 list and $179 map and the CD-RW Drive will be $199.00 MAP and is the same unit used with the D1200 and the Triton ST. Delivery for the PA1X will begin in April. Korg has also released here the PA50 which replaces the PA60. It is identical to the PA60 except that the color is the same as the PA80 (grey) and is now made in China instead of Italy. It's price has been reduced to $1250.00 list and $999.00 map. This is a smart move in my opinion now allowing Korg to have a firm position in all 4 keyboard price points. I am very pleased to see Korg taking a very strong position with their arranger keyboards.

Yamaha.....In my opinion, is coming out with a winner in a new model called the PSR3000. Yes, it's keybaord is still the same one being used in the PSR2100, but wait till you try one! It sounds just like the Tyrosand it has all the styles found in the Tyros, plus more. The screen looks great, however, it doens't have the same kind of screen as the Tyros. The screen in the PSR3000 is color and looks really good, but the Tyros seems to stand out more clearly and seems more like looking at a really good high definition TV set. It has 3 intro and ending buttons now. It has stereo aux inputs in the back. The mic input is the same as the PSR2100. 128 note polypony has not been available on a Yamaha at this price point before and the PSR3000 has 128.. It was demonstrated at the Yamaha booth with a wireless internet connection and they showed it linked right to the Yamaha website where you can download songs (for a fee) and styles, also for a fee. With a retail price of $1799.00, so much less then the Tyros and just a few hundred dollars more than the PSR2100, this should do really well. It even has a dedicated button for entering the digital recording and sound creation which is not found on the PSR2100. A few of our forum friends met me for a cruise of Ketron, Generalmusic, Korg and Yamaha, and I think the PA1X series and the Yamaha impressed us very much. I was also very impressed with the replacements for the curret DGX300 and DGX500 because they have now included all the features of the current Yamaha model which features the music assistant, smart media, lyrics, notation, selectable sounds for splits and layers and a larger screen. Of course the PSR3000 got most of everyone's attention. I did look at the PSR1500 which will fit nicely under the price of the 3000 but with less polyphony and no vocal harmonizer. Delivery of the new models will begin in July.
I had lengthy talks with some high up officials at Yamaha this morning regarding the possiblilty of our being able to sell the PSRA1000 oriental (Arabic, Turkish, Greek and Persian)keyboard here in the USA and I've got my fingers crossed.

If there is anything you would like to know please let me know. It's been a long couple of days. I'm going back on Sunday and I can find out more information.

Two other keyboards worth mentioning are the new Roland Fantom X6/7 and 8 which feature 128 note polyphony and 128MB of wave Rom. The piano was fantastic using 4 samples per key and different samples for every key. A new color is a first in a workstation keyboard. Sampling up to 544MB. The Retail prices are $2395.00, $2895.00 and $3395.00.

Korg now has a Triton Extreme 61,76 and 88. All have 160MB of Wave Rom and 120 note polyphony. Unlike the Triton studio, there will be no hard disk recording but rather just sequencing and sampling expandable to 96MB, however, with the USB out you could hook it up to a USB hard drive. Retail prices will be $3000.00 with a map of $2199.00 for the 61, $3250.00 with a map of $2599.00 and $3750.00 for the 88 key with a map of $2999.00. All of these new products, along with the Yamaha Motif ES previously introduced a few months ago, give the non arranger players some really exciting options.

I'm tired and hope all my typing makes sense!

George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566

[This message has been edited by George Kaye (edited 01-17-2004).]

[This message has been edited by George Kaye (edited 01-18-2004).]

[This message has been edited by George Kaye (edited 01-18-2004).]

Well done George! It makes plenty of sense.

The only mistake I saw from your tired eyes and hands as you typed was the MAP price of the Triton Extreme 76 Key. You list a MAP that is lower than the 61 Key version.

Thanks for all the info George! We really appreciate it!

Best regards,
Mike

Hi George

Do you know the weight and dimensions for the PSR3000/1500 and the PA1X 61 note version?

Scott

Hi George


Just saw your other post giving the weight of 48.5 to the PA1X. I was suprized to see it weigh more than the Pro version.

I bet it sounds great, but too heavy for my taste.

Scott

George,

thanks for the info! I specially waited how the PSR3000 feels like. Generally I don't mind the keyboard to be same as in PSR2K/2100, I like it.

To summarize George's description of PSR3000

1) Looks like [upgraded] PSR2100

2)It sounds just like Tyros.

3)It has all the styles of Tyros plus more.

4)The screen looks great but not as good as Tyros.

5)It has 3 intro and ending buttons now.

6)It has stero aux inputs in the back.

7)The mic input is the same as the PSR2100.

8)128 note polypony.

9)a retail price of $1799.00,

10)It even has a dedicated button for entering the digital recording and sound creation which is not found on the PSR2100.

George, Thank you very much. A Question for you, would you see 3K as replacement of 2100 or Tyros? What would you lose if you get 3K over Tyros other the extra nice screen?

[This message has been edited by sk880user (edited 01-17-2004).]

keyboard's aftertouch.


[This message has been edited by sylion (edited 01-17-2004).]

George: Wow,thanks. You've really managed to pack a lot of great info into a relatively small amount of SZ real estate. So much that I went ahead & printed it out so I could have a more indepth read.



You say that the kind (type) of screen used on the PSR3000 is 'different' than the Tyros'. I'm really curious to hear how the screens are different, other than the fact that the Tyros' is tilt adjustable. I assume that the 3000 includes a contrast/brightness control adjustment, right? One problem with the Tyros (and arranger keyboard in general) is that their LCD screens aren't easily (if at all) viewable outdoors or in brightly light areas. I wondering if the PSR3000's different "new?" screen type will allow you to better view it outdoors.
If possible, can you please go into more detail about the PSR3000's color screen,such as: design type, screen size dimensions, pixel count.



George, this is great, but I hope you also remembered to check to find out 'how many' foot controler' output jacks the PSR3000 includes. Does it have three like the Tyos does, or only two as in the PSR2100?



Does the PSR3000's USB connection support keyboard voice editing via PC software (Yamaha Voice Editor) lilke the Tyros does?



Is this estimated date: Europe, USA, or worldwide?

George, did you get a chance to checkout the PSR3000's exciting new Smart Media (SMC) Card feature? I assume it acts the same way as the optional HD in the Tyros does, and that you can easily access the data in it via 'folder tabs', and that registrations located either in User Memory or on the SMC itself will be able to access files (styles/voices) that are located on the SMC too. Another thing I've been really hoping for is for the Music Finder to be able to access & load styles not only in the keyboard's preset & user memory area, but styles stored on the kb's hard drive, or in the case of the PSR3000, its Smart Media Card. Any chance of this on the PSR3000? George I hope you'll you be able to provide more info on this.

Thanks,

Scott

you would loose the bigger and sharper screen, the aftertouch and the nicer feeling keyboard, the hard drive option, the floppy disk drive, the larger buttons which many have lights allowing for easier navigation, two seperate line outputs in addition to the main outputs.
I also forgot to mention that the PSR3000 has a video out for plugging into a monitor for Karaoke play.
I would say that the PSR3000 is more closely related to the Tyros rather than the PSR2100 because of it's having exactly the same sounds, styles, polyphony and functions. I understand that it's price is much closer to the PSR2100 but not's it's capabilities.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

Hello George,

Great report !
What about the Liontracs ? Any news/proves ?

Roel