I don't see Ketron going belly up any time soon. Their main focus is arrangers, which it has been for many years. Ketron is not just the Audya; they also have the SD5 as their mid-range keyboard that had fantastic sounds and styles. Their only arranger module company out there, for the guitar and accordion players. Ketron does very well in Europe, I'm sure the US sales are icing on the cake.

It hard to compare Technics because it just wasn't the keyboard or pianos, it was the whole line, home electronics, musical instruments, etc. so there is more behind the scenes of Panasonic dropping the technics line than we know of. I have to say I see Roland dropping their arranger line more so than ketron going out of business. Roland’s best selling keyboard was the G series G800/G1000. The VA76 was a flop and the G70 didn't really take off also. Time will tell.

Perhaps you're right, mc...I'm not as familiar with the Ketron line as you are.

I was very surprised at Roland's departure from MOTL and TOTL arrangers, as I thought the product was well designed and sounded very good.

Perhaps they are working in a new direction as far as the home market is concerned? This VIMA stuff might be what will replace, or at least supplement the present arrangers; the GW-8/Prelude.

I do know Roland's arranger sales were dismal in my territory, and we have a relatively healthy arranger market.

Hopefully Ketron will turn things around...and judging by the unhappy owners, it needs to be soon.

We don't hear of the Mediastation any more...wonder why?

Ian

[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 11-21-2009).]

Really, like what for example ?

James

That maybe true, but the problems they have with this keyboard, it's price tag and the recession don't help matters.

Simply fact is that this keyboard was released entirely unfinished with large percentages of it's OS missing. What company with a good balance sheet does something as dumb as that ?

James

[This message has been edited by Irishacts (edited 11-21-2009).]

Regardless of some of the bugs, they are still selling and besides as I stated before the audya is not only keyboard or module thay make. I sure the recession is not helping, but not just for Ketron, I'm sure just as Korg, Yamaha and especially roland.

Almost forgot they also make keyboards with the buttons. no one else make one.

[This message has been edited by mc (edited 11-21-2009).]

you can start with the live drums, they've been using them since the X1. They only difference is that Korg finally stepped up there game after few years.

Yamaha! Remember the PSR9000 Pro? If you happened to be one of the owners of that baby that Yamaha gave birth to well before it was ready you'd know that Ketron isn't the only offender and a good balance sheet didn't seem to matter in that case. Over the years many companies who were quite solvent have used the buying public as Guinea Pigs and Yamaha isn't excluded from that group. The problem is you never know if the keyboard you purchase is going to be 100% or not until after you've spent your hard earned cash. A simple demo in a store doesn't reveal what lies beneath and sometimes the depths of those waters run a lot deeper than you ever imagined. Caveat Emptor.

Yes, my friend, but Yamaha obviously learned from the PSR-9000 Pro, as did Roland with the G-70, but the problem is, Ketron is not in the same league as these companies financially.

Roland and Yamaha survived and thrived in spite of their blunders.

Ketron, on the other hand, may be looking at a much more serious fate.

They are making their mistakes at the absolute worst time they could make them...the poor economy is only one of the hurdles ahead of them.

They are putting an awfully high retail price on an arranger that is not finished, and may not be for some time.

Certainly we wish them all the best, and, very likely they're going to need it.

Ian

Sorry but Ketron can't lay claim to that either. Live Drums is nothing but a description for a mic placement on a dum kit while a drummer played during a sampling session.

Every kid with a AKAI Sampler was doing that back in the 80's. I was born in 75 and even I was doing that back when I was 12 with an AKAI Sampler.

I highly doubt you can come up with one single thing I could give Ketron any credit for inventing actually.

The make killer sounding keyboards, but they don't lead with new idea's at all. By todays standards Ketron are well behind as far as tech goes.

Cheers
James

Well to be fair it's not just some bugs. It's the history of an OS with large proportions of core systems missing, bugs and hardware faults .

As for the keyboard selling, sure there will always be those who take the plunge but I know for a fact that in my area (120 mile radius of where I live) I could count the Audya owners one hand.

Ask me to count owners of the older Ketron keyboards and there would be truck loads of people to count. Ketron's older keyboards are hugely popular here.

Funny enough the problems with the Audya are not the main reason for them to not buy, it's the price. You can buy a KORG Pa2X or Tyros 3 for far less.



Yes it's hitting everyone, but Ketron have their neck currently sticking out the furthest by a long way on price.

I understand they can't turn around and start selling it under a new pricing structure and this would cause blue murder amongst those who have paid already for it. This is why I've been saying that as soon as they get the Audya finished, they will likely drop it and quickly release a new keyboard totally based on the work they did for the audya.

It's only then can I see Ketron turning a profit here. I just hope they can hold out that long because it's taking for freaking ever to get the Audya working right.

Regards
James



[This message has been edited by Irishacts (edited 11-21-2009).]