Scott's opening statement is really the key to all of this. There are several things to consider, and in the end what is important to me might not be the deciding factor for the next person. In my own case, I like the Tyros a lot and I would love to be able to just go pick one up, but as I play the board and consider the reasons I would spend the bucks on it, it really may not be the best choice for me vs a 2000 / 2100. Each has one thing that detracts from it for me. In the case of the 2100, it's the key feel. In the case of the Tyros, it's the lack of onboard speakers, which does not make me happy when performing live.

My next arranger will be a second arranger to go along with my PA80, and primarily in that capacity I'm looking for a board that will serve me well for live play. I already have the Motif workstation, so I don't need another Yamaha board for the studio, and none of the arrangers available will match it for the features that are important to me anyway, although the 9k pro would come closer than any of the others. For me, the PA80 does double duty, and is one of the only arrangers that I've played that meets my criteria for the studio ( lots of editing power ) and it is pretty good for live play to boot. My 740 was a decent board and the sounds were very good but it lacked a bit ( ok a lot ) in the features dept and really wasn't suited for me for live play. The harmonizer and several other features are vastly improved on the 2000.

I am going to wait it out and check the 2100 out when it becomes available. The Tyros is a fantastic arranger, no doubt, but I don't need to plunk down the money it commands right now. I can get by just fine with what I have already but I still like doing the occasional live thing and a second arranger would be nice to have. I have my eye on other equipment and synths for the studio as well, so for now there is no Tyros in my future. Someone mentioned the Fantom. Nice board but I agree, the soundset could be a little better, and there is no sampling onboard or provision for user arps. Roland plans a new version with sampling that is due out later in the year, so I'll be giving that a look to see if there are other improvements as well. In it's favor, it is a breeze to navigate functions vs the Motif. If I did have "Tyros" money to toss around though, I'd really be looking at the new Moog anyway. Awesome sounding analog modeling board ( I got to play with one yesterday )

AJ