Probably place an order in late April, when I get back home. Don't want to order one till then, though.

Gary

I'd be getting a Yamaha if it did what I need... And first and foremost on that list is punchy, live sounding drums. I don't play NH gigs, and I seldom play background for dining. I need drums that ROCK!

I know I sound like a stuck record, but it is SO frustrating to watch Yamaha shoot themselves in the foot. Audio drums will NEVER be as good as MIDI drums, simply because the styles are too expensive to produce, and don't address your legacy and favorite styles. PSR Audio styles, even if you use them ALL, are only 4% or the ROM set, and new ones cannot be loaded in as you need them - you'll have to load what few you want slowly, and then reboot your arranger... Who can afford to do that on a gig?

The simplest, least expensive, tried and true solution to the problem is simply more and better kits. I haven't heard any examples yet from the S950 using whatever new kits there are that have made me sit up and go 'Finally! Yamaha are getting it!'. I've heard Korg and Ketron drums do that. I'm not a rabid Roland fanboy! When I hear drums that sound live, I admit it.

Maybe owners can tell the subtle differences, but what I'm talking about is a pretty radical change in direction. Now, of course, all the legacy kits would remain, so the 'CD sound' crowd can remain content. But I need to hear something quite different from the current 'sound' for it to fit my needs.

And, it's a shame, really, as there is MUCH to like in Yamaha's... the SA sounds are excellent, guitars are great (fantastic, actually), multipads are cool (audio multipads would be cool if they looped!). I've said for a long time there is so little for Yamaha to do to make me buy one.

Either fix the kits to sound punchy, or allow user control of what MIDI codes trigger the arranger Divisions (so I can run it from a Roland, and have Roland drums with Yamaha guitars). Oh, and toss a Chord Sequencer in, too!

I have focused VERY specifically on the Yamaha audio drums section. I have not put the S950 down for any other reason. Please don't put words in my mouth. Yamaha have NOT addressed this need for punchier drums (most people that don't play Yamaha's cite this as the primary reason they haven't got one) with this new feature. All they have done is tacitly admit to the need (or why have punchy, live drum recordings in the first place?), but have not provided a solution.

Kits WOULD have. Still waiting...

Yamaha are targeting their drums at a particular user. The home user. And their needs will be very much different to a live performer. And in particular a performer like yourself Diki. If a home user needs to reboot the entire keyboard to load up another set of styles with real audio drums, what difference is it to them? But to a love performer that two minutes three-minute delay in time could be critical to keeping an audience captivated . yamaha are certainly not shooting themselves in the foot. They are focused on the home market and not the pro market

Spalding,

You are assuming that EVERYONE will be loading those audio drum files, which is not the case. But, if a pro-performer were to load them, don't you think they would do this during the setup procedure, or during a break?

I'm playing every Wednesday afternoon and early evening to what I now refer to as the "Young-Drunk Set," folks that make the rounds of the Tiki Bar Happy Hours, which all seem to last 3 to 4 hours at the very least. I'm still pounding on that old PSR-3000 and keep the place rockin' with relatively young folks and some oldsters that tend to interact with them.

Now, when I get back to Maryland, I'll be back to the Nursing Home Set, which includes assisted living centers, retirement communities, and nursing homes. Hey, that's where the money is.

On occasion, I fill in for a friend at an Italian Restaurant, but again, these are somewhat older folks that love to party and dance. I could continue using the 3000, but to be quite honest, I'm really looking forward to getting a new S-950 and utilizing some of the newer features, and hearing the new sounds. So, while many forum members claim that Yamaha mainly targets the Home Player, I believe that Yamaha is targeting a much wider and more diverse audience that includes home players and pros alike. Just a guess, though, because no one other than Yamaha really knows.

Gary

I'm afraid I can't agree, spalding. Yamaha, in their own promo for the audio drums feature, make a point of emphasizing how much more live and punchy the audio recordings are. So, it appears they ARE aware of the need...

Just not how to go about getting it.

Better KITS, Yamaha. Pretty please.

Thanks Dave! I was beginning to think I was the only one out here who actually likes the audio styles.

Joe

Nope, I like a few of them. Most are not what I use though.
The ones I find useful go over very well. As long as I can please my audience and myself it's good.
It will be interesting to see if Yamaha supports the technology at all. My guess is very little.
DonM

BTW, Dave... do you remember ANYTHING on the 'Yamaha Listens' questionnaires about audio drums? Did anyone have even the slightest hint that this feature was coming? Did Yamaha ever ask YOU (obviously, you consider yourself Yamaha's demographic) what you would need for audio drum loops to be a useful feature?

We got blindsided... no-one checked with US (or you, anyway!) what we needed for this feature. I don't recall anyone even ASKING for audio drum loops..! Don't recall anyone asking Yamaha to redo the button layout either, or change the screen angle to make it harder to see.

Only someone extremely partisan about their arranger brand (which no-one can accuse me of being!) can look at this and think it is Yamaha responding to users' needs... Questionnaires are only as good as the questions they ask.

Diki,

Yamaha didn't ask any questions in the questionnaire, they asked for suggestions, many of which related to drum sounds, but most were not very specific other than they wanted livelier sounding drums.

As for the buttons, there were lots of comments about them as well, some individuals asking for positive latch type buttons, while others just wanted a more reliable button system. There were a few comments about the layout of the buttons, mostly individuals wanting certain buttons put back on the surface that had been on previous models, and there were a few that made derogatory comments about the Tyros buttons, claiming they looked unprofessional because of the brightly colored lights.

The questionnaire(s), which were posted on several forums, ran on forever, with hundreds of responses on each site. I sincerely believe that Yamaha did an outstanding job in responding to the wishes of the vast majority of those who posted responses to the "Yamaha Listens" thread. And, to my knowledge, there has been no similar questionnaire posted by any other manufacturer - ever!

Cheers,

Gary

Yamaha is providing these new Sound/Style Packs, offering 64MB of sample space. As I mentioned here I already mailed to Yamaha with the question/suggestion to bring out new Packs with sole emphasis on one instrument, for example one or two blinding Sax samples, a few sounds and a few styles thrown in for good measure.
In the same vein they might offer a package with a couple of new drum sets based on other (better?) drum samples. As far as I know an acoustic piano sample needs a lot of sample space but a drum set does not. In the Korg PA800 I can easily load their previous sets from the former PA models within the space of 64Mb. Mind you,I am technically no judge of affairs here but on analogy of the Korg experience I do not see why, other than reluctance, Yamaha would not be able to release a package with drumsounds and samples that would come close to K and K.

regards,
John