Hi Dnj,

In South Africa the Tyros 5 cost exactly five times what I've paid for the S950. And more than twice what I paid for the Audya before the upgrade.

I just put out my feelers. If nothing comes of it, I'll just keep them. No harm done in testing the waters. The market for arrangers over here is not what you are used to & even the two different music dealers where I've bought my Korg PA50SD & my S950 knew nothing about the Audya. Hard to believe but really true!

The Audya is really great, but my personal fulfillment in styles lies with the Yamaha instead. The Audya is an excellent arranger for someone skilled in playing on his own and especially for those like Fran who does not like over crowded styles. Had he ever played with an Audya for awhile, he would have owned one.

I've been retrenched at work as they've mothballed our project over at EXXARO after over ten years with the company. So I have ZERO buying power for the moment. As such, if I cannot swap, I'll simply have to keep what I have.

It would have been a good deal for both parties should anyone have been interested or even if DonM had a used Tyros 5.

Henni

IMO I'd say with the S950/Audya combination you have the best of both worlds and could do pretty much anything with them both......good luck in your quest.

Here's what it is,

I've finally figured it out after spending some more time on the Audya. The Audya is for real musicians who can play for real with their right hand. All the voices are there, but you the player must use them. In return you get the most realistic backing ever.

The Yamaha is good for me because I'm more of a programmer than a real time musician. I can push buttons, play chords, use intros & endings for better effects. I can utilise all the "Wow" of an arranger, but I cannot play in real time. Hence the Yamaha is better suited for me. By merely pushing the right buttons, I can create spectacular stuff, but really it is the arranger doing it and not me.

I say again, the Audya does EVERYTHING exceptionally well that Fran describes. He would fall in love with it quickly. DonM plays guitar & other instruments on an keybed like the real thing. So he'll get the best out of the stunning voices of the Audya & the styles won't over power his playing.

So, the Audya is good for real musicians, the Yamaha also. But it has enough wow things which can be had by the simple push of a button so that someone like me can also create some stunning stuff with it.

You start off with most Yamaha intros & viola, the WOW! is there before you've even started the song. Good for me, but bad for a real musician who wants to play the intro himself as it sounds in the original song.

We do Gospel, so any intro goes as we do not imitate any specific music. I press intro in the middle of a song and WOW! again. a True musician would NEVER do that. Ketron specifically created intros in such a way that is does not effect the song to be played. Good for a real musician, but bad for me...

So, an Audya in the hands of a true musician sounds truly amazing, even spectacular. But the Yamaha in my hands, also sounds spectacular, but it's mostly the arranger doing the "wow" & not me. Hence I like busy styles as I cannot contribute anything else to it apart from the right chords.

Fran, I know you don't want mine, so this is not a hint. You will LOVE the Audya - you should really inspect it closer.

Henni