Well I finally got a day off from gigging due to a last minute cancellation and made it down to Chuck Levins in Wheaton, MD USA to demo the following: the Korg PA1XPRO, the Yamaho Tyros, and the Ketron SD1 Plus and MidJay. They are all awesome but I noticed the following. The Tyros has the best display and the worst keys, the Korg has the best keys (AND 76 OF THEM, YAY), and the Ketron (in my opinion) has the absolute best "live band" sound, for lack of a better term. I think that is the most important thing for me since I want to do all I can to compensate for the lack of the appearance of a live band standing next to me.
I was also very impressed by Ketron rep. AJ's honesty about the pros and cons of all the boards. And he's a heck of a player! (P.S. Don't tell him I said this but I could listen to his carribean accent all day long, lol!)
As far as the midjay, it has all the functions of an SD1plus except the sequencer, the keys, and something else, which I can't remember. But the SD1, with all of its buttons in front of you, is the better choice for performing music live.
Now I just need to save up a little more $$$.
This is scary, but have literally had dreams about playing an arranger. I can't wait.

I think you're making a good choice, Dan.
You will enjoy the SD1. BTW, AJ has some souped-up ones for sale.
DonM

Yeah, I'm really excited about it. I can't get over how good it sounds.

Forgive me in advance if i'm asking too personal a question,but what is the pricing for the Ketron SD1? AJ?

I am really getting fed up with the Tyros 61 keys and the key feel. I just really can't get inspired. I too am looking for something a little more professional in 76 keys and although I've never heard or played a Ketron product, I'm starting to get curious from other owners.

Al

The Retail price of the SD1plus is $3995.00 and the MAP price is $3195.00. If interested I have one SD1plus in my store with a small scratch at the back and I will sell this one with a bigger discount. Contact me if interested through my email.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566

kbrkr: It is worth the trip to hear one. I listened to the Korg and the Tyros first and was blown away by the Ketron. The closest thing I can compare it to was the shock of hearing the incredible sound coming from tiny Bose speakers the first time I walked into a Sharper Image store 20 years ago. You'll be looking around the store to see where the live drummer is hiding...

I have GOT to go see a Ketron. Thanks for the offer George. Let me do my research and I'll get back to you.

I love this forum for this reason; it opens my eyes and ears to many other possibilities without prejudice.

Al

I agree, the Ketron SD-1...all Ketron products are awesome...in spite of a relatvely steep learning curve. AJ is great!
I'm disappointed that Ketron will not be at Summer NAMM.

For my tastes, the others aren't in the same league!

Russ

My Two Cents ... As I have said before I had an SD1 for two years and loved it but the G70 well ... play it with the 1.10 upgrade adjust some of the reverb settings ( TOO MUCH STILL!!) and you have one hell of a keyboard. The transition from varation to variation is flawless and ALL the sounds are terrific. Give it a try before making a decision on a KB that is Five + years old.

hi,

why not...waiting for the new tyros?
(fresher sounds/better keys/newer styles...)

...and you are able to save a little more money till the end of the year..;-)

regards
andy
www.andy-pruss.de

Jckeys, now your just adding fuel to my confusion. I too have to admit the G70 has almost everything I am looking for in a arranger. The only thing missing are the many raving customers. From where I sit, it seems there are may owners with mixed emotions about the board and a few here on this forum have sold their units and purchased other boards.

Your right, I should go and play one and prove to myself whether it's worthy or not.

Tyros 2 is out of the question since it will NOT have 76 keys. It won't even be a consideration for me unless Yamaha dramatically change their position and improves the keybed and adds 76 keys. It is really starting to aggravate me; playing the Tyros keyboard. Grrrrrrr!

StPat... I've owned the SD1 for almost 2 years and made the same observations as you have comparing other keyboards. I've performed at places where other performers come in with other KBs and a common response is "your music sounds like a real band". Not perfect, but no KB is.

