Yamaha Genos Versus Tyros 5 By Rainbow Music

Our Opinion:

How does the new Genos compare to the old Tyros 5.

Having just got back from Yamaha HQ in Milton Keynes I was lucky enough to have a full day of training and playing on the brand new Yamaha Genos. One point worthy of mention is Genos is 100% compatible with Tyros 5 and all of the range before including T4 T3 and T2. All of your favourite songs and registrations etc can be simply transferred via a USB stick.

First impressions :

The first thing you notice is that the look is extremely sleek and compact. The dash board has a similar layout to Tyros 5 but is less cluttered due to the use of the 9" colour touch screen.

We no longer have the buttons down each side of the display and there is no need for the rows of catergory buttons on the right hand side panel. These have been removed because of the ease of use of the touch display.

The most noticeable thing with the new Genos is the improved tone quality including voices and styles. Apart from the improved speaker pack the whole instrument has been re sampled from the ground upwards. The new revo drums have been sampled from original drum kits all over the world. This is a feat that only a company the size of Yamaha could afford and achieve. They even tracked down an original 1960's Ludwig drum kit and sampled it with an open sound then with a duvet and pillow stuffed in the bass drum. Now that is what you call attention to detail.

The piano sample taken from the £128,000 Yamaha CFX Concert grand piano is the best sample to date to be fitted to any Yamaha instrument and is even better than that found in the top of the range clavinovas. Whereas all of the sounds and styles are familiar some very nice new styles have been added into the mix . Some new features are the steel guitars with a very impressive sampling of a Gibson Dobro ( Resonator guitar ) The lap steel guitar and country music styles have been completely revamped and are extremely impressive. The ensemble section is much improved and easier to use.

The big band sounds are also noteably improved with excellent realisitc saxophone sections. If you close your eyes you could be mistaken for thinking you are listening to a live band.

The display no longer tilts sitting at a slight angle and is very clear and easy to read. The display colours are just right and are not harsh on the eyes after long use.

We no longer have a hard drive as this has been replaced by 1.8GB of SSD memory which is completely quite and instant so there is no waiting for things to load and no need to add and further memory boards to this instrument.( I am sure many will agree this is a plus without the need to buy the expensive FL1024 memory board )

Music finder is no longer available on Genos but can be directly imported from Tyros 5 into the new playlist feature giving far more flexibility over the old Tyros range.

Overall this instrument is a major step forward from the old Tyros 5 both in looks and tone quality. Yamaha claim that at the moment this instrument has the best sounds on the market and i would have to agree with them.

The instrument has a lot of excellent facilities, too many to mention here. If you have anything you would like to ask please email sales@rainbowmusic.co.uk or telephone us direct on 01228 537469.