Hello,

I have just recently sold my Yamaha PSR-3000 and I'm now waiting for the Tyros2 release.

A friend however mentioned Ketron (or whatever they were called) boards and said they might be a viable alternative. I had never even HEARD of them.

So quick question, what are the most obvious advantages / disadvantages of Ketron vs. Yamaha? Or is this another one of those preference of taste issues where nobody ever wins?

I'd like to use my next keyboard for live performing, one man band stuff, also singing.


Thanks

Many of us on the forum have had and used both. They both have their advantages and their shortcomings. DonM went Ketron Yamaha Yamaha Ketron. I went Ketron to Yamaha. It IS a matter of taste and comfort.

For many on the forum it has been a matter of not finding a Ketron in their area to try. Yamahas are everywhere and there is tons of support on the internet.

I lost a lot of respect in the Ketron because they advertised that it would never be obsolete because they would continually upgrade it via software. They supported it for a few years and then forgot it. Therefore I forgot them. Good luck.

Tom

Ketron sounds and styles are head and shoulders above the Yamaha's.

The bass and drums on Ketron boards and modules are unbeatable..

I don't think the factory/distributor support is any worse than the Big Three..
The Yamaha has independent support as far as advice..

Hi TheWolf,
Of course it's a matter of personal taste, but I owned the SD1 Ketron and now own the Tyros-1... but ordered the Tyros-2

I loved the SD1 for a looong time (4 years) and did many gigs with it. SD1 never let me down and performed excellent.
SD1 Pro's :
76 keys with excellent feel,
metal housing,
very much live feel,
pushing drive in sound,
great midifile playback machine,
not too many kg's,

SD1 Con's:
Complex to operate/understand (stucture, menu-tree etc)
only 64 voice polyphony with sometimes dropouts and delays (latency),
small monochrome display that sometime causes problems,
noisy harddisk,
only 'thin' dealernetwork, poor support,
buttons feel fragile

The Tyros-1 Pro's;
Low weight,
bigger buttons,
huge colour display, position adjustable,
OS very easy to understand, just a few simple steps to get somewhere.
128 polyphony what makes there are no dropouts and delays (latency = zero?)
Fantastic musical styles,
One touch settings work great,
Superb sounding megavoices,
great strings, drawbarsound, brass, guitars, piano's etc.,
HDD is a super silent type,
USB interface,
Music finder with tons of song-presets.
Registration-system works quick/easy
Very fast boot-up,

Tyros 1 Con's:
Only 5 octaves,
Keyfeel not as good as the SD1,
'Plastic' (polymer) housing,
Midifile-playback not as good as SD1 does,
Music stand adapters are kind'of fragile,
No XLR (balanced) mike input,
..... well that's it!

At Juli 4th, I spoke with a Yamaha rep, that presented the new features of the Tyros-2 (read them at www.tyros2.net ) and they impressed me very much.... so I decided to want one.

If I were you I'd wait a couple of weeks to meet the Tyros-2 first !

I bet your choice will be the Tyros-2



[This message has been edited by Roel (edited 08-23-2005).]

Hi, I currently own both Keytron SD1 and Tyros, thet're both excellent...main different is 76 keys in SD1, but you should be used to PSR3000's shorter keys.
:- Sounds wise, Tyros has more modern sounds, on the brighter side than Keytron, I especially love the Phased Rhodes of the Tyros....SD1 does sound good as well.
:- Style, Tyros swing and Jazz, old Discos style are very good to me, and this are the only group of style that sounds better imho than SD1. Tyros style sounds more polished production like you listen to Quincy Jones's or Celine Dione's( not my favourite singer) CD production. On the other hand, SD1 sounds kind of raw like bar band imho.
Despite all of these, I continue to gig with SD1 and XP60, I own the TYros since 02/05, but don't have enough confidence to use it as arranger in live. But that's only because I haven't spend enough time to do registration and preparation necessary for live playing. My impression of these 2 boards are based on live arranger playing only, SMF and sequencer I have no clue which one is better.

There are number of player that switched from SD1 to Tyros pretty sastisfactory in no time at all,' Roel' r u listening?

I probably confused you even more, but if I can be of any help, let me know!

Tye

I did switch from X1 back to Yamaha, but mostly because I didn't like the position of the intro-ending-fill buttons on the X1. I played the Tyros for a couple of years and loved it.
But, I kept missing that "live" sound of the Ketron and went to the SD1. The buttons are better positioned on it.
Yes the learning curve is higher than Yamaha, but as has been said before, the Ketron sounds like a live band, the Tyros like a CD recording. Both very good but different.
You can't go wrong with either one.
As far as Ketron support, they came out with a completely new OS for the SD1 that in effect upgraded the entire keyboard to a higher level. I know of no other kb maker that has done anything close to that.
The more I "get into" the Ketron, the better I like it. It can be totally customized to your likes. The Registration system, to me, is better than Yamaha, although the overall operating system lags behind.
Also the vocal harmonizer is much better on the SD1. It has two mic inputs, one XLR which goes through the harmonizer, the other 1/4-inch, that is not processed through the harmonizer. Very handy for guest singers.
I have also come to like the 6-button footswitch on the SD. You can assign nearly any function you might want to it. There is also a 13-button switch available.
DonM

Hey thanks everyone, keep them coming!

I am mostly a weddings / swing&jazz kind of singer, and do indeed appreciate Yamaha's ease of use.. well I'll have to try the Tyros2 october/september when we get show models in stores here.

cheers

I definitely feel Yamaha surpasses Ketron with better sounding "Swing & Jazz" styles while Ketron is stronger in "Country & Rock" styles. Just my opinion. - Scott

They both sound good BUT,

Yamaha is far easier to operate and navagate in a live situation on stage.....theres no comparison there. BUt for recording in a studio hey both would do very well.

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 08-23-2005).]

Not so much after you really get used to it. I am much quicker calling up Registrations on the SD1. However, contrary to most people, I like the way the midi files work better on Tyros.
DonM

Ok.. so is there any talk about a new Ketron model coming out? It's probably safe to say the Tyros2 will beat all competition if it turns out to be anywhere as good as all the hype.. but what is Ketron's counter strike? Any new model that will kick all @ss?

Wolf can you post some demo songs for us...?

BTW why did you sell your 3k?



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 08-23-2005).]

Demo songs, you mean something I've recorded? I have a few test recordings in MP3 format, which can be found at http://cray.tuug.fi/~hese/temp/

Some of those are sung in Finnish, and are very much just tests and contain all kinds of terrible mistakes :P These were recorded live from my PSR3000.

I sold the board because at the moment I could still get a good price. Once the Tyros2 is out and possibly an upgrade to the 3K also later, prices drop. So I will be without a keyboard for a while now.

Wolf I have both a Tyros and a Ketron XD3 module which is the keyboardless version of their latest model the XD9 (a cut down SD1).

I love both but as has been said already, I like Tyros for processed studio type sounds and Ketron for more danceable and "in yer face" latin, R&B, rock, pop or any of the Dance genres...

Ketron are difficult to find and buy but if you do get one you don't sound like everyone else. Fortunately I have never had a problem with the equipment and I have had Ketron (was Solton) for the last 10 years.

Yamaha are difficult to avoid which is just as well as I have had to have two hardware problems fixed in the last year.

I have to confess that it took me a long time to gig with the Tyros as it sounded much too wishy washy and processed at first after what I had been used to with the XD3 but after a bit of tweaking I now do.

As for sounds - well it's all subjective but to my ears this is what I think

Best on Ketron

Drums and Latin Percussion
Solo Saxes
Electric Guitars
Solo Trumpets (especially Jazz)
Sampled Organ (not drawbars)
Choirs
Accordians
Rock, Latin and "modern" styles
Vocal Harmoniser

Best on Yamaha

Electric Piano
Accoustic Piano (Not great but not plinky in the upper registers like the Ketron)
Accoustic Guitars
Ensemble Brass and Woodwind
Ethnic sounds
Jazz and Ballad Styles
Display
Support and 3rd party styles

I too am looking forward to the Tyros 2 but would also like to know if there is a new SD1 replacement coming soon.......

Just my 2p worth


Regfards - KFingers

[This message has been edited by KFingers (edited 08-24-2005).]

Exactly how I feel, I'm giging with SD1 as arranger, and I keep wishing for better styles for swing&jazz and also some basic Motown Soul which does not sound exactly what I wanna hear, Tyros got some of those.