I have both the original and the new type.

The column is identical to the old model, but the legs have been improved. Now when your setting up the keyboard stand they click into place so you don't have to put your hand underneath to spread out the legs.

The arms are the same, but the part that connects to the column does feel a little cheaper than the old design.

The arm for carrying the stand on the old model is way better than the new model. The new model doesn't have a collapsible arm at all so I can see it getting broken very easily.

All in all I don't think it's an improvement on the old design. It just feels a little cheaper. I'd still buy one of these stands in a heartbeat over anything else on the market, but the new one compared to the old one is not really much of an improvement. Sort of like one cool feature, but cheapened down a little.

Regards
James