It has been a rough 8 month, but after working with many of our customers (including you), we've completed the Ketron AUDYA AJAMSONIC project and will be demonstrating this unit on Tuesday Dec 6th, 2011 from 3pm - 6pm at CMC Distributors in Brooklyn, NY. After their evaluation, analyses and approval, it will officially be available.

Videos of this unit showing it's new features, sounds and styles will be uploaded to our Youtube channel - KetronWeb and our website pretty soon.

A special thanks goes out to our Beta Testers who were able to feed us with a lot of information from a Musician's point of view. Together with our Engineers, we were able to agree, agree to dis-agree (in very rare cases) and finally come out with a product worth marketting and one with so many AUTOMATED features, all we request of you is - Play and let the AUDYA AJAMSONIC work for you.

To all our customers, a great thanks for the patience and the wait for this great Arranger Workstation. To those we 'might' have offended along the way especially due to the delay, we appologies and hope when you hear this, your 'anger' will melt away - music usually has a way of doing this. For us, it's definately a lesson learned.

Thanks,

AJ this ajamsonic will be available to europe or just USA and Canada?

Best of luck with your launch. Having something exclusive is a great way of dodging the quick buck, quick turnover internet dealers too.

Great News and Congratulation's AJ on the completion of your project.

I am certainly interested to see and hear and upgrade my Audya with your package.

Like the other Audya owners, I am anxious to see and hear some demo's, video's and a complete review of what is all included.


Wishing you great success with the launch and sales of your upgrade package.

Jim

Thanks everyone.

This will be available worldwide. We have optimized the package so you won't need to be sending us your Sound board anymore. All you need is the RAM Expansion chip which we will need to modify slightly - unless you get that directly from one of our dealers or us (which I still strongly advise you have a qualified personel install, especially if you have the first gen. AUDYA Sound boards) and the data on a USB key (8-16GB depending on package option) to load into your HD. The extended warantee is valid ofcourse only if we do the installation but, yes, it's available to all who want it. The bonus MP3 and Midifiles (with lyrics) is also only available if we do the installation (brings total data size to 24GB or so).

It's been a long haul but your support is what has kept us going. Putting a smile on a musician's face while he plays his/her instrument? Priceless! The feeling of 'wanting to play your keyboard' each time is one that cannot be douplicated, nor replicated.

More info to follow shortly!

And for everything else there is MasterCard...

?????

Nedim, will you be there later?
you can use your Master Card to buy me pizza

wish they would give us some advance notice on these workshops, more than a few hours before

Leezone,

Nedim is going to sell me his MS and then he will be able to put a down payment on an Audya and AJAMSONIC buying a new KB he will be able to plug in the extra memory, I have an early Audya and my PCB won't take the expansion, I am out of this one. Oh happy happy days

Tony

KORG: Kronos, M3 and MS20, Novation: Nova2 and Zero SL MK2,
TC Electronics Impakt Twin, UAD 710-TwinFinity and LT MediaStation.

You see it's the only thing he's not got an Audya, mastercard will do Nidem.

You need to get up early Leezone,the day's nearly gone. I just wonder, I hope AK as do his homework, half the Audya KB made won't take memory, if only half the rest buy AJAMSONIC in the USA it must only be a handful, a lot of the KBs in the UK I think won't take memory, I don't know how many Audya have been sold WW but I don't thing it's a staggering amount, I wish him well but don't think it will make him rich.

Rock on AJ and you go for it.

Tony

AJ, could you answer a few questions please?

1) I am very interested in how the two hard drives are fitted.
2) How will any future upgrades from Ketron be applied?
3) If an owner of Audya outside of the USA installs your upgrade are you going to take over support from the local distributor? (I know in the UK we currently do not support unofficial upgrades).
4) or...Has Ketron (and I mean Ketron the company, not you) agreed to honour the warranty of 'under warranty' instruments that have your upgrade applied? If so how will local distributors be reimbursed to cover the additional support costs?

TWD,

I can see where you are coming from but isn't CMC the USA sole importer of Ketron and if they give AJ the green light where does that leave Ketron customers if things go wrong. Perhaps CMC don't know and don't care once they have sold the product, I know they weren't intrested in SKUDES problems he had with his Audya maybe there's your answer, it won't happen in the UK, because you are in control, that's good. I would not want to start messing about with the Audya wiring or you will have scrap on your hands. Even Yamaha don't like you loading none Yamaha UVN files on the KB, they are not supported, I know someone who loaded a None supported UVN on their T4 and it messed up the memory card and could not be used, so buyer beware, that's all I am saying. What the hell is wrong with the sounds the Audya comes with. If your car doesn't go fast enough for you, you can allways have it re-chipped, why the hell don't the car manufactures re-chipped it on the production line, I know why, do you???

