Today I had a small gig and decided to take out my good old E70. I figured with the house PA I only need speakers for monitoring. Well, the internal speakers of the E70 did that job just perfectly.
Although I am pretty much used to schlepping my G1000 with a 60 lbs. amp to even small gigs, it was great to have to carry only the one keyboard case (and a stand). Only one cord to plug in to hear myself, another cord to plug into the house PA, and you are flying. A single power switch, no need for sound check... After a gig like todays, Uncle Dave's argument for on-board speakers especially resonates with me.

Too bad none of the high-end instruments combine the on-board speakers with the 76 keys (though many of them are long enough to do that). Perhaps one the future Tyros version will have that, so I hope Yamaha (and others) are listening.

Regards

A Yamaha spokes person told me that the Tyros is unlikely to have a 78 note version due to not being cost effective. It would have to be priced high, so unlikely to sell in the numbers required.

Graham

Graham,

This could be the case; however, over the years I have learned to take marketing predictions about the absence of the new products with a grain of salt - way too often they are concerned that trumpeting the plans for future gear may hurt the sales of the current products (e.g. Tyros and 9000Pro), especially as Tyros is brand new, and the 9KPro stock is not fully gone. They would much rather prefer that users like me pay for a Tyros, and then pay again for the "Tyros Pro". Yamaha is not the only one doing that.

Regards,
Alex

I hear ya Alex! Thereis nothing like having a monitor right where YOU are on stage. Makes it almost like playing a "real" instrument, huh? If it were an acoustic piano, you'd expect to hear it from your seat, right? That's MY approach to electronic gear ...... it gives me options, that's all. NO sound is not an option for me !