Many good thoughts on this subject. I especially like the thoughts by Zuki that the 9000 Pro sells on reputation alone - that is quite true since most dealers feel the 9000 Pro is too specialized and expensive an instrument to keep on their displays. It's a special-order item in many places. Amazing the 9000 Pro sells at all in that light. I recall that many magazine reviews like Keyboard felt that the 9000 Pro was overly expensive. Even with the introduction of the Tyros, the list price for the 9000 Pro has not dropped and it still sells for more than the Tyros. Despite what Micco and others think (not a criticism against Tyros owners: we all like the Tyros too) the 9000 Pro really does have more features across the board than the Tyros, but possibly at a cost that may be above the breaking point. Is $3,000 the max limit for an arranger?

That still leaves the question as to why Yamaha has not given the 9000 Pro the support that it has given the Tyros. The fact that OPT voice editors come with the Tyros but not for the 9000 Pro either indicates that Yamaha's R&D is going towards the Tyros solely and the 9000 Pro is about to be discontinued, or they just haven't gotten around to developing the 9000 Pro voice editors yet (even though the 9000 Pro has been on the market since early 2001). Since Yamaha got burned by the "too expensive" label on the 9000 Pro, not only is it possible that there will be no "Tyros Pro" in the near future as Graham's sources say, but Yamaha may simply decide to only make 61-note arrangers from now on to keep the price level below $3,000. If that's the case then it's possible that the 9000 Pro may be the last of it's kind, at least from Yamaha.
If other manufacturers heed the lessone learned by Yamaha with the 9000 Pro, are 76-note arrangers an endangered species?