Yamaha has a new synth workstation ready, but has put it on hold to see what Roland and Korg come up with as their current Motif range is still very competitive.

They released the CP1 stagepiano as an answer to Rolands V-synth... and so is their strategy changed from 3 year product cycles to wayting on the others and then reacting to that with a superior product.

The New Motif Workstation should be heavilly virtuall technology based. Same level as the CP-1.

The CP-1 blew the MOtif away with its piano sounds, and even the roland V-piano sounded blass compared to this new Yamaha Arranger keyboard beast ..

It might come very close to Ivory II... and adds a superb keyfeel to the package.

If the new Motif comes close to this with all of their sounds, its a stellar improvement.


So basically i guess we are wayting on ROland, as Korg recently upgraded their M3. While being the best looking workstation it seems like the Fantom G was the big looser of the last few years...

But then Roland is concentrating on everything else but the keys department.

well Yamaha knew there would be one of these 2 producing a workstation anytime soon...

So it could be Korg that is creating something new.. Stephen Kay not finishing the KArma project yet for openlabs could indicate he is doing some heavy work on KARMA 3 that would be required for the next Korg workstation too.

So with this impasse all innovation have left the hardware workstation scene, while this is exactly what this scene is wayting on...



So since they don't see instuments as Open LAbs and Lionstracs as true contenders yet, Yamaha is sitting there and wayting.....



Roland flat out admitted that their hardware key instruments where currently their lowest priority as they could make much more money in other parts of the industry, and thats where their research people where spending their time.

IF ( I say: IF) I will close my Company or stopping the LIONSTRACS products, they will be ONLY be happy!
IF this happen, mean that you there for the next 5-10 years you have to continue buy the same soup.,
because they will then recycle again the same hardware and never jump to the X86 system.

It mean also, that people like Leezone..can NEVER see on one MI with the USB3..SATA3, dual-quad-six core,1 to 16Gb Ram and so on..
Forget also product with Windows OS, because the big manufacture will never pay the big mass license when under Linux is about all available and much stable OS.

With Linux they can develope the all what they like with the full source available including for the basic OS. ( OASYS was the example)

We will see what happen on future..soon we exit with the new Rack 2U products and Stages keyboards,
( no Linux KDE interface, just the kernel and some basic applications, like Linuxsampler Giga Streaming and 4 multiple Asio Host..)

Anyway..prayed that I do not close, otherwise all your dreams will not be come true never.
Enjoy what you play

The day you sell more MS's in a whole year than ONE Guitar Center sells Yamaha's, you might have a point, Dom...

But let's keep it real, eh?

Diki needs new G70

Dom you are having to heavy instrument for him.

Two hands, two G70's...

Coincidence? I think NOT...

Makes them easier to carry when they are balanced

I appreciate Domenik's remarks and he makes some good points. The Big Three are basically producing the same "soup" over and over with incremental improvements here and there. For instance the Tyros and the Pa series although the Pro version includes 76 keys whereas Yamaha limits its incremental improvements on a 61 key platform only for their mid and high-end arrangers.

That's why I didn't get a Tyros2 or a Tyros3 because the improvements were incremental (beyond the SA voices) and having to shell out $3,000.00 bucks every three years or so is simply NOT very cost effective for me.

Don't get me wrong. If the Big Three ever got beyond their "trickle down" economic structure (although I highly doubt they will) I would be very open and interested in getting the "latest greatest" if indeed that latest greatest was actually more than just a minor face lift with a few cosmetic improvements and the cost wasn't these astronomically priced absurdities that must have the keyboard manufacturers laughing their heads off all the way to the bank.

When you consider that computer parts are quite cheap in price (we're NOT in the 1990's anymore folks) and that keyboards are essentially computers with fake ivory keys , you realize that the only one's making out like hogan's goat are the Big Three whilst consumers are basically getting shafted in my opinion. It's like the fine Furniture market where fine wood furnishings are WAY above real market value but manufacturers are still able (by hook or crook) to command these ridiculously high prices for fine wood furnishings. But I digress...

Anyway, Dom's "vision" is a high accolade to him for his tenacity to get beyond the "same 'ole soup, different year" mentality and produce something that would be considered truly 'revolutionary' in my opinion. Now if he could just get beyond the 'astronomical' aspect on some of his products Lionstracs sales would no doubt shoot through the roof, in my opinion, and overall it would increase his "bottom line" as well in the long run.

Although in both Lionstracs and Ketron's cases because they are considered smaller sized businesses it is a lot harder for them to get their prices more in line with the Big Three and probably impossible for them to turn much of a profit if they were to go considerably below the competition. Of course in Lionstracs case you are getting a considerable "bang for your buck" for those higher prices as opposed to the Big Three's incremental "same 'ole soup" shenanigans popped out every three years or so. I know it all has to do with "marketing" and that the Big Three do what they do because it is the best market strategy for "them" financially. But I have decided to 'refuse' to get "sucked in" to their incrementally based system and will only upgrade when the "cost, value, performance" meets my criteria and not before. Sorry Fran. I really don't mean to offend anyone and if there are others (and we know who you are ) who don't mind doing the upgrade dance every three or so years - more power to you. I guess I'm getting at that age where if it "don't have that swing" it's starting to "not mean a thing" to me I reckon.

Furthermore, being able to "mass" produce your product(s) off an assembly line is much more convenient and economical for manufacturers as evidenced by the Big Three who in "many" instances offer great products at reasonable prices - except for their high-end arranger lines apparently. I can also attest to the Linux operating system as being excellent, having just recently ran the latest Ubuntu OS. It is extremely stable, highly functional, and has very good performance. And Dom is smart for using Linux if you ask me.

Well, I'm gonna get either a 76 key high-end arranger keyboard or an arranger module at some point in the future (if I don't croak and go to heaven first ) but I'd like to wait to see what the next Big Three offerings will be before I fork over the dough. I would really like to see the Big Three get beyond their 128 note 'road block' and also implement some other 'revolutionary' concepts too. I'm still eying Lionstracs occasionally hoping for another 76 key offering that hopefully won't break the bank in the process, and also Ketron's next 76 key Audya?? offering (in ten years or so ) - or perhaps even the newly announced Audya4 module if they introduce it at a reasonable price. Yeah right!

All the best,
Mike



[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 03-27-2010).]

The component cost of just about ANY keyboard has been the least of its' value. We have ALWAYS paid for the content, the sounds, the styles, the OS...

Buy an 'open' arranger, and you haven't YET paid for the content at all (at least none able to rival the closed ones). You will STILL have to fill it yourself, at your considerable time and effort (and what is THAT worth to you? I know mine is valuable!) with the sounds you want, the styles you want, and then get them all to 'play nice' with each other. If you have the time and skill to do that, you are good to go...

If not, caveat emptor...

Diki wrong.
You are having basic setup.
Many sounds and styles.
It is only on you what you want.


If you want special VST than this is your problem.

And for the many people on this forum that want new things all the time and so keep swapping keyboards all the time..

This is a blessing as they can add new stuff to their current keyboard without having to buy a whole new one.

We've all heard the basic sounds and styles, Magica...

That's WHY the emphasis is on third party sounds and styles (and even style PLAYERS) Nobody WANTS what it comes with