Yamaha - the new Tyros 2 keyboard and workstation reviewed
Singalong to the new Tyros2 workstation from Yamaha - it's got music in its organs but will it strike a chord with our reviewer?
The Tyros 2 is the top of the Yamaha range of keyboard workstations and I have just recently become the proud owner of one such instrument. I ordered my Tyros 2 on the internet from a specialist musical instrument company and it arrived about a week later via a local courier service.
I have owned a Yamaha Electone 8 keyboard for a long time now (as well as a Yamaha saxophone) and from these I have come to expect Yamaha musical instruments to be solidly built. It was soon obvious that the Tyros 2 was certainly not going to let down their track record with it weighing in at some 15 kg. The deal I had settled on from the supplier included the purchase of the 'optional' speakers (although if you don't plug the Tyros 2 into an amplifier you will not get any sound out of it) and a 30Gb internal hard-drive. The latter turned out to be missing and the internet company had to send this out by a second courier.
Buying the instrument abroad as I have done, I was concerned about getting the instructions in English. I was pleased to note that there was a set of operating manuals for the Tyros 2 in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish with there being about 240 pages in the English version.
I couldn't wait to get started but first I needed to assemble the keyboard stand - a suitably solid affair to go with the keyboard. Then I plugged in the speakers and got stuck into the quick guide. A few minutes later I was fumbling my way around the multitude of lights and buttons which make up this amazing machine. At first it was daunting - so many different options but now, a week later, I am getting the hang of what happens when I press something.
The Tyros 2, in my opinion, is very much a 'sing-along' type keyboard - a direction that they started to go in with the Electone. The difference (apart from the 15 years between them) is a much wider range of super-realistic, sampled sounds, an incredible number of rhythm options, together with a very effective drum section and even built-in synthesizer (although don't expect too much from that). The central monitor which is context sensitive is a pleasure to use and is very clear. I can see the purists hating the Tyros 2 because it shows icons of the instrument you are playing instead of a four-digit meaningless reference number.
My biggest faults with the new keyboard from Yamaha? Well, I think it could have come with a soft cover and I also think that the music stand that is an intrinsic part of the instrument is not as strong as it could be; it certainly would not be up to supporting some of my bigger music books. I also think that the speakers could be a bit more powerful - particularly given their cost.
On the positive side, the sound is excellent, it is highly intuitive, the buttons are strong and the whole instrument gives a feeling of substance. The context-related demo buttons are far more than just a way of showing off someone else's ability; they provide a very useful guide as to what can be achieved with the Tyros 2. Recording songs is straightforward and I love the option of viewing the musical notation for what you have played; I feel that this has real beneficial possibilities for improving my playing.
This was a big purchase and not one to be taken lightly. That said, one week in and I am genuinely pleased with my purchase of a Yamaha Tyros 2.
|