Let me get right to the point. As you know I bought a Genos two weeks ago and it exceeded my expectations. A really great keyboard for sure.
Well, two days ago I experienced a problem with my Genos to which there is no solution other than shipping it up to Yamaha for repair and I wanted to relay the information to other people who own the Genos so they can be aware of the situation and avoid it at all costs. What am I talking about?

Okay, here it is. You are no doubt aware of the Auto Power Off function on the Genos. Over at PSR Tutorial there is a big write up on the topic where the Auto Power Off function on the Genos does not work properly. The situation I was facing was not that the Auto Power Function wouldn't power off the Genos at a set time but that the Auto Power Off function worked when it wasn't supposed to work. What do I mean? I was in the process of transfering files (midi and style files) from a USB thumb drive to the Genos USER drive. Now according to the manual it says when there is activity going on e.g. playing the keyboard and/or transferring files back and forth on the keyboard itself the Genos is supposed to stay on even though the Auto Power Off is set to a specific time to go off.

During the transfer of files to the USER drive my Genos suddenly turned off. I realized what had happened after I returned from doing something and the Genos was off. Realizing this shouldn't have happened I turned the Genos back on and noticed the folders of the files had transferred to the USER drive but when I touched the folders the files themselves did not show up. Okay, so I deleted the folders and proceeded again to transfer the files again to the USER flash drive. Again, the folders transferred okay but the files themselves still did not show up within the folders. I went ahead and called Yamaha US up in Buena Park, CA. - which is not too far from where I live by the way. I spoke to a nice gentleman, no, not Steve Deming and he said the files were likely corrupted which is what I suspected also. He said to copy a fresh set of files (ones that were not corrupted that were on the USB drive) to the Genos USER drive again and see what happens. After that piece of advice I told him I would do so and if I still experienced the problem I could always call back.

Still no go. The folders showed up but the files themselves did not.
Okay, so I purchased a new USB thumb drive, same model from the same manufacturer i.e. Samsung. What had happened was the previous thumb drive had itself become corrupted. So I put the files on the new thumb drive and proceeded to transfer the files again to the Genos USER drive. Unfortunately the same scenario played out. The folder(s) would transfer onto the USER drive but the files themselves would still not show up within the folder(s). Okay, this is serious folks.

What had happened was the Genos USER Drive became corrupted also and the only remedy was to replace the USER drive on the Genos. I asked the Yamaha tech if it was possible for me to buy a new drive and replace it myself and he said no, the flash memory drive is attached (hard wired) to the mainboard essentially and was not replaceable by someone other than Yamaha. To make a long story short I had no other choice but to return my Genos to GC for a refund. It's a good thing too because if I had waited three more days I wouldn't have been able to return it. I explained the situation to the Guitar Center store manager and he agreed to refund the whole amount.

So I wanted to give Genos owners a heads up about the potential serious condition so other Genos owners won't experience the same situation I had encountered. Again, the Genos was NOT suppose to shut off when activity was going on on the keyboard itself. In fact, I had the wireless LAN on the Genos connected to my router and that little bit of signal variation kept the Genos from going off even though the Auto Power Off feature was set to go off at a specific time. I obviously presumed the Genos would not go off when transferring files to and from the Genos but I was wrong. You've heard of Tesla cars "bricking" themselves when the battery on them drains completely? The only remedy in that situation is replacing the battery at the tune of tens of thousands of dollars.

At this point I think I'll put my Genos ambition on hold until Yamaha addresses the situation and provides a solution. If I purchase another Genos I would definitely disable the Auto Power Off feature until I had assurances from Yamaha that the matter was resolved. But until that time I'll probably hold off or just wait until Genos 2 which will hopefully resolve the polyphony anomaly. Do you realize that the Yamaha P-255 keyboard has "256" note polyphony allocated across the ENTIRE RANGE OF THE KEYBOARD and it only costs $1,299? Yet the $5,499.99 Genos only has 128 note polyphony for the preset voices and 128 note polyphony for the expansion voices? Sad, very sad.

Have a great weekend, what's left of it!

All the best,

MIke

Mike...well at least you got to try one out,....sorry to hear about this problem with the file transfer I would be livid if after paying so much money for a keyboard that I would have to get aggravated with stuff like this as you mentioned, glad you were able to return it with no problems to the store,......I wonder how many owners are also experiencing this problem with GENOS? that being said what is your over all opinion/review of the Genos? and what will be your next purchase for an arranger KB if at all or?

I have never used the "auto power off" feature on any of my keyboards so I can't comment on how well it works or not. I have not found a reason to do so. That said, I have played my Genos daily for hours at a time with absolutely no issues so far. I have used several different thumb drives - transferred files to and from the user drive many times all with no problems.

The ONLY complaint I have so far is this. The over-all sound of the Genos is outstanding -but, the OTS voices and the various style parts are not as well balanced as they were in the Tyros line of keyboards. On live gigs it is often necessary to reach for the sliders for a quick adjustment. The problem with that is the way the sliders work - they have to be moved up and down or down and up to make the adjustment pending on if you need more or less volume. It is also not easy to quickly locate the correct slider while playing live.

The good thing is the adjustments to the styles can be made and saved easily and the problem is fixed - it just takes time.

Deane

Wow, usually the trouble occurs 3 days AFTER you can return it!

The Auto-Off provision was created with the PSR-S950. The default setting is 30 minutes. I really never found a good use for it, but someone must have thought it was a good idea to have the keyboard shut down after a half-hour of non-use.

Now, why not just turn off the Auto-Off feature and not send the Genos back. They will likely fix this with a software update - it's not a hardware problem.

Gary

Gary,
He was told by Yamaha that the USER drive might be corrupted. I wonder if he did what I did once. I transferred files to the Genos and all went well until I opened the folder and they were not there. It was NOT a Genos issue but a user error on my part. If you want to find styles you have to be in style mode. If you want to find registrations you have to be in registration mode etc.. Dah!

Deane

In My Genos I did transfer all my files, and I can say that I am a "heavy" user, meaning tons of files....and NO problem at all.

I think you forgot to hold and press the first note(Lowest) while turning the Genos on, Before you begin to do any transfers, this procedure takes out the turn off feature, at least is the easiest way.

I do assist to resolve some issues that some PSR S/Tyros 5 that some users have, and I can say that 98.99% is a user issue, not the instrument.

My 2 Cents

Manuel

Sorry to hear about your problems, i am quite sure a future software patch will repair this for all other users.

But then, thats why i never buy any electronic equipment thats software based in the first 6 months after release. problems like this are just going to excist no matter how good the intentions and the quallity of the Company and product.

I still don’t understand people that require their keyboards for gigging and making their living jump on a new keyboard like a child jumps on its christmas presents.

"I still don’t understand people that require their keyboards for gigging and making their living jump on a new keyboard like a child jumps on its christmas presents."
This is some great advice. I haven't always heeded it though, and sometimes it will bite you if you jump too soon.
Yamaha does have a good history of having things ready to go when the models are released though.

I have had mine for 6 weeks and have not had any of the issues you are having

seems kind of odd to me .

done lot of downloads ect.

sounds like user error

I played big show last night new sounded so good .

I think you should look to see what you did here.

it ussaly the puttey and not the putter

I am in so cal if you need any help.

be happy to help you .

Is it possible mike just wasn't "thrilled" with the genos after he got it,... its possible? and just decided to return it while he could aside from also having maybe a defective genos with the file transfer problem too to add to the disappointment?.....If someone loved the NEW unit wouldn't you exchange it for another asap, or? Good luck to Mike whatever he decides next.

I thought I heard Mike say he HAD to return it or send it in for repairs?? The internal User EPROM was hosed.....Operator error can not cause this issue.....unless you would turn off the board while file transfer is occurring...then maybe. It would be nice for the OS to be able to re-initialise (format) the memory as I'm thinking it's not really bad hardware wise.

I would actually be inclined to the same as what Mike has done... If I bought a brand new product that was just released and it had a major flaw where the manufacturer actually recommends returning it for repairs, Id take my money back asap and get rid of the product before something else could go wrong...

Sit on my money for a few weeks or months to see if the company responds with a rectification before making another decision.

I cant see how this is a "user error" either... im sure he did everything correctly - really how can u screw up in this situation?

Certainly not to change the topic, but, only to point out that Yamaha does, indeed, have problems, occasionally, with new products----here’s my tale: Way back when, I bought a new Tyros 2, only to find out upon arrival that all of the styles played out of tune with the right hand voices-----a full step, or more. Yamaha had me return it for repairs, which they kindly made. It worked out OK, despite the hassle for a while.

Yes, yamaha has the best record in buiseness by far.
And yet they have nor clean sheet.

Just to give an example..
Over at our IT departemnt
When there is a new windows version
It takes atleast a year before we install it
Just let others hunt the bugs.

