I own an SD1 and its worked out great for live backing using midi bass pedals, however its too big to keep carrying around, i'm trying to lighten the load. Does the midijay have the same styles, and it sound as good as the SD1? I play lots of country and ballads and there's many backing styles in the SD1 that just suit my style of music. Any other options?
Vikki(uk)

maxicat,

Most of the styles are similar. You can also copy the styles from your SD1 to the Midijay - those that interest you that is....

Thanks,

AJ

Thanks AJ for the reply,i'll call at the dealers and have a look at the midijay, is the style sound quality as good as the SD1.
I think i have an early SD1, what are the upgrades i keep reading about, do they improve the overall sound of the SD1?
Maxicat(uk)

If you load an audio file into the midijay, will it play as soon as you hit the play button or is there a pause while the machine sorts itself out. I play classical gas on electro acoustic which has a solo guitar ad lib intro and the backing track must start the instant the play button is pressed, you can't seem to do this on the SD1 using midi but can you do it using the midi jay and audio?
Best Regards
Maxicat(vikki)(uk)

Maxicat,

If the audio file initially has "space", then this space will be played, however if there is no space before the song/file actually starts, then as soon as you press START/ENTER on the Midijay, the file starts playing ... similar to Midifiles on the HD of the Midijay too (which due to a faster CPU are played back much faster than in the SD1).

Thanks,

AJ

For the same reason, to lighten the load, I bought a Midjay in addition to the SD1. I copied all SD1 styles into the Midjay. My guitarist swears that the Midjay sounds not as sophisticated as the SD1 does. I agree partly with him: some of the SD1 styles suffer when played on the Midjay, others don't. Also the break and the fill ins do not sound as sophisticated as on the SD1.

If you play styles and Midis only, and want to flexibly vary the whole arranger by fill ins, break, drum settings during the performance, the SD1 is imho the better choice, despite of the weight.

Additionally, changing on the fly sounds for the left and / or right hand is not very comfortable with the Midjay. If you leave open the menu with the right hand presets in order to change fast during the performance, the footswitch changes the presets instead of the arranger (despite of the pre-defined definitions for the footswitch).

However if varying styles is not your the first priority and your performance could benefit of having styles / Midis and WAVs / MP3s, and the possibility to mix them, then the Midjay is the better choice.

I'm afraid you'll have to try it out yourself :-)

Brgds
Hansruedi