you decide....

The Ketron Ajamsonic in demo sounds amazingly real....
but, in the REAL world is it more proficient "all around" then the top arranger dogs like Tyros5, Pa3x, BK9, etc,....
especially in a live professional stage performance scenario?

Thoughts

Donny ... to MY ears the Ketron Ajamsonic beat out every board at the jam at Gary's ... the drums were as realistic as you could get, and the 'after touch' capabilities are great ... AJ did this one thing with a sax voice where he hit one note and got a 'flutter' of notes that blew me away ... now, granted, AJ was playing through a HUGE speaker, (but not in stereo) but I was playing my Pa900 and Steve was playing his T5 through the same speaker and there was no comparison ... I doubt that all the boards were eq'd the same, and I know AJ eq'd the mixer to make us sound better, but to me the Ajamsonic was the "Chairman of the Boards" ...
Now, at this point in MY career, I know I could not justify the price, and for MY needs the Ajamsonic would be overkill ... but if I were younger and looking to play a lot more gigs, ... hmmmm ...
However, I am surprised that there is no sequencer ?!? ...

Donny,
There are two things keeping me from taking a serious look at the Ketron product.
First, the weight of the keyboard and foremost, the lack of real top level service from Ketron here in the USA. Soundwise it, in my opinion, is a winner.

Deane

I have owned and performed with the Ketron X1, XD9, Midjay, SD1+ and they all sounded amazing.....as for service in reality when do you ever need it?.... and as far as playing arranger KB exclusively 100%?? not any more,.. times & technology have changed the live music performance business in so many ways lately and it's going in all directions even faster for the pro musician, entertainer player. singer. etc, sequencers, backing tracks, tablets, laptoops, arpeggiators, vocal harmony boxes, loopers, etc, ....it's the ones that embrace change and jump onboard the TECH train that survive...that said, I myself have made many changes in my tool box for stage performance in so many ways using different tools for each venue. One trick ponies get boring to an audience IMO. The Ajanmsonic is an amazing piece of gear, great for recording tracks also besides performing live, a bit of a steep investment but can easily be recouped for the pro player.
But for me as good as it sounds it doesn't sound that much better then my S-950 in my hands and that's where the question lies..... Do I really need it for what I'm doing now?...and the answer is no.

Carry on...

I LOVED my Audya and it didn't even have A.J.'s stuff in it. If I were more active I would most likely get the 61 note version. However the PA900 is perfect for me right now.l

Well, from my perspective, all the arrangers sounded great, and none, at least to my shot to Hell hearing, sounded significantly better than the other. And, to perfectly honest, at least from the way I look at this industry, the vocals are the most important item to consider with any arranger. The keyboards ALL do, and DID a great job of providing excellent accompaniment to the guys singing the songs. And, our audiences demand great vocals. By and large, they could care less about the accompaniment behind the vocalists, hence the popularity of Karaoke, backing tracks, midi files, etc...

As it turned out, AJ is one Hell of a good singer as well as a player.

Gary

I am not putting down ANY of the boards that were at the jam because they all DID sound good, but Gary, I LOVE YA MAN, and you are entitled to your opinion, but with all due respect my friend, if you didn't hear a MARKED difference in the Ajamsonic, then:
A)you were out grilling some of that great food you prepared for us; or
2) you had one too many Green Margaritas ...

Now Gary, I'm just 'rattling your cage' a bit, but seriously, I DID notice a marked difference ... How about the rest of the members who were there - am I alone in my judgement???

And, yes, vocals are a major part of our performances, but many of us like to play some instrumentals during a song, much like we hear on a record, and I think the Ajamsonic voices - such as the sax - would add considerably to that part of a performance especially when playing in other than an assisted living environment ...

JMHO

They way I see it, if the money pit were endless and I didn't have photography and now ham radio as hobbies. I would think about investing in the MidJ Pro and combining it with the T5.............and as far as I can see it would be for my own entertainment vs. that of the audience because we all know it's the entertainer not the keyboard. Tony has a good point Ajamsonic was "Chariman of the Boards".

Tony, you totally forgot that I'm deaf as a post - does that count?

Now, I have played all the bars, restaurants, nite clubs, private parties and wedding jobs using a variety of arranger keyboard brands, but not a Ketron product. I also performed using a six string guitar and 12 string guitar, great guitars and during that 20-year period, damned few individuals ever made a comment about the keyboards or guitars - but every one loved my song selection and vocals - and the same is true in the NH circuit as well. Today, at an assisted living center, I had about 20 visitors, some as young as 12 years old. I did Over The Rainbow, and while I was packing my gear, four relatively young, 40ish, ladies came up to me and said I did a fantastic job and they found it difficult to hold back the tears because of the emotion in my vocals and the overall performance of the song.

Now, I admit I only got to hear a little bit of AJs demos, however, at this point in time, it's just not for me. Oh, I can easily afford it, but I figure it will NOT make me another dime in income, it will NOT book me any more jobs than I already have (which is way too damned many), but it will cut into my sailing budget, which is currently at the TOP of my priority list. For what the system cost, I can add 3G Radar to the boat and a 2200-watt generator to run the AC and heat. And, I would have enough for a year's supply of Green Coconut Margarettas left in the kitty.

Glad you guys had fun, and we WILL do this again sometime soon,

Gary