I've been messing around with the SD1000 for a very short time. Aside from obvious benefits of any sound module, this thing is really small...almost the size of the palm of your hand! For program change, it does accept MSB LSB messages either through a DAW or a master keyboard. I'd say it's a pretty useful device for a musician/composer on the go, or if you're on a modest computer and just want to do quick sketches... or if you want to layer additional sounds....etc.

For the sound quality, I thought it'd be best to just play and demo the unit in my own way. All sounds in this video are from the SD1000.

What did this unit come out to the market?

With all these Ketron posts on this forum, I can only assume that you already know that. I think you meant to say something else, maybe?

I know it's very old I remember it back when I have my sd1 keyboard but all in all it still sounds good

The SD1000 is not very old. My guess is 2012.

Edit: According to Thomann, it came out in May 2013.

Thank you for the facts but in technology advances that is a lifetime...

Kronos is from 2011 and has no problems keeping its top position. 5-7 years is not as much any more as it was in the 1990s.

Exactly! My Pa4x is almost 4 years old as well. There are tons of older electronic instruments that useful and very much in demand! Ketron still sells and supports this particular unit!

That's quiet intimidating. Is Ketron still selling this unit? Do they still provide technical support for this unit? If no, then I should be ashamed of myself for digging up those painful memories of the distant past.

Thats only because korg with the oasys,which is actually a basic version of kronos, invested hugely in new technollogy.. the jump in technollogy was so huge and expensive that its still the leading instrument..

Sd 1000, sounds very good, but was never based on a huge leap in technollogy,mand so can not be compared to the Kronos longlevity in any way..

Yet the sd1000 holds the same sound engine as the sd7 amd sd40, an offers he same great sounds we havebecome to like from Ketron..

Yet technollogywise, it leaps quite a mile beyound Genos, pa4x and moxd...

But musically its still top knotch because of ketrons love for detail and the musicallity they put intheir instrumments

The SD1000 was never intended to be a premium module to compete with Audya, Tyros 4/5 etc.
I'm convinced 5-7 years in the 1990s was a much bigger step technologically compared to the present time. Kronos is not such an exception, the Motif XF, only gradually improved from the XS, had a long life span that would have been impossible in the 1990s, where the growth of sample quality was faster.

There's so much confusion going on here. Just to clarify, the reason behind posting this video is too simple. It's nothing but an audio/video demo of some of the SD1000 sounds. That's all there's to it.

From what I've gathered, Ketron still sells this "very old" unit, so in case if someone is interested in this entry level affordable unit, they may or may not find this video useful.

People are always looking for a magic bullet to lose weight that doesn't involve diet or exercise. Likewise, people are also hoping that the next new technological breakthrough in keyboards (arrangers or otherwise) is suddenly going to turn them into Hiromi WITHOUT putting in the work. As Paul states in his signature line, "It's not the keyboard, it's the keyboardist". I, for one, would rather hear SAM CA on that "ancient" little inexpensive Ketron module than MOST (not all) of the proud new Genos owners on their latest toy. Why do we care more about the age of the sound source than how it actually sounds? BTW, I'm glad to see DonM (is willing to) 'go back in time' to a board he LIKES THE SOUND OF despite a possible regression in technology. Bottom and mid-status acts will use a 'clonewheel' but the TOTL acts will almost always use a vintage 'B3/Leslie'. Maybe part of that is because the TOTL musicians can play in ALL the keys without a transpose button (remember the 'old days' when you either had to learn how to play in all the keys OR play everything in the same one or two keys you felt comfortable in). Anyhoo.....nice playing Sam, that AP you opened with sounds really good for an 'outdated' inexpensive module.

chas

I agree to a point...playing in your bedroom is one thing hardly no one hears it but if your playing out as a pro to hundreds of people is a whole different ball game for many reasons.A Hammond B3, a Vintage Les Paul guitar or a Fender Rhodes, Yamaha DX7 etc, are some examples of classic sounds that never get old. I have to agree with Chas on many of his points stated...to much emphasis on what the latest and greatest sound which means squat if you can't back it up with some great playing to go along with it....I have many friends who have amazing keyboard setups and studios...but, honestly not great players for an assortment of reasons like timing issues,off key singing, cannot play and sing at the same time, horrible stage presence in front of an audience with no personality whatsoever, wrong chords, slow navigational technics while performing on kb, improper use of a vocal harmonizer,
and on and on, yet they have all the latest and greatest gear you can imagine go figure. Some of these traits are hereditary some are due to non experience or training whatever the case may be and as always the bottom line is "What does your playing sound like"?
and will IMO be the only factor compared to what ever gear your playing with new or old.. great reply Chas

Thanx for the thoughts..

Just for clarification, this demo is for the SD1000 AJAMSONIC which was released early 2013! Donny, you may have been refering to the SD2 (Orchetral Wizard whcih is based of the SD5/3/Midjay Plus sound engine) which was released in 2009!

Both are still in production!

Regardless, this is just a demo put together to demonstrate the SD1000 as never before. We realized that in the past, our demos were targeting a specific audience and as of now with the help and collaboration of US based folks like Sam and dealers like Curt of IMMusic, we are expanding our sphare of influence.

Thanks,

Sorry for contributing to leading the thread into an unintended direction, I was reacting to DNJ's strange remarks about the age of this very good module (which I owned myself for a while).

