I now have my last SD1 and the new SD1plus side by side .
I've been making some comparison's to really get an idea of what's different between the two keyboards .

When I pulled the SD1plus out of the box , you will notice some colored buttons and new agua green lettering designed to help navigate the new features with 4.0 .

The keyboard looks a little more pro with the disk drive being silver . Some added color to the buttons are helpful. You can thank AJ for his input with the colored buttons .

I have both keyboards hooked up into the KP200S ( Tyro's also ) , with the same settings .

So .....

1st thing I checked out was the Piano samples . SD1 is still very good , but the SD1plus stock piano sound is warmer in tone . But you don't stop at just the 1st piano sound , becasue what Ketron did was utilize it's "program" feature ( assignable for patch,layered sounds) to give even better piano samples and nice pianostring combo's . As a matter of fact , must of all the programs have been totally tweaked by Ketron , vs the SD1 . Stereo samples are now in area's once allocated for programs on the SD1 , are now really great e.piano's samples ( big improvement) , organs and a new "Steinway" sample called "newgrand" .

Whatever feature you have on your current keyboard that allows you to save layered combinations , is the same thing as a "program" on Ketron/Solton keyboards .Not to be confused as a registration .

Instead of layering 2 sounds in that area for 2 seperate sounds , Ketron used that to combine 1 stereo sample . Get it ?

Overall , I would say that the sound improvements are noticable .
OK enough of that .

Styles ......

You will find some new styles on the SD1plus .
If you own the SD1 , the "new" SD1plus styles can be found listed on Ketron's website for sale , under new "styles" for the SD1 . If you purchase the new styles ,your current SD1 will have the new SD1plus styles .

Of the 307 or 309 styles on the SD1 , 198 of them were carried over from the X1 series . When the SD1 1st came out , the X1 styles needed to be tweaked for my taste on the SD1 .

The new SD1plus still incorporates the the X1 styles , but all of the X1 styles are now really great sounding (totally tweaked sonically and good volumne balance within the style) and better than the original SD1 was shipped from Italy . New live drums were added to most and new instrumentation.

Any other questions ? I hope this makes sense .

I'm not a very good writer or typist .

Dano

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keyboardcity@yahoo.com www.keyboardcity.net
1-866-348-8876

[This message has been edited by DanO1 (edited 07-09-2003).]

Dan,

did ketron update their website adding new SD-1plus demos etc etc ?

Not that I've seen . I'm hoping to do it myself , on my website !

Maybe do a video for it .

Yes Sir......your due for another Great Demo for sure just like your X1 Video !!

Hey Donny ,

I want to buy a digital video / camera . I just saw one on QVC for around $560.00 . Any recommendations ?

I could do a video with the Tyro's /SD1 / SD1plus all interacting with each other in one room .

I kid you not , but I need the right camera .

Dano

Hi Dano

Thanks for your comparison, good work.
Question: can the new sounds (Piano e.g.)
and new programs be used on the SD1 4.0b?
Download site?

Brgds Hansruedi

[QUOTE]Originally posted by hrh999:
Hi Dano

Thanks for your comparison, good work.
Question: can the new sounds (Piano e.g.)
and new programs be used on the SD1 4.0b?
Download site?

Brgds Hansruedi[/QUO

I was told that nothing replaces the stereo piano sample chip that is inside the SD1plus.

I believe new piano samples will be available, but it will only come via floppy disk . Do not expect any hardware upgrades for current SD1 owners .

Dano

I'm finding new things everday .

All,

I am interested in SD1, but I would like to play one first. I don't know of any local dealers in Chicago area that carry Ketron products, does anyone know of any?

Thanks

They moved all the Ketron dealers to Parkville Maryland .

The SD1 is now discontinued . Some dealers in the USA may have some boxed SD1's . At my store , I have one left with the video output expansion .

Ketron SD1plus is the current FLAGSHIP keyboard !

The SD1plus wholesale cost for US dealers went up .

I have a customer in the Chicago area , you could contact him . I could also offer a limited return policy .

Send an email . Dano

The new piano samples which come in the SD1's hard drive and need to be loaded into the keyboard either manually or with an auto load function can not be fully loaded into an original SD1. The reason for this is because ketron added more memory into the SD1plus to accomodate for these new larger piano samples. If you load them into the SD1, they will not sound as full because some of the samples will be missing. The memory I'm talking about has nothing to do with loading your own larger samples or sampling on the keyboard. This has not been changed, but rather only affects the sound files the Ketron factory have developed for the SD1plus.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

AS many of you may remember, I had the opportunity to audition both the SD1 and XD9 at great lengths, and on several different occasions. Though I was impressed with the 'authenticity' of many of Ketron's style patterns, I couldn't get over my feeling of disappointment with the kb's seemingly overall muffled bassy sound. In contrast, the Yamaha Tyros/9000pro/PSR2000 sounds imho natural & open (transparent) with a balanced frequency response (from high to low) and a lot less fatiguing to my ears. It's my opinion that Ketron boards are best suited for contemporary dance oriented genres, while Yamaha arrangers better suited for emulating acoustic genre music: acoustic jazz, pop, R&B, country. I assume that the new SD1 'Plus' overall sound continues in the tradition of the Ketron overall sound that I outlined above, right?

I'm curious now to find out if anyone else (Donny Pesce, Andrea (Dreamer), Uncle Dave, and others) here that had the opportunity to play & compare the SD1/XD9 with the Tyros/9000pro/PSR2000/2100 has observed what I noticed or not.

Dan O'Neil: Realizing that you're now both a Ketron and Yamaha dealer, I'm particularly interested to hear 'your' candid thoughts on this now.

George Kaye, as another Ketron & Yamaha dealer as well, I would value your feedback on this as well.

I'm also interested in hearing what type of customers (musician keyboard players) tend to go with the Ketron vs Yamaha arrangers.

Thanks to everyone for your feedback & input.

Scott

I had no gripe about the sound of the Ketron products ... just the playability and navigation. It has great bass, drums and winds ....... for starters, but I still think the polyphony issue needs to be re-addressed. You can't play 2 fisted piano/string parts and use the sustain pedal while anything else is going on .... and if the harmonizer is triggered .... it will SHUT THE VOICES OFF when the max is reached. Unacceptable for a singer.

Scott and Others,
For ease of use and moving around to different editing pages and displays, the Tyros I find to be much easier to work with. The sounds of both the SD1 and the Tyros become personal tastes. In my store I think it seems to be divided right down the middle. Some really like one catagory better on one and others on the other. For sequencing I prefer the Tyros, but for the feel of the keyboard and size I like the 76 key SD1plus. Polyphony doesn't seem to be an issue with any of my customers because over the years of the SD1 I haven't had any complaints. I've only had 1 Tyros that needed to be exchanged because of a defect and I've had to have many SD1s sent in for display problems. However, the problem seems to be gone on the SD1plus and even when there have been problems, Ketron USA has been there for their customers to get the display problem fixed quickly.
Like Dan, I like the ability to turn off drum sounds quickly on the SD1 but both have the ability to use the drum remix feature where you play a midi file and use one of the internal styles for the drum track.
You can't go wrong with either keyboard in my opinion.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

These are good comments from George .

Thanks Dano for your clarification about the Piano sample. Strange communication from Ketron: I heard from many representatives, that the SD1Plus contains the same hardware. You are the first one informing, that there is a new piano chip.

I have no problems with this product strategy, but would have preferred a clear and open information from Ketron.

Brgds Hansruedi