I'm afraid that I have to weigh in (pun intended!) on the side of those of you that don't mind the weight, as long as it is within boundaries.... While miniaturization is the buzzword in consumer electronics, durability is a long forgotten goal. The thinking, I guess, is that long before a well-built product fails, it's electronic and functional superior will be on the market, so why bother making it durable? No-one uses 15-year old mobile phones, despite them still probably being functional.

But a keyboard.......? No-one expects to pay the same price as a reasonable upright piano (which will last, with care, for a hundred years) for a poorly built plastic arranger that is sonically amazing, but will need to be babied just to get a decade out of it. I want durability first and foremost, with weight only a secondary consideration (but a consideration nonetheless).....

As to Domenik's rant (and Magica Alfa's halting English)..... I've said it in the past, I'll say it again - To be a player on the international scene, firstly you need to be able to communicate fluently in English. Hire a native English speaking Marketing Director, someone that will try to communicate with your potential buyers in a less confrontational way. Domenik may indeed be the most responsive arranger developer in the world, but he is just that - a developer..... NOT a salesman!

Lionstracs may indeed have the most responsive tech support on the planet, but while you may NEVER get an opportunity to talk to the head of Roland, you will also NEVER hear him slamming his potential customer's priorities, and stating outright he has no care whatsoever for their concerns.

While Domenik may have a very personal vision for what is needed in an arranger (apparently everything including the kitchen sink!) his potential buyers have a more focussed set of wants and needs. First and foremost are killer styles. If those are not a priority (and everything that Lionstracs have done so far show it was not theirs), then I repeat, all you have is a Neko or Muse Receptor with half-a$$ed styles.

Let's face it, if all anyone needed was a GIGA piano and B4 (all anyone seems to talk about glowingly), they could use their current arranger and a laptop, at a fraction of the price of an MS..... No, there has to be more. Now that most professionals already have a home or studio computer rig capable of VST and GIGA, what would make us pay for something that we already have? The ability to use it at the gig? A laptop can do that.

No, Domenik wants to supply an all-in-one solution. But for it to be all-in-one, it not only has to SOUND better than our current arrangers, it also has to be as easy to operate, and have AT LEAST as good, if not better, styles.

You will always sell to a few visionaries who realize that, with a LOT of work, they can sound a lot better than they have before. But to crack the mass market and achieve corporate stability (let's face it, if Domenik doesn't sell enough of these things, kiss goodbye to constant updates), you are going to have to do what Korg, Roland, Ketron and Yamaha have done....... DO THE HARD WORK FOR US, then sell it.....

Ketron are a very good case in point...... not, perhaps the most cutting edge sounds, but the styles..... aaahhhhhh! Well balanced and composed styles, EXACTLY what their customers want. MS seems to have exactly the opposite priority.

Next time, Domenik, before you tell US that your keyboard is the best on the planet, have a listen to what WE are telling you........