Steve Deming could settle this matter in a heartbeat but doing so would likely spoil the hype surrounding Yamaha's new Flagship arranger. In other words, keep people guessing, in order to fan the flames of mystery and intrigue. Personally I think it will have a touchscreen. We'll know one way or the other in six months or less most likely.
Everything is going to touchscreen. Smartphones, tablet computers, laptops and even many Desktop PC's are now touchscreen capable. Korg's visionary lead regarding touchscreen enabled devices speaks highly of Korg's rising prominence in the music industry. Korg's new PA900 will be a direct competitor to the Yammie PSR-s950 but the Korg seems to be a much better deal for the money in my opinion. It will cost the same as the PSR-s950 but it will have more powerful onboard speakers (20w x 2) plus a beautiful 7" touchscreen LCD and lo and behold it also has 'after-touch' which is a high-end feature. And don't forget the onboard TC-Helicon vocal harmonizer! Competition is good for the industry and it looks like Yammie will be playing catch up once the PA900 arrives in stores.
If rumors about the Tyros5 (or whatever they call it) are indeed true then I hope common sense prevails and they release it at a competitive price point. I should mention there is still a big market for luxury goods even in this current global economic downturn. Because of that fact I think Yammie will price it @ $5,000 + which might appeal to oil sheiks in Saudi Arabia, etc. but not so much to average consumers who have been negatively impacted by the recent global recession. In America the economy is starting to show signs of life again (in certain areas) and home and property values have also risen recently which are reasons to rejoice. But if Yammie prices it @ $5,000 + they will immediately alienate millions of people from potentially purchasing one because of its astronomical price tag. I'm sure they've already figured that scenario into the equation, and therefore, if they do decide to charge an arm and a leg they would give the appearance of caring more about profit and their own bottom line rather than competiveness or customer satisfaction. Greed is another word for it. Time will tell.
I don't mind forking over five grand for an arranger if it's actually worth the price of admission. In other words, the sounds and features must be top-notch and the build quality must also be superb and it must also have fast processor(s) that can handle heavy work loads. Plus it should also have excellent key action and be relatively light weight. A person must also be able to navigate the buttons, knobs and/or sliders in low-light venues. Hopefully Yamaha learned their lesson with the PSR-s950/750. Two keyboards that are practically impossible to use in low-light situations (without adding an external light source - such as a flashlight, etc.) and was one of the main reasons I returned my PSR-s950 two days after purchasing it.
For what it's worth my short list now includes the Korg PA900 even though it too only has 61 keys. Although if the keys are really cheesy I might wait until something else comes along. If the BK-9 had a large high resolution color LCD screen I probably would have bought that. Other people who don't already own an iPad probably feel the same way. If only it had a nice built-in LCD screen... if only. Roland may soon regret their iPad marketing ploy. If sales fall flat they'll have to go back to the drawing board and give customers what they really want. At least that's the theory anyway.
In conclusion I'm looking forward to Yamaha's new Flagship arranger. Of course we all realize it will only have 61 keys.
If it's called Tyros5 it could also be the brunt of a few jokes - Tyros1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9 etc., but if it's the bee's knees regarding sounds and cutting edge features the jokes could turn into jubilation.
If it costs less than five grand that is. Don't hold your breath.
All the best, Mike
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