Tony

Tony

For the older AUDYA units which do not have the RAM custom 'User friendly' jack (as I believe Tonewheeldude had initially responded to - and please correct me Tonewheeldude if I am wrong), KETRON has put out a schematic diagram on the optional circuit that needs to be soldered onto your Soundboard to achieve this. This is why earlier on, I was refering to the fact that you would have to send in your Sound card in order to get the full AJAMSONIC package installed. This isn't true anymore ... you simply need to get the RAM and data on USB (we will need to have your RAM to make a slight modification on just that unit before you install it. If purchase from us, the modification would already have been made). This modification allows all data to be loaded in and prevents copying!

You could also simply purchase/swap out your older sound card for a new one (not sure what your dealer is willing to do for you when it comes to these options, but it depends entirely on them).



Tonewheeldude.
Answers to your questions:-

1. 1) I am very interested in how the two hard drives are fitted.
>>>AJ:- The 'optional hard dive' utilizes the USB2 jack (internally via a USB connector). Ofcouse this option disables the usage of the 2nd USB jack by the user, but our research has shown that very few customers use both USB jacks together anyway - especially with the increasing size and lowering cost of the USB pen drives. So you are left with 1 USB jack (the master one) and 2 Hard Drives.

2. How will any future upgrades from Ketron be applied?
>>>AJ:- All future upgrades from Ketron can still be applied and will not interfer with the AJAMSONIC package. The specific AJAMONIC SYSTEM and lock files reside in the SYSTEM folder and once you've installed any new/future release from KETRON, simply going into this folder and loading the files once prevents any interference whatsoever. We will also update these files in coordination with whatever release KETRON put out (our team worked in part with some of the Engineers in Italy to build this so as to avoide ANY interference).

3. If an owner of Audya outside of the USA installs your upgrade are you going to take over support from the local distributor? (I know in the UK we currently do not support unofficial upgrades).
>>>AJ:- Yes, I will. We currently support and help users of KETRON instruments from Spain, Italy (yes, Italy believe it or not), UK, France, USA ... etc who have just the standard Ketron AUDYA (or any Ketron product), let alone who will have AJAMSONIC - some of such users are on this very forum as well and can attest to this. I have taken and made many long distance calls, shipped parts or spent hours on email writting semi-manuals to customers both here, in the US and overseas, so yes, I will continue to do such even with the introduction of AJAMSONIC to thier and other's keyboarsds. The DVD manual I am about to release should hopefully 'tone these down' as 90% of the issues they are/were experiening are/were - user errors! There has been one case (which accounts for less than 0.5% of cases) where I couldn't help overseas but this was due to a reason we can discus off-line (dealer in question in that country had a part to play).

Initially, I was going to limit myself to just the USA, but I realize that it's more than just the business for me anyway - it's become like ... family and something I like doing. As an Engineer by training and Musician by 'Nature', this was the perfect way to blend both worlds of mine. I do not get paid/support in anyway from the USA to support customers outside the USA (nor those in the USA outside of Mondays and Tuesdays). I simply choose to do so as it feels just right. Tomorrow, I might get support from someone else too in another special way - and the blessings are passed on. If we all just shared our talents where applicable, the world would be a different place (in my humble opinion that is)!

4. 4) or...Has Ketron (and I mean Ketron the company, not you) agreed to honour the warranty of 'under warranty' instruments that have your upgrade applied? If so how will local distributors be reimbursed to cover the additional support costs?
>>>AJ:- You asked I answer 3 or 4? I answered 3.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

AJ,

Thanks for the speedy reply, this is my opinion and mine only, any mods done to an Audya would be best carried out by Ketron and only Ketron, soldering on surface mount PCB gives me the creeps, replacing a whole PCB I don't know what Ketron would charge but in won't be cheap the costs is clocking up and no one knows yet what your kit costs. You know AJ the bit about the car being re-chipped was a point I was making, why don't you work directly with or for Ketron and get them to add in your bits, and get the royalties, just a thought. BTW where is there a USB2 on an Audya ?

Regards

Tony

ok thanks for replying. I