Chas,

I too had an opportunity to play Tyros 2 this week at a store for the first time, and also the pleasure of meeting Manuel Dorantes again.

I must say, that when I played the T2, my reaction was similar to yours - I was pretty underwhelmed. It's not that the T2 sounds bad - the sounds are all OK. But the feeling I have had playing Tyros was as if being in the acoustically insulated clean room, where you can hear every dust particle fall and make noise. On the other hand, I too play the G1000, and it sounds more like in a live concert on a big stage - big sound, and it does not seem to matter if the instruments do not sound as pristinely clean - they just come together during play.

I must say, however, that when Manuel demonstrated to me the proper technique of playing the SA voices (e.g. SA guitars), they sounded extremely realistic - I can see how someone would love the playing, say, solo guitar (I think the advantage becomes lesss apparent when the accompaniments are playing along), though it does require mastering a proper technique for playing. I hardly ever play solo guitar in any of my music, since I come from the background of clarinet/sax. To my ear, the tenor sax of the G1000 is great, and the SA tenor voice of T2 is not better, though I did not compare the two side by side.

I also felt constrained by the lack of 76 kets, although, I am confident that depends on the style of your play. I am sure some people, even while having the 76 key instruments, play them in a way that is easily adaptable to 61 keys, while others, like myself will feel like they are missing a few fingers. I was also thrown off by the way Tyros' keys protrude above the plastic of the case at the ends of the keyboard (so my pinkies just fell off the keys). I am not a professional keyboard player, and Manuel's keyboard technique puts me to shame, but after playing the G1000's keys, it is hard to switch to anything else.

I must say, though, that T2 is extremely easy to navigate. Even after using my G1000 for 8 years, I still find it a bit difficult to get around, especially while playing live. Also, the multi-pads are a neat option, which would be nice to have on the G1000. I also like having the bells and whistles of T2, such as vocal harmonizer, digital recorder, etc.

I think that liking T2 (or any other keyboard) is a very subjective thing, and depends very much on your style of playing and the music you play. It is good that we have a choice of several high end options. I think that as long as my G1000 is working, I will stick with it, since none of the newer boards provide enough justification for shelling out the extra $$$, but if/when it passes on, I would settle for the 76-key version of the T2, if it is available then.

Regards,
Alex