Ketron have already told us what the Audya will do in the future....

EVERYTHING!

Mind you, they haven't managed to deliver on what they promised in the past (multiple audio streams, multitasking, etc.), so it's anyone's guess what they will actually deliver, and also how good it is.

Case in point is the style and sequence editing, which, if you read rikki's posts, was judged barely adequate on the finished SD-1. To be honest, there aren't any announcements coming from Ketron that style and sequence editing are going to be a quantum leap forward (unlike their announcement of the Audya's feature set TWO YEARS before it was ready), so if you want a good idea of what the Audya's editing is going to be like, look close and hard at the SD-1.

Everybody looked pretty hard at the SD-1 when it came out (and since). Few chose it (compared to K & Y). It still had the live drums back then, too. The way that the Audya has ended up crippled compared to its' pre-production announcement, it doesn't strike me as all THAT much more than an SD-1. If you discounted the SD-1 in the past, especially for editing abilities, I wouldn't imagine your position is going to change, all that much.

If the Audya was priced comparably with current TOTL offerings from Korg and Yamaha, it might make sense. A great sounding ROM only preset style player. But as crippled as the editing is right now (nonexistent) and as unlikely as it is to improve beyond SD-1 levels (barely adequate, IMO), it is STILL hard to figure out just what that extra $1500 is getting you...