It's not hard to find a decent used Tyros 2, with speakers, for less than the most heavily discounted PSR-S910.

How would you advise a potential buyer?
Is the Tyros 2 superior enough to forego the warranty that comes with a brand new S910?

The Tyros 2 is an excellent keyboard and I would not hesitate to advise you to purchase it, simply because you can do so much with it and there are lots of 'styles' available free or, to buy on the internet which should keep you interested for a very long time.

The PSR-910 is a younger keyboard and therefore has a better sound system. It is also lighter to carry if you 'gig' but it is a bit limited in what it can do in comparison with the Tyros 2.

This is just my opinion - the choice is yours of course.

Audrey

Opinions are exactly what I'm looking for, Audrey! I may be a new member, but I've been reading this board for a long time previously and I know you and others are very experienced, so your opinions are invaluable. :-)

Could you possibly expand a little on the S910 being "a bit limited"?

I've noted a few advantages of the T2 that I think could be important, but I have probably missed some . . .

T2 ADVANTAGES
1. After touch keys
2a. 3 Foot pedal sockets (instead of 2)
2b. Can use MFC10 foot controller
3. Can install 2.5" IDE Hard Drive onboard
4. Onboard PSU (Eliminates wall wart!)
5. Standard VGA Monitor D-sub connector - higher resolution than phono socket that PC monitors rarely have anyway.

Am I right in thinking that neither of them have LEDs along the panel, above the keys, to show the keyboard split at a glance? Hard to believe that no longer exists . . .

Hello John,

I don't know much about the S910 only to say when I heard it demonstrated by James Sarjeant at a show, I was impressed with the voices, styles and sound it produced.

I help to run a Keyboard Players Club and some of our members are coming to my home on Wednesday next for a 'session' and one of them has an S910. His 'gigs' are mainly for dancing and he chose the S910 because it is lighter to carry around. I'll ask him what he likes about the actual keyboard and will report back to you a.s.a.p after his visit.

Yes! you are correct about the split point. Another thing I cannot get used to is the transpose goes up/down in 'numbers' whereas all other instruments I've had shows the 'key' it's in e.g. Bb, F# etc. Also, the movement of the registrations when using a footpedal is not only very difficult to see because it is so small, but if you start at reg.1 and then progress to 2 using the footpedal, it the readout will follow you but if you then manually press the next reg. button, the readout doesn't move, so you can be playing reg. no.6 and the readout is still showing 2 - weird or what?

Audrey

Hello John,

Re: Yamaha PSR S910 v. Tyros 2 - As promised, below are the comments made by our keyboard member who owns both these models (I didn't know this) but at least they are genuine informative comments:-

1) PSR S910:

The S910 is superb - I love it. Having both the Tyros 2 and the 910, I find myself playing the 910 most.

There are 'fors' and 'against' I suppose, depending on your needs i.e: Playing out, the keyboard is much easier to transport as it has built-in speakers so not so much to transport.

The keys are not so heavy. (more like an accordion) I don't like weighted or semi-weighted keys.
Sounds and rhythms are better than the Tyros 2 - more like the Tyros 3.

Easy recording - especially 'WAV'

Only two sounds in the right hand. (slightly miss having 3 sounds).

Only 1 USB Card socket.

Music stand is TERRIBLE - it's too far away and is so flimsy it's no good for heavy weight music books/folders.



2) TYROS 2:

Sounds and rhythms are slightly 'sharper'.

Three sounds in the righthand.

Plenty of FREE and Professional software available for it.

More programmable.

More USB Sockets and Computer Direct Connection facility.

Music stand slightly better, but still flimsy and too far away for comfort.

More gear to transport when 'gigging'.


Well! there you have it John - the decision is yours. Good Luck!

Audrey

Audrey

Thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to produce that - it's very useful :-)

Having said that, I still think I'd better think long and very hard before actually laying out any lolly. Gigging out is so unlikely for me at this stage of my life, that the 'all in one box' aspect of the S910 probably doesn't matter very much, although having fewer wires trailing around can't be discounted altogether . . .

The extra connectivity of the T2 could be an influencing factor as I do intend to link up with a computer at some point.