Aj. Thanx I've had so many units I could get confused thank you for the clarification...

Once a KETRONer, always a KETRONer. It's hard to go back!

:-)

You were only trying to rescue the thread from those weird comments followed by even stranger remarks about professionals and technology for a pocket size module, so thank you very much for being helpful.

Well, she compared it to the longlevity of the kronos... i just explained that was like comparing apples to pears..

Anyway, i think everyone here agrees, its a great sounding module, that brings you the typical ketron sound at a nice price...

At Willy Dera in Holland they offer the same integration of this module with genos as the yammex from v3sounds has...

Where i said, its the same sounds and tech as the sd40 and sd7, now i am wondering if it might be the sounds of the audya inside... altough, don’t think there is much difference between them...

Now my question, what does the ajamsonic version offer thats not in the standard sd1000?

The post had already gone off-road long before you logged in, so no worries!

I think the AjamSonic version has more articulations? Hopefully AJ will provide that info.

Nice video.

Maybe some of the replies in this thread should be moved to the Grumpy Old Men forum.

😊

It wasn’t that long ago when Fran posted some demo tunes utilizing the SD 1000. He wanted people to guess what the sound source was. Nobody guessed it, but most agreed that the sounds were pretty darn good.

I guess that certainly adds some credibility to the quality of this module.

jingleman

We did a short video on how to map sounds using CakeWalk with the SD1000 back in the July timeframe. Although you don't hear it much, the background music in that video is all from the SD1000.

Mapping SD1000 Instruments in Cakewalk

The *.ins file is still up on our website for folks that might have a need for it:

Cakewalk *INS file for Ketron SD1000

Curt
I am a Ketron user, with an Audya 76,SD4, SD2, and SD40. I just want to say thanks for all your work and great information.

Bernie

Many SD1000 users own the vArranger software, as it helps a lot, selecting sounds, deep sound and fx editing, creating nice layered sounds, playing styles and midifiles with SD1000...

However, it's the first time I hear a AJAMSONIC version of it.

AJ, more infos?

Hi Dan,

Yes, I am one of your vArranger users who uses a Ketron SD1000 module as the sound source.

AJAMSONIC is the name of the company owned by AJ. AJ's website does not have any Ajamsonic version of Ketron SD1000. I guess AJ just adhered an AJAMSONIC black on clear label on the Ketron SD1000 module for the sake of Youtube video recording.

I purchased a plain Ketron SD90 module (without AJAMSONIC sound and style upgrade) from AJ through one of his retailers, and AJ also put a AJAMSONIC label on the upper right corner of it.

Thanks,
Paul

Company name is AJAM, Inc.

AJAMSONIC is the enhancement kit installed separately (SSD/memory, styles, sounds and functions) which bring out the best and further enhance KETRON products (soon to be expanded to other manufacturer's product lines as well).

AjamSonic addon in SD1000 - More articulations ... Notice the 'sound' of sax and accordion valves opening and closing plus additional 'breath' at lower octaves, guitar bends growl sax enhanced 'bottom' giving it more 'presence' and room for articulation when ley is struck hard... etc. More important is the service you get from our knowledgable team!!!

Hope this better explains the SD1000 AjamSonic add on.

Thanks,

Thanks Bernie! We are in the midst of creating the same info to use with Logic Pro X and SD40 / SD90, but Logic is kicking my butt right now. It's pretty easy to create the instrument maps in Cakewalk. In Logic, you need to work in what they call the "MIDI Environment." I'm missing a small piece of that puzzle to get things to work the way I want.

Once we get that working in Logic, we will probably go back and create the maps in Cakewalk for SD40 / SD90. Not sure how many folks care or would use those files but we tend to use our Ketron modules more as "Sound Modules" vs. "Arrangers" and it's easier to work with them with the mapping in place vs. adding program and bank change events in each track.

I never understood why the music industry never adopted the near perfect cakewalk implementation as a standard, in the wat they did with Steinbergs VST’s...

I'm really surprised the SD 1000 AJAMSONIC version has some different sounds. So the WaveROM memory is exchanged, as there are no user sounds in the SD 1000. I'd be interested in the question whether the total WaveROM size remains the same or is extended with these alterations.

Why was this question never answered by AJ ? I find that really odd and am most curious to learn the trutha about it....

regards,
John

Sorry for delay in response (as will be the case for the next few weeks while we work on some new fotage releases)....

WaveROM size remains the same.... just substituted some samples for woodwind, guitar and accordions ... which are triggered with high velocity to include 'articulation' of the instrument, thus making them sound more 'natural' and 'realistic' - we 'borrowed' this idea from the Ajam package in the AUDYA series (which takes it up a notch to also include velocity switching between samples).

Hope this clarifies the question.

Thanks for the answer. When I owned the SD 1000, I found a lot of samples sound very appealing, but very few had velocity sample switching and thus many lacked dynamics. So it makes sense you've addressed that. If I wanted to buy the Ajamsonic version, it would of course be important to know which other samples were dropped to include these new ones. I particularly liked the pipe organ sounds and would have been shocked to find one of them missing... (But I'm not planning on another SD1000).

That is what I like about my AJAMsonic SD40. I can visually see the factory sounds, and in addition, see the great sounds AJ has added in the user section. In many cases they are better.
Bernie