Don't agree with you...

I have a Pa2x, a T2, and now a T3, and its not such a great upgrade.

The SA2 clarinet, trumpet and sax are very good - but that's all I can say is the real upgrade.

The new drums are even more plastic sounding than the old ones. The piano is shinier than the Korg's but the Korg's is more authentic for solo playing. Guitar mode on Pa2x by far, far, outshines anything that the T3 can do. The FX on the T3 are slightly better than the T2, but performing through a sound system in an ambient hall those small differences will be immediately lost. The sliders are not nearly as customizable as Korg. You're right that Korg has them placed in the wrong place on the keyboard but at least they do things! Comparatively, on the T3, you are EXTREMELY limited in what you can do with the sliders - even the programmable one.

If you own a T2, I would not suggest upgrading to the T3 unless you play lots of Irish or Klezmer music (Irish pipes and clarinet). That clarinet is amazing for Jewish music.

Of course the T2 is better than the T3, but I would not go so far as to call it a "T2 on steroids." I think it should be called T2.1.

I'll write up a fuller review next week.

(PS: with regards to the manual, Yamaha's is just as long as the Korg's -- it's just that Korg is nice enough to print you the full thing, whereas on Yamaha if you want the FULL manual, you've got to print it yourself...)

[This message has been edited by chony (edited 10-16-2008).]