For me, I have a different view on what constitutes "live" sound and it has not as much to do with the actual (overall) sound of the arranger, as it does with how the arranger is being played.

There are players who play with every note exactly on the beat, use no passing or even slightly complex chords, use very few fills (or too many), who play guitar, sax, organ, strings etc. voices, in the same manner they play a piano...and, the overall sound produced (and performance) falls far short of what could have been achieved. In other words, the amount of "liveness" is created by the performer or player.

Maybe "realism" is a closer word than "liveness"?

I have heard recordings of people playing the Audya (which I consider to have the most realistic sounding rhythm section) sound much less like a live band than someone playing an entry level arranger, because the player's approach and performance on the former was wooden and bland.

I also concede that some arranger brand's drum kits have more "punch" than others, although more equality can be achieved with proper EQ'ing and kit choices.

To clear up the "sweetness" thing, I was referring to the "richness" and "warmth" I hear in the instrument's overall sound (played through the same speakers with the EQ set to flat). The Tyros2 and Tyros4 had a very similar overall tone, and the Tyros and Tyros3 had a strong sonic resemblance. This, of course, is my personal opinion. I have played all these instruments extensively during my work with Yamaha, and got to know each of them at a very deep level, and I spent many hours a day playing and listening through the same speaker system, and also through high quality headphones.

The Tyros3 (and Tyros) were less detailed; e.g. the separate instruments in the style blended together and were less distinct. I keep thinking of the word "blunt" but it's not quite that extreme. The Tyros2 and Tyros4 had more detail and crispness, and, overall were less fatiguing to my ears when used with headphones.

Getting the Tyros3 to nearly the same level of detail as the Tyros4 required a fair bit of work, whereas the latter sounded excellent right out of the box.

I don't want to form my impression of the Tyros5 solely based upon on-line demos, as that isn't fair in my opinion, but I should know more in a week or so, as I am doing a private clinic for a Tyros5-76 owner, who will be bringing the instrument to my apartment, and we will be using my Yamaha MS-60S for both, so a side to side comparison with my Tyros4 should be fairly accurate. He also had a Tyros3 from new, which was just sold to be replaced by Tyros5.

Ian