Ah, here's another cent and a half's worth. If you go to the X1 home page. You notice that the ad says, this board will never be obsolete. I am still tweaking the 6500 to try and get the sax as good as the X1. No contest, so far, but I like the styles on the 6500 better. I finally got back to my Yammies, 740, 730 and still like the way they work together. That's why I am really looking forward to the 2000. Maybe I should just break down and get the 9000. I did have a bid for the one on ebay. It went for $2450.00. Cheap for a 9000pro w/HD.

Here we go again!

Uncle Dave,

There are a few of us who were trained as organists and not piano players. I've played professionally for 30 years. I DO NOT do fingered bass! I can hold my own with most real bass players using my feet. For me fingered bass is not an option. I will not commit to the learning curve that would be required for me to do fingered bass. This does not make me a poor or amateur player.

An arranger keyboard is supposed to sound like a whole band. That's why we call them arrangers. It allows me to adapt to the times. Not everyone or place can hire a 16 piece band. It is hard enough to get a job for a trio. We have become one man bands. Yes the auto stuff for you is icing on the cake but for many of us old Hammond players it is the cake itself. My audiances do not want to buy cake without icing.

I've had the psr740 and now the X1. The 740 is easier to operate but the X1 was not a problem either. Because I use the styles in my performances I'll trade a slightly more complicated operating system for better styles anyday (read my post on the Yammie BB & swing styles). When I need manual bass I play the Roland Pk5 pedals hooked into my X1.

Tom

P.S. I can't speak for everyone that you just insulted but I still love ya.

Tom,

My idea to a T. !!!!
So back off Uncle Dave......>!!!

greetings to the both of you,

john.

Just yesterday I went to a wedding of a friend. They had two guys, both singing and one of them playing X1.

During the ceremony the keyboardist was playing "background" instrumental music. I am convinced that my G1000 would do a better job, especially with me playing it.

However, during the party they had put on quite a show. All the lead melodies were sung, and the X1 was only providing the accompaniments and instrumental fills, mostly thick brass sections, saxes, accordeons, and a few others (no pianos here). These guys sounded marvellous, and although I am sure it was mainly due to their great vocal abilities and artistic skill, the sounds of the X1 rhythms had instrument solos had played a large part in their act.

Regards

Tom, Tom, Tom.......
You are so easily rattled. I never once stated that my upbringing was the right way. In fact, I'm more of a bass player than a piano player, but I learned to play the lines with my left hand out of neccesity years ago. My point is simple -
ALL arranger players will sound the SAME if they all use the same arrangements! Youneed to "spice up" the stock arrangement with lots of your own heart. I think if I am in an intimate setting - I prefer the trio sound to the best arranger style. If the dance floor is more of a priority, then a sequence or an arrangement is more appropriate. In your old days on organ, I'm sure you had no trouble making a "psuedo arrangement" with just two hands and one foot. I just took that step to the next level with auto keyboards, because of the built-in drums. I still believe that MOST of the sound is in the bass, drums & vocals. Those will always be the priorities for my shows.
As for the Yamaha BB styles -
I can pack a dance floor with just the stock styles even WITHOUT the arranger - the drums are right on the money - it's up to you to add the rest of the ingredients to make the arrangement complete. Play the right style with the RIGHT hand and the bass & drums will carry the song.

There we go again, about one out of every 3 posts on this forum is about "my keyboard is better then yours".
All a bunch of B.S. Ofcourse we like to hear new features, tips and tricks, advice from the pro's.
Every line of keyboards has its own strong points, it just depends on who you are, what you like, what you play and how much money you are willing to spend which board is teh most suitable for you.
Specially styles and sounds, taste is a personal thing. Also, the longer you play a certain board the more you get used to its sounds. Next time you go looking for a board you are more then likely to goo for the same kind of sound.
There is no "best" keyboard!.
Personaly, I play a G1000, not on stage, just at home in my livingroom. I listen to the PSR9000 and wouldn't trade my G1000 in a million years. But again, that is just my humble opinion

Unfortunately, I never tested the X1 and therefore I cannot comment on it and contrast it to other keyboards. There is no dealer in my area that carries it. However, I have tested PSR9kPRO and other keyboards. My brother owns PSR740 and I play that all the time. I have few comments:

1) the grand piano of the PSR9Kpro sounds like yamaha grand piano patch coming from arranger keyboards. Why yamaha cannot place the P80 piano patch in the PSR9Kpro or even the motif is beyond me. The grand piano on the motif sounds very lacking. All other instruments sound excellent except for that grandpiano sound. clearly, yamaha wants to create two separate markets. One for those who desire an excellent grand piano and those who do not mind a considerable compromise.

2) Given the above point, if X1 has a bad piano, welcome to the family of arranger keyboards where the manufacturer chooses intentionally not to place a good piano in them anyway. (GEM, place read this and learn, your next coming keyboard better have a good piano).

3)I listened to few demo styles of X1 and they sound very nice and very realistic. I liked the sound of the guitar in the X1 but I also liked it on the PSR-series (9kpro, 740)... In fact, Yamaha is the best in the sounds of the strings, voilins and the acoustic nylon guitar. In fact, even older yamaha keyboards always boasted with good strings, nylon guitar and voilins.

4) x1 styles remind me of GEM styles when it comes to realism but they also remind me of yamaha because of the nice acoustic nylon guitar. On the other hand, Yamaha styles are well written and arranged especially for ballads. They are good for performance but not that good for professional recording INHO because the listener can tell very easily that an arranger keyboard was involved while with the X1 and GEM, they sounded like separate solo instruments playing together and this is what I meant by "realism."

5) Now I was told that small things matter and the details are very important. This is very true. things like the number of connectors, the features of the sequencer, the programability of the keyboard, the sampling, the vocolizer and many others are very important. GEM has 10 sliders. How about other keyboards?

That brings me to the conclusion, oh yes, keyboards have changed a lot but they were not updated enough to replace the previous keyboards. Examples:

1) Psr9kPRO might have better sounds in general, but why not have a nice grand piano sound?

2) all of the new keyboards are fine. but what about the 10 sliders?

3) the new styles are interesting, new and well-arranged. But what about realism?

4) what about including oriental kit? and by the way, oriental kit is now important for those who write for movies, just look at the newer movies, they all utilize 1/4 tone arrangements for effects.

Just my 2 cents.

[This message has been edited by sk880user (edited 08-21-2001).]

A Silver Ketron/Solton X1? NO! NO! NEVER!! I'll take My X1 Just as it is. (That is if I can keep it out of the repair shop long enough to realize that I actually have an X1.
DVJ





[This message has been edited by deatonent (edited 08-21-2001).]

Hi Deaton: Exactly what type of problems have you been experiencing which has necessitated your X1 spending so much time in the repair shop? I was informed (from Bell Solton NY) that if I purchased an SD1 and warranty repair service was needed, that I would have to ship the keyboard 5000 miles (8,046 km) across the Country to New York, because local repair facilities in my area (San Francisco Bay Area) will not work on Solton keyboards. Your statement here certainly is a REAL concern to me.

Scott,
I thought you and I were only 3000 miles apart? (serious)
Is the country really THAT wide? All this time I thought it was 3k.