I appreciate Domenik's remarks and he makes some good points. The Big Three are basically producing the same "soup" over and over with incremental improvements here and there. For instance the Tyros and the Pa series although the Pro version includes 76 keys whereas Yamaha limits its incremental improvements on a 61 key platform only for their mid and high-end arrangers.

That's why I didn't get a Tyros2 or a Tyros3 because the improvements were incremental (beyond the SA voices) and having to shell out $3,000.00 bucks every three years or so is simply NOT very cost effective for me.

Don't get me wrong. If the Big Three ever got beyond their "trickle down" economic structure (although I highly doubt they will) I would be very open and interested in getting the "latest greatest" if indeed that latest greatest was actually more than just a minor face lift with a few cosmetic improvements and the cost wasn't these astronomically priced absurdities that must have the keyboard manufacturers laughing their heads off all the way to the bank.

When you consider that computer parts are quite cheap in price (we're NOT in the 1990's anymore folks) and that keyboards are essentially computers with fake ivory keys , you realize that the only one's making out like hogan's goat are the Big Three whilst consumers are basically getting shafted in my opinion. It's like the fine Furniture market where fine wood furnishings are WAY above real market value but manufacturers are still able (by hook or crook) to command these ridiculously high prices for fine wood furnishings. But I digress...

Anyway, Dom's "vision" is a high accolade to him for his tenacity to get beyond the "same 'ole soup, different year" mentality and produce something that would be considered truly 'revolutionary' in my opinion. Now if he could just get beyond the 'astronomical' aspect on some of his products Lionstracs sales would no doubt shoot through the roof, in my opinion, and overall it would increase his "bottom line" as well in the long run.

Although in both Lionstracs and Ketron's cases because they are considered smaller sized businesses it is a lot harder for them to get their prices more in line with the Big Three and probably impossible for them to turn much of a profit if they were to go considerably below the competition. Of course in Lionstracs case you are getting a considerable "bang for your buck" for those higher prices as opposed to the Big Three's incremental "same 'ole soup" shenanigans popped out every three years or so. I know it all has to do with "marketing" and that the Big Three do what they do because it is the best market strategy for "them" financially. But I have decided to 'refuse' to get "sucked in" to their incrementally based system and will only upgrade when the "cost, value, performance" meets my criteria and not before. Sorry Fran. I really don't mean to offend anyone and if there are others (and we know who you are ) who don't mind doing the upgrade dance every three or so years - more power to you. I guess I'm getting at that age where if it "don't have that swing" it's starting to "not mean a thing" to me I reckon.

Furthermore, being able to "mass" produce your product(s) off an assembly line is much more convenient and economical for manufacturers as evidenced by the Big Three who in "many" instances offer great products at reasonable prices - except for their high-end arranger lines apparently. I can also attest to the Linux operating system as being excellent, having just recently ran the latest Ubuntu OS. It is extremely stable, highly functional, and has very good performance. And Dom is smart for using Linux if you ask me.

Well, I'm gonna get either a 76 key high-end arranger keyboard or an arranger module at some point in the future (if I don't croak and go to heaven first ) but I'd like to wait to see what the next Big Three offerings will be before I fork over the dough. I would really like to see the Big Three get beyond their 128 note 'road block' and also implement some other 'revolutionary' concepts too. I'm still eying Lionstracs occasionally hoping for another 76 key offering that hopefully won't break the bank in the process, and also Ketron's next 76 key Audya?? offering (in ten years or so ) - or perhaps even the newly announced Audya4 module if they introduce it at a reasonable price. Yeah right!

All the best,
Mike



[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 03-27-2010).]