Hello,

I recently dowloaded some Ketron demo's. I notice the instruments particularly in the Vega sound different from Yamaha and Roland. They sound like 20 times better...I am still a Roland fan but i'll admit i've never heard anything like that before..... So which is the ultimate Ketron keyboard ? X1 ? XD9 Vega etc ..... ?

How come Ketron are not so well known ?

Roland user,
as far as sounds go here is what I think; I guess that I can speak out of experience, because right now I have side by side a VA7, an SD1 and a 9000 pro (not to mention an XD3):

Acoustic piano:
VA7: good and mellow, but needs to be played from a 76 notes, semi-weighed keyboard.
9000 pro: very good and clean (a Yamaha piano, no doubt about it).
SD1: very good and brilliant; more equalized than the others; maybe the best one for rock-pop music. The XD3 piano is cleaner but less rich and natural sounding.

Electric pianos:
VA7: decent ones, but not much choice
9000 pro: the best ones, no questions here.
SD1: forget about them; they will never cut through a mix; better on the XD3 (cleaner but still lacking any spark).

Organs:
VA7: good sounds, but weird selection (some presets are missing; good jazz Hammond though)
900o pro: excellent selection; very clean, the best ones to play jazz and latin tunes; don't forget the flute organs!
SD1: full of guts; excellent for rock-pop music; not so clean as the 9000 pro, but when it comes to rock-pop, who cares... The XD3 has cleaner sounds but less choice; the SD1 is better here.

Accordeons:
VA7: excellent accordeons both for south american music (tango) and french waltzes (musette)
9000 pro: the second one, after the VA7; the sound is too thin; maybe it would be better layering sounds.
SD1: the worst ones; the sound is not so clean as the other two. A little better on the XD3.

Guitar:
VA7: very good acoustic and electric guitars (the distorted and overdrive ones are the best I have heard among all the arrangers)
9000 pro: very good acoustic and jazz guitars (they are SO clean!). Distorted guitars not so good, but acceptable.
SD1: the acoustic are good, but the electric are the worst ones among the three; never used them. Here again the XD3 has cleaner sounds, but still of no use to me.

Strings:
VA7: good, especially the synth strings
9000pro: lush and clean; the choice between VA7 and 9000 pro is really personal here.
SD1: not as clean as Roland or Yamaha but very good in the mid-lower frequencies; they somehow lack very high frequencies, like all the Ketron sounds, but have a lot of body. I guess that they could work very well layered with the 9000 pro strings, which are kind of "thin". XD3: less choice than the SD1 but the sound is again cleaner.

Trumpets and horns:
VA7: good choice but the sound is kind of thin; I love the Mariachi trumpet: one of the reasons to keep the VA7.
9000pro: good sounds, but again thin; they need to be layered. Good trombone and trumpet. Best analog brass among the three.
SD1: the sound is dirty compared with Roland and Yamaha, but they sound more like real horns. Seems like they were played by a more inspired musician. XD3: less choice than SD1 but better sound. Maybe the most expressive trumpet, trombone and flugelhorn, but again not so sparkling like Roland or Yamaha.

Woodwinds:
VA7: best tenor sax (I use it a lot and couldn't do without); good soprano sax. Very good clarinet, oboe and english horn.
9000pro: very good tenor and alto sax and BEST soprano sax (should work very well layered with the Soprano from the VL board: can't wait to get it). Good clarinet.
SD1: very good tenor sax, full of body in the lower registers; not so good in the high register (I always use it in the lower octaves, like in the Sweet Home Chicago solo) In the higher octaves there is a noise of some kind and it sounds too much like "circus music". XD3: worse than the SD1 (the best sounds are missing)

Flutes:
VA7: very good
9000pro: very good or excellent. The pan flute is the best, clean, smooth and silky.
SD1: again, very good and it sports some peculiar sounds too (like "Andes"). The Pan flute sounds better in the XD3, though.

Choir and voices:
VA7: excellent choice. The best one.
9000pro: the choice is good with some interesting sounds, but they are thin compared with the VA7; best results if layered.
SD1: worst one, but with some interesting sounds (like "Soul sister"; wish it was sampled with a better quality and more extension towards the high octaves). XD3: lacks some SD1 sounds.

Synthesizer:
VA7: excellent choice, with many sounds drawn from the JV expansion card "Analog".
9000pro: excellent again; maybe the best leads and some great pads.
SD1: not so clean as the others, but maybe for analog sounds that's a plus. Never used them, but curious to try them out. The XD3 has less choice here.

Drums:
VA7: very good and clean
9000pro: again, very good and clean; maybe the best brushes. For the same reason, maybe the best one for jazz styles.
SD1: full of punch; the best one for rock-pop music. Cymbals lack very high frequencies, though (why didn't Ketron sample their sounds at 44KHz?)

Okay, that's all. Of course it's all subjective, but what isn't? Hope this helps (wow, it was like writing a book...)



[This message has been edited by Dreamer (edited 11-03-2002).]

Andrea,
Nice and complete comparison....thanks.
Terry

Dreamer ,

I think your comparisons are right on the money . The only exception I would make is the choir sounds .

It will be interesting to see what Ketron implements with the new OS .

dano

Interesting comparison.

Let me add few things to it:

Yamaha PSR9000PRO:

Has excellent flutes, trumpet, solo guitars and strings.

However, in my humble opinion, it fails miserablly in the Piano sound.

The motif piano sounds like PSR9000pro. It is terrible. I believe Yamaha does that intentionally to protect the market share of clavinovas.

sk,
Having had the Motif and a 9k...
It truly is interesting our different opinions on sounds.....for my money, Yamaha has the best pianos.

If we all liked the exact same boards and sounds, our music would all sound the same....how boring that would be huh?
Terry

Being an ex VA76 owner I can honestly say that I thought the sounds and styles in it were rubbish. I prefer my G1000 anyday over a VA76. As for Yamaha, never liked any of their keyboards especially the new Tyros.
The SD1 hasn't got any bad sounds in it to me. As for someone saying they have worse guitars and accordians - who are you trying to kid? The accordians are spot on and guitars when used with the expression pedal set to wah effect or distortion are as close as you can get. If you've got any sense stick with SD1 or better still, get the Genesys it rocks!

Eyerec,
I think that you and I could never get along well.

Eyerec
Your entitled to your opinion but you make it sound like this is the way it is and that’s that. Lighten up....I too have options that I share but don't try to impress upon....
Lou

Dreamer, thanks for taking the time to write such a good and fair comparison.

In all fairness I think its unfair to say the VA76 sounds crap compared to the G1000 since it has all the G1000 sounds in one of its banks and 1600 VA sounds of which most surpass the G1000.