I think that Ian's choice of Yamaha is what has driven his job with them, not the other way around.

OTOH, his delusion comes from the lack of understanding that what works for HIM, doesn't necessarily translate to nirvana for others. Just as my choice of nirvana is his idea of hell!

Strangely, he never makes that leap of logic... Just blithely prattles on about the 'perfect arranger (the S900)' as if there is some kind of universality about it.

The S900 may indeed be one of the better 'pure' arrangers out there. But many of us need FAR more than a simple arranger to cover the wider choice of music and ensemble than he does. I always take what Ian says with a tempering of knowledge that he isn't trying to stretch on the keyboard as much as some of us. If he wants to play piano, he takes a whole other keyboard! If he needs a workstation, he'll use one of those.

Me, I'd rather one keyboard do it all adequately, than haul around multiple keyboards to do it a hair better (if that!)...