Ketron supply's PCM soundson the hard drive when you pull it out of the box !


That's all I have to say ! good luck ...........dano at the pianoman


ketronguy@yahoo.com

DanO - I have to show you how to use the "reply with quote" feature!!!!!
It's so easy .......

Back to the core of the problem:
As you know, I have an SD1 and I like it a lot, but after trying Eric's 9000 pro I think I would like having one, for the following reasons:
- beautiful looks
- great action (76 notes, semi-weighed keyboard, a pleasure to play)
- great sounds: acoustic piano, electric pianos, organs, soprano sax, accordeons, synthy sounds.
By the way, while I was in California, I tried both the 9000 pro and the PSR 2000: maybe it's true that they share the same waveforms, but I think that the 9000 pro sounds better and this could depend on the effects. Take a Rhodes piano: it can sound just good or terrific, depending on the quality of the reverb or the chorus. I think that the 9000 pro has a better DSP, and that makes a difference.
Just my Sunday morning thoughts.

Andrea , I think I could agree that the 9000pro may have a better sounding DSP. I only wished it didn't weigh nearly 50 lbs and I could get it into my car (with a case).

I still think the PSR2000 sounds terrific for 'live' performance though. If only Yamaha could give us everything the 9000pro has in a MUCH lighter (less than 30 lbs) 61 note package. For solo piano playing, 76+ notes is essesntial, but for arranger style playing (utilizing auto accomp mode), I really don't see much of an avantage. I can explain why, if anyone wants to know. - Scott

DanO, Were you talking about panning the onbaord preset drums? I was referring to the imported ACID loops. I doubt it can turn a mono sample into stereo. However, if there was some other way to import the ACID loops as wav files (like through a PC interface cable?) into the SD-1, then would it accept them in stereo format since I wouldn't be actually "sampling" them in? I guess what I'm saying is: The SD-1 only samples in mono, but can I import a stereo wav file for use on the SD-1?



The Motif, Triton does arpeggiate more than drums, but not in an "auto-accompanitment" way (except for a few specific patches) like arranger keyboards. I am not interested in auto-accompaniment, but building my arranement from scratch. The synth style arpeggiators like the MOTIF's interest me because of the electronic/techno style they can achieve which would be very hard to simulate in a style creator on an auto-accompaniment keyboard. However, the arrangers' preset drum patterns which allow for main beats, variations, fill-ins, etc. fill an area that I am weak in which is making really good, fantastic, groovy drum tracks. That's is why I think importing already made loops into something like the MOTIF would be good. I could import main, variation, and fill loops to be used together as needed. Plus I'd get the techno-styled arpeggiator funtion which to my knowledge NO arrangers have (I mean good ones, not the casiotone bleepers, if you know what I mean). SD-1 seems to have a portamento function which is rare on arrangers. If only it had the arpeggiator AND I could be certain I could import stereo WAV files then I'd have to say I'd be sold almost definately.

I hope this explains better what I'm trying to find. You must all think I'm a real pain in the butt with my posts since I started. I really do appreciate everyone's opinion and points-of-view. It's hard to try all of these machines hands-on because either they are not available in my town, or to really play with them, you have to learn how to use them first which takes too much time to do when you're in a music store. So thanks, everybody for the input.


[This message has been edited by seanbaker (edited 07-28-2002).]

Scott, I think that 76 keys mean a lot more room for your left hand; when I play a song like "A whiter shade of pale" with my SD1 I just move my hand from the right to the left, following a descending bass scale (C, Cmaj7/B, Am, Am7/G, F, Fmaj7/E, Dm, Dm7/C, ecc). With the VA7 I can't do that because if I start with the middle C the highest note falls beyond the split point (in the right hand range); on the other hand, if I change the split point, I feel too limited in my right hand movements.
I guess that's way the organs have two manuals.

I like to "build from the ground up " too. If I were to replace one of my two boards., I'd no doubt keep the Motif ( stunning sounds and great for techno / ambient stuff ) and I'd part with my PA80 ( arranger with excellent sounds and synth editability but also with some limitations that I don't like ). I'd go to either the Triton or Karma instead.

The 9000 is a great board / arranger and my limited experience with the 9000 pro tells me it is also a great araranger. In my own case though I don't necessarily need ( or want ) an arranger though for composing, especially when I consider that I already have the arranger like features of Jammer Pro, XG works, and Sonar's Musiclab drum and guitar accessories, not to mention a few others, even some useful freeware apps.

Another way to look at it.. for approximately the price of a new 9000 pro one can purchase BOTH the Motif and a Triton Le or Karma.

I wonder why the 9000pro costs so much more. Usually a pro synth would be the higher price. When you consider the MOTIF has 85MB wave ROM and the 9000 only 48. ?????

Well, this is a "quantity" approach to the problem, that does not take into account the "quality" of sounds. I have tried the Motif and, even if Yamaha says that it sports some of the cool voices of the pro, I still think that the 9000 pro sounds better. Unless you are into techno, hip hop and stuff like that, the 9000 pro offers you a much better choice of solo voices to play with. Acoustic and electric pianos, organs, guitars, woodwinds, accordeons, brass, strings, you name it. Plus, I think that the Motif has a "cold" quality in its sound, that reminded me of my old Yamaha SY 99; I don't know how to explain it, but I definitely could not define its sound as "warm".
Going back to the 9000 pro, I think that its biggest limitation, as an arranger keyboard, is the quality of the styles, but it is true that you can buy commercial styles (the good ones are pretty expensive, though).