I’m wondering why (I think) most of you are playing Yamaha’s and Korgs (and some G-70’s) and NOT Ketrons?

Outside of actually playing an SD5 for about two hours, I hardly have any hands-on experience with it. But in those two hours, I was knocked out with what that thing can do. Since then I’ve been reading everything I could about the SD5 for quite awhile now. I’ve also downloaded every demo from every site I could find on the Net. Just about every one I listen to is brilliant (good instrument sounds and good players demo-ing them). I think they are the Rolls-Royce of arrangers…definitely for sounds, and probably also for versatility. Not sure yet about the ease of use on stage.

So, I think most of you agree with me on what I wrote so far. And, if so, I’m curious why you play everything else but…..?

MC said he sold his because it was too heavy to carry around. That’s a good reason.

Some of my own Ketron criticisms (that might put me off of buying one) are:

1) The dance styles are too aggressive….kind of get in your face….not easy-going as in (my opinion) the Roland’s.

2) What happens if the particular SD5 that you buy is trouble-prone from the start? What Ketron dealer (from the small pool of US Ketron dealers) is going to back that up with a new one? I’ve been down this road before with a previous gigging instrument and it’s a nightmare?

3) I’m REAL concerned about service if it goes down. I’m guessing it would have to go to a “service center” which (no matter what state you live in) would be 7-8 states away and it will be gone for weeks.

4) Because of the uniqueness of the Ketron sound, if your act was successful partly because of the Ketron “sound,” you’d have to have a second SD5 for backup.

5) It IS a small company, and, yes, what if the Audya “breaks” them financially and they go under. What if the Audya DOESN’T break them and, being a small company, they still go under, What if they decide to convert the company into a meat-packing plant?


I’ve been thinking about buying one for quite a while now, but every time I’m ready to plop down the money, something goes off in my head saying: “not a good idea!”

So that brings me back to: “What’s the reason, when all of you have good things to say about the Ketron in this forum, that you still stick to Yammie and his friends, Korgie and Rolando? I need new thoughts to toss around in my head before I make any moves!

Lucky

Just do a search on SZ and you'll read why we tried them & why we sold them again or kept them, its been discussed for years.....

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 08-22-2008).]

Sure, Donny....I'll do a "search" on Ketron and by the time I get through reading through the 10,000 posts in here that have "Ketron" in them, I'll be too old to even play one!

Things change over time....that goes for "thoughts" and "situations" too! I'm wondering what the latest school of thought is on why more of you are NOT playing Ketrons!

Lucky

Just like BMW and Mercedes Benz may not be liked by many, the few that love these cars would buy them again and again ... despite their high prices. There are those who love the quiet smooth ride of the Toyota Camry and would stick to these over and over again.

It's all about personal taste. Do you want your performance to sound like a CD or live show? In-your-face styles or more of a studio-feel? No keyboard yet has it all, and so people are left to choose. Now there are some who can afford to use/combine both worlds with 2 or more different keyboards, but for the average end-user, a lot of choices need to be made BEFORE purchasing a high-end arranger keyboard ~ as is the case with most goods and services in today's world.

With regards to service and product support, Ketron has one of the best now with a quick turn-around time in cases where the unit has to be sent to a service center. Being a smaller firm, Ketron can easily and quickly get parts to their repair centers enabling quick service and very short wait time (where applicable).

As for Audya breaking them ... . We just want to make sure that we get it right ... THE FIRST TIME hence a lot of time is being spent on finishing up the product. In as much as we want to keep our current Ketron fans with the real-live-in-your-face styles, we also thought we should invite others with a different taste by throwing in some studio-quality stuff too - merging both worlds into one machine , which could be a 'first' for a keyboard of such nature.

The official release date will be out in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for your patience as we continue to work harder ... so you don't have to.

I've owned & used Korgs, Rolands, Yamahas, but still keeps coming back to Ketron MidJay for fun & serious gigging. Altough not perfect in some ways, it's uniqueness & features makes it always my favorite all-in-one music/entertainment machine.

Even the little SD2 has amazing realism in it's banks of voices. At that price point, one cannot expect accessability like the SD5 or Midjay even,but, all of the voices are topnotch.

Here in the UK, the answer is simple -
No importer, no dealers and no Ketron answers to emails.

As a big Ketron fan, I've asked the question before - Do Ketron really want to sell their keyboards at all?
Doesn't look like it from where I'm standing.
Tony, Sheffield UK

For me, it's simple... no lookey, no touchy, no sale.

Sure, the factory demos got to be good enough to pique my interest, but if I can't play one first, I won't buy one. I need a local dealer before I will trust my livelihood to a piece of gear with no backup (and who, exactly, goes and buys two of everything?)...

Well, for me, I must've had a lemon. It was the most awful experience of my lifetime. But DonM is so happy with his, he offered to take it off my hands. Russ is a happy Ketron guy and actually did trade me even for his G70 (goodbye to that one too). AJ was super nice during my frustration and always a class act. I took a lot of heat from some here about my discontent and was basically accused of not knowing what I was doing. I wanted to make it work because it has some unique features, but the SD5 kept me awake at nights until I washed my hands of it. When I switched to heaven (PA800), I knew I was correct in my assessment.

[This message has been edited by zuki (edited 08-23-2008).]

I have played X1, SD1, SD5 and Midjay. I absolutely love the sound for what I do.
I'm now playing the Midjay with a controller and looking forward to auditioning the Audya.
As AJ said, it's not for everyone, but if you want to sound like a live band, it is the answer.
My experience with the PA800 was exactly opposite of Zuki's. I tried for a couple of months to make it work but was so relieved when I sold it. It's the only keyboard I ever had that my audience commented about how dull and lifeless it sounded. In it's defense, it was the first one to be sold in the U.S. (the rep provided it) and it may have been a dud.
I've always kept some kind of backup no matter what brand I'm using, but so far in close to 30 years of arrangers, in fact since they were invented, I've never had one fail completely.
DonM