Will try and get some videos sorted soon, thanks for the suggestion - still getting to grips with it ourselves. I looked briefly at the registrations in the showroom today. They appear to save anything you want, right down to what is displayed on an external monitor. The save facilty has been moved from the SAVE buton to a button labelled REGS. Here you can find all options related to registrations. Registrations are divided into 5 banks each bank can contain a huge number of registrations. You can call them up by scrolling through names via the touch screen or data wheel or a button brings up a numeric keypad so you can type in a reg number to call it up.

The OS is very intuitive aided by the clear screen. icons are large and many have images on. You don't hit the wrong thing accidentally which we were concerned about when we learned Ketron were working on touch screen technology. Regarding the external screen - we have discovered something very exciting (for some people anyway) and although i normally have the day off on a Saturday was keen to see how this would work - will try and have some demos prepared for this next week. The touch screen itself is not multi touch and works realy well when selecting sounds, styles and options via icons or buttons but we found it easier to use the data wheel when scrolling options

Its not an Audya replacement but it is an excellent upper mid ranged keyboard which has introduced some new features and set some high standards for future Ketron products and for other manufacturers.

One thing is for certain, although its natural to want to make product comparisons its not fair to compare the cheaper mid ranged Yamaha and Korg and the low cost Roland, when playing the Ketron there is a very apparent reason the SD7 is more money than those instruments (which are great value at the price they are offered for). Its evident in the sound, the features and the build quality which like the aging SD1 will continue to give service for years and years and years.

Still wayting for my question to get answered,

Whats the difference between the SD7 and the MidJpro, except for 61 keys and 2 wheel?

I dont see it yet....

Sorry for confusion - I meant it had no audio guitars or bass.

Hi Bachus.

Unlike the Audya 4, 5, 8 and 76 key (which are all identical with the exception of some hardware differences such as keys) there are differences in the way the MidJay Pro and SD7 operate...and there are also many similarities too. The two instruments are aimed at different users - The Midjay is for performers, vocalists, K-Jays and multi media entertainers but can be used as an arranger module, The SD7 is primarily for keyboard/arranger players but can be used for K-Jay, backing and general multimedia entertainment.

The Operating System of the SD7 has been adjusted to suit an arranger keyboard and this is the most obvious difference when using either product.

This is also evident in other areas with carefull thought to which hardware options (buttons/sliders) are located on the top panel and which are on in the various on screen menu. The SD7 has the all important hardware arranger buttons below the screen whilst these are located on the arranger screen of the MidJay Pro (in my oppinion actual buttons are vital for an arranger keyboard).

I have not compared sounds and styles, but there are definately different styles on the SD7, wether these will be added to the Midjay Pro it remains to be seen.

The SD7 has not been in long enough to tell you any more - but if anything obvious comes up will let you know.

More demos uploaded to our facebook page:
SD7 Demos on Facebook

thanks for answering mate...

Problem with ketron instrumenst is that there are so many things that are not in the specs lists that it sometimes is hard to see differences between instruments..

Still the instruemnt is quite expensive, even more expensive as an audya 4 in the only shop around here that still sells ketron. And only a few euros less expensive then the audya 5...


Hope to get my hands on an SD7 soon, because espescially the touch inteface looks like a dream and could easilly be the best available in any keyboard.

Have spent the last three days solid on the new SD7 getting it ready for next weeks Keyboard Cavalcade event at Blackpool.

For example, on the Audya it was possible to assign different sounds to each arranger part (like Tyros), but the process for setup is greatly simplified n the SD7 as you can touch and hold an icon to select a new sound. If you use registrations, which I think you will want to, the things you can do are incredible and seemingly endless.

For example I am setting up registrations so that when selected, the full sheet music (two pages) is displayed on an external monitor so no need for page turning, 4 sounds are preselected for upper, the lower voices have been tweaked and both upper and lower voices change with each arranger part...and then saved all in a registration. It takes minutes to do all of this due to the intuitive touch screen based OS.

Will make a video for you asap.

I would like to see a video demo of the display listings of registration setups,
Mp3 songs list, lyrics list, etc, and searching for them during "live play"......
also a Vocal Harmony demo of some kind.

Can ALL modes of play be done simultaneously like the MidJay activated by the sliders? or?..

Thanx

On the topic of polyphony ... a couple of things ... on my Tyros3 then Tyros5, I only remember one situation that caused notes to noticeably drop out. I'll have to see if I can re-create it and record it. I think it was one of the styles like "Epic Ballad" or similar, that was very thickly orchestrated ... and had cymbal rolls and/or tympani rolls ... when I coupled that with a thick sound in my right hand (all three R1+R2+R3 all acive, and a sound in LEFT also) - then when I called for a Fill In, I think in Variation C which had that cymbol-roll or tympani roll - all this together did cause a bunch of notes to suddenly truncate. Other than that, I don't recall noticing it happen, but I understand how it could.

Also, Yamaha has done a nice thing on the newest CVP pianos (CVP-609 in particular), where there are TWO sound engines - one for pianos and a few other sounds, at 128 note polyphony, I think they call this the "Natural!" sounds. PLUS another sound engine that is sort a "Tyros4 in the box" that is 128 more notes of polyphony. This helps spread the polyphony around (total of 256 notes of polyphony).

I think they might have planned to have this on the Tyros5 also, as the Data List for the Tyros5 originally listed a whole bunch of "Natural!" voices, but turns out the Tyros5 in fact had no "Natural!" voices. I wonder if they planned for it, but didn't get it all to work in time for the ship date for the T5?

If that's the case, perhaps the Tyros6 will have the TWO sound engines, and thus 256 note polyphony???

Jim

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