Look Chaps,

You have seen what has happen to me and others are still having problems with Ketron, Ketron have a small number of dealers on the planet and I see problems with spares parts, dealer holding parts, people who use their KB to make a living and they are not reliable, I cannot even get a supplier for the UK for a GROOVE what chance would I have getting backup anything probably less chance than Ketron and that would be hellish. I think me buying a X7 is looking Leezonish.

Its pretty safe to buy a mediastation as its a PC with some extra peripherals and anyone with extensive knowledge of PC's can diagnose it.

Most parts are COTS (Custom of the shelf)and you can replace them yourself, some parts are custome made by lionstracs and need to be ordered by lionstracs.

So actually its easier to diagnose faults in mediastation. If you want to use the mediastation for gigging, make sure you have 2 harddisks you can use for swapping, and do not experiment on the HD wtih your stable version.


This i base on my extended knowledge of computer hardware. I have had no handson experience with mediastation however.

Actually Bachus the ONLY things that are truly "off the shelf" or bespoke (apart from power sockets-audio sockets et al), are the Asrok Mother board and ram sticks, the CPU and the power supply. Everything else ONLY works with Lionstracs propietary mainboards and daughter boards linked to other boards.

It is a bit more involved than perhaps you realise.

Dennis

Some of the circuit boards appear to be off the shelf, but in fact have modifications by Dom..To answer your question...Is it safe to purchase?...absolutely...you have access to the "boss" and a group of "know how" customers to boot..that can and will assist you if you need assistance...

If you are asking if sometimes you will be pulling out your hair....the answer is YES!!!... ..but it is worth it..

Just today while playing the very acceptable G70 piano....and playing the MS with the 1 gig piano....what a difference...No one , not even Diki would select the G70 piano over this giga piano ..

And if you did the same comparison with B4 and the G70 draw bar organ (mostly because of the Leslie simulator)....The MS and B4 win again..So you can see with a little effort (Okay a lot of effort)...The MS can be made ridiculously superior to what I consider the best arranger sounds (G70)..

I must admit as an electronics engineer and Network system engineer my view of these things is somewhat different then the average user.

But most of the time with the right tools and knowledge its not that hard to figure out which parts are causing the problem.

The personal support of Dom and the experienced users may also help a lot for less experienced technicians.




[This message has been edited by Bachus (edited 05-20-2010).]

Yep, a big PLUS 1, to that Fran

Dom proves it over and over again that he will always help out when he can.

The ONLY thing you must be aware of Bachus, is he is extremely busy, so replies to queries MAY take a little longer ( although if the timing is right you can sometimes get answers almost immediately ).

The important fact is you WILL get all the help you need

In fact with the experienced user base increasing as quickly as it is, a lot of the time you will get help right here on our forum.

Dennis

[This message has been edited by miden (edited 05-20-2010).]

Just a note:
Now is about 15 years that I make this work, before I was supplyer from Roland Europe, Generalmusic, Solton (SG-X)and some others small companys too.
I had sell also many keyboards/module around the world.

try to search/find on the net IF one time the LIONSTRACS have stolen some money or have never shipped what the custumer have payed.

I really like to know IF ONE exist.
Same way for the all replacements parts, sometime in delay ( if was not on stock) but always shipped when request.

One example can be Midem...have ordered the PCIExpress VGA...do you get it and was working?
I gave you the all support that you have request me?

Of course sometime I'm busy too or I'm in production, for that sometime the emails have some delay.

Dom
Maybe you didn’t understanding what I was getting at when I said was it safe to buy a GROOVE from Lionstracs, can you understand that all that has gone on with Audya which I bought 12 months ago and we still don't have a finished product, Skude can't get his Audya fixed whatever he does and no one appears to be concerned about him, he has had real problems for months and now more serious problems, they are all playing ping pong with him,Ketron should send him a new KB and then he should return his in the box they send, him. If my new GROOVE did this would you take mine back and send me a new one that would give me confidence to buy after the Ketron. I am sure you know how Ketron work why have they not sorted Skudes KB out for him, do you think they value their customers or don't care.
BTW Skude should not be taking the top of his Audya of to replace parts whilst it is still under guarantee, a Ketron engineer should be doing it for him, frank has said it does make much on Ketron, so there is no incentive for him to keep spare part, the importer CMC will be in the same boat making a couple of bucks per KB, I don’t think Skude has a hope in hell of getting his KB working properly, I would drop it down the stair and claim on the insurance. Sorry this is LIONTRACS but I am trying to compare and hope if I buy a GROOVE this won’t happen to me, I am like Skude, at the ends of the Earth.

Hi Tony.
The story with Ketron is beyond a joke at this point and your bad experience with them should not effect your confidence in buying a product from Lionstracs. They are nothing a like. It's been very clear for a long time that Ketron have serious administration and resource problems within the company. Issues like that and the odd lie here and htere are the results of what has happened an it ain't going to get any better for them anytime soon.

The development on a Lionstracs product is in a different league altogether. The speed is WAY faster and once a problem is found your looking at only days for a fix, not a year like Ketron, which knowing them will likely not fix the problem entirely. As for new functions, no closed keyboard can compare to the speed and progress of an open keyboard.

It's like someone trying to compare a horse & cart to a porsche just because they are two means of travel. Ketron ain't Lionstracs & Lionstracs aint Ketron.

Buy a Lionstracs and welcome to the fast lane. Just make sure you known your limited though and don't try do a sink or swim from day one. A Groove X7 would be the ideal stepping stone for you into bigger and better things, but I'd recommend using your Pa2X for the arranger and the X7 for all your sounds until such time as your comfortable and ready to start working with the X7 has an arranger.

Regards
James

[This message has been edited by Irishacts (edited 05-22-2010).]