Back to the thread topic.. please.

Okay, the Audya has landed. Frank gave us a little glimmer of what's what with the Audya, and I (and others), immediately opened that 'can of worms' and unabashedly (more like ferociously ) provided our "objective" opinions about what WE thought about the Audya. >> Hey, if we keep giving these manufacturers i.e. Ketron, Yammie, or whoever, a free pass and just gush all over whatever they happen to release to the public do you really think they (the manufacturers) will ever find it necessary to "change their ways"?? Not on your life. Especially if we continue to just accept whatever they happen to "pop" out the door and then gladly throw our hard earned money "down the drain" on every sub-par keyboard they happen to push off on us. The way we, the consumer, can "hold them to the fire" is to "hold off" from giving them our hard earned money. Then and ONLY then will they finally take it to heart and start giving their customers and 'potential' customers what they want and desire in an arranger keyboard. WE, the consumer, hold the very life blood of them (as a company) in our hands and the only way things will change to our satisfaction is if we "vote" with our wallets. That's how things change in government and just assuredly as in the private sector as well. And if you don't like what has been 'voted' in by Ketron's higher ups, you can do everything in your power to try and change the circumstances by voting them, or it, out. If Ketron won't change, you then have multiple options of other arranger keyboard companies to choose from and which hopefully will be more willing to listen to you - the consumer. If Ketron goes belly up it won't be the consumers fault as we all know. It will unfortunately be Ketron's stubborn unwillingness to provide adequate and desirable products that consumers are interested in buying in "mass". If they don't know how to provide such products, it probably won't be long before they shutter their doors or are bought out by one of the other companies, like Korg, who does know how to produce such desirable products apparently.

I know I'm being hard on Ketron; just like I've been hard on Yamaha in the past, or any other keyboard company who tries to shaft the public i.e. the consumer, by putting out products that I, for one, feel are sub-par feature wise, and/or outrageously priced, and/or shoddily built, etc. I keep looking for Audya's good points and I have found some. But in my opinion, the positives just can't seem to outweigh the negatives regarding the Audya (for me anyway) and there is no other one to blame for this predicament than Ketron themselves.

I will be the first one to say when a product is commendable, or excellent, and/or worthy of every cent the company is asking for it. But I cannot, with a clear conscience, do so regarding the Audya unfortunately. Maybe others can, and I wish them well if they happen to get the Audya. But until Ketron can prove to me that the Audya is up to snuff with that of the competition (both sound, structurally, and feature wise) I will unfortunately have to pass on the Audya until such a time.

All the best,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 05-04-2009).]

and until the AUDYA drops to a realistic $3,999 i most likely will not buy it...

$5k is WAY TOO MUCH for outdated hardware, 64MB RAM???, you kidding?

my Tandy 1000 may have had more RAM

Better take those rosy glasses off, Mike On the Tandy 1000 128k of memory was standard, with the computer accepting up to 640k of total memory with the addition of expansion cards

Actually, until the short lived Z-series Akai's, 32MB was as much as any of those hugely successful samplers could be expanded to. People would have a rack of the damn things, just to have multiple sounds instantly available. While 64MB doesn't seem like a whole lot by today's standard, it is still twice as much as most Akai's, and capable of doing some seriously good stuff to your tracks. While Tyros can go up to 512MB, it takes FAR too long to load up to practically use it. And you don't even want to KNOW how long it takes to save it!

Personally, if sampling RAM is your most important consideration (mine would be Akai compatibility and ease of editing), I would suggest a Muse Receptor and Kontakt. Or an MS...

Simple! If you don't like it, don't buy it.
vote with your wallet. //Tryggve

Until the dollar comes equal or higher than the Euro you won't see a price drop. Ketron always stated from the beginning that the Audya would be in the 5k range, we were just hoping that it won't. I'm sure in time it may drop when there is release of a newer keyboard. If I’m going to spend $4k for a T3 another $1k is not going to make a big difference.

[This message has been edited by mc (edited 05-05-2009).]

