Hi guys ... (he said, as he dipped his toe into the water)
I was fortunate enough to acquire an SD7 from a friend who panicked at the overwhelmingness of it, so I have it here to fiddle with for a bit before he decides to return or keep it. I "want" to love it ... I do, but there are some major Uncle Dave no-nos that will keep me from buying one. If the following items can be addressed ... I might be a strong candidate, although it IS larger than I wanted - it might not lay in my trunk the way I need it to, and that will keep it out as well. All depends on the case, I guess. So far - it's significantly longer and heavier than the PA900.

First the good things:
It sounds fantastic
It FEELS fantastic
The styles are Fantastic
The song player is FANTASTIC
The touch screen is Fantastic
The panel layout is ... well, here is where it starts to fall short.

*There is no fast return to home from some screens. Too many anomalies when switching between style and song modes
*As much as I love the "sync/next" feature in the player - sync/next does not always appear when you'd expect
*you can alter EQ of MP3s on the fly, but can modified EQ be saved?
*the harmonizer is good, not great, and very skimpy on editable parameters. In this price range, there should be layers and layers of options. For example, the harmonizer needs a "hold" feature when triggering from the right hand, especially during song playback
*harm does not follow chords as well as the competition ... Follows actual notes fingered, and not the auto generated chord - defeats purpose of auto chord
*transpose hard buttons affects player even when "keyboard" is selected in sub menu.

Also, the harmonizer does NOT REFLECT TRANSPOSE in song mode!!
(That alone could be the deal-breaker) Is it a software bug? The touch switches should lockout changes selected in the soft buttons

*In DSP mode - player (MP3) needs to ignore FC and Q sliders. The Low & Hi EQ are great, but they disengage if you turn the button off after making a change. There are times when you need to make a fast adit, then go back to your live controls of sounds, and the sliders are shared. You could be thinking you're adjusting the vocal harmony volume, and the filter changes the tone of the file playing back.

So - please tell me if any of these concerns are user ignorance. I can see the advantage of having a sophisticated multi-format media player built in, but not at the expense of loosing a pro harmonizer. This one is beneath the TC line, but above the Yamaha. (and Fran - don't even mention that darn G70 in this thread either - we know you love it, but Roland VP doesn't come up to the TC standards IMHO.) ... and everyone is entitled to my opinion right? lol

Enough griping for tonight - I have 3 parties to play (comfortably) on my PA900 over the w/e, and I'll revisit this beast after then.
Ciao!

Some of those issues are known, such as the vocal harmony editing, and are supposed to be addressed in upcoming software updates. AJ will have to tell us about the others.

I agree Don,....SD7 is a very new model. A few things need to be addressed but AJ & Ketron are working on it & future updates will correct it.

Dave first week I was confused a bit navigating the SD7 but if you spend more time with it things start to come together as you get familiarized & more comfortable with it's OS operation.

Well, I don't sing and seldom use the media player so none of these are of concern for me. It does, very well I might add, all the things I need it to do as a pure instrumentalist. Like Dave said - the sound is the important thing for me and it is outstanding! As a Ketron newbie, I have not had any issues with navigating around the OS.

Deane

Glad your getting along well with teh SD7 Deane.....
we all use our KB very differently and have different needs.
The SD7 has Many features, some players might not use them all but it's nice to know they are there,
they take time to set up and make it "Your Own"...
but I will agree with you the SD7 sounds fantastic !!



enjoy

Working on making it even better ... -:)

...but taking a break today .... Happy 4th to all ...

Enjoy the holiday! Please work on restoring the things that have always been there, like fingering mode, text file association with Registrations, and Vocal Harmony settings.
Thanks!

Not bad for an old fart!

Gary

I know you are, my friend. I keep reminding myself that I am a WEIRD, unusual user with many specific needs, and not many manufacturers make what I want, right out of the box. The kb sounds are wonderful, but as a vocalist ...I need more control, or it's not going to replace my Korg.
I found that the only mode that works ok for me, is the "bassist" mode. That setting controls the harmonies best [RH], and gives me flexibility to play my own bass lines, which I love doing anyway. The transposer is bugging me a lot ... many bass samples disappear on the low C, if I go down more than 2 steps, and that's frustrating. I understand sound ranges, but no other kb seems to have that issue.

We'll talk after your break ... ALOT!

OK, the jury is in, and the SD7 is out.
Let me explain. If a few things were different in the universe, this would be my new keyboard, but given my UD "quirks" that define my style, it is not ready [out of the box] to join my rig. Most of the things I need are probably addressable with software updates, and I'm sure, our good friend AJ would help in every way, but the kicker is ... the size/weight issue. While I could learn to live with the weight (I've already lost TWICE what this weighs - yay!), the length is too long for the opening of my trunk, and I'm not buying a new car to fit my gear. I need to have everything fit in the trunk without using my seats ... still raising kids and grandkids. So, as good as it sounds ... it will not be a part of my upcoming shows. I won't go into the details of what I like and don't like, but if anyone has questions about my quirks, I'll be happy to answer.

In summary - the majority of players who use arrangers should love this keyboard. Most singers will find the vocal section more than adequate, but some (like me) who are extra fussy and particular about vocal harmony may need more. The actual mic processing is very good, but the harmony section cuts a few too many corners for my taste. As a singer primarily, I need the harmonizer to fit like a glove and change with my every whim. TC has this down to a science, so I will stick to what works. Remember - I use the harmonizer triggered from my RIGHT hand, mostly.

I've said before: I really do not need the best sounds or styles to make my show. I need a terrific vocal/harmony unit, great monitor speakers, Rhodes, bass and drums ... and the rest is gravy. I still have an antique, very mid-entry level Korg i5s, (or the higher end Yamaha 9000pro) that I could use tomorrow with my TC VL3 and have a great show. I'd surly miss some of the new hottest sounds, but I'd work around them. My staple sounds are Bass, EPs, Organs, Strings and drums anyway, and these have been VERY good for over 20 years. I could play all night long on a good Rhodes, or Wurli sound with LH bass and drums and the crowd would not suspect a thing.

I give the SD7 two thumbs up for the masses ... but I am not the masses. To be honest - the module version of the Audya would be more attractive to me at this point for its multi file playback capabilities, but I still need a one piece unit for in/out ease. I am certain that (at least for this summer) I have the best setup that I can have for what I do.

PA900, iPad, Bose compact. (I will add guitar and VL3 for more specific jobs, but don't need them for most dance gigs)