I've been in this forum since the X1 was news and, despite my entreaties to local dealers, I had never seen a Ketron product in person--until today. Scott informed us that Bronstein music had them in. Today, I was up (from San Jose) that way. Ed Cernett was the salesman. He has been there only six months and it was he who got Bronstein to carry Ketron's. He was very cordial and helpful. The SD1 and XD9 were on display. He was nice enough to unpack a Vega for me to see. The store carries mostly Ketron and Korg.

These keyboards are old news to the forum by now. I really like the SD1 form factor and the semi-weighted keys. I also like the fact that the programming made extensive use of aftertouch. I like the quarter-tone buttons on the Vega and the oriental styles.

Still, there was nothing on these keyboards that made me want to stay and demo them for a long time. I enjoyed playing the Roland VA-76 (at Guitar Showcase) much more. I think I preferred the Roland styles (I have to go try them again. Its hard to A/B keyboards that are 40 miles apart.) There is a high fun factor with the Variphrase and D-beam combination. So I am looking forward to seeing Roland's next entry. I don't consider myself a Tyros candidate, although I do want to try one.