I have to agree with you, Danny. The Tyros5 does sound very good, but the Tyros4 also had a great sound.

Many new features on the Tyros5 wouldn't be used enough by me to warrant a purchase, and I would have only considered a Tyros5 if I was hankering for 76 keys.

I have never wanted (or needed) 76 on an arranger, and if I intend to play as a solo piano, I only want 88 weighted action keys, so a controller or digital piano would be what i would get. I was using a Yamaha P-95, and I'm considering Casio's PX-5S, but since retiring I spend all my time using the Tyros4 in arranger/style play mode, so even the Casio buy is not confirmed.

I find, from listening to on-line demos, that the Tyros4 is a bit mellower (which I like) than the Tyros5, yet the former still has lots of smooth detail (again, which I like), and Yamaha's overall rich even-textured sound has always kept me firmly in their camp, from way back. It suits the style I play to a "T"...a T4 in this case.

I think the people coming from a Tyros2 or Tyros3 to a Tyros5 will be the ones most impressed.

Ian

Thing is, NO arranger maker has come out with anything RADICALLY different to its previous three or four models. Each one starts with the previous model, adds just a few new sounds or features, and gets the vast majority of the arranger playing market to believe that THIS one, finally, will change how they play!

Truth is, if you didn't make the T2 sound amazing (unlike Bert!), the T5 won't make you sound amazing, either. The dirty little secret of the arranger industry is that it still boils down to the player, and little else.

Yes, the modern Mercedes will go faster, more safely, and arguably a bit more luxuriously (personally, I'm more a fan of older interiors than these modern plastic palaces!) than the old one. But only a BIT... It's not like the old Mercedes WASN'T fast, safe and luxurious. Just that the new one is a BIT better.

I must admit, though, I like to have a chuckle now and again reading Donny get so dewy eyed about the old arrangers and how well they do an awesome job of entertaining your audience, but of course, he is almost definitely the one guy on this forum that has rapidly gone through almost everything ever made, as it comes out!

Talk about not following your own advice!

Well, Diki, I must be hearing something different, then. There is a huge difference between the PSR-3000 and S-950 - HUGE! And, knowing that you have played both board, you KNOW there is a HUGE difference. I suspect the difference between the T2 and the T5 is about equally as big. I, personally, won't know until I get my aging fingers on a T5. I had the opportunity to play the T4 for an hour and it was light years ahead of the T2.

Go figure,

Gary

Perception is in the eye of the beholder, and things that appear highly noticeable to someone intimately familiar with the gear in question, due to daily usage of it, may not be the thing that is noticed by someone simply LISTENING to two related products, but not instantly familiar with what has changed and what was in the old one...

Kind of like two recordings of the same symphony. There are some that can tell exactly which one is which, who conducted what, whether one is on period instruments and the other on modern ones, etc., and then there are the majority of listeners, who will simply notice that it is the same piece. And probably be unable to tell you what is different.

I never said there is NO difference, but to the casual listener, it is often FAR less than the user of the gear would like to think everyone can hear.

As I said,it is the PLAYER that still makes the largest difference, and I honestly cannot think of anyone on this forum that I thought was bad that now suddenly sounds great because they bought a newer arranger!

The current 2nd hand price of T2 overhere in europe has dropped under $1000 ...
Which does not make it a bad bargain does it?