AJ..I'm a Current SD-1 Owner for the last year and half...I've Tried others Including the Tyros, But the Ketron Still is Tops in Quality Sounds, Styles, and Professional Keys....Just a very Alive, Professional Playable Keyboard.It Looks Professional,No fancy Toyish additions,Built very well...I really like what Keytron is doing, asking us,the users and Interested people what is needed to make Improvements, etc...These are some of my suggestions:Live use 8 Sliders( such as Korg has Installed in the New Pro Coming) For live Arranger Style Changes, Etc...These also could serve as Pallette sliders for the Tones...and Drawbars for Organ Tones...We need to be able to Ajust the Upper tone and second tone up and down live. Examaple:Piano and Strings Quickly and Smoothly....Maybe Enlarge the Buttons(No Christmas Lights Please)...Maybe Set the Screen in a slight angle towards the player(It does not need to Pop up, etc)Keep the Professional Appearance and Quality Construction.Design Changes are fine though! Increased Polophony is always welcomed...Maybe a Real nice Warm Stereo Grand Piano added for Solo Piano Work,(Besides the Grand Piano used now) It's a Excellent Piano sound...It could be Triple Strike Sampled like the Yamaha P-250 Professional Stage Piano....That would Super Nice!!!!Hint!!!!.I believe the Biggest attraction to any keyboard is the Quality of the Pianos...Added Professional Orchestral Sounds is welcomed...More Electric Pianos...Maybe even Expansion Board Capabilities such as the 9000 Pro...No onboard Speakers please....Keep the Weight in line or, add on speakers like the Tyros for people who prefer them...Adding Sampler Capacity may be a Excellent Addition...Please don't add uneeded things that will put the Price out of reach....You have a Nice Keyboard Package now Priced Fair...I believe Keytron is Serious about Building the Best Keyboards Possible....Stay with what you have been doing, Commitment towards Quality and Performance, Improvement and the Most Important the Consumer...By the Way...Whens the New Keyboard going to be Available????I'm ready to Buy!!!!!!!!

Houston sounds good. Just remember that a few of us pros will be coming 200 miles, so make it on a Sunday or Monday if possible!
DonM

AJ, I am a current Vega owner, and I also own a Yamaha DX7, and future Korg Prophecy also... But I would like to make a statement on general features that should be expandable and add ons and future expectations/suggestions...

Well, I dont expect the keyboards to be perfect, Since ketron doesnt have such a large name as say Yamaha or Korg, yet I think that what was on the X1 was just great. The keys are very nice, not to mention so is the sampling option... Also Please understand, that many many people get frustration with that fact that with the vega, you cannot compile your own sounds with the Flash card... Sometimes, you are stuck with sounds that you are never going to do, yet you buy the flash card because you want the best options for your keyboards. Rather than release flash cards, release sounds that one can put into the flash card manually. And customise it they way they would like... For example, i would seriously love to sample my VST synths and sounds, and use on my Vega... That would definitely make the Vega or any other keyboard much stronger... I also suggest More expansion room for Vega and higher future models... as 8mb does not compare to any competitors, such as Korg/Roland/Yamaha... For example, I bought the vega with the harddrive expecting to be able to save samples on there (which is my fault technically), use of the Harddrive for samples, or larger Ram upgrades would be nice, Even 32mb would be awesome... but with the money I spent on the vega I could have bought a Nice Triton (i spent $2,200 USD in the end)... Another option?, well, It wouldnt just be nice to edit sounds, but also to manually create sounds, in other words, Synthesize... I've heard beautiful sounds made through Frequency Modulation, and thats technology from the 80s I know because I like to program FM synthesis... But a nice Analog/Digital synthesizer inside the keyboard would truly put it ontop of Competition... I mean, if I had a moss board in my Vega, I wouldnt bother to get a Korg Prophecy I would also like to mention that, The Vega samples, they are truly great samples, yet there could still be a bit better work on Multisampling from this company,I truly love Ketron, but the fact that the limited expansion at the current moment, (at least with vega) I would say the only I am Satisfied, but not with the money i spent

AJ, now that this had been brought up again, here's something I'd suggest to Ketron and all makers of arranger keyboards. When creating preset styles (PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD UP ABOVE) spice up the bass lines more. I love arranger keyboards, but one of my biggest problems with them is the bass lines in the styles. I think the bass guitar along with the drums really carry a song, and styles with weak simple note riffs are always a DEAD GIVEAWAY that it's an arranger keyboard. I remember when I had the Casio MZ-2000 one style on that board got me going and that was the "Fast Big Band" The bass line in that style was AWSOME it really carried that style. I'd like to see more styles like this.

Squeak

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 02-03-2005).]

Dear Ketron AJ;

I have an idea, so that all individuals who are interested in the Ketron KBs can see, hear & undergo a tutuorial and Question & answer sessions. Why don't you do a real time interactive streaming conference on the internet. That way you can orchestrate the session at a location that best suites you, (all your technical reprasentative can be at one place verus having to travel). Individuals would not have to drive hours to see these demos, and you will be able to capture a much larger audience in one shot, compared to having to do numerous demos at different location. These streaming lectures are done all the time and are not difficult to set-up.

I agree that one won't get to actually use the keyboard, but this would be the first step for consumers to see whether they wish to pursue the Ketron option. As well as making it very convienient. You can see by the comments, peoples time are precious to them. Also, having busy schedules, people in this forum have expressed not wanting to be inconvenienced by having to drive for 2-3 hours for demo. So why not allow easy access via the computer method.

You could also have advanced tutorials for seasoned players who would have more extensive questions regarding the Ketrons capabilities.


Thanks
Regards;
SCP