The phrase "a different tone than" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when comparing the tone of two different pieces of writing, speech, or communication.
Example: "The author's latest novel has a different tone than her previous works, focusing more on humor and lightheartedness."
Alternatives: "a different tone from" or "a contrasting tone to".
— he set a different tone than the brusque Mr. Small.
Lombardi suggested that the meeting had a different tone than one in 2012 between Castro and Francis's predecessor, Pope Benedict.
Either way, the negotiations seem to have a different tone than those with the All-Pro defensive end Michael Strahan.
"Parsley Does Thyme," however, is narrated from prison by Parsley herself and has a different tone than its predecessors.
We're one — one large tribe, one large family". This is a different tone than was taken when Amazon bought online shoe retailer Zappos way back in 2009.
In his statement today, Mr. Ray struck a different tone than had Mr. Starr, who had deeply strained relations with the White House.
There is, for instance, a ruffle dress ($39.99) and floral A-line skirt ($29.99) that have a rather different tone than the hard-edge vision of femininity the designer showed Saturday at New York Fashion Week.
The New York Times' Helene Cooper, strikes a different tone: "After more than 11 hours of meetings, Mr Obama emerged from his first summit meeting with a handful of modest concrete commitments.
"I think there will be a different tone to it than there would be against a continental team," he explained.
The film, under Hancock's direction and Tristan's writing, had originally a different tone and premise than what would eventually be seen in the final film.
That speech, which was unearthed as part of an extensive review of Romney appearances, speeches and addresses recorded in the CSPAN video archive, certainly had a different tone to it than recent statements Romney has made on the trail.
