Tonight, nearly a week after it, I will take the time to give a short assessment of my impressions of the new arranger keyboards at the Frankfurt fair. But be careful! Those are my purely personal impressions. I don't want to bother any users. What I intend to do is to arouse a discussion about the different instruments and its features:
First of all, my favourite is, by far, the SD 1. As I am still playing a MS 100 (two generations before the SD 1) I must say for me the Solton patterns and sounds are still smashing and outstanding. My "second best loved" was the Yamahe 9000 Pro. Compared to the PSR 9000 it is much more professional and meets the taste of the live musician as well as the piano key prefering musician. Its sound, for me, were in some areas - brass, saxophone for example - much better than the 9000 one's. The most dissappointing keyboard, though, was the P 80. I had so far only got a prospectus of this gear and I played it for at least an hour or even longer. The keys, the sounds, the whole feeling of it was really very dissappointing. Not that it is really bad, but for me it did not seem to be the kind of instrument you can play live. It will be more for the home player. The piano sample for example somehow reminded me of that of the old M1, the keys felt like good old Casio.
There were other arrangers that I would call niche instruments. The Hammond keyboard for example is for the jazz oriented musician, Wersi - a german company that is very big in Germany, actually - presented a new version of its Abacus. My impression: much too expensive, weak sounding patterns and not the kind of sounds and styles that you need for powerful dance music at weddings, birthday parties or so - this is what I need the instruments for. The GEM WK 8 for me still sounds like a 900 Dollar keyboard. I don't want to be unjust: many people are absoluetly happy with their GEM but its first impression and also the second was, for me, rather weak. The new Roland had good sounds, a good feel but I think Roland is riding the Variphrase wave too much. With the Solton you can nearly do the same things live. Last but not least, the Technics KN 6500. Who on earth needs this keyboard? It's an idea of the Taiyo marketing branch. For me there is absolutely no need why I should buy it if I already owned a KN 6000.
PS.: The person who presented the Casio was the best keyboard player I've ever heard. -- Wow --. But I can't say much about the keyboard itself.

Hi Markus,
thanks for your update and your impressions,
good job
Eric

Markus,
Thanks for your most valuable insights and impressions. My SD1 and 9000pro impressions were VERY similar to yours when I auditioned them at NAMM back in January. I also concur that the Korg PA80 was a big disappointment, particularly the dismal sounding acoustic piano patch/keys. As far as the Technics KN6500, I think we should wait to see what "new" the KN7000 might bring.

Can you please tell us more about the Hammond (arranger?) Keyboard? Is that actually a portable arranger keyboard or an organ? As a jazz influenced musician I am particularly interested in finding out more.
Does the Hammand keyboard support all arranger auto-accompaniment keyboard functions (split mode, full keyboard mode, etc)? What type of sounds/styles does the Hammond offer? Keyboard Model Number?

Thanks,

Scott http://scottyee.com

Marcus....Thanks for the update. I can see your a Solton fan as I am. Could you give us your opinion on how musicians in Germany feel about the Solton products. Someone from Italy posted here recently that in Italy they do not think highly of Solton. I think quality was one issue.
Thanks

JCKeeys,
I do live in Italy (Rome) and can say that Solton products are EXTREMELY popular among professional musicians, because they offer the greatest possible choice for every kind of musical need. In fact, Solton keyboards are basically professionally oriented products (you don't see too many Soltons in living rooms around here, probably because in your wife's opinion they don't go very well with your furniture). As one of my PRO friends once told me, "If you want to make people dance, there's nothing like a Solton".
Best regards

Marcus, thank you for your feedback. What is your opinion on new Roland VA76, I was so excited by its demonstration...(thinking to buy it soon!)
Please tell me!

Dreamer,

two Italians on this US forum. I think that's great. I live in Milan and am very interested as a pro to share with others in this country. Forget arguments about what KB is best, as it is a fact that the question is "What kB is best for the kind of music I play". I still maintain that generally the Yammy 9kpro meets a wider range of pro requirements. I live in Milan - where most recording pro studios are based, and where most pro live, and I tell you that for the first time in years I have seen an Arranger Keyboard being use in professional recording alongside with the TRITON and others. This is an achievement. For live performers I do not know about Rome, but in Milan the vast majority has gone with the 9kpro due to the reason I previously posted: ie. excellent pricing strategy against Roland, Korg, Solton. Do not misunderstand me, I am a Solton fan as well, but the fact is that Yamaha is a step ahead here in Italy right now in terms of popularity. As a pro I'd be grateful if you could confirm on this forum to our friends that in the common opinion GEM are not thought very highly of in Italy, but with a gap from the Major Brands. Here in Milan I have a group of pros and we have put together a RATING table for Arranger Keabords, which is quite detailed and is based on a "1 to 5 star" system. We own among us most of the best KB available on the market, so the final rating is quite unbiased, let me know if you want a copy of this rating system.

