Hi, I'm looking to get an arranger keyboard but with the phasing out of the psr 2000 and 9000 and the high price tag on the Tyros, I'm thinking of brands aside from Yamaha. I had the PSR 2000 for a few weeks and liked it overall though I wasn't taken by the string sounds and the string bass had a glitch (on two different units).

I'm looking for something in the $1500 - 2000 US price range and wonder what else can be recommended. This'll be for performance and some compostion and I need to be able to import styles on floppy disc.

Thanks for suggestion.

Pashmee,

I use Korg PA80 which costs about $2000 + tax. There are things I like and don't like about the keyboard.

* I like its sounds a lot.
* I also like the fact that you can replace all factory styles with user styles.
* I like the voice editing capabilities
* I do not like most of the factory fill-ins and hate the break, but there are people who like that.
* I do not like the fact that sometimes the voice truncates when you switch to another voice.
* I don't like that it has only two fills, but still I can program intro1 and intro2 as fills and end1 and end2 as intro and end and that works fine for me.
* Since I use both fills and intros as fills in the user styles, I have two sets of fills that behave differently; I like that too.
* OS may not be as user friendly as that on Yamaha's, but you can learn it. The only problem is when you have to press more buttons than necessary while playing live; your time is limited no matter how well you know the OS.
* More than anything else I dislike that Korg support (USA) ignored my emails several times (not every time).

By count, there are more things I dislike than I like about the PA80, but the things I like still overweighs the things I dislike.

Hope this helps in making a decision
Shiral

You might want to look at the 9000 again. My local dealer has just got a load of 9000s in at the reduced price of $2700 Can ($1800 US). Maybe your local dealer can get the same deal.

Bryan

I would go on a XD9... but maybe you don't like it...?

That's right! The fact it's being phased out doesn't make it a worse board, it just makes it cheaper to buy one. You can buy a brandspanking new PSR9000 now for a little more than half the $$ I paid for mine 2 1/2 years ago. And you get a first class arranger that does everything the Tyros does and more.

ev

Stick with the 2k--it still sounds better than nearly every other manufacturer's top end board, has more options and if you're playing professionally, you can beat the MFD.

OK - reality check here. The 2k is a respectable sounding instrument but it does NOT compare to anyone's top end stuff...... excpet maybe Gem. Let's not get nuts here. it's a great mid-range instrument with some nice features and sounds ...but it's NOT a top contender. It's a good bargain, with a lot to offer, and a lot of sacrifices.

Pashmee,

The PSR2000 is an ok keyboard, but if you want something that sounds really great I would suggest the same thing as Luis.
The Ketron XD9 is a fantastic keyboard, The sounds are breathtaking, and the styles are great too.
I've literally compared these two boards, Ketron on the left, Yamaha on the right.
Played the same tune with different sounds on both boards.
Conclusion:
Ketron sounds 10x better.
Also, the styles are much better and way more realistic.
So I would definitly go for the XD9.
You can listen to some demos on http://www.mira-multimedia.de/KetronHotline/xd9demo/xd9demo.htm

But I don't think the demos represent the keyboard very well.
If you really want to know how this thing sounds you must check it out for yourself.

I hope this helps

Greetz,
Marcel