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#103654 - 06/26/01 07:59 PM Re: Solton SD1 Keyboard Dilemma !
Gord Offline
Member

Registered: 03/19/01
Posts: 117
Loc: Kelowna,British Columbia,Canad...
Henry
The Fellow I talked to At FNZ, Montreal said
'suggested' retail for the SD-1 was $5695 Canadian plus tax (in British Columbia, add l4%) Don's piano at St Albert, Alberta quoted
$5295 Canadian If you could find it in the U.S. for around $3000 U.S. X 1.52 Exchange on our lousy $, add around 6 % duty plus 7% Gov service tax you come up with $5171 Canadian-still a heathly bit of Cash

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[This message has been edited by Gord (edited 06-26-2001).]

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#103655 - 06/26/01 08:46 PM Re: Solton SD1 Keyboard Dilemma !
Henry01 Offline
Member

Registered: 03/06/01
Posts: 130
Loc: Dublin, California, USA
Gord, thanks for your info on SD1's pricing. I have a friend who works for a Ketron dealer and he thinks he can get me a SD-1 at around $4000 plus taxes (15% in ONT) pre-paid. That's not too bad... Or I could consider ordering from oversea at SynthPlanet for about $2200 USD. But the first thing I need to do is decide whether this is the keyboard for me. And I really need to play it before making any decision...

Henry

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#103656 - 06/27/01 05:19 AM Re: Solton SD1 Keyboard Dilemma !
Gord Offline
Member

Registered: 03/19/01
Posts: 117
Loc: Kelowna,British Columbia,Canad...
Henry
The total Canadian price for a SD1 from synthplanet without a Video Output is-
1. Basic SD1 =$1927 US
2. Step up/step down voltage converter –VOCA –200 (200watt unit to ensure proper operation)=$35 US
3. Total US =$1962
4. $1962 US x 1.52 (exchange to our lousy $)=$2982.24 Canadian
5. $2982 Canadian x 6% duty=$3161 Canadian
6. $3161 x 7%Gov service tax(first)=$3382
7. $3382x7%Prov. Sales Tax(second)=$3619 (Canada customs said I must add PST for British Columbia –but I don’t know if this is Canada wide for all provinces.
8. Shipping from Synthplanet =$119 US x 1.52 Canadian =$181.00
9. Grand Total =$3619 + $181 =$3800 Canadian
If your friend can get it for you at $4600 Total price-then you have to consider if no warranty and 220 Vac operation is worth the
$800.00 Savings. I wonder if your friend would let us know the repair agency's name
&phone number in Montreal (I assume its located there) Who knows, I may find one in the U.S. this fall & I would like to check with them regarding repairs.




[This message has been edited by Gord (edited 06-27-2001).]

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#103657 - 06/27/01 06:21 AM Re: Solton SD1 Keyboard Dilemma !
Henry01 Offline
Member

Registered: 03/06/01
Posts: 130
Loc: Dublin, California, USA
Gord,

Thanks for your thorough break down of the cost of importing from oversea to Canada. The taxes & duty really add up. I guess we have to pay the 2 taxes whether you buy it here or not. If you buy it from Ontario, you probably don't have to pay Ont sales tax (ie. have my friend ship it directly to you).

Saving $800 is good, but I don't like the thought of using a 200W 220V step up converter. It seems so inefficient and wasteful. It's one more piece of equipment to carry too.

The lack of warranty doesn't worry me so much. I had more than a dozen keyboards in the pass 15 years and never had a bad one. I had a Ketron X4 and it was a very high quality product.

To sum it up, I definitely would buy a SD1 locally through my friend. I'll talk to Marcel at FNZ again and see if he can arrange for a demo closer to Toronto. I'll keep you posted.

Henry

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#103658 - 06/27/01 08:57 AM Re: Solton SD1 Keyboard Dilemma !
Gord Offline
Member

Registered: 03/19/01
Posts: 117
Loc: Kelowna,British Columbia,Canad...
Henry
Thanks for the 'offer' (your friend selling me an SD1). After my trip down to the Northwest States this fall-I should be able to put an order in-hopefully for the SD1. Let me know if you were able to try out the SD1 in the Toronto area.

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#103659 - 06/27/01 11:12 AM Re: Solton SD1 Keyboard Dilemma !
Scottyee Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 12/01/99
Posts: 10427
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US...
Like I said before, I was really IMPRESSED with the beautiful SD1 demos songs performed by Notlos. What a superb musician he is to be able to produce such professionally polished songs on JUST a 'single' keyboard alone. WOW!

In spite of this (as mentioned earlier by Henry01), I think it's very IMPORTANT to "reiterate" that we still MUST take the time to AUDITION for ourselves ALL the keyboard(s) we are considering for purchase, BEFORE laying down our hard earned cash, especially for such a BIG ticket item.

ALL the top-emd arranger keyboards on the market are excellent now, but each has its' own unique strengths & weakness'(OS design, button/screen layout, keyboard size, feel, arranger styles, sounds, features, etc). What might work well for one person may NOT be suitable for another. Your decision really is a PERSONAL thing. That's what makes this world such a wonderfully diverse place afterall.

I'm STILL looking for a store around here (San Francisco Bay Area) that will be willing to 'stock' the SD1 so I can AUDITION it myself again to determine if this is the BEST keyboard for "ME". - Scott

PS: I received word from Bell Solton (New York) today that Sandro (Solton-Italy) is 'still' PROMISING to implement rootless "jazz chord" voicing recognition in the SD1's FIRST OS upgrade (to be released VERY soon). I'm STILL waiting.
_________________________

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#103660 - 07/04/01 09:27 PM Re: Solton SD1 Keyboard Dilemma !
Henry01 Offline
Member

Registered: 03/06/01
Posts: 130
Loc: Dublin, California, USA
Hi everyone,

I got my SD1 today. It is very good... It's midnight here in Toronto and I'm still playing with my new SD1... There is so much new stuff, it's much easier to navigate than the X1/X4.

The pianos are very good... The grand piano is a European grand, very rich and very European. It's different from Technic's or the 9000Pro's.

Oh. I used the PC cable and software from my old X4 and it worked perfectly (well, I only tried downloading files to my PC, don't know if upload work or not). I backed up the original files from the SD1 to my laptop. There were about 5MB of stuffs on it (out of 6.3GB of space). The backup only took a few minutes.

Those live drums are so cool... I'll write some more next time...

Henry

[This message has been edited by Henry01 (edited 07-04-2001).]

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#103661 - 07/04/01 11:08 PM Re: Solton SD1 Keyboard Dilemma !
George Kaye Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 11/24/99
Posts: 3305
Loc: Reseda, California USA
It's interesting that you think the piano in the SD1 is so different than the 9000pro. I have listened to the two over and over again in my store and I think they sound exactly the same except for the deeper tone of the SD1 below middle C. This is ot bad. I just think Ketron sampled the Yamaha piano.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
_________________________
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene (Closed after 51 years)
West Hills, California
(Retired 2021)

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#103662 - 07/04/01 11:30 PM Re: Solton SD1 Keyboard Dilemma !
Roel Offline
Member

Registered: 06/24/99
Posts: 1232
Henry,
Congrats with your SD1.....as I wrote many times before : "I expect mine VERY soon"
(Tomorrow or next week ?)
About the PC interface :
What cable/software did you use to dump the HDD contents ? (Do I need to buy a 'special' or is it just standard? ..... what was the price ?)

Roel

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#103663 - 07/05/01 04:48 AM Re: Solton SD1 Keyboard Dilemma !
Henry01 Offline
Member

Registered: 03/06/01
Posts: 130
Loc: Dublin, California, USA
Roel,

Just hang in there a bit longer, I'm sure your SD1 will arrive soon... And it is definitely worth the wait.

I purchased the PC cable & software ($15 USD) for the X1 previously when I had the X4. The software could also be downloaded directly from Ketron's web site under software downloads. There are 2 parts, the XPC driver and the XFT file transfer software. The software is written for X1/X4 and I don't know for sure if it is compatible with SD1. I expect Ketron to release one for SD1 soon. I have downloaded all the files from all folders in the SD1. But I have not tried uploading until someone can tell me that it is safe to do so. I don't want to mess up the hard drive. There are 16 demo songs and the downloaded midi files played perfectly in my PC except some of the sounds did not map properly.

The cable could easily be made if you know how to do it. It's D-9 serial female to DIN 8 male. For 15 bucks, I didn't want to bother to make my own cable.

Henry

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