Topic: tyros 4 replacement under $3000

[sugarplumsss]

my T4 is aging, still working, but all the parts for t4 are no longer available.
Getting a used 12 year old t4 has this fault in it... parts N.A.

I am considering the mid tier yamaha group.
I will miss the third voice in the right side ( R3 )
I will like the self contained speakers that eg my old S900 has.
The big problem is, I have many MIDI files purchased from yamaha music soft.
Can a mid tier yamaha play midi songs designated for T4?
Utilize playlists of songs?

Is there another alternative for playing the MIDI songs; maybe a second device at the gig?
A psr 9** keyboard, plus a device loaded with the tyros sounds dedicated for playing MIDI songs !

I am trying to avoid the 6000 dollar genos!

Asked many times before but why is a 61 genos significantly better than the T4?

Thank you

[Fred Smith]

If it was me, I would buy the SX900, which you can currently get for under $3000. No guarantees about tomorrow, given inflation and supply chain issues.

This keyboard has 3 right voices, which is an improvement over previous PSRs.
Yes, it will play your midi files, although some voices may need tweaking.
And it has a songlist feature, which the T4 does not (ie, you can create a songlist of midi files from any drive/folder, as opposed to the T4 which will only play midis from one folder).

Converting your registrations might be an issue, depending on the technical capability of the person doing the converting. You might want to pay someone to do this for you (would be less than a day's work). Again, they might need some tweaking after conversion.

And, there's no such thing as a 61-key Genos. Genos is a 76-key keyboard. The biggest feature for me is it's lighter than a T4.

Cheers,
Fred

[ton37]

If that is your budget and you want to have a yammie... @Fred says it all ... go for the Baby Genos 

[EileenL]

Yes the SX900 is a great little keyboard and has a really good set of integral speakers that are good at spreading the sound forward as well as backward.

[sugarplumsss]

If it was me, I would buy the SX900, which you can currently get for under $3000. No guarantees about tomorrow, given inflation and supply chain issues.

This keyboard has 3 right voices, which is an improvement over previous PSRs.
Yes, it will play your midi files, although some voices may need tweaking.
And it has a songlist feature, which the T4 does not (ie, you can create a songlist of midi files from any drive/folder, as opposed to the T4 which will only play midis from one folder).

Converting your registrations might be an issue, depending on the technical capability of the person doing the converting. You might want to pay someone to do this for you (would be less than a day's work). Again, they might need some tweaking after conversion.

And, there's no such thing as a 61-key Genos. Genos is a 76-key keyboard. The biggest feature for me is it's lighter than a T4.

Cheers,
Fred

Fred, from bottom ( highlighted bold face) to top

- Wow, 76 versus 61, and the 76 is significantly lighter.. go figure.
Wouldn't a lighter yet larger keyboard suggest a compromise in action? Do many here, actually prefer the "feel" of the Genos, to its predecessor?
- You must be rolling in dough to spend over $3000 for Genos, because of weight difference!

- 
' I might want to pay someone' INDEED. And who might be interested?
I am having a tough time finding anyone to take my money, who also is knowledgeable.

- I know a musician / music store owner, who owns a Montage 88, a T5 and a Genos; and he says the T5 is superior with respect to the unique ensemble feature; neither on the T4, nor on the Genos.
I want to buy his T5, and as a consequence, he is hesitant to let it go.

[ton37]

Dear @sugarplumbs. I already said it in another post. In the end, you are the one who will make a choice... for yourself! If you are looking for arguments to convince or not to convince you with your choice, it makes the discussion more difficult. Especially because you do not clearly state which element(s) in your search you find most important in a keyboard. A discussion about the differences between a T5 and Genos is pointless. There is plenty to read about this if you use the search function. Both are just good keyboards. Don't forget that many (including me) have nevertheless chosen to exchange their T5 for the Genos (as I did, and after that I went for the SX900 for personal choice) and have (rightly!) not regretted it. You indicate that the reason for another keyboard is that it is getting too old and that you fear that there will no longer be spare parts to make a possible replacement. to be able to carry out repairs. As a result, you will have to orientate yourself for a keyboard that you can (reliably) count on for your performances in the coming years. Realize that even a new keyboard can sometimes let you down. Many musicians then have a reserve on hand. A T5 is also a few years old. You could investigate  if the parts/aftersales/repair stock of this keyboard offers future repair?
And in any case, try out such a keyboard of your choice in a music store or online shop (mostly you can return the kb if you don't like it!). Your ears and your feelings can then advise you better than a well-intentioned advice from a forum member. Just my 2 cents.. 

[EileenL]

Yes I agree you must try these keyboards for yourself and then choose the one you feel more comfortable with. I have Genos and the SX900. Had all the previous Tyros keyboards and so far Genos is the best one Yamaha have produced in my opinion.

[Fred Smith]

Fred, from bottom ( highlighted bold face) to top

- Wow, 76 versus 61, and the 76 is significantly lighter.. go figure.
Wouldn't a lighter yet larger keyboard suggest a compromise in action? Do many here, actually prefer the "feel" of the Genos, to its predecessor?
- You must be rolling in dough to spend over $3000 for Genos, because of weight difference!