I can see your point mc. Although, the concern I have with your hypothesis i.e. "what's the big deal with shelling out an extra Grand" is #1. the Tyros3 does NOT cost 4 Grand, although it may cost that much in certain parts of Europe and/or Asia. Over here in the States you can get a T3 for roughly "3" Grand + any tax. I agree though with your concept that paying "extra" for a keyboard [as opposed to paying less for a different one e.g. the T3, etc.] can prove wise and indeed cost effective in the long run if the more expensive keyboard is superior in every way to the less expensive one. #2. But that is essentially predicated on "how much superior or better" the more expensive one is compared the lesser expensive one. I see what you're saying though i.e: "if I can afford a T3 I can certainly dig a little deeper in my pockets and get the more expensive Audya if I want or need to. Yes, but before doing so you have to weigh the positives and negatives of each one and make your decision based on what the rest of the competition offers e.g. (price, value, features, selection - 61/76 keys, sufficient memory, which one has the superior sounds, Sampler/no Sampler etc.) and if the Audya seems to meet or exceed those of the competition then by all means shell out the extra dough and get it if you think it will meet your keyboard playing needs and requirement(s).

In my own case, I like some the features and innovation(s) of the Audya but for the life of me I don't see how it can necessarily even compare or be ANY better than the "fully functional" and the $2,000 LESS expensive Korg Pa2XPRO. Sure, the Audya does have 77 additional notes of polyphony over the Pa2X and it also has the audio style functionality, but the Audya only has a "minuscule" amount of available RAM compared to what you can attain RAM wise on the Pa2XPRO. Plus the Pa2X's buttons line up. I think Ketron is basically trying to sell the Audya at such a ridiculously high price because they have incorporated the new audio style loop integration feature into it and think people will spring for that new technology, and because it took them forever and a day to "work out the bugs" so R&D went through the roof and they want to try and recoup as much of those production costs as possible. In the meantime the consumer is the one getting shafted and all because of Ketron's "inefficiency" and "ineptitude". Inefficiency: because the design of the poor thing is sorely lacking in my opinion, and ineptitude: because it almost appears that the engineers at Ketron don't have the foggiest on what they're doing and the fact that it has taken them a coon's age to release simply this, in my opinion, a dumbed down "beta" product that we currently witness before our eyes called the Audya.

I could go on and on why I think the Audya lacks merit e.g. only has USB 1.1, poor design, many of the sounds aren't the greatest, lack of RAM, high price, etc. - but I will spare you the trouble and the bandwidth.

Enjoy whatever you play! If that be the Audya then more power to you! For me, I will pass thank you.

All the best,
Mike



[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 05-05-2009).]

here's what i'm gonna do...

wait for the next BAD @SS Roland G Arranger to come out, which may be sooner than we think...

i've heard or dreampt that it will have audio guitar & drum loops.

and will be way cheaper ;-)

Mike, Your right and this my take on the Audya thing:

It all depends on tastes, likes and what people needs are, nothing else. Me personally and these are my opinions on how the Audya will work for me if I purchase one. I will buy the audya sooner or later. I've always owned ketrons. I love their sounds and styles. That's the most important thing to me right now. I don't care about a 64 ram sampler, since I never used one when I owned X1 & SD1. The Midjay feature is a huge plus for me. Their midi playback has always sounded great. I will take a drive to Franks store and demo one.

As far as the layout the some like and some don't. Since I have owned many ketrons, on one model the buttons were on the left, the next model the buttons were on the right. No difference to me, I got use to it. What Ketron excels in (latin, ethnic styles) fits my exact needs.


I know many say that you can by a PA2X or G70 and keep a couple of grand in there pockets. For me (IMO) I find that the styles on the korg are horrible and the G70 even worse. I listen to G70 and it reminds me of the E86. There is nothing wrong with that because everyone has different tastes. So I'm not angry or take it personal nor should anyone else, since we are all different.

My advice is if you like the Audya and if you find its financially worth it. Great go for it; don’t look back. If not, there are plenty of other ketron models and other companies that may suit yours or anyone else's needs.

Good luck,


[This message has been edited by mc (edited 05-05-2009).]

Also, on various online music stores the tyros 3 is $3,999.00. ZZsounds, Musiciansbuy, Musiciansfriend, etc. The cheaper prices I found were the scratch and dent models or demo models.

Give me a call on the T3 price

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