What surprised me is that none of you actually NOTICED it was an SMF. I would have thought here of all places...

However, I must disagree with those that say that using an SMF takes LESS skill than style mode. It all depends on what you are actually PLAYING, and whether you are burning up a two fisted piano part, or doing your best Jan Hammer fusion licks, or holding down both the comps AND the lead lines (none of which you can do in style mode), just because they are over an SMF doesn't negate the skill it takes to play them.

There are some that think that, just because they are holding down ONE chord, and then playing a single line melody over the top, but the MACHINE is doing all the skilled playing, that it's actually THEM playing it! Sorry to burst your bubble...

I agree that Messier COULD have made the SMF from style play (probably did in part because of the live drums), but don't discount what he was playing on the top. Pretty much all of it (the good bits, at least) took two hands to do, and couldn't have been played at all with one hand tied up doing the LH chord input... Style mode takes skill, sure. But don't get high and mighty because someone eschews it to be able to perform better than you can with one hand.

The more I hear the Ketron live, the more I'm impressed with it. Sure, other arrangers might have it beat in a few areas, SA2, tonewheel sound, piano sound (a bit), but there isn't ONE of them that comes this close to the drums and bass. Not one...

My primary concern with the Audya these days (other than getting Lee and Tony to go bug the hell out of an ACTUAL Ketron forum and leave us the hell alone ) is that I don't do Euro-styled music or Latin, and would want styles specifically for the US market with the wonderful live drums. And let's face it, Ketron's follow-up to the SD-1 and SD-5 hasn't exactly been swimming with new live drum styles of ANY kind, let alone those good for US dancers. Past performance is always an indicator of future performance, and Ketron haven't exactly shone in that department. As I've said many times, Live drum styles are a double edged sword. They are SO good, you are not going to be happy using non-Live drum styles. So this puts the burden on the style MAKERS (those with the skill to make great audio styles) to keep making more of them, and to cover gaps in their musical genres that are popular in the US (if they want our business, that is) and other countries.

At least with a MIDI only arranger, third party or even new factory styles are going to sound VERY similar to the ROM ones (at least in tone). But I doubt that anyone is going to be making first rate Live Drum styles that don't simply re-use the existing patterns. And even if they DO, there's going to be a need for extraordinary care in making the drum sound match the ROM styles VERY closely. Unlike a MIDI style, you can't go in there and turn down the kick, or turn up the snare, or make the tom-toms more bright.

In my mind at least, there is no doubt that the Audya's live styles are head and shoulders beyond what anyone has currently achieved with a MIDI arranger. That is its' strength, but unfortunately, its' weakness, too...

(Sure wouldn't mind Tony's one nice and cheap after he messes it up and start to blame everybody ELSE for whatever problems he's going to find in OS4, though! )