I've been in this forum since the X1 was news and, despite my entreaties to local dealers, I had never seen a Ketron product in person--until today. Scott informed us that Bronstein music had them in. Today, I was up (from San Jose) that way. Ed Cernett was the salesman. He has been there only six months and it was he who got Bronstein to carry Ketron's. He was very cordial and helpful. The SD1 and XD9 were on display. He was nice enough to unpack a Vega for me to see. The store carries mostly Ketron and Korg.

These keyboards are old news to the forum by now. I really like the SD1 form factor and the semi-weighted keys. I also like the fact that the programming made extensive use of aftertouch. I like the quarter-tone buttons on the Vega and the oriental styles.

Still, there was nothing on these keyboards that made me want to stay and demo them for a long time. I enjoyed playing the Roland VA-76 (at Guitar Showcase) much more. I think I preferred the Roland styles (I have to go try them again. Its hard to A/B keyboards that are 40 miles apart.) There is a high fun factor with the Variphrase and D-beam combination. So I am looking forward to seeing Roland's next entry. I don't consider myself a Tyros candidate, although I do want to try one.

Cliff, You get to GC a lot more often then I do. Would you please let me know when they have a tyros on the floor to demo. I expect that many are presold and will not hit the floor. Appreciate and thanks
Bebop bforrest@ix.netcom.com

Hmmmm Clif,


I'm still always irked by the lack of fills on my PA80 ( still I wouldn't part with it for anyything ), and after not being satisfied with my buggy 2000, I have been looking at going in a different direction for a second arranger. A while back I was looking at Ketron and thinking the SD1 or the XD9 might be "it" for me, but just from the different comments I've seen and the specs I have been able to decipher I'm not so sure of this anymore.

The choices left are few. I'm not going the Genesys route, especially since I don't neeed all of those features inside of my board, ( I always prefer working through an external sequencer / hard disk recorder ). I have heard the Tyros styles already and while some of them sound like an improvement over the ones from previous Yamaha boards, I still don't think I'm going to be spending that kind of bucks for a second arranger. Like you though, I want to try one when it becomes available. I'll still try the XD9 out too, but I'm not sure I'll be a candidiate for that board either.

My experience demoing the VA76 was a good one. I liked the styles I heard and for some reason it seemed a lot easier to navigate than I expected it to be. Dare I say, the VA76 almost seemed user friendly to me, which was a bit of a shock considering my earlier experiences with the EM2000 and G1000. The sounds were more to my liking than I anticipated, considering some of the user reviews I've seen of it. I like that it has 6 octaves too. The downside for me is that I like my arrangers to have built in speakers, especially if I'm going to play them in live venues. Also, the variphrase is cool but it won't replace a dedicated harmonizer, so I'd have to go the external route. Still, I like the board, and if they ever came down a little in price I'd seriously consider one.

When all is said and done though, it looks like I'm going to be going back toward the PSR 2000 again. Were it not for the bugs in my first one, lousy key feel and all, I'm sure I'd still have it.


AJ


[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 12-06-2002).]

Bebop--I'll let you know when and where I see a Tyros.

AJ--The VA76 at Guitar Showcase was a demo for under $2k. I am not getting it because I don't need another "partial solution." I hope you get a chance to try the XD9, but I think the time for 24MB sound ROM is past. I look forward to whatever Korg and Roland have up their sleeves for NAMM.

Well stated Clif. Everything I have looked at is a "partial solution' for me too. Under 2k is better than what I saw the VA76 for, but still more than I want to pay for one. I'm thinking maybe the same thing Clif.. wait to see what Roland and Korg might have on the horizon.


Cheers,

AJ

nice to see the VA7/76 getting the credit it deserves

Has anyone compared the VA76/7 to the VA3/5?
Do the VA76/7 have a noticeably superior sound?
Starkeeper

------------------
I play Roland EM20 and Yamaha PSR540

Roland VA7/76 and Roland VA5 both have 48 mb and sound EXACTLY alike.

Only the Roland VA3 has 20 mb and sounds different. The Roland EM55 and VA3 sounds EXACTLY alike.

Why did Roland compromise on the sound quality on the VA3 ?

I haven't tried a VA7/76 but I've done alot of research on the net..

I have a VA3 to sell(it has one year and it's like a new one)...
I did already test the whole VA family and I don't find SUCH a big sound difference between all of them...

[This message has been edited by Luis.Santos (edited 12-10-2002).]