Squeak.
I think the XD9 is a bargain! I have to tell you....when I met with the owners of Ketron from Italy at this past winters NAMM show, our conversation was all about what I needed to sell more keyboards in my store. I strongly stated to them that I needed a line of products with more variations in price. And within 2 months, Ketron responded with the introduction of the VEGA and the XD9 and XD3. This is a company that listens! and I'm thankful for that.
When the sounds are, in my opinion, the best Ketron has given us, and the styles sound even better to me than before, and the fact that most of the customers I sell these products to just play their keyboards and don't do much recording with them, I think the price is a major breakthrough! I can remember just a few years ago when the $1500.00 price range got you a Korg i5s or a Roland G600 or nothing from Yamaha because you either bought a PSR640 which was a good keyboard for $1000.00 but you had to go up to a PSR8000 for $3000.00 to get one that was really good, and I'm feeling like our choices are really exciting right now. Generalmusic as we all know will be shipping the Genesys very soon now and although this keyboard will still be over the $3000.00 price point, look at all they are giving you compared to other similiary prices keyboards. A CD recordable drive, direct hard disk drive recording, 100watt speaker system, etc. etc. These are ground breaking features on arranger keybords and I am looking foward to a strong future for arranger keyboards.
With the XD9 and VEGA both under $2000.00 and the Korg PA60 for under $1300.00 and the Yamaha PSR2000 for around $1100.00, look at how much more bang for the buck you are buying. Even the price of the VA7 has come down to this price point over the past few months (around $1500.00). Lets all keep our fingers crossed that the manufactures are seing all this and will keep responding to our requests for better and better keyboards at more reasonable prices.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda,