Usually Yamaha holds back on innovations for their next model. IMO, Yamaha did not do this for the Tyros 2. If someone were to ask what's next for the Tyros, I would have said more mega voices and some playable, but they came out with the Super articulation voices. They have outdone themselves. Have they changed marketing strategies?
Starkeeper

Ok. They did not give us a 76 note keyboard.

[This message has been edited by Starkeeper (edited 11-25-2005).]

That's what I thought when I played the T2 coming from T1.

It was as if Tyros was a great board, but now Yamaha decided to put a couple of their last secrets into an upgraded board just to really 'finnish the job'.

I believe after this it's going open-source.

It is BRILLIANT to see tyros 1 owners thrilled with their tyros2. Improved styles. Huge quantity of sweet live and cool sounds. Cant wait to try one in february.

Yamaha did come through with added features that had been asked for such as a better Keybed and a Sampler but truthfully the Tyros2' Sampler is not really a true Sampler. It loads and plays 'samples' e.g. .wav files but there is no option to 'edit' those samples such as you can do on the Motif/ES. I think Yamaha is on the cutting edge regarding the new Super Articulation Voices but there have been reports of people not getting the same results that the official Yamaha demos demonstrated. I have listened to the members T2 songs using the SA voices and I do not hear a dramatic difference over the Tyros' Presets. But I will withhold judgement regarding the SA voices until I can play a Tyros2 in person.

There are other improvements such as the Music Finder that now will stay at the last setting (song) after exiting and then re-entering the Music Finder but from the reports from some T2 owners there is still shortcomings on the T2's Music Finder and features Yamaha didn't include.

Also as has been reported the LCD screen is not as 'sharp' apparently as the Tyros LCD screen making viewing more difficult than the Tyros' screen. Someone suggested Yamaha may fix it with an upcoming OS update but I suspect it is most likely hardware related and would require a hardware upgrade. I hope I'm proven wrong and a software patch will do the trick. But don't say I didn't warn you.

Another thing I've found interesting is even though Yamaha was suppose to make the Keybed with a much more suitable action and feel I've heard little praise or acclaim from owners about the Keybed's virtues. And while I've heard that the T2's keybed is similar to the Motif/ES's Keybed, the first thing I said when I played my new Tyros over two years ago was it felt very similar to my recently owned Motif ES7's keybed. Which is very interesting indeed since the T2's Keybed is suppose to be vastly improved over the Tyros' Keybed. And just one more reason I really want to get my hands on a Tyros2 so I can compare them.

So to wrap it up I think Yamaha has listened to an extent on our wish lists for the T2 but regarding several things they didn't. Such as a 76 key version (although a 76 key version 'may' be in the works). And I've still yet to hear a good B3 emulation from the T2 which leads me to believe Yamaha didn't come through in that area either. And a true Sampler the T2 has not. But at least you can load samples into it which is some consolation. What else did we wish for.. Oh yeah, 256 note Polyphony, Digital Output, a USB 2.0 or Firewire interface, XLR connectors, and an LCD screen with Super Twist technology so you can see it in bright sunlight conditions.

Oh well, maybe our dream machine will be found in the T3. Or the Roland G90, or perhaps the Korg Pa2X/PRO. Competition is a good thing!

Best regards,
Mike

PS: I do hope Yamaha decided to make a 76 key Tyros2. I would seriously consider getting one if they did. Even though the Polyphony hasn't been improved or the Sampler is not a true Sampler, etc.

There is a help button for each s.art voice that shows u how to play each of those sounds