Greetings everyone. Well I did indeed receive my Tyros 3 on Monday as scheduled and let me tell you right off the bat it looks brand new. The person who owned it took extremely good care of it and I'm certain it wasn't used for gigging and from the looks of it the person probably played it very sparingly.

The Tyros 3 did in fact come with some extra goodies like custom styles, pads, registrations and also two Premium packs which are the Euro & U.S. Organ and Choir & Vocals - a $338 bonus for free! It also had 1GB of memory installed which is another bonus and it also included the music stand. I purchased the premium SA2 Trombone on Yammie's website a couple of days ago and I'm also thinking about getting the Pan Flutes. The Tyros 3 voices are superb in many cases and the Drum Kits have indeed been improved substantially over the original Tyros.

I have been dutifully familiarizing myself with the features and functions but I must say the owner's Manual is severely lacking in content. I've had to resort to the internet over and over again for even minor things because the instructions weren't included in the Tyros 3 owner's Manual. I realize Yamaha likes to pinch pennies but you can be penny wise and pound foolish. So that's a minor beef on what is otherwise an excellent high-end arranger keyboard.

Having already played the Tyros 5 extensively I can distinguish some differences in the sounds but you almost need to be an audio engineer to sort them all out. In other words, the Tyros 5 has many outstanding voices but so does the Tyros 3 needless to say. In some cases the Tyros 3 sounds better to my ears in certain instances. To prove my point here is a demonstration performed by an individual on youtube comparing certain string sounds from a Tyros 3 vs. the same setting on a Tyros 5. By the way he is playing everything on a Tyros 5 but he has a Tyros 3 midi'd up to the Tyros 5 enabling him to switch between the Tyros 3 sounds (which he plays first) and the Tyros 5 sounds (which he plays last). You be the judge.



It doesn't hurt to compare an earlier generation arranger keyboard with a newer generation arranger keyboard from the same company. It gives Yamaha an incentive to "keep on its toes" regarding new product releases so that it will ensure quality products are being produced both now and in the future. Musicians want their money's worth on any given product they decide to purchase.

It is in Yamaha's best interest to keep improving their products or they might experience a loss of marketshare. If newer products are in some ways inferior to previously produced products then musicians won't be getting their money's worth in certain ways and especially if the introductory price points are the same. The Tyros 5 lists for $5,299.99 for the 61 key version. The Tyros 3 listed for $5,299.99 when it came out. There are certain voices on the Tyros 5 that seem more realistic than certain voices (in the same category) that are on the Tyros 3. So kudos to Yamaha in that regard. But I take great comfort in knowing I now have an outstanding high-end arranger at a fraction of the cost of a Tyros 5. Hallelujah!

Enjoy what you play! The Tyros 5 is an awesome arranger keyboard and again if people have money to burn then be my guest. The more money that flows into Yamaha coffers the more R&D that will be used to hopefully improve future Yamaha products. Or so the theory goes anyway. I can't wait to see what the Tyros "6" will offer but we will have to wait perhaps 3 or more years before we find out. 256 note polyphony will be a game changer in my opinion. Time will tell.

All the best, Mike