What has it been, almost five years since Ketron introduced the Audya? Other than the OS glitches most of us have experienced, I must say the Audya still outshines the latest and greatest from Yamaha and Korg.

Yamaha seems content with what they are producing with the same old use of midi, as with Korg also. I recently spent a day playing both the Tyros 4 and the PA3X Pro.

As far as sound quality, I couldn't hear much difference compared to my old PSR3000 and PA80.

The Audya, on the other hand, is a LIVE IN YOUR FACE Arranger with very little room for improvement.

Never, in my 40 years of playing professionally have I had such an awesome piece of machinery under my fingertips!

If you listen and play both the T4 and Pa3x by themselves, they are great sounding arrangers, especially the T4. But if you combine either on stage with the Audya...well...they just can't compete.

Unfortunately for most local musicians, the days of the 4,5,6,7,8 piece bands are all but gone. It's difficult to find Venue's who will pay a respectable wage per musician.

For us Singles, Duo's and Trio's, the Audya produces a sound as close as your going to get to a larger band. That is what I LOVE about the Audya.

For live on stage performances, the Audya is NUMBER 1 in my book!

Can and will Ketron improve the Audya's capabilities? I'm sure they can, and hope they will. I'll be first in line to buy one if they do.

In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy the hundreds of compliments I receive every week on the Audya's sound! I'll also continue having a blast playing the BEST Arranger ever made!

Jim