- 
' I might want to pay someone' INDEED. And who might be interested?
I am having a tough time finding anyone to take my money, who also is knowledgeable.

- I know a musician / music store owner, who owns a Montage 88, a T5 and a Genos; and he says the T5 is superior with respect to the unique ensemble feature; neither on the T4, nor on the Genos.
I want to buy his T5, and as a consequence, he is hesitant to let it go.

Silly me. I thought you were looking for help. Sorry to have wasted your time.

Cheers,
Fred

[mikf]

Wow, 76 versus 61, and the 76 is significantly lighter.. go figure.
Wouldn't a lighter yet larger keyboard suggest a compromise in action?

Why?? The weight could have been saved anywhere from the electronics to the chassis or case.

These arranger keyboards have been very good instruments for over 20 years, which means by the very nature of development, improvements are going to incremental rather than groundbreaking, model to model. Slightly different features, maybe slightly better sound etc. Over a few model upgrades these may add up but whether or not they are “significant” is very much in the eye of the user. Your musician friend obviously values the ensemble feature, but then it may not be of value to someone else. Maybe the weight reduction is more valuable if they have a bad back! And as for how much money they can spend to get what they want???…..their choice!
Fred answered your question well, you can stay within your budget, get 3 rh voices, built in speakers and play midis on an SX900. But of course there might be some conversion work, that is always a possibility when changing models, especially when jumping several models.
As far as getting expert advice, there are many comments on this forum on both Genos and SX range of keyboards, and many evaluation videos on both on utube. But as you have been playing an arranger for many years, you might be hard pressed to find anyone in a music store more qualified to asses a new arranger keyboard than yourself.

Mike

[Amwilburn]

Fred, from bottom ( highlighted bold face) to top

- Wow, 76 versus 61, and the 76 is significantly lighter.. go figure.
Wouldn't a lighter yet larger keyboard suggest a compromise in action? Do many here, actually prefer the "feel" of the Genos, to its predecessor?
- You must be rolling in dough to spend over $3000 for Genos, because of weight difference!

- 
' I might want to pay someone' INDEED. And who might be interested?
I am having a tough time finding anyone to take my money, who also is knowledgeable.

- I know a musician / music store owner, who owns a Montage 88, a T5 and a Genos; and he says the T5 is superior with respect to the unique ensemble feature; neither on the T4, nor on the Genos.
I want to buy his T5, and as a consequence, he is hesitant to let it go.

Yes the 76 key Genos is ligher than a T4 or T5 61. Yes, the keybed isn't *quite* as good, but still really, really close (and better than the PSR keys). The weight was saved on a number of shell and chassis components, and a much more compact 'board on a chip' philosophy. Oh, and the tilt screen!

The keybed hardly changed the weight. It's not just weight difference, either: the Genos gives you more keys for less weight, and is also *much* more flexible than a T4 or T5 due to YEM (and being able to load any ppf from any source keyboard). You may mot be aware, but other than Indian kits, you can't install Indian ppf samples into a T5 (or T4... but on the T4 that's because there is no YEM).

Unique ensemble feature? There's literally nothing on the T5 they didn't include in the Genos (except a tilting screen, & Audio styles, initially, which they've since included on the Genos). Including the unique ensemble feature, or all the organ world sounds (although now they're shown like any other voices)

I programmed this Indiana Jones demo on the T5, then played on Genos when it launched here knowing that it contained all the T5 sounds, only updating the new strings and brass which are *not* on T5. Ensemble mode at 2:06
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GqrFFM_I0g


Incidentally, the best non piano-weighted arranger keys are on Korg Pa4x. Which has a metal chassis. Which is 36 lbs vs the Genos 28.7 lbs. About 3/4 of a pound heavier than even the T5-76, which most already have trouble lugging around.


Mark

[mikf]

Mark - I think he already decided it can’t be a Genos because of budget. That’s why Fred suggested Sx900.
Mike

[Amwilburn]

I know, Mike; I was merely addressing his quoted concerns.

I also think sx900 is the way to go (or a used T5/T4). Here they are PSRsx900$2899, used Tyros4 w/ speakers and sample ram $1799, and used Tyros 5-61 with speakers and 1gb sample ram $2499) for a relative comparison. PSrsx900 is closer to a baby T5 than a Baby Genos, but coming from a T4 he won't notice any of the missing Genos sounds (although he might miss the SA2 sounds from the T4)

[mixermixer]

I'll echo Fred's suggestion that the SX900 is a good replacement for the T4, I believe it has almost all the voices (notably the vocal scat) except the SA2 and the styles from T4, just that some are renamed and put in different categories.

Genos has the ensemble voices as well, would be dumb for Yamaha to make it a T5 exclusive.

[Graham UK]

Another possibility !!!
I had tyros 4 12 years then Tyros 5 76 both excellent keyboards.
Like you I was looking at other options.
​First priority for myself is the key-bed quality which none of the lower models had.
Then a new Yamaha DGX670 was launched​ with ​Excellent weighted key-bed​ and voices of top quality all for a low price of £799 UK but it looks and feels well built.
The OS is a little different and takes awhile to find yourself around.
It's a joy to play.