I attended training with Yamaha on the new and mighty Tyros3 keyboard in September. Having already heard the Tyros3 and seen it I was keen to get hands on and get my personal review of the Tyros3 is up for everyone to see. My review is simple, straight forward and my honest and professional opinion on the overall product.
Well it all starts with the sounds. The one thing everyone has been talking about is the new Super Articulation2 voices. Now having played them, I can see what what all the fuss is about! These sounds contain over 400 samples per single voice to create possibly the most accurate and astounding reproduction of the real instrument. The most exciting part of it all is the way in which the voices work. You don't need to be the worlds greatest player, in-fact you are better being able to play in a simple manor in order to get the best of the amazing new Tyros3 sounds. This in itself is great for most home users and to be fair these single sounds are so good that the Tyros3 is worth buying for these sounds alone. The Super Articulation sounds are still present as well as derived from Tyros2. However it is not just the SA2 voices that make the sound section so special on the Tyros3. Yamaha have extended the library of sounds using those from products such as the popular Yamaha Motif XS and top of the line CLP pianos. The new orchestral oboe and flute samples are derived from Motif XS and break all expectations. One long awaited new sound was the new piano which is not only better than Tyros2 but is the same piano sound as was on the past CLP170. It is much enhanced and sounds stunning. This single enhancement perks up many other sectors of the style section as well as the piano is such a widely used sound.
This is where the Tyros3 simply steps the game up. 450 preset styles as standard which is 50 more than Tyros2 but it is not just 50 new styles, there are many more which have been replaced and which have been re-voiced and programmed for fresh intros, endings and extra quality. There are so many fresh styles to choose from and each category has an excellent selection. No matter what style of music you wish to play it should be covered! A simple but great feature has been added which simply helps the user flick through pages of the screen. All you need to do now is press the same category button you just selected and the screen will change pages for you so you do not have to move your hand away to the bottom of the screen and get lost. A great idea and works well as used in other Korg and past Technics products. Some of the styles are song orientated and some may find this restricting but with a little imagination these can be used for many other songs as well. I find them great because the songs played with them sound so good!!! Of course many styles are just general but because of the new combination of quality voices and fresh styles it makes you want to play more and more.
A great enhancement to the styles and general registration system is the One Touch View. This allows you to see all the one touch setting sounds selected for the given style which means no more shockers when a big brass sound comes in after a soft sax! All these little enhancements make for one huge development overall and this is starting to make the Tyros3 something quite spectacular.
Most keyboard players just end up doing a little fiddling with lots of playing and enjoy what is given. What is going on in the background is of the utmost importance to the final resulting sound and this is what Yamaha have improved dramatically. The old system in Tyros2 used up to 3 fx processors fir the styles and now we have 5 processors which have more effects, improved quality and more control. This means new styles can have adjusting rotary organ speeds and pianos with delays instead of one and not the other. The main sounds are improved by using the new effects system which is now passed through a new EQ/ compression setup. The Tyros2 had a flat no life set-up as standard but now the Yamaha Tyros3 comes with an enhanced version which is set-up out of the box to work with the MS02 speaker system. This improves the sound greatly on top of all the other enhancements. It is all the little things that make a big difference. A new fresh look layout which is now more live player friendly and easier on the eye. A new TFT screen which you can see in almost any light, the list goes on. Even audio recording has been enhanced to 2x stereo tracks so you can get it wrong now and not worry! Do it again and keep your first part!
Well lets get one thing straight. This is the biggest question of all being asked by customers and there is one answer - no competition! The massive improvements of the Tyros3 over The Tyros2 are so obvious as soon as you pick a sound that this is not even the question that should be being asked, it should be, "When can I have one?". The Super Articulation was a great technology on Tyros2, it still exists on Tyros3, but the SA2 is just miles better. The styles on Tyros2 were great, but Tyros3 has more and better styles. The look is better, the screen is better the sound is better - It is simply better!
Well, maybe 1 or 2. Depends on where you look at it from. No 76 key versions are available which has been to some peoples dismay but then, this is a keyboard first and foremost. Keyboards use 61 keys as a rule and I think it is perfectly fine. If people want 76 or 88 note weight, get a dual keyboard stand and buy whatever piano you want on the bottom, it can be cheap as you like as long as it has MIDI. In fact you may benefit. Use it in an organ style system with bass pedals for even more control with 2 tiers and bass pedals.
One point I have found is when changing sounds in styles, going to the more advanced area I know, but there is still no octave shift for the style parts and some voices work in different octaves to sound correct. This is a pain if you are a more advanced user making styles, otherwise it will not affect most customers at all.
Data conversion -- Tyros2, Tyros1 and before, data has to be converted. This is not such a problem but just a little extra work. Data does not work directly and therefore in order to get the best from the Tyros3 from your old files the conversion has to be done. It also means style data on the Tyros3 can not be used with any other Yamaha product - I see this as a good thing and a step forward in the new technological Yamaha world. The new style format is due to the new features and extra qualities associated with them.
Well I think my simple review should sum it up for most. The Tyros3 is again leading the way for technology and quality in the keyboard market. If you want to freshen up your sounds, have a massive style selection to play with whether a home user or pro then the Tyros3 should be on your wish list.