And i put auto update off on my apple devices
Just to give it a few weeks, and see if there are any major problems

And the same goes for keyboards.
Just wait a month or so before software updates
And 6 months before buying.
And i am not even a gigger.

(also you get much better deals 6 months down the road)

Deane, the Yamaha rep said the "files" were likely corrupted. It was through trial and error I discovered the USER drive was also corrupted.

All the best, Mike

Yes indeed Don! More often than not the problems seem to happen after the return window expires. If that was the case with my Genos I would've had to ship it up to Yamaha US and I don't think Yammie covers the shipping charge even though it was under warranty.

All the best,

Mike

Lee, you can actually format the USER flash drive. I tried that a couple times and it supposedly formatted okay. But even though I formatted the USER drive the problem was not resolved.

All the best,

Mike

Hi Donny. The Yamaha rep I spoke with wasn't aware of anyone else having the same issue although there are only a few people in North America who currently own the Genos. In fact I was the first person in San Diego to have one. So it's probably too early to gauge the relevance of the issue I encountered. I wanted to inform other Genos owners of the potential hazard so it doesn't happen to them. The best way to insure that is to disable the Auto Power Off feature even though the manual states that when there is activity happening on the keyboard e.g. transferring of files, playing the keyboard, playing songs, etc. the Genos should remain powered on. It is only when there is no activity going on that the Auto Power Off feature powers down the keyboard after a specified time. In theory of course.

As far as future plans for a new keyboard I'll probably wait and see what Yammie does with their next firmware update for the Genos to see if they address the issue. If not then I'll probably just wait for Genos 2 and hope for the best. I was hoping Guitar Center in La Mesa, CA had received a second Genos since they were expecting another one soon but they hadn't gotten it yet or else I would have purchased that one.

I would say the Genos is probably the best sounding arranger on the market currently although the Korg Pa4x and Ketron SD9 are excellent arrangers too needless to say. There were some things on the Genos I didn't care for like having to press more things on the touchscreen than I thought were necessary (in some instances) in order to arrive at the spot intended. I wish the LCD screen tilted like the Tyros line did. You can't use the REVO drums in midi songs which was disappointing. The design of the keyboard (the view from the back) is kind of ugly in my opinion. It looks like it has wings and wants to fly away. But overall it has many great features and of course it sounds wonderful which is the Genos' biggest selling point in my opinion.

All the best,

Mike

Can you not turn power saving off I’m almost sure I did on my genos

Mike thanx for the reply......but let me ask you this point blank...in your opinion...Is the genos worth the price?

My 2 cents, even though you asked Mike........YES I tried one at Frank’s store, if you’re a Yamaha arranger fan it’s worth it.

Yes you can disable the Auto Power Off feature. In fact that's what I recommend people do when transferring large amounts of data to the Genos USER drive.

All the best,

Mike

That is the sixty four thousand dollar question. The real beef I have is the price. Yamaha is charging a premium for the Genos yet enough people take the bait so they keep charging an arm and a leg. Now if people don't mind forking over big bucks for what is considered an excellent keyboard then everyone is happy including Yamaha obviously.

In my case, I thought it was time for an upgrade but looking back (hindsight is always 20/20) I still enjoy my Tyros 3 and in fact the Tyros 3 is easier to navigate in my opinion. If Yammie reduced the price to be competitive with the Korg Pa4x more people would be able to enjoy the Genos and the price would be more in line with what the Genos is actually worth in my humble opinion. So the bottom line is that everyone has to decide for themselves if the Genos is really worth it. It really would be worth it if it cost around $3,999 instead of $5,499 but that's just my own personal opinion.

All the best,

Mike

Mike thank you for your very honest opinion that I think many people want to say and are thinking at this time regarding the price for what your getting vs the competition which is just as good or better at much less cost for what your getting. Your Tyros 3 can certainly produce the goods in many many ways in the hands of a pro like yourself. Slowly the truth surfaces once the :newness" wares off the more people experience genos. Good luck to all and enjoy what you play.

I sent a Genos video to my cousin who does about 25-30 gigs a month...nursing homes, parties etc. He mostly uses a Casio PX 5S. He asked me what he would gain by spending over 5 times more on the Genos than he did on the Casio?

I found that one difficult to answer. 😊

How about doing 35 to 50 gigs a month, larger, more attentive audiences, more side jobs that pay significantly more, because he sounds so much better. Pretty easy to answer.

Good luck,

Gary