The Casio PX-5S (256 note polyphony) has been awarded The Music & Sound Retailer's Best Keyboard/Sound Module of 2014. Not bad for a $1,000 great sounding live performance stage piano huh! I can't wait for Casio's new line of arranger keyboards. We'll have to see what Casio has in store at Musikmesse. I don't really expect them to give their new arranger 256 note polyphony although I do expect them to increase the polyphony to 128. Time will tell. I'm sure it will have even better sounds and more features plus 76 keys and a price that likely can't be beat. Casio is breaking new ground and I say good for them.

By the way, my critique of the Yamaha Tyros 5 I posted recently is something I do to any keyboard I feel misses the mark in some significant way. The Tyros 5 sounds great of course (except the B3 organs and maybe a few others) but there is always room for improvement and the Yammie is no exception in my opinion.

If I may. Please bear with me. The one area I feel Yamaha ripped off consumers is obviously the astronomical price tag(s) for the Tyros 4/5. Yammie feels they can charge an arm and a leg because it is obvious to them there are scads of people who don't mind forking over $6,000 for what is at best a $3,000 arranger keyboard in my opinion. Call it a cult following or whatever you like. If people keep paying through the nose Yammie will keep charging an arm and a leg and they laugh all the way to the bank. I know they don't like hearing that kind of thing but it's true and I'm just pointing it out. But I think the only thing that will likely change Yammie's pricing strategy is if enough people revolt and don't buy it and then Yammie will be forced to either reduce their prices or risk economic fallout. They're hoping people don't 'wise up' since it adds significantly to Yammie's own bottom line. Profit above people, unfortunately, and it's kind of sad when you think about it. These are my opinions of course.

Hey, I don't mind if Yamaha makes a decent profit. A company is in business to make a profit and I fully understand that. What I take issue with is Yamaha's greediness concerning the Tyros 4/5 and as a consumer advocate I feel I have an obligation to speak out for consumers which will hopefully effect change at Yamaha central. I realize that's a tall order but stranger things have happened and we can certainly hope for the best right?

There are Yammie employees who peruse this forum and I'm sure they probably hate my guts for calling their beloved company to the carpet. Which doesn't faze me in the least because I believe consumers should be a company's number one priority and Yammie should instead thank me for shining a light in a dark area. In order to effect real change there sometime needs to be drastic measures taken because the lure of money can be so strong that business ethics can sometimes 'fly out the window' which is truly regrettable.

Okay I'll stop. Take a deep breath (not me, ya'll) and let all the anger roll off your back like water off a duck. I'm just the messenger but there are Yamaha loyalists that probably want to shoot me in the back. I guess it goes with the territory.

When you stand up for the consumer there will always be those who would rather defend a company for whatever reason. Perhaps because those very same people are making money from the company and therefore there is a conflict of interest, which is understandable, because people need to make a living and unfortunately the consumer ends up playing second fiddle in the scheme of things. Such is life in the world of business I reckon.

All the best, Mike

PS: I've been rather busy lately and so please excuse me for my sometimes extended absence from this forum. I still want a good arranger in hopefully the near future. I really miss playing an arranger. I would have kept the PSR-s950 if not for the low-light issue that made it almost impossible to navigate in dim lit situations. The search continues.