Glenn

Yours are exactly my sentiments as well. The G70 has received the most "MIXED" reviews of any arr keyboard I can ever recall. On one hand, a number of respected SZ members here have auditioned (some even purchased & subsequently returned) the G70 and hated this board, yet others here have stated it to be the best arranger they ever played, and to top that off, Stephen Fortner of Keyboard Magazine gave the G70 a 'GLOWING REVIEW', concluding:

"It's a rewarding experience to make music with this powerful machine. Everything is so tightly integrated with, and linkable to, everything else that there are often many routes to the same destination, and I've only scratched the surface here. This would be a daunting if it weren't for for the work Roland's done making the interface almost take you by the hand. Has it earned rights to the title "ultimate", and lived up to it's $5K price tag? For the market they're after, I think so. This is an intermediate to advanced player's arranger, as evidenced by the fact that training wheel-like one-fingered chords and guide modes that wait for the right note are present but down-played. The Tyros has those , too, and save for B3 sounds, is sonically competitive, but the G70 takes the lead for keyboard feel, interactivity, and real time control. It's a very significant act of leapfrog in the arranger race."

Another interesting aside mentioned following this article review by Roland Product Mgr Chris Halon (formerly official Technics keyboard artist & designer of Technics Arranger keyboard styles):

"It's (the G70) intended to compete with other high end arrangers like the Yamaha Tyros and Korg PA-1X."

"We feel it it has two customer groups. The adult home hobbyist will enjoy the One Touch settings, the many classic Big Band, Latin, Country, and 50's & 60's styles, and the Music Assistant, which offers ez access registrations for 500 built in song suggestions. Plus, there's a button on the panel for everything you'd ever want to do with an arranger, and a color touch screen.

Then there's the 'one man band' weekend musician. With 12 intros and endings, a pro quality vocal harmonizer, live V-Drums, and 50 MB internal flash drive plus handling of multiple memory card formats, we think we've nailed the semi-pro's needs for fexibility, live performance features, and quick access to lots of storage."


For strictly arranger auto "accompaniment mode" playing, with split point set at F#2, I find 61 keys more than adequate, playing all LH full chords, inversions (even the advanced 'rootless' jazz chords), with RH having 3-1/2 octaves of real estate to play on, which is only 1/2 octave less than the distance between middle C and the highest note on a standard 88 note piano.

On the other hand, for TRADITIONAL acoustic piano style keyboard playing, this CANNOT be accomplished on a 61 keyboard, and that even 76 notes is the barely minimal acceptable. I admit that there are often times in a performance that I'd like to throw in a solo keyboard/solo keyboard + vocal number (no auto-accompaniment) and not able to perform this on the Tyros, and longed for 76 keys on my portable keyboard. For special solo piano instances like these, I take my Roland A-33 (76 note) ultra lightweight controller and midi it to the 27 lb Tyros. All things considered, this may be a better lightweight alternative than having to haul around a single 45 lb HEAVY board of which the G70 is. In the meantime, I look forward to auditioning the G70 myself to see if its advantages outweigh 45 lbs. - Scott

Thanks everyone for your input.
Scott: I too will try it out before making a final decision. I have some time since I don't have the money saved up and won't for another month or so.
On another note, I've seen your demos on your page and I wish I could play as well as you do! But I'm sure that I'll improve with a real keyboard and a lot of effort.

I was passing my local "sound Control " music shop in Birmingham England and poppedin to killsome time. I sat with the G70 and played for about 30 minutes. I have already spent over a couple of hours with it previously but that was about 4 months ago . I asked the assistant if the board had had the latest operating system upgrade. They said yes. Iam sorry to say my opinion of the board has not changed. Purely in terms of sound it is teribbly disappointing . Thje shop has not sold even one unit and its really not surprising. I am a yammie fan but again i played the PA1X. I have not had the chance to play the Ketron SD1 so i cant compare . But the Korg is an outstanding instrument sonically. In my view the PA1Xis still the arranger to beat on the market. Will see what the Tyros 2 brings......

no surprises here, but I am in total agreement with Spalding !!!!


[This message has been edited by john smies (edited 05-18-2005).]