Ciao

------------------
Amelio

Scottyee,
The Hammond (arranger?) Keyboard you are asking about in your question below, I can give you some input because I have spent a few hours on and off playing this. The model is the XE1. Its a complete single keyboard that has the facility option of plugging in a second manual. This 2nd manual comes with 2 larger side cheeks to extend the sides. You can purchase just the single or double board with the option purchase of wooden stand and 13 note base pedals and swell pedal.
I found the style editing upto and on par with most arranger keyboards plus 100 registration patch memory.
Hammond have a winner here. The XE1 is all things to all men, in the way it can be changed from a single high quality board up to a full organ. I personally thing it would make a great dual manual keyboard. I feel we may see more of this type of board from other manufactures in the future. At the keyboard festival I attended, Roland & Yamaha were showing interest in the XE1 and were asking the public what they thought of the concept........Graham UK

Part of SCOTTYEE's Question below
Can you please tell us more about the Hammond (arranger?) Keyboard? Is that actually a portable arranger keyboard or an organ? As a jazz influenced musician I am particularly interested in finding out more.
Does the Hammand keyboard support all arranger auto-accompaniment keyboard functions (split mode, full keyboard mode, etc)? What type of sounds/styles does the Hammond offer? Keyboard Model Number?

Sorry, I forgot to mention that the keyboard has adjustable split points with full Arrangements \ Styles. The Styles I liked especially the Jazz swing types. There is also a built in Style Converter from other manufactures styles. Without saying its a Hammond so is equiped with real draw bars.
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[This message has been edited by Graham UK (edited 03-16-2001).]

Amelius
yes, I would greatly appreciate if you could post your evaluation scheme here, not just for me but also for all our friends in the arranger world. When you ask my opinion about GEM keyboards you make me feel a bit unconfortable, because from the reply to your previous post I have realized that there is always a risk of hitting on someone else's susceptibility. Maybe there is somebody who has just bought a GEM keyboard and likes it, so... It is true, however, that when you buy a keyboard you somehow make an investment and some brands (like Roland, Yamaha, Solton) preserve their value over time more than others. I think that George Kaye expressed some very interesting FACTS about the difference between a GEM keyboard and the Roland VA7; I have nothing more to add to his conclusions. In the past I used to be a real keyboard-collector; I had five of them in my house and the funniest thing was that I spent more time reading manuals and programming than actually playing. Now I try to analyze my needs and to avoid spending money for things I really don't need. I tend to listen a lot to other people's opinions, to avoid making the same mistakes. For the kind of music I play at home or together with my friends (who keep inviting me mainly because I play for free, I guess) Roland keyboards seem to offer the best styles. I like Yamaha sounds, but not Yamaha styles (personal opinion); I am thinking to buy the new Roland VA76, to preserve the ability of playing my G 800 styles (G 800 has wonderful styles and an overall sound quality which I would define "full of punch", or "gutsy" - I don't know if I give the idea), but when I said that the G 1000 did not convince me (sound-wise: it sounds thinner, more ethereal, in my VERY humble opinion), well...some people here reacted like angry rattlesnakes (just kidding: I love you all, folks!)
So, if my keyboard-collector-mania hits again, maybe I will end up buying a Roland VA 76 AND a Solton SD1 (or maybe I will wait until the SD1 expander comes out!)
Ciao
A R from Rome

DREAMER!.....SD1 Expander???? Please explain
Thanks JcKeeys

JCKeeys,
it was just my guess: Solton being aimed to the pro market, they have almost always had and expander version of their keyboards, since the days of SK4 (4 octave keyboard, almost like a toy, but with a very interesting expander, for people who already owned a keyboard or -I quote their advertisement- for midi-accordion players: this means minding for professionals). So I am pretty sure that in maybe six months they will come out with an SD1 expander. Anyway, next week there will be a public demo of the SD1 here in Rome. I hope I'll be there; if you are interested, I'll keep you informed.

Another term for "expander" is "module", basically a key-less version of a keyboard (if that makes sense). Thus, the X4 is an expander version of the X1. Early midi keyboards had such limited polyphony that an expander version was often added to double polyphony without requiring a second keyboard. Nowadays, polyphony is less of a problem, so modules are used less for expanding a similar keyboard as to provide a new capabilities to a setup that has a different keyboard.

HTH

[This message has been edited by Clif Anderson (edited 03-18-2001).]

Dreamer!.. I'm very interested to hear your comments on the SD1! "When in Rome do as the Romans" and listen to the SD1 demo!!(A pathetic attempt at humor)Thanks for the explanation of "Expander". I'm more famaliar with the term module. Thanks

JCKeeys,
if you want to wet your appetite for the SD1 you can try the following link: http://digilander.iol.it/ketron/ita_main.htm;
there are a couple of rather close-up pictures which really give the idea and some nice MP3 demos to download (a couple of them don't seem to be working, though -namely the Blues and the Soul ones).
If you want to get a "kick" (in every sense), click on "Drums".