Thanks Donny

As a live performance board, it certainly ranks right up there with the best, if not the best.

You just have to listen to a Ketron product and that says it all
if a "LIVE" sound is what your looking for it certainly ranks up there for sure.

Nice demo, and it does sound good.
As 'usual', 90% of the public is 'old farts' like me and the rest are on the way to that stage of life.

SD9 could be a very interesting addition, but looking back at the support history,
at least from the time back when Audia was espected to arrive, I'll just let it pass......
..... at least until we see what Korg will twist out off the magic box as the next TOTL.

In reality how many times in the past years have you ever had any keyboard failure of any brand?

Only one I ever remember was Ketron SD7.

Donny,

I think you should re-phrase your question and ask which keyboard manufacturer has produced a keyboard model that has no record of failure or abnormal operation or released without some bugs/issues in the past year, 2 years or even 10. I would personally love to take a hard look at that board.

Keyboard failures during performances, that were not the keyboards fault, but power source problems.... Only one for me...and I gave up on it and it's family of keyboards...

I had a cheap ($500) PSR (Yamaha)... it only had 32 polyphony... and when it exceeded the limit (often)... it would make no sound for at least 10 seconds.... It was a nightmare doing one job..

There is no need to carry backups today... Everybody here has a phone and in a pinch anyone of us can finish a night as a DJ..

It has never happened to me... yet...
I can't say the same for my vocal partners... several times over the years... they have a failure (lose voice)..

Lucky me, mostly picked the good ones, so it's not too many.

1 - KN1000 blown a outlet IC sircuit first thing when powered up. Got new keyboard the same day.
2 - SD1 Volume slider had to be replaced, in fact twice within a couple of years.
3 - SD1 The screen got black and had to be replaced.
4 - SD1 The new screen got a lot of black lines, and then died when just after the new ovner got it. (Still not fixed).

Not too bad during all those years.
Now it remain to see if the 'Plastic Fantastic Genos Made in China' is produced on a good day and ready for a looooong life.

Knock on wood I barley ever remembering a catastrophic failure with an arranger kb...except two times years ago on my old Yamaha Psr9000 the screen display went black but was still working had to finish the gig using a flashlight shined on it so I could still see the display menu with no backing light,.................another time same KB.....I had a worn keystrip Yamaha was famous for those failures you'd know it right away from the Blaring sound when you pressed key down YIKES!!, but with patience I was able to order a new strip and replace it.
All my Ketron units performed perfectly and I had almost every one including modules also.
So my point is no need to "DISS" Ketron they make a professions quality unit for sure. Sure things happen one way or another due to human error on every keyboard hopefully never but all in all most have great track records..

My point exactly ... :-)



If you were to make a bucket list of:-

* Common faults with KETRON's musical instruments and services
* Common faults with Yamaha's musical instruments and services
* Common faults with Korg's musical instruments and services
* Common faults with Roland musical instruments and services ...etc

... I am willing to bet ... no one has an empty bucket! And even if some may have more particular 'items' in their bucket than others, it will eventually balance out because they will have less than others of another item and that's my point all along :-)

The truth for me is that, almost after 10 years of daily use with Audya, I haven't changed a switch, slider or anything part.. Until today working perfect!!...

There is BIG difference in bugs/issues, and having it FAIL on the job several times a night. I have recordings if you have forgotten. And there was no provision to return and get my money back. Took me two months to sell it. I'm sure the bugs are out now, but it was released prematurely and updates were promised, and promised...but after six months never fixed the problems I was having. Left a bitter taste in my mouth.
I'm truly happy that others have had such success with Ketrons. They sound great and have great features. Not for me again though.
Best of luck to all!

I think all pre released beta kbs from every manufacturer should be given to PRO PLAYERS for at least a 6 month vigorous in the trenches demo tryout period utilizing all features extensively before they are released to market to find out under pressure if anything goes wrong and needs to be updated, repaired, serviced, etc, etc, etc, and only then when all parties agree put it on the market. many things could be avoided beforehand.

The only problem I had with the Audya wasn't anything to do with Audya per se, but the AJAMsonic SSD connection failed. I had taped it in place as the HD retaining box did not fit the new disk, maybe contributing to the problem. The point is I called Frank(several years after purchase) right away, and he called AJ, who advised me to reinstall the drive to the harness. So far, all is well.

When I bought my Audya 76, I knew of some Audya 4 problems, so I treated it as a numbers game, knowing I had Frank and AJ behind me. To be fair, there are problems that they have little control over, and I just have to hope that my past experience with Ketron reliability continues and will deal with these two men exclusively.

Seems to me the typical three year cycle between model releases should be long enough to assure sufficient quality control to minimize, or eliminate, the need for o.s. updates and related bug fixes after introduction. Ketron has used longer than three year model cycles theoretically allowing for more and better quality control before release.
Sometimes the question is, do we want it better, or do we want it now?

Good question. If you're talking about the American market, Immediate Gratification trumps everything else....including common sense .

chas

Hello Bernie9, if I may ask you of your experience between Audya and SD40 in regards to Styles playing live, also how do you like the styles in PA4X in comparison to the KETRON, thank you🤓🎹

Well, there was my Ketron audya 4, which me and Ketron never really got working correct.. despite several trips to the factory in Italy it made... but to be honest, i bought it used and way way to chhep, to good to be true...

For the rest, there was one viscount fatar masterkeyboard that got a broken key.. and my Roland e20’s speakers died on me..

It is rather hard to make blanket comparisons between the SD40 and Audya, but I can say the Audya seems to have a slight edge in sounding live, but not that much. If you were ask about other differences, it would be a different story. The Audya is the flagship with added connectivity e.g., 4 sub outs, 2 two mics, and Block Regs(unlimited set lists, organ draw bars, and probably other things.
OTOH
SD40 has new a OS that is faster and more direct than my Audya, and newer features and beautiful touch screen. I really like the SD40, at 4 lbs, for all my singing and playing needs. You didn't ask that, but I threw it in.

The comparison of the Pa4X and Ketron is too close to call. I like the styles of both equally, but differently. Both are top notch, and the rest subjective. As far as sounding live, Ketron might have a slight edge to us, but the audience will notice the structure of the style, not the DSP difference. They are both great, live sounding machines.

That's the best I can do my friend.

Bernie, thank you so much for your detail answer, I have Audya5, thinking of getting SD7, or SD9, OR SD7, from your input, as far as just playing with style, maybe sd4o or sd7, should be sufficient, thanks again, I like PA4X as well, but just can’t break away fro Ketron, I guessed

Tye, there are so many factors to be considered. You have an Audya now, and consider what would be gained by adding an SD7. I don't think much. The SD9: more, certainly, if you think the Launch Pad, later sampling, more RAM, guitars, and so on would tip the scales for you. I think the Launch pad is a huge, little understood feature for some players that like to create. The SD40 and SD90 are great choices for do everything modules, and the Pa4X is a great keyboard that has it all for me as a performance keyboard.

Good luck and consider I often get gear lust when I already have more than enough already. I just like the challenge of something new.

Thank you Bernie, Sd40 looks like a good choice, not quite the Audya level, but for using style accompanying vocal and stuff, I probably won’t have time to mess with sampling anyway, thanks again

I am still considering the sd90 with a nord stage 3
Feel like a little child with pocket money burning in my pocket
Expanding the sound with software.. and modules...