I still believe that is the STYLES that make or break one's choice in an arranger... and not JUST the ROM styles. Yes, I need great live sounding styles, but I also need a solid (and hopefully, American slanted) supply of NEW and legacy styles.

This is the corner that Ketron have painted themselves into. Yes, the onboard styles sound incredible... as recordings of great musicians should. But this means that any new styles need to match this quality. And new styles (especially ones biased towards us non-Mediterranean players) are few and far between, and legacy Ketron styles don't use the live loops that the ROM ones do (or only a drum track, if older styles can be imported).

Add to that, they are incredibly expensive to produce compared to MIDI styles, and cannot be re-voiced (substituting a brush kit for the sticks one, i.e.) and you end up with a much smaller selection of styles to pick and choose from. If the ROM selection covers ALL your needs, and you don't get bored with the same old, same old quickly, then the Audya offers much that puts it head and shoulders above other arrangers.

But for me, this one issue makes it a non-starter for me.

And we still haven't got into the limited audio guitar (or any chord based track) chord selection that the current generation of hardware forces on you. Maybe when Ketron redesign to adopt current generation hardware (faster SSHD's, faster RAM pipelines) and maybe design some easy to use software that facilitates easy import of current sliced audio libraries, the style selection will explode, and we can watch it grow into the product we NEED (or at least, I need).

Until then...

I have always liked Ketron's sounds better than anything else I might try. Started with the Solton Artist 2000, then MS40, X4, SD3. But lack of available dealerships does kill Ketron- I even know one dealer who calls me with questions because I have more experience with their products than he does . AJ has been very helpful and repaired one of my modules very quickly. But he has a lot on his shoulders, and if he were to leave Ketron tomorrow, we would be sunk here. He's just one guy stretched too thin. Ted at CMC must be very busy- it takes a lot of time to get answer on a problem , but I can get a quick response if I want to buy a 4k audya. CMC was willing to let myself and a friend of mine come to NY (from NJ) to check one out , but by appointment. And M-F daytime hours were the only choice- doesn't work if you work.

I talked to another dealer I have purchased from and his opinion is that Ketron is focused on Europe and the US market is not important enough for them to direct their resources to it.

And, good luck if you or your dealer need to contact Italy about your Ketron product from end of June till September- the country is closed. Same with Orla. Yamaha/Korg/Roland do not abandon their customers for over 2 months in the summer. Again, small time European thinking/marketing.

The remaining convincing item is the product itself, but recent Q.C. and design flaws have shaken credibility with customers.

At this point, I am pursuing using a keyboard from a mainstream company while I spend only 10% of that purchase for a Ketron module to get their sounds ( I now have an SD2 and SD4). But that means more pieces, more cables, more setup time, etc...

Paul,

I love your signature, To me that means "real musician," "pianist," "great keyboard player" not necessarily an entertainer. Now, now don't take this personal and get your feathers ruffled! . I love entertainers and I thoroughly enjoy being entertained. Hell a monkey is an entertainer. Ha ha!

Love Solton/Ketron sounds, hate the ethics and service you get in the US.

I have a Midjay, two MS-60's, one SD-5 and WILL NOT ever buy another product from them.


R.

Russ but how do you really feel??

They REALLY PISS ME OFF!

You would never have known, would you? LOL!

Worst company and people I have EVER dealt with in the music business, and I've been around for a while.


R.

Russ isn't it great that we have choices?

Don-

How many notes of polyphony does the pa500 have? I know the 800 has 120 but I don't see the number for your 500 in any advertising. Ever have problems relating to it?

80