The T3 will have SAV"2" second generation Super Articulation Voices. It will purportedly have 8 or 9 Sliders below the LCD screen. I also wouldn't put it past Yamaha to up the polyphony ante somewhat, say, 192 polyphony. If I'm wrong and it's still 128 note polyphony then it is definitely a case of Yammie trying to squeeze every last ounce out of that standard and milking it for all it's worth. But with Ketron coming out with the Audya (eventually that is.. ) with its 197 or 256 note polyphony Yamaha might up the ante with the T3.

>> I agree about the Drums. If the T3 doesn't have professional sounding Drum Kits there would not be a real reason to upgrade from a T1 or T2 in my opinion. And depending on how well the SAV ("2"nd generation) is received by consumers, will ultimately be another critical deciding factor on whether or not to upgrade to a T3. A major sound improvement with SAV"2" would be quite a feat by Yammie if they pull it off. We will have to wait until late October thru till the middle of November and see how it all pans out. Yamaha might surprise us though with an early release date on the T3. Bring it on! Although I won't be getting one anyway cause it ain't got no 15 extra keys tacked on to it. And 50% percent of arranger keyboardists feel much the same way as I do. But Yamaha has Europe to fall back on with its abundance of 61 keyers so all is apparently well in Yammiedom regardless of how many T3's they sell in the U.S. or Canada. Or even Asia for that matter. Europe is Yammies gold mine and if Europe wants and plays nothing but the 61 key high-end arrangers then that's what Yamaha will make and "continue" to make, regardless of how many people and/or what percentage of the population in the U.S., Canada, or Asia want or need 76 keys or 'more' for their arranger playing needs. Yamaha gets a whiff of all that money and bottom line potential in Europe and that's what they put all their hopes and effort in to please and pursue. And all the 76 or 88 key arranger musicians be damned according to their business philosophy of - money trumps all. Even people.

Sorry for my rant. But when my blood starts to boil I got to let out some steam or I might break a few blood vessels. And unfortunately we were in the midst of a discussion about a certain Yamaha product when it started to boil.

Best,
Mike