I really will think very deeply about this and thank you again for making the effort.

If anyone else has any comments to make, they would be more than welcome :-)

You're welcome John.

By the way, do you know 'demos' of both instruments can be heard on the Yamaha Musical Instrument site.

Enjoy!

Audrey

Yes, soundwise S910 is more like T3, more modern. But mechincally Tyros 2 is much more rugged, with a much better keyboard. The keyboard of S910 in my opinion feels rubberish and toy-like.
This is my feedback on top of the specs above.

I myself have a T4 but have had T2 and T3 in the past. In the shop I have played a little with S910

Regards, Fred

www.mellink.info

Interesting- I just spent a good amount of time this week with my friends 910 and my Tyros 2 side by side.

You would be well served with either keyboards. I happen to like the feel of the T2 much better. The keys, the buttons, the layout...

I think both sound good- the Tyros 2 does not sound any better.

It's a hard call- especially since you can get a warnity with a new 910...

good luck- let us know which one you get.

Think about resale, you will always want to get new stuff and get rid of the old. You can sell PSR910 much easier than Tyros 2 as the 910 is current model, the tyros 2 is 2 generations old.
I'd say, get PSR or save and get Tyros 4

Had the T2 and the 910 and my advice, "go for the T4 " If you can't then have a T3. The 910 for playing out is to small and rubber buttons.

Sooooo John, what did you get in the end? Are you happy with the purchase?

Not to complicate the decision any more but I just saw in another thread that a new "replacement" model for the psr910 is due out in 5 months...that changes the resale value theory..I have contemplated choosing between these two also. Can the internal speakers be turned off in the 910 without disabling the line out as well?

Have you tried just plugging in a headphone in or just a jack in. Then the audio to the speakers goes to the headphone. Line out should not be affected - anyone tried that on a psr910?

Allan

I use the headphone out on my Orla but am considering installing a dpdt switch for the speakers themselves. Even though there should be a minimal preamp in the headphone out the volume is lower than I would like. Ihave already installed an internal transformer and IEC female jack to eliminate the power supply that came with the keyboard. Plugged the original power input.

One of our Club members has the PSR910 and during a recent conversation he told me he has never used the speakers that come with Tyros keyboards and neither does he use the on-board speaker system with his PSR910 but always uses his own speaker system, so it must be possible to turn them off. I'll probably see him tomorrow, so I'll ask him to explain.

Audrey

In the manual it says...."Connect a pair of headphones to the [PHONES] jack. The internal stereo speaker
system is automatically shut off when a pair of headphones is plugged into the
[PHONES] jack."
Allan

The line out on my Orla is also disabled when the headphone jack is used. Can anyone verify that this does not happen with the psr 910?

The line out is NOT affected, only the speakers; same as on my old Technics KN5000 keyboard.

Allan

Im really getting frustrated with the limitations of the Orla. I'm only keeping it for the button/key configuration. Guess I'll install my own speaker cutoff switch. Another custom modification that should have been designed in. Yamaha here I come....when new 910 replacement comes out......

So I went to Sam Ash yesterday to play the 910. I was met by my friend who is a T-2 user, and this was his first time at the 910. He was surprised at the quality and bass of the speakers though he uses his own that carry the main mix rather than just the keyboard for monitoring. He did notice a difference in some sounds saying some 910 sounds had a built in chorus affect that was not affected by the available adjustments. And as said before, the tyros seemed to have more presence. Of course he modifies everything in his T2 and we played the 910 with factory settings which may account for the difference. I like the smaller size- the T-2 seems like an aircraft carrier to me. And I wouldn't miss the 3rd sound- I can add my sd4..

Hey, which ORLA model do you have at the moment?

the kx10 accordion keyboard for now...I have had other Yamaha keyboards in the past. Hidden from pic next headphone jack is a newly installed paddle switch for speaker cutoff.

Wow, what a machine you have there; do you do a lot of entertaining? There accordion bass is very specialized for keyboards so it's hard to get the right board for your needs.

Still may not keep it- I might opt for a PSR910, a used SD5 from Ketron, or used PA800 from Korg and add the Mastersound button chord/bass. Interested?