Let's start with an SD1, which I seriously considered purchasing. I like 6+ octaves in a relatively compact form factor, good sounds and styles, and a good vocal harmonizer. The weight is not bad, but lighter would be better. I was impressed when Ketron responded to a request from one of our members to change the chord recognition scheme and was disappointed when all that effort did not result in a sale.

There are two areas where a lot of musicians would consider the SD1 lacking: sounds and digital connectivity.

Sounds. On the positive side, the SD1 has some great sounds and provides Oriental sound sets. But there is only so much you can do with 48MB sound ROM, and the limit of 16MB sample RAM is ridiculous. Of course, some sample RAM is better than none (read Tyros), but many arranger musicians have been looking enviously at the Yamaha Motif ES, with its 175MB ROM soundset and its 1G maximum sample RAM. High-end keyboards really should be implemented large sample RAM and even hard-disk streaming of samples.

Digital computer connectivity is also necessary. Many want to do hard disk recording, and others would like to drive soft synths--so that we can keep up with the latest sounds without buying new keyboards annually. A firewire interface would work best, but USB should be available as an alternative. Also, the hideous floppy should be replaced with removable flash storage like SmartMedia or MemoryStick.

If there is computer connectivity, the keyboard should provide a digital-audio workstation control surface--at least some knobs and sliders, if not x-y pads and joysticks. These should be assignable, so they can also control local sound and style parameters (e.g., swing factor, complexity).

While mentioned continuous controllers, if it had polyphonic aftertouch, I would probably get one, even if some other shortcomings were not addressed. But since there has never been an arranger with this feature, I focus on other factors.

Moving from keyboards to modules--why are Ketron modules so large? Maybe the Yamaha QY series is overdoing the less-is-more approach, but something in between might that and the X4 might be more attractive.