Tyros fever is definitely NOT dwindling, at least not for me. Actually, I'm a bit surprised there hasn't been MORE enthusiam here about it. The Tyros has really surpassed my inital expectations. Powerful, lightweight, easy to navigate, and filled with many impressive sounds and greatly improved terrific sounding styles. In my opinion the Tyros is NOT merely a re-hash of the 9000 or 2000 as was mentioned by some.

I continue to recommend the PSR2000 as the best 'bang for the buck' keyboard, but the Tyros offers improvements & new features, as well as addresses all the weaknesses I found on the 2000: hard drive support, 3x more USER RAM memory, improved keyboard feel & build, 128 vs 64 note polyphony (notes never drop out now), substantially improved styles & sounds (especially the acoustic piano), Large EASY to read & navigate Color LCD display screen, USB support for keyboard file backup and transfer between PC, remote sound editing/creation via PC, more convenient mic iniput volume control, easily attachable/detaching speaker system which sound better than built in speakers can provide, arranger buttons (lighted) which (in addition to looking cool) are much easier to access on the fly, and last but not least, the TYros is VERIFIBLY OS 'Flash -Rom' Upgradeable.


When I initially ordered the Tyros (with a 30 day full refund option) I was admittedly skeptical whether it would be worth the close to $2,500 US dollar street price. It didn't take long for me to become convinced(comparing the PSR2000 & Tyros side by side) that the Tyros is well WORTH the expense. Not only does the Tyros include many substantially improved sounding versions of familiar styles on the 2000 & 9000pro, but the Tyros also offers a lot of fresh new styles as well. On my 2000, I relied heavily on imported & customized Technics KN 'jazz styles' because the 2000's jazz & swing styles (imho) sounded pretty stiff (bad) and plain (boring). The Tyros jazz, swing, and latin bossa styles, on the other hand now really sound musical, and breathe, sounding like a live pro jazz combo rhythm section now. Yamaha's styles are less busy (I like that) than say Ketron's styles, and instead of packing lots of instruments, Yamaha instead concentrated on providing a top quality rhythm section (drums, bass & keyboard/guitar). It's all about quality, not quantity here, and as a keyboard player, I DON'T need (or want) an overly busy accomp which just gets in the way. I really think the STANDOUT improvement with the Tyros is in its terrific swing & jazz styles and it seems that Yamaha has updated the sounds of all its other styles as well bringing to them a new sense of live freshness possibly because they are sequenced at 1929 ppq now. I now play all my jazz/swing standards using the Tyros internal jazz swing styles, and no longer use the Technics styles. Yamaha has really come a LONG way here. The other thing I prefer about Yamaha Tyros styles vs say Technics and Ketron, is that Yamaha emphasize drum kit instruments rather than acoustic instrument sounds for fills. which (to me) more effectively energizes a song (and subsequently the audience).

On the Tyros, I'm now able to perform a bit differently (better) than I was able to on the 2000. On the PSR2000, it was awkward (at best) to switch back and forth between calling up songs from the Music Finder, and then songs located in Registration. Unfortunately the PSR2000 does not include a dedicated 'Regist Bank' BUTTON , so it's not possible to call up a 'Regist Bank' file 'while' in the Music Finder. On the other hand, on the Tyros, there IS a dedicated 'Regist Bank' button, which allows you call up a different 'Regist Bank' while you are still in Music Finder. This subsequently allows you to perform one song selected directly from the Music Finder Database, and then load up the next song, which is instead, stored in Registration Memory, and then easily go back to Music Finder and load up another song from there. On the PSR2000, this is not possible.

Ok, you've heard a lot of glowing remarking about the Tyros so far, so I'll now try to balance this out with negative remarks. Probably the weakest feature on the Tyros is its USB implementation as the transfer rate is unimpressive, especially compared to SCSI or USB 2.0. Still, I like the Tyros' ability to transfer data back & forth between my PC and Tyros as well as easily performing all sound editing via the PC with an impressive full screen view of all the sound editing functions instead from the Tyros keyboard. The USB cable, file management, & voice editing software is included in the price of the Tyros itself, and not some additional add on software/hardware you have to purchase later, as was the case when I owned the Technics KN5000. You can also organize/re-organzie all Tyros files on the Tyros from your PC as well. VERY COOL !

Ok, back to Tyros beefs.Though the LCD screen is very large and easily to read, I do notice myself ajusting the Screen's Contrast level rather often, but perhaps it's just my ageing eyes. Also, though the Tyros build quality seem quite good (btw, did you guys realize that the Tyros is built in China, NOT Japan?), its casing shell is made of plastic (to keep the weight down), which isn't as durable as a metal keyboard shell offers. With it's flashy colored lights and modern design, the Tyros presents an image of high tech flash, a very impressive visual statement which seems to wow everyone in the audience.

Ok, that's my evaluation of the Tyros. After owning it for a month now. The Tyros
is definitely a KEEPER for me. I highly recommend the Tyros and urge everyone to at least audition one (in person) and decide for yourself. I look now forward to reading Tyros reviews from others who actually own one, or at least auditioned one in person.

Scott

[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 01-10-2003).]