Yamaha Tyros-2

I have been a composer and performer for about 18 years. Music is my life.

I bought a T2 used. Right now the Tyros 4 is out, but these keyboards are very expensive so I never buy them new: I use slightly older technology but save a lot of money, trust me.

I will list all pros and cons in no particular order of importance, with inevitable comparisons to other keyboards, older and newer, which will give an idea of how I'd like to see the product improved. Let's start with the cons :

CONS:

The Tyros series is very expensive when new. Compared to feature-heavy keyboards like the Roland Juno G , which costs ONE FIFTH of a Tyros, the difference in price is astounding. Ok they are very different instruments: the Juno G is a synth workstation, the Tyros 2 is an arranger 'workstation' , but still, as different as these two boards are, the Juno G is really highly competitive with any keyboard. For starters, it has a fully fledged audio multitracker ( I think 8 tracks, all fully editable). Compare that with the Tyros 2's scant one track or even the Tyros 4 two tracks.

Please Yamaha, at £ 3200 the Tyros should have at least 8 recordable audio tracks.

The Tyros 2 has 'the best keybed seen on a Yamaha workstation' called FSX.

Actually Yamaha used a keybed like the FSX ages ago on their excellent DX synth.

Still, I'd like to see longer keys, similar to the lenght found on hammer-action master keyboards.

The Tyros 2 (and all the later models too, for that matter) features a pretty scant 'sampler'....you cannot import Akai files and others, beside Wav files.

The Tyros 2 (and later models) build quality is not really proportioned to the price: the buttons feel cheap, the outer chassis is plastic (why not aluminum, like Korg does ? )

No 76-keys version of these keyboards, which could be too limiting for more seasoned musicians, like me. Please Yamaha, because of the price and other features, your Tyros keyboards are pro instruments....try to fill these gaps in a way that it will appeal more to the pro.

The sequencer does not have in-depth edit functions like a piano-roll. This is a shame, since the Tyros 2 has a beautiful screen, and it's even better on later models. And still no piano-roll! A workstation has to try to match as much as possible at least some features of computers, and piano-roll is one of these, which is found on many other workstations, like Korg Triton, M3, Roland Fantom, etc

The piano sound , at £ 3200, should be comparable at least to the piano sound found in Kurzweil's workstations.

Pros:

great sounds. I was very impressed by the T2 's multi-layer sounds and Super Articulation sounds. Great classical and clean electric guitars. However the distorted guitars are not as good as these found on Roland E50 or E80. Also the drum sounds of the T2 are not as good as these on the Roland E50, the latter has impressive sounding drums.

But on the whole, the T2 has a great array of high quality sounds.

The chord track. That's why I like Yamaha arrangers: the chord track. This is such a simple and powerful feature when composing. This great feature is strangely missed by Roland and Korg on their arranger keyboards.

The keybed. Well I listed this as a 'cons' earlier, but the fact is, the keybed is still a pleasure to use and gives a pro feeling to the keyboard.

The styles. Let's face it. Yamaha's programmers are very talented. Whether they program sounds or styles, the attention to detail and musicality cannot be ignored. The Tyros is one of these great instruments that makes you want to make music, and I am saying this as a pro, not as a beginner. Meaning, I am hard to impress.

Well....that's it. The Tyros 2 is a great instrument but Yamaha is a bit stingy on some of it's department. I paid £ 1200 for mine, used, so I consider it an excellent keyboard, but at £ 3200 I would expect all the other gaps mentioned, to be filled.

Overall it is one of the best keyboards ive played and indeed heard. The only other keyboard instrument that i think is better than the tyros 2 is the wersi louvre organ at Blackpool. I will rate the tyros 2 10 out of 10 because it truly has unrivaled sound and playibility.

The good points of the tyros 2 is the vast array of fantastic organ voices and the amazing rythmns. The bad points was that there is no Wurlitzer theatre organ sound. Overall tyhe tyros 2 is a simply outstanding keyboard and can sit you in front of a whole band.

The Yamaha Tyros-2 is without question a superb instrument with the quality of its synthesised sounds being unsurpassed by any other keyboard on the market. For the beginner it's easy to generate good sounds within a few minutes of switching it on. However to delve into the inner workings it requires patience and lot of personal application. At this point it ceases being just a keyboard, but more of an experience of musical creativity. The Tyros-2 will appeal not only to the casual user, but also the dedicated adventurer exploring all the finer nuances of the instrument. It is a complex instrument with a long learning curve, but as you progress with the Tyros-2 you will find it immensely satisfying as you create some extraordinary sounds of very high quality from it.