Audya 5 vs Tyros 4, what would you do?

I currently have a Audya 4 and I am having a love hate relationship with it. Here are the positives and the negatives.

Audya - Pros
* Un-paralleled Live sound. Those live drums
* Some of the best Rock, Funk, Ballad, Pop styles around
* Riff Function
* Really good bread and butter sounds; piano, rhodes, organ, sax, brass
* nice playability functions; Hold, Autocrash, Autofill, Pianist, etc.
* simple User Interface.
* Non song specific Styles

Audya - Cons
* Reliability and Quality - this is a big issue for me. how can you rely on this keyboard to do gigs on stage?
* Lack of styles on other Genres like Swing, Jazz, Ballroom, some rock styles like (cup of life), current songs; Ke$ha, Gaga, etc.
* Quantity of styles lacking
* some sounds especially the Guitars, strings, synth sounds are very lacking.
* I find using the Tyros left/right sound buttons more intuitive.
* No OTS or Music Finder
* sometimes the Audio drums get out of sync with the midi file!!
* Lack of ability to create styles IN THE KEYBOARD from scratch.

Tyros - Pros
* Unparalleled sounds across all categories.
* High Quality; Almost perfect track defect track record
* Custom sounds especially drums can be added and stored in Flash Memory
* Very easy OS and play controls.
* High number of styles across all Genres
* Large aftermarket and public domain style support.
* can create styles on-board.
* Tilt-able color screen

Tyros - Cons
* Overabundance of styles that are either song specific or just would not use on a gig
* Lack of RAW Live sound. (can this be adjusted and can it approach the sound of the Audya?)
* Lack of Rock, Pop, Country styles (at least from my experience with a Tyros 2)
* Lack of second Microphone Input
* no riff, makeup, style variation at all.
* no Hold function; meaning stop ALL style sounds keeping the drums playing when hands are lifted off the keyboard.

Have I forgotten any Pros/cons?

Which one would you choose to play live gigs either on a Pool Deck/Tropical; Restaurant/Bar gigs, VFW Hall gigs?

Equipment reliability is my top concern?

Thanks in advance for helping me.

[This message has been edited by kbrkr (edited 10-24-2010).]

Kbrkr:

Personally for me, it comes down to just one simple thing.

THE SOUND! That LIVE BAND SOUND.

I have a Tyros 3 with me on stage also. However I find myself using the Audya about 75% of the time.

Like many, I've had and am having issues with the Audya. Still, I just love playing it.

Never before have I been able to offer this kind of sound on stage.

Jim

I think it depends on the type of gigs your doing too.

if your playing Glen Miller and Reginald Dixon for retired folks you answer may be different from Wedding receptions, functions etc

HI Jim,

Thanks for your feedback. It's very helpful.

Given your current Quality and left channel issues with the Audya, can you still recommend one to someone?

I am really concerned about the reliability issue.

Al

On all Yamahas, if you are in Fingered Mode, you can press 3 adjacent left-hand notes and all style parts stop except the drums.
Neat trick!
DonM

Hi Al,
have you tried the Audya Style Compiler software?
Allows you to create styles from midifiles, (bit like the way I do it for my Korg, but Audya software is more basic).

Could also be a handy way of editing EMC style conversions.

No, I don't own an Audya, but the software had me intriqued, so I briefly checked it out. Software for style editing was something that I really missed for my SD1.
Just wish they had created something as simple as this for the SD1, if they had, I'd still own it.

best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by kbrkr:
[B]*
Audya - Cons
* Lack of ability to create styles IN THE KEYBOARD from scratch.

HI Don

Geez, I forgot about that one! I like that method better because you don't have to take your hands off the keys.

Thanks Buddy!
Al

Hi Rikki,

Long time no speak! How have you been?

Did you get your Pa800 repaired?

I did fire up the Ketron Style compiler and noticed from one .PAT file it created a .MID and a .BIN file. I Presume the .bin file are the audio instruments. Once i did this, I realized I didn't have Cubase or any other software to edit the midi file!!!! Yikes!

That's what prompted me to comment on using the keyboard itself to create styles. I would use EMC styleworks, but i only have the Korg version right now. I have to decide which keyboard I'm going to buy before I upgrade.

Warm Regards,
Al

Hi Al,
yes, I did get my PA800 repaired, after a MAJOR dummy spit. ( Aussie slang for ,I was really annoyed) haahaa. I'd miss my Korg too much, simply had to get it repaired.

I don't quite know what the .bin refers to, may or may not be the audio part, may have something to do with settings.
One of Jorgen's programs for editing Yamaha styles, used to split the style into 2 parts, one for midi, the other settings. After editing the midi part , used to have to merge them back together.

You don't really have to buy anything as expensive as Cubase,
PG Music have Power Tracks Audio, unfortunately they no longer have a demo version, but they do give a 30 day, money back guarantee, if not satisified. http://www.pgmusic.com/salesfaq3.htm
It's $49 new user, or there's upgrades from older versions. http://www.pgmusic.com/powertracks.htm

I've really gotten into the Band in a Box audio file styles since I've bought my new laptop. ( the net book I had, couldn't run them ) There's a heap of country , rock & jazz styles, that the korg sort of lacks , At least I can create an mp3 backing out of them in BIAB.NOT as good as having a keyboard that uses audio styles, but it's interesting.

Definately check into the style creation process of the Audya, if you haven't already purchased. Don't rely on EMC to give you what you want. I went thru
3 frustrating years with EMC & the SD1+.
EMC is not a good editor for the conversions. It does a bit of editing, but it's far prom perfect.
I was really pleased to see the the Audya Style Compiler software. At least you should be able to edit an EMC conversion as a midifile.
I had really no way of testing it, but I saved a conversion in Midjay Plus format, then imported it into the Style Compiler as an SD5 style. From there it should be editable as a midifile.

Unfortunately I have no access to an Audya, so don't know how well it worked.

But if the Audya hasn't got all the styles you need, it's a must to check out style creation functions for it.

best wishes
Rikki

Hi Al,
sorry, I misread, you already own an Audya??

If I can be of any help , let me know.

I can run something thru EMC, and see if what I suggested may work.
I have Universal, Power Tracks & the Audya Compiler software, just not an Audya. haahaa.

best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by rikkisbears:
[B]

rikkisbears,

You can create styles from scratch on the AUDYA keyboards themselves (OS 3.0 or higher).
* Press USER STYLE button and select any user style (F1-F10) in any category.
* Press the EDIT button to enter the STYLE EDITOR.
* Press NEW STYLE and start creating your style from scratch. The software within the machine is similar to that used in the PC - advantage of PC is bigger screen and so less steps!

Thanks,

AJ

Hi AJ,
thank you.
I was sort of trying to help Al.
I was so pleased to see that finally a Ketron style could be event list edited via a pc sequencer & the Audya Style Compiler software via the Compile Midifile function.

Are you saying you can actually edit notes in the Audya, ie literally what's available via the software is available in the keyboard itself?

I currently don't own one, but I've got an internet buddy, who might be selling his early next year. Hence, my interest.

best wishes
Rikki