Thanks Tony, got all private stuff in January, next public place I play at will be Java Madness Sunday Feb 7th 11 AM to 2 PM. If you can come on down.

That was partly my point - I didn't have any first hand knowledge of how these two sounded, and don't have any bias either way between the two makes. My reaction to these files was therefore not 'preconditioned' in any way by previous contact with these instruments.



Totally agree - which is why I have ended up using top end arrangers from Korg & Roland in recent years. Not because either make is inherently better or worse than Yamaha or Ketron (or any other obvious competitor, for that matter) but because the instruments I chose were best suited to my purpose.

As a simple example to confirm exactly what you are saying, I absolutely hate pitch bend wheels, much prefering a side-to-side lever. As a result, I don't even bother auditioning any of the Yamaha range as they all use a wheel for this function. I make heavy use of pitch bend, so it doesn't matter how good the rest of an instrument is, if this 'must have' lever is not present it won't be on my try-out list. Others feel the same way regarding 76 note keybeds. In my case, I've had both 76 & 61 & can live with either.

But you're absolutely right - an arranger is very musch a sum of it's parts. It isn't always the best sounding one that gives the most ultimate satisfaction. Usability is just as important.

Regards - Mike

Mike thanx for your reply...IM glad you see my point NAVAGATION is #1 priority for me always has been, I make split second switches throughout a song when I perform and if the controls and features are not just right or in the right position or if it takes too many moves to accomplish I will not keep the unit.....although on the outside in my choices there have been many friendly good vs bad battles on the SZ throughout my switching maneuvers in the past....if you read the last two posts by us it explains many of the reasons musicians make choices in gear beyond just the sound....even though many might not agree or wonder why....its a PERSONAL CHOICE for each player & always will be.

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 01-05-2007).]