We all have different views because we simply use the same keyboard in different ways, and its great, because it means that Yamaha has (partially) achieved its goal of widening its buyers base … And I don't consider myself as a 'Power User' of the Genos, I simply use feature described in the Manuals...
I disagree. I don't believe Yamaha are "conscientiously" leaving in bugs just to sell a Genos 2. If there are Genos bugs, I believe Yamaha will fix them. Genos has been out only a year, and we've already had 3 updates.
Concerning my thought about Yamaha conscientiously leaving bugs in the Genos, I know its seems to be a rather controversial statement, guided by feelings more than facts…
But the fact is that the latest Genos Firmware was released several months ago (April 2018), and there's still serious known bugs present today (DSP/Registration, KinoStrings), those bugs were reported many months ago (end of 2017 for the DSP Registration problem(s) , March 2018 for the Voices glitch…) … and Yamaha released several updates, each time ignoring those bugs…
I also believe Yamaha are moving to the Apple model where it's more profitable to provide free additional features to extend the life of a device. We've seen it with Montage, and, to some extent, we've already seen it with Genos. Since the initial release, Yamaha have added search features and Voice Guide.
If only it was true, it would be a very good move ... but nothing in the facts prove this at the time of writing this…
As I stated in another thread on this forum, yes Yamaha released several updates for the Genos, but the only 'major' features where either 'common sense' feature that should have been there since day 1 (ability to search in list, a very basic operation considering today's standard...) or features that are more 'part of the underlying OS - linux in the case of the Genos - ' than firmware specific : the Voice Guide feature - being a
very welcome addition for visually impaired people - was probably added because the underlying OS has this capability builtin ... (yes, it is a half-feeling/half-fact statement
)
Power users also don't seem to understand the tradeoffs all manufacturers have to make. Just because it's possible to do in software doesn't mean it makes economic sense.
I see the act of buying a good as a kind of 'contrat' between us (the buyers) and Yamaha (the manufacturer). I give a good amount of money to have a 'Flagship' keyboard that conforms to today's standard, and before buying it I read the Owner Manual and Reference Manual several times to ensure the it would fulfill my needs. In those manuals, one thing retained my attention more than the rest : the fact that we can freely assign the 28 DSPs to any part, and even have the possibility to assign multiple DSPs to the same part. In those manuals, several pages describe the 'DSP detailed parameters' editable possibility. And elsewhere, it describe the 'Registrations' as a feature that allows to store and retrieve the whole panel settings, including Voices, Styles, and so on…
So, based on this 'promises' I would find very legitimate that all those features are working the way they were designed for. That's the 'Contract'. And nowadays, the Contract is not entirely fulfilled. That's facts.
Why should Yamaha dedicate time and effort to something that less than 1% of their customers would use, when they could dedicate the same amount to benefit 50% of their base?
This is what they did for the Voice Guide feature. They did it for two reasons :
1) Because it is seen a good thing that such a Big company add a 'free' feature for impaired people. This is what I call 'Communication' (even if it is a *really* welcome addition, I should have been here since day 1)
2) The time and effort for these feature was probably rather low (see my thought about Linux builtin capabilities… )
And if you take into account that Yamaha want to widen its buyer's base, they have to add features that will initially only be used by a small fraction of today's buyers, because those persons will spread the word about those new cool features… 1% could become much more in the future… (it could even attract Korg today's user … )
Power users would do themselves a big favor if they (1) showed how their request could be implemented without significant impact on the user base, and (2) how their request makes economic sense. Because if they don't do it, Yamaha will.
Sorry, but this is not how the world is working
. We (customers) can (and *should* imho) communicate with Yamaha about what we like and what we don't about Yam products (provide feedback about 'real world usage'), but this is not our role to make a Business Plan for Yam
And, in the first place, Yamaha should allows us to communicate more easily with them (with an official 'bug feedback' forum for exemple) and more important , should communicate more clearly about all the reported problems ... a simple 'acknowledgment' would be a first step...
It would avoid all the current frustration.
Again, the Genos is a really good keyboard today, but it was supposed to be a new cycle, disrupting the Tyros line of product and adding significant new features... there's still hope for a new firmware, but please Yamaha: communicate !
Benoit
ps: btw, it is great that we can discuss such things on this forum !