Hi John, thank you for your comment

I have to agree that after watching that video it most certainly sounds better than the Medeli.

The only thing the Medeli really has going for it is its very pretty looks and very good features and the touch screen is lovely, but I think that's where it ends. The styles are just so uninspiring & bland or poorly programmed in some cases, some are also ripped off from past Yamaha or Korg keyboards. The drums sound like those of the Yamaha PSR620 from back in the day as do the sounds.

The thing is, John, I think you misread my post. At no time did I suggest that if you want to play a particular song, you dial up the preset registration/Songbook entry and play what the factory has spoon-fed you. In fact, the very opposite. Turn it on and just PLAY.

You have to go through a bunch of other steps before the machine starts telling you what to do. To be honest, when I’m in ’mess around mode’, I don’t even start with a song in mind. Pick a style, pick a lead sound, maybe a LH pad or comp, or the full piano mode, hit play, start to mess around with changes, and see what comes to mind.

Nothing simpler! Playing for the sheer joy of playing. That’s the strength of arrangers. Your on call rhythm section, no matter what whacked out thing you feel like doing. They never complain, they never tell you they’re tired of playing the same four bars over and over, they never quit for a coffee break! 😂

So no, John, I wasn’t suggesting for one minute that you turn on the arranger and let it dictate to you what you should play or sound like. Sorry if you got that impression.

In reference to the sounds, yes, I must admit, I’ve never really been a huge fan of Ketron’s basic soundset, in fact, I’m not a fan of the whole audio loop style thing. Talk about the machine telling you how you should sound! But in fairness, it rather sounds like you are choosing to go the cheap secondary arranger or sound module route to simply fill in glaring holes in Ketron’s basic sound that owners of the brands that you want to use don’t have themselves.

So, as general advice, my basic premise stands. Unless you chose unwisely, most modern MOTL & TOTL arrangers stand by themselves pretty well. I certainly don’t have any particular sound envy with my decade old BK-9! Yes, there’s a few OS features that would be nice to have, but they are all on arrangers considerably more expensive than the one I have. So, for me and to be honest, I would think Yamaha and Korg users, there’s little to be gained adding another keyboard to the live rig.

At home, in the studio, well… pretty much ALL arrangers fall quite short compared to the best software instruments or hardware synths (for synth sounds) and gigabyte sized VSTi’s for things like orchestral libraries, drum and percussion libraries, grand piano’s and electromechanical pianos and organs. So if putting together the highest quality original score is your goal, the arranger’s best trick is quick blocking out of a basic comp track, to be almost entirely replaced later on. If a producer uses an arranger at all (extremely rare), that’s usually it. Can’t remember the last time I heard an arranger on an advertisement or a TV series or a score.

So, in a way, I guess I agree… it is nice to have an alternative to the arranger’s soundset. But I would say that going upscale, not down is the way to go! You could get Keyscapes, BFD2, and some killer softsynths for the same money that a cheap but serviceable arranger costs. And have sounds that will blow a Genos or a PA4X out of the water.