Positive views on the Genos 2

[Hawklord]

Can those who have upgraded, own and actually played the new Genos please give their positive views on the keyboard against the Genos 1. Most posts so far seem to include a lot of negatives/disappointments which is making me have second thoughts and cancelling my order which is yet to be delivered and changing it for a Korg PA5X or Ketron Event.

[rattley]

Hello!

My new Genos2 is already to go. Hopefully you won't see or hear from me for a while!  My moment has come.  I sure look forward in providing a good report.  Whatever it brings..........I will be truthful. -charley

[Michael Trigoboff]

It's a small thing, but the red lights on the sliders make a huge difference. My office is not very well lit, and the sliders on the original Genos faded into invisibility every evening. I am getting lot more use out of the sliders now that I can see them.

[ton37]

Can those who have upgraded, own and actually played the new Genos please give their positive views on the keyboard against the Genos 1. Most posts so far seem to include a lot of negatives/disappointments which is making me have second thoughts and cancelling my order which is yet to be delivered and changing it for a Korg PA5X or Ketron Event.

Hi @Hawklord, which model do you play now? The Genos1? If so, I wonder if the swap to the Korg or Ketron, or even to the Genos2, offers a lot of advntages for you. Besides: these 3 brands are very good. They are not 'better' to each own but ' different'. So it comes to your needs and taste/feelings once you have to choose. 'Needs' is a technical issue (possibilities of the keyboard), 'taste/feeling' is a personal, subjective emotion.  . So what do YOU want to see/hear in a keyboard?

[Flemming]

Positive views? There's a lot :-)

Well there is ups and downs, but if you ask for the positive, here comes some. This time of year is very busy for me, so I don't have much time to  play with my new baby. Genos1 must take the last lap in the arena until Christmas. But I have worked a little with my repertoire and possibilities I G2.

1. The styles have had a great brush up! Already known styles is more balanced, and especially the bottom is much more tight. Most of the gap we earlier had to Event and Korg pa5x here is gone. AND the new ambience and dynamic possibilities arre AWESOME! I play as well for dancing as for dining, and it's great both to put more energi in the music for dancing, and calm down my musicians for dining music.
2. Sounds are better - most of them at least. If you can't hear the difference maybe its because your speakers is to cheap or something. My P.A. is Yamaha DM3 and Bose' new L1 pro 32, and the sound is crystal clear, warm and more balanced. I so much looking forward to come on the road with G2.
3. OTS most of them are better, but not all. In some of the style-groups they are great, others more or less meaningless.
4. The small changes with more programmable buttons and light in it are great. Small things, that can have huge importance, fx that you can have MIDI-settings inside your registrations. It's fx for using external modules. Now you can turn them on and off in the registrations.
5. The price. Compared to fx Ketron Event I find it very fair. 30 years ago A payed more than twice as much for my EL-90, and my salary then were only half.

Can I say something negative? Well I do nevertheless :-)
I simply don't get why Yamaha didn't grab the chance to make THE keyboard, that could swipe away every competitor. They have the technology, the have the man-power, the have had the time - 6 years - its a long time waiting for small improvements. 
The organ is the same plastic-organs as in G1 and T5, it's 10 years old! Even 10 years ago both Ketron and Korg made much better organs than Yamaha. Why didn't they put a YC organ (with a great Leslie) in G2 or at least a CK organ?
And a little more of possibilities from Montage.
The arrangement of buttons is still not the smartest. I still keep mistaking OTS and Multipads. Change the placement with the start/stop buttons for midi/audio a/b, we only use them once in every song.

I would gladly have payed 1000 euros more for a keyboard, that were state of the art! Take that YAMAHA!

All the best
Flemming Både, Denmark

[maartenb]

Hi Hawklord,

Please see my review post "First impressions of the Genos2 after a few hours".
Also see my answer to a question about the sound quality of the voices.

It will give you my honest impression with mostly very positive and a few negatives (most of which could be resolved with a firmware upgrade).


Having said that, please realize that the Yamaha, Korg and Ketron are different beasts, each with their strengths and weaknesses. For what I want to do with an arranger, the Yamaha comes out on top. Your requirements may be different, and therefore your decision for an instrument might be different.

Don't base your decision on online reviews alone. Talk to experts in a store or on this beautiful forum.

And last but not least, you don't buy only an instrument. You buy into an ecosystem. Extra styles, extra voices, bug fix and feature updates, the community of people you can reach out to when you have a question, repair and service options, etc.


Maarten

[Hawklord]

Firstly thanks all for your replies.
I have always had Yamaha keyboards, an early PSR, Tyros 1, Tyros 2, Tyros 5 and currently a Genos 1 and have no wish to move away from the Yamaha brand. I suppose like any product that you research before purchasing there are far more negative posts than positive ones and if not careful these can cloud your judgement somewhat. Generally opinion seems to be that the sounds are an improvement to the Genos 1 which is all that really matters to me as I am a home hobby player who plays by ear and composing my own songs. I have no need for multi channel midi outputs which seems to be a common gripe as I have a separate midi keyboard and soft synths for this purpose.
I remember reading the early posts on a Korg PA5X forum and boy was it put down which put me off purchasing it as my Genos 1 replacement (at that time not knowing whether there would ever be a Genos 2 produced).
I feel much happier now that I have made the correct choice for me and can't wait for it to be delivered.
And lastly can I just say what a great forum this is to a part of.

Chris

[JohnS (Ugawoga)]

It's a small thing, but the red lights on the sliders make a huge difference. My office is not very well lit, and the sliders on the original Genos faded into invisibility every evening. I am getting lot more use out of the sliders now that I can see them.

Well Michael you must have put a mirror at the back to get that 360 degree vision
Unless you are suspended from the ceiling!!

[Michael Trigoboff]

Well Michael you must have put a mirror at the back to get that 360 degree vision
Unless you are suspended from the ceiling!!

I said the sliders, not the knobs. 

[JohnS (Ugawoga)]

What you calling me?? I've always been one of those!!

[ton37]

Another stupid designer mistake, you just can't see the LEDs behind the buttons. So positive: Put a small mirror at the left back for seeing the knobs 360 grd. ... isn't a bad idea  Or look for some lower buttons or just saw off a piece 

[ton37]

The view of the display is good

See a comparison of the view in the sunlight G1 vs. G2
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LI0IFMDNYI4 

[Hawklord]

Eileen has been quiet of late, most probably because she is playing on her new toy and it would be nice to hear her review of the Genos 2.
Still waiting for mine to be delivered.

[EileenL]

I have been busy exploring my Genos2. I have not rushed this time to load any older files from other keyboards. My first finding was that the sound was much fuller and some voices have greatly improved in sound quality. Most of the styles now have a much better balance of the OTS settings although they could have been a little more varied. I did download the new Playlist and there are some improvements to that but I still prefer to set up my own registration banks to what I want. I also downloaded the two packs we were given but there was trouble loading one into the YEM. It has now been put right and loads without problem now. I must thank Yamaha for being so quick in putting things reported so far right quickly.
The Dynamic control for style is a very good addition and works well. as dose the Ambient control.
I like the list of speakers with there EQ already set to give very good results and there are a couple of extra ones if you are using your Genos speakers.
The screen with its slight tilt and anti glare finish and adjustment to light is a welcome addition. Also the adjustment from light to dark on the smaller screen for the knobs and slider settings.
All I can really say is I am pleased I made the change but it is purely my opinion.

 

[rattley]

Greetings!

My Genos 2 arrived last Friday but I've had to much real life going on to play it much. Some brief observations are......

Even when Genos is next to Genos 2 it is hard to tell them apart.  But that all changes when you turn it on.

Those indicator lights are BRIGHT.  But I like them.

The default audio settings had way to much treble than I like. I need to play around with EQ later. 

The guitars are just heaven!  Acoustic or electric. 

The new drums are excellent, but I liked the older REVO drums anyways.


When I tried to play some songs made on my past Yamaha keyboards the voices played were not correct. I play these songs all the time but they sound different now. Not acceptable. Not sure where to look at this. I don't think I've ever had a song misplay before in all these years.

I've only used a few packs before. The Genos 2's onboard voices please me so much I don't think I will use to many packs anymore. That Country Musicians pack is my favorite. I hope they convert that one.

I thought there would be a ton more reviews. Is the party over already??  Not for me!!!!!!   -charley

[ton37]

Thnx. for the reviews. I don't think there will be many more reviews with new facts . The dust is already settling a bit. Most of it has already been said or written or can be found on the internet. But perhaps there are yet undiscovered possibilities? Also curious whether a future update can add something 'spectacular' to the Genos2? It will gradually come down to the music/songs that will be made on the new keyboard. It will then become clear whether 'the sound' of the Genos-1 will match the sound of the Genos-2 through tweaking. But undeniably, both Genosses will shine. (It is not without reason that the new keyboard from the Genos is of good origin.) Happy keyboarding .. 

[Hawklord]

That's why I started this post as reviews by real users are few and no-one seems to be overwhelmed by the Genos 2 after 6 years of development by Yamaha. My feelings are that the sound improvements could have been done as a firmware update and new packs for the Genos 1 rather than a 3K upgrade cost for a tilted screen and £5 of leds. As I stated earlier I haven't had mine delivered yet and these comments are only based what I have read so far.

[ton37]

Yes, off course: everyone wants a free update like that. Hey, it's a commercial company and the employees etc. have to be paid (by us  ). Yamaha is definitely not going to play Santa Claus? On the contrary: they hope that everyone will play with it at Christmas 

[JohnS (Ugawoga)]

That sounds exciting!!

[Hawklord]

I wasn't implying that upgrades to Genos 1 should be free, on the contrary because as you correctly say, Yamaha has to have an income.

[mikf]

You are making the assumption that the main source of Genos 2 sales is from owners of  Genos 1 wanting to upgrade. While I would lay money that most Genos 2 keyboards in the end will not be bought by people who currently own Genos 1. The biggest market will be the combination of people completely new to arrangers, people who own older TOTL arrangers, people who own much lower end models, and people who currently have non Yamaha arrangers.
Genos 2 may only be a modest upgrade on Genos 1, and actually disappoint some current owners, but for many of these new buyers in the market for the latest TOTL arranger, it probably represents the best available, and very attractive buy.
They are a big target market for Yamaha, so these expressions of disappointment from current Genos 1 owners, may not bother Yamaha as much as people think.
Mike

[BogdanH]

Very well said Mike! -exactly my thoughts.

Bogdan

[bluali]

For me so far No positive view on GENOS2. 
I got my Genos2 last week and still not usable for me since the Scale tune is not change with the registration setting and needs to be changed manually. this works perfectly on my Genos1.
No backward compatibility with my Genos1 CPF packs on Genos2. I have made many style using middle eastern, European and Latin  drum kits.
I hope these problem fixed soon otherwise I will return my Genos2 and keep using my lovely Genos1.

[EileenL]

There are updates to some packs now and they work well in Genos2. The rest will follow
Charlie's Country pack is there.