After hearing Notlos' wonderful demo, I decided to give the SD1 another try, so two days ago I went to the same store and played the keyboard for one hour. I will try to express my impressions in a cold way, hoping not to displease friendly people like Roel.
In my opinion the SD1 is a keyboard designed to impress; I don't know if Ketron engineers did that on purpose, but this keyboard has definitely a frequency response curve with a peak in the mid-range area. I didn't make any measurement (of course) but I like to fiddle with equalizers in my home studio and so, please, trust my word.
This mid-range emphasis has two effects: the first is that some instruments, like the trumpet and the acoustic guitars seem literally to "jump out" of the keyboard (remember the debate about the X1 "in your face" styles? Well, in the case of the SD1 we can rightly speak of "in your face" sounds). The second effect (at least in my case) is that this emphasis can lead to an earlier onset of the so called hearing fatigue and so I guess that if I owned an SD1 I would need a coffee break for every hour of playing, more or less. Don't get me wrong: some people could actually LOVE this kind of sound, but in my case the first time I played the SD1 (side by side with a VA76) I remember that every time I switched to the VA76 it was like breathing fresh air, because the sound was much more natural, but again I agree that this is an highly subjective issue. The same kind of midrange emphasis, on the other hand, makes that other sounds, like the acoustic piano, sound best in the mid-octaves: when I tried the piano multisample I noticed a decrease of sonic output from Bb4 to B4; I guess that this is due to the frequency response curve and, hopefully, not to an uneven multisample distribution, but still the piano doesn't sound so good in the top octaves.
One final word about the noise issue: I played a preset called "Pop organ" and heard a "sizzling" noise in the right channel; mind you, it's not the kind of noise that makes people turn around and say "What's going on?"; in a live situation you probably will never notice that, but in a studio situation (for recording purposes) it can be definitely annoying. I have tried to switch the effects off and the noise disappeared, so I guess that it was not due to the sample itself, but to the DSP instead and so hopefully Ketron will be able to fix this issue in the future.
Well, what can I say more? I am sure that the SD1 is not a keyboard that will leave people indifferent: some will love it, while others will never be able to accept its sonic quality and so in this case more than ever the advice is: "Try before you buy".
Friendly yours,
Andrea

[This message has been edited by Dreamer (edited 06-28-2001).]

Andrea (Dreamer) Thanks so much for coming forward and providig your personal (honest & candid) in depth review of the Solton SD1. I certainly enjoyed Notlos' demos too, so I must admit that your comments definitely came as a sharp contrast to what I heard on his demos.

Even so, it CLEARLY appears that your opinions are NOT based on 'quick assumptions' or brand name bias, but a critical re-analysis of the SD1 keyboard a '2nd time' by you.

Keyboard sounds and style tastes are a very PERSONAL thing. What may appeal to one person may be distasteful to another. Your point is WELL TAKEN that we MUST all "Try Before We Buy". The paradox with the SD1 is that there are so VERY few places where you can try one out. I know of ONLY two stores in the entire USA: George Kaye's store in Southern California (over 375 miles south of where I live) and Guitar Center (the Towson, Maryland store ONLY). I'd be curious if others have been able to find a store near them (within 50 miles) who will stock an SD1. This truly BAFFLES me - Scott

It would be REAL INTERSTING to hear from Solton SD1 "Owners" (Notlos, Silver28, BlazeVB, and any others) to hear THEIR perspective on Dreamer's SD1 observations. - Scott

HI Scott,
have you checked with the solton dealer if there are any stores in Sacramento?
There is a big Store on buisness 80. I forgot its name, but it used to carry high end KB's. Worth checking out. The drive is not to bad, and certainly worth it.
I also agree with Andrea, that the excitment can wear off pretty fast. I also prefer more naturally sounding instruments. As some 9000/Pro owners already stated, Yamaha is a little bit on the other side of the spectrum with their sounds. It takes a little bit of tweaking before the board becomes alive. It depends deffinately on taste and the type of music you are playing. Before I started playing KB I used to play guitar. I must say though that Solton does have much better guitar strums that I miss sometimes on my Pro. I loaded a couple of VA-7 styles into my Pro, and the guitar strums are much better, so I know the board can do it. Yamaha just didn't program the styles that way. We'll see what the next generation will bring.
Eric

[This message has been edited by Eric, B (edited 06-28-2001).]

Hi Eric: THANKS for the suggestion. I just emailed Bell Solton New York (BellSolton@aol.com) to find out if there is a Solton Dealer in Sacramento (about 85 miles east of here) or San Jose (50 miles south of here) who might have an SD1 available to demo. I'll let you know.

- Scott

Hi Andrea(dreamer),
About the "noise" on some sounds:
Yes indead there is some noise on some sounds, but only on 5% of all sounds !!
Ketron is working on this now.
A choice for a keyboard is a personal taste !
some like roland other yamaha other ketron,... You must find your own choice what
best is for you !! There is no keyboard that
have 100% good of all!(styles,sounds,...)
Greetings Notlos. http://www.mp3.com/dirkbaert


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Dreamer.... just curious what type(brand name)speakers/amplifier did you use with the SD1?? Could that have an effect?? I stated here awile back about the noise issue with the X1 and George Kaye gave, what I thought, was a very good explaination of it.
Scott... The dealer I purchased my PA80 form is a Solton dealer and I will be demoing the SD1 on Monday(I had the X1 on loan for awhile)For what it's worth I'll give my opinion Monday night.

Dirk,
thank you for your information; I really appreciate your honesty and hope that Ketron can fix the noise problem.
JCKeeys, I used headphones in my audio test of the SD1, so I guess that we can rule out the speakers/amplifier factor.
I am curious to hear your impressions too about this keyboard.
Regards
Andrea

[This message has been edited by Dreamer (edited 06-28-2001).]

Dreamer...I find your comments on the midrange boost EQ thing very interesting! Do you feel that they(Solton)may be trying to compensate for less than "good" samples by EQ'ing them? This is an honest question and in no way am I trying to slam Solton or diminish your opinion. I think it has some validity. I know from my experience with the X1 Solton sounds in general are set up with a TON of Reverb. When you tried the SD1 did you have a chance to adjust the effect settings? Thanks again for your review honest oppinions are always welcomed.

JCKeeys,
as I said, I think that the SD1 is a Keyboard with a well defined personality, and that's a compliment for sure. To be more specific, I think that it's a keyboard designed mainly for live use (and not for a studio). I forgot to add that it has plenty of buttons... there are buttons for everything: you can even switch the aftertouch on and off with a button! From this point of view the midrange emphasis makes sense, because greatly adds to the overall impact: if you want to impress your audience the SD1 is the way to go. So I think that yes, it was a choice of Ketron engineers; on the other hand, if you plan to record something, this kind of "coloured" sound can become a problem and I cannot say how well it would blend with sounds from other keyboards or modules. I couldn't tweak too many effect settings because I had no time, but my feeling is that, right now, the DSP is the real weak point of the SD1 and I agree that a keyboard should sound good even in a "dry" mode. If Ketron could improve the DSP and fix the noise problem I could still consider the SD1 as a potential buy because I love its styles, but right now to make an SD1 suit my taste I 'd had to add an equalizer and a top notch DSP: I guess that an SD1 + a Lexicon would be a terrific pair, but what about the price?
Regards
Andrea