...and "meh" as they say.

Some genuinely excellent sounds (notably the best Leslie sim I've heard on an arranger), but nothing that would set the Thames on fire, especially in the style department. This is more of the same from Yamaha - evolution, not revolution, to use that hoary old cliché. And my long-standing gripe about the Tyros range - the woeful user interface - is barely improved upon, and that alone would prevent me from ever considering it a worthy replacement for my E-80 for live use, especially as it also seems just as "fragile" as my old (original) Tyros did.

Having given it a fair audition, the price point strikes me as optimistic in the extreme, considering what you can get an E-80 or Pa800 for, although the dealer I visited was tripping over himself to discount it before I even started a conversation about price.

In summary, a decent enough 'board, but overpriced and definitely overhyped.

I couldn't agree more about the price.., but in Yammie's defense I have this issue with all the upper end arrangers. There's absolutely nothing IMO that sets these arrangers apart from workstation's in terms of their application for the player.

Arranger players scream more styles, workstation players scream more arps.., but the price difference is major. Yet the pro arranger is often built of lower quality than the pro workstation, but the price sure doesn't reflect that.

But with much more success than the E80, because only a minority of users and 'Roland Distributors itself' know about the outstanding possibilities of the Roland-Top-Arranger.
Greetings
Peter

Oh really & who's fault would that be?

I have noticed Arranger users have much higher expectations from Yamaha offerings then any other manufacturer. I also notice for Yamaha rarely meets them and does nothing about it.

Understandable since Tyros is marketed to the HOME USER who would buy a CVP if they had the money or the room and in that regard the expectations are met for their primary market. I sold a $7000 CVP 407 today that pales in comparison, But it has wood keys, a poly veneer cabinet,and mediocre speaker system. The Home user is far less demanding then those who buy the Motif series.

Motif buyers don't give Arranger boards a second look. When someone comes in for Motif and I lead them to the Tyros I read "cute" all over their faces, then send them to Musicians friends LOL.

[This message has been edited by Kingfrog (edited 01-03-2009).]

Granted the T3 may, in the long run, prove to be less than hoped for...The enhancements and clear improvements Yamaha provided in the T2 from the original Tyros were substantial.

I use my T2 as my main kb with a tyros original as my rehearsal/backup board. If they had shown as much improvement in the t3 from the t2 as they did with the t2, I think we'd be more excited about it. The introduction of the SA (Super Articulation) voices were a huge step beyond the caliber of sounds in the original.

As far as expectations being higher for Yamaha, I think its a branding issue. Especially if you're seeing John Q Public in your store who probably hasn't done a huge amount of research. The Yamaha brand runs across several disassociated product lines so they simply have a higher general name recognition.

------------------
Bill in Dayton

[This message has been edited by Bill in Dayton (edited 01-04-2009).]

The local GC guy here tells me they will have a T3 in the store by January 15th, which I sincerely hope is the case. Until then, I guess I'll have to reserve my judgment.

For those who have never seen, touched, smelled and spent time exploring the T3, I urge you to do those things before making any sort of judgment on what the keyboard can or cannot do.

Over the years I have been amazed at how only a tiny, fractional percentage of arranger keyboard owners have done much more than turn on the power and begin pressing the keys. I personally know a number of individuals that have never taken their owners manual out of the zip-loc plastic bag it was packaged in.

I suspect the T3 has more onboard features than most TOTL boards, and nearly all will really benefit the end user that takes the time to learn where they are, what they do, and most of all, how to utilize them to their maximum benefit.

As for expecting MORE from Yamaha--I, personally, have been happy with every keyboard they've manufactured since the PSR-500. The only thing I have never liked about any TOTL keyboard is their lousy instruction manuals. If the articles I wrote for the Washington Post were as poorly assembled as the arranger keyboard's manuals I would have been fired when my first article was submitted.

Fortunately, there are some great online sites and forums where everyone can get some first-hand assistance from actual owners and users. I'm confident the T3's operating system has not changed significantly over the T2, which is also a big plus for Yamaha.

If I like what I see, hear and play after January 15, there's a good chance I'll upgrade to the T3. Every owner I've talked with personally claims it's a significant upgrade from the PSR-3000. If this is the case, and the weight increase is not too substantial, I'll be selling one of my PSR-3000s sometime in the near future. If not, those 3000s are still kicking butt.

Cheers.

Gary

I would have to disagree Gary in that the Tyros "possibly" have more onboard features than most TOTL boards. One thing I always do is read manuals..., even from boards I don't own.., just to see what they can and can't do. In regards to the Tyros I'd say there are many areas it's lacking when compared to many TOTL and even Semi-Pro boards out there.

Yamaha hasn't always been too keen on it's indepth editing options to their arranger players. They've always catered to their synth players in this category. Korg however.., and I give them much respect on this, have done an amazing job on combining the arranger with the synth.., and making it function (in ways) like their TOTL workstations.

I have to agree with squeak on this. I have a lot of styles that I would love to
"tweak" to fit my songs a bit better. So far I have just not been able to find the time to delve into it on my PSR3000 or my Tyros 3. I know when I had my Korg PA1X it was really easy to change things on the fly if needed. But - it was just to heavy for me to handle - along with the case.

But, all said - I really like my T3 and have not once had any regret in my purchase. Coming from the 3K it is an amazing upgrade.

It would be nice to have a Roland someplace to check out too. Here in the Dallas area you can hardly find an arranger much less an assortment of arrangers at any of the stores.

hammer

Hammer

Excactly