I never said they can stream live loops. You have to load them into the sampler first. But yes, once you do that, they can sound IDENTICAL to an Audya. You could actually take the audio loops off an Audya and use them in your Tyros, if you wanted to.

BUT... as I said, simply having the capability isn't enough. Someone has to make the loops. And the majority of loop libraries available don't really lay things out the same way that arrangers are going to need them. Especially with regard to Intros and Endings. Those rarely exist in loop libraries.

You've also got to take into consideration that Ketron kept a very consistent kit sound for most of their styles, lending a cohesiveness to the whole thing that many have commented that it helps to have such evenness. You buy commercial loops, they are ALL going to be different, different volumes, different EQ balances, etc..

The thing is, I find it very telling that the majority of SD-1 users didn't use this feature extensively when it was a part of the SD-1 OS. If it were THAT easy to do, and loops were easy to find and match, you would have thought that a LOT more people would have done it... You would have thought that a plethora of third party loop makers would have produced sets optimized for the SD-1.. You would have thought that their would already exist a HUGE library of styles already developed that made extensive use of the audio loop feature...

But there isn't...

Just like 'open' arrangers, I think the 'potential' is a lot more enticing than the reality

Look, if you are ALREADY a bigtime drum loop user (Acid or Ableton Live, e.g.), have already spent a lot of time learning the intricacies of loop slicing and trimming, maybe have access to a decent recording studio and a rock solid, first call drummer (if you want to make your own), then yes, this is a big deal. But without those skills and experience, I have a feeling that, just like most SD-1 users, you are going to find it is a lot more work than the results justify...

Unfortunately, the Ketron R&D team failed to be able to add multiple streaming loops to the Audya. They announced it initially, and it would have been a game changer if they had succeeded, but in point of fact, they got no better streaming performance out of the Audya than they had with the SD-1. So this is NOT groundbreaking stuff. It has been out for years, and few people have succeeded in utilizing it. So I don't honestly see any difference here.

And, in the end, with drum libraries like BFD and EZDrummer getting to the point that it is virtually impossible to tell if they are loops of live drumming or just highly detailed MIDI playback of MIDI drumming, why even go down this route? Audio loops still have the fatal flaw of being basically uneditable, whereas MIDI files allow all the flexibility you could ever ask for. Want that groovy pattern on a brush kit instead of a rock kit? You CAN'T do that with audio loops. But it's a snap with MIDI.

I think the audio loop capability is going to be great for the electronica/dance players, but for those of us with more 'conventional' needs, it isn't quite the boon you might think...