Donny I agree with you but how many people are just using the styles as they are? Probably more than care to admit it. And if you've spent any time at all with Yamahas, you know the styles need reworking to really kick ass.

Joe

I understand that Joe ....I have been tweaking the Yamaha drums for many years to get them to my standards along with making the style as a whole sound the way I want.... but the actual sample is a big key to it also....... my point is that all of a sudden the live issue has been subdues drastically from a few months ago.

It takes just a few minutes to tune those drums and as Joe said, they'll blow you out of the room. There is a lot more to tuning than just turning up the volume. The attack, decay, EQ, etc..., they all have a significant impact. Once tuned, you have two options--save the information to a registration, or save it as a custom style. If you've downloaded the Black Velvet style I used for the song and fired it through your keyboard, that is a classic example. Additionally, tuning the global EQs has a significant effect on the drum sounds as well. You would be amazed at the number of performers I come across that have NEVER seen their EQ page, let alone set and saved them.

Cheers,

Gary

http://www.4shared.com/audio/rcxx9qhk/test_sound_msp_audya_5.html



In this demo you can hear the live drum sample.

and yet another Drum comparison Audya vs Tyros3

http://hubpages.com/hub/When-Will-The-Ketron-Audya-Arranger-Keyboard-Be-Released

I don't know maybe my ears are too sensitive? but I can't seem to find an arranger that is current, that will sound like an AUDYA,to me it sounds like night and day. Although some of us have bought a YAMAHA TYROS 4, or looking to get the latest from KORG or whoever,the AUDYA has raised the bar too high as far as sound to the ear,not that the TYROS or others are not fine instruments, they are all very good tools to make music.

Vengelis I agree if LIVE drums is your bag & you must have an arranger Kb Audya is it......Workstations can really sound live also..... too bad Ketron wont get their act together...people don't want to read about support problems and the rarity of ever finding one ion a store in their area, or bugs they just want to buy one and enjoy playing it problem free....is that too much to ask for a $4500.00+ KB?

I wish that audio loops were not being held out as the savior to the 'wimpy drum' syndrome. While, yes, you CAN get great live feel from these, THAT'S IT... You can't edit them, you can't tone them down, you can't change them into a brushes kit, or a rods kit, or a smaller hiphop kit. You can't edit the odd backbeat to get a beat that works with a particular song, you can't change the ride pattern into a shaker sound... etc., etc., etc..

Anyone that has listened to the best VSTi drum libraries out there knows that audio and MIDI can be virtually indistinguishable. But you need samples that are recorded with good velocity switches, and you need samples recorded in a live drum room, with a bit of 'air' around them (because a recording of a live player playing a drumkit is going to have that). I think that is what the Yamaha's miss. Their drums have that sort of seventies 'dry' sound, which you then stick a hall reverb round, and now you are in eighties hell!

I think the Audya's have a huge step over the Roland TOTL's when it comes to guitars, but in fairness, I've got some drum grooves in the G70, that use those T-Drum sample kits (that DO have air recorded on them) that come AWFULLY close to the Audya, but suffer none of the disadvantages outlined above.

Bottom line, any arranger with a sampler in it, ought to be able to be outfitted with some kits that do do what you want. But go down the audio loop path, and you give up SO MUCH of what makes an arranger so useful...

Its' flexibility.

Correct me if I am wrong but, don't you also have the option of using MIDI and different drum kits on the AUDYA?

I think you can, but it's an either/or thing. You can't say substitute a different snare in the audio loop, or move it's kick to a slightly different pattern, and so far, as far as I can remember, nobody has posted an Audya demo where they proudly pointed to the drums and went 'that's the MIDI drums!'. So far, it's only been the Live Loops that have been showcased.

For me, it's primarily about having the drum samples recorded ambiently. Once that is done (and the sample have at LEAST four or more velocity cross-switches), then a well played MIDI pattern stands a real good chance of being mistaken for the real thing.

I just found out that you can actually have Audio Drums Loops,MIDI Drums and a 2nd percussion. AWESOME! now only a touch screen and 512 User Ram,PADS,RIBBON Control and your set, ooops, am I getting closer to the PA3X specs?