£1799 = $3,387 which is the MSRP of course. If we're talking street price maybe around $2,500-$2,995 {£1,327-£1,590}.

The sounds are very good. Kudos to Ketron for putting in excellent sounds. The Drums are fantastic in my opinion. BUT there are only a few demos so my enthusiasm is a little subdued for now. Once more demos are posted it will give people more of a 'true' idea what the SD5 is capable of. They will sure give Yamaha a run for the money though especially if the price is indeed around $2,500-$2,995. The Tyros2 retails for $4,200 and can be had for around $3,499 boxed. The nice thing about the Ketron is the onboard speakers at 22wx2 RMS and it weighs only 5 1/2 lbs more than the Tyros2, which as we all know doesn't have any speakers. If you consider that a gallon of milk weighs about 8 lbs, then lifting 5 1/2 additional lbs over a Tyros2 should be a piece of cake. Also, since the SD5 has its own onboard speakers (and dandy ones at that ), it requires less stuff to transport and/or "buy" i.e. - an external sound source.

There is no mention of polyphony so I'm assuming it has 64 note polyphony like the SD1. Is that enough? You decide..

No 76 key version. No sale for me..

To those who only need 61 keys the Ketron SD5 looks like a real winner. Great voices, powerful onboard speakers, and not much heavier than a Tyros2. A few drawbacks are the small number of internal Styles at 120, 64 note polyphony??, no included Harmonizer (optional only) and no GM2 standard. By the "PC/Mac host Interface" I assume they mean USB instead of Firewire.

The street price is where the rubber meets the road. If it's significantly lower than a Tyros2 they should sell like hotcakes and give Yamaha a run for its money.

Best regards,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 06-02-2006).]