Having had both the PA2 and the T2 to play with, I can finally make a real comparison.

One thing I noticed right away were the sliders. I was initially afraid they would be too small and inaccurate from the pictures....and yes although they have a shorter throw than the Korg they are much smoother and feel much sturdier and are pretty sensitive. The Korg's were too far away from the screen and seemed less precise and more "plastic" and had slightly more wobble to them. Over all the buttons and hardware are a lot larger and sturdier feeling and they light up so you always know where you are and what's going on. Korg seems to be still using the tiny button technology from their first Tritons.

The layout is better than the T2. I especially like the sliders front and center, The redone effect engine makes a huge difference in the general overall sound. Major change there.

I also really like the IDC the LAN Internet Direct Connection, I immediately put in on the network and downloaded some Music Finder Styles. Thats a great feature. Want a song or style? A few button pushes, you got it. Thousands to choose from. My credit card is on file so it easy to just download what we need from the keyboard. But many are free as well. Especially the music finder stuff. You can download and audition a piece of everything through the actual keyboard before you buy it. Thats one huge advantage of the Yamaha. Endless styles and songs already out there at your finger tips.

The Live Drums are far better. Far better and more of them. Again I think the new EFX engine has something to do with that as well as better samples. The SA2 controls and sounds are amazing. The whole keyboard sound live through studio monitors and a Sub far exceeded what I expected. But I really like the polished CD quality of the Yamaha mixes verses the looser sounding Korg, Although due to the effects one can make it sound less so. The Korg had a lot of multi effects which helped make it more "live" sounding. With the T3 Yamaha allows both a live sound or a tightly compressed mastered CD sound.

The acoustic and orchestral sounds are Yamaha's forte. But then again Yamaha samples their own musical instruments. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the great samples but they seem to know something about Pianos,Guitars, and Horns,

When I had the Korg I yearned for Yamaha's Soproano Sax and Flute sounds, The only sound I really miss from the Korg is the great scat voices. I'm hoping Yamaha will release a scat voice pack. Korg had better human sounding voices ahhs and oohs. The one touch Pad sounds, arpeggios and loops are new FAR better than the T2

I did not get to deep into the works but at the outset I have to say its built like a tank. Big lit buttons, Smooth sliders, nice keyboard (although I will use an RD700 88 key MIDI'ed 90% of the time)

No motorized screen (which I never understood the need for on the Korg) but a bright TFT screen that needs no contrast control and VGA out looks great on external monitors. I do find myself touching the screen now and then. (6 years with a Triton will do that)But I do like the edge buttons better as the screen stays clean.

SO far my expectations have been exceeded and I have only scratched the surface. Like I said before. On paper this is a huge upgrade. In reality its even more than that.
There is a very much wider gap between the PSR900 and the T3, I felt the PSR900 was 2/3s of the T2, Its about 1/8th on the T3.
And the Manual is about 1/2 that of the PA2x....but there are less things and features to program and mess with in that regard.


Cons...I hate the seemingly same string patch they use on many styles in Variation four. Can't wait to see what they come up with for additional voice paks....

I also would have liked to see one more foot switch to control each the SA2 sound controllers instead of the one programmable one. However I don't use a Volume pedal maybe I can reprogram that. Haven't looked into that.....Hmmmmm



[This message has been edited by Kingfrog (edited 10-02-2008).]

Great preliminary report, Kingfrog. I'm confident when you begin digging into the inner workings of the board's OS you'll discover lots of new features.

Thanks,

Gary

Kingfrog, thanks for the review. As a Pa2xPro owner I found it helpful with your comparison. I agree I miss Yamaha's soprano sax and flute sound Good luck and keep us posted on your progress

You are welcome. AS I have always said even before the T3 I felt the Yamaha generally had more realistic samples and sounded generally more polished. But that's exactly what live players don't like. Sounds very much like playing to a well mastered CD. That's why My wife actually records the parts she wants and uses a CD rather than cart the arranger around. She is a died in the woll Piano player. 88 weighted. Period.

Damm We have a Yamaha Baby Grand, TWO Roland RD700's and a Casio Previa 320 ALL 88 weighted.....and one little ole Tyros 3 for me.

I will tell you this, if I only had ONE keyboard to gig with I would choose the Korg PA2x and a Yamaha XS module. But for that price you can get a T3 and a nice 88 Key controller as well. But lose the double MP3 Player, XLR input and harmonizer.

The Helicon stand alone harmonizers blow both away though and are more controllable on the fly.

Pics of my set up at home







The wife at work....



[This message has been edited by Kingfrog (edited 10-02-2008).]

Kingfrog, thanks for the review and your's tyros3 also made in japan?

Sunny

Kingfrog,
A most very excellent input thus far with your Ty3 tavels & insights.
Thank you very much for taking time out of your playing time to entertain us and put forth new exciting information!

Made in Japan. I remember when that was considered a bad thing, Then it was Korea, Indonesia, and now China is the whipping boy. But not for long. I'm seeing the quality of Wood pianos coming put of there and they are very good. Steinway is having Pearl River build their Essex Line of Pianos as does Yamaha for the China market.

We have $900 acoustic Guitars from Alvarez and Ibanez made in China! And actually sell them...

Kingfrog..your Tyros3 isn't your biggest asset......your wife is..

I wish my wife would work a litle harder...so I could buy more keyboards :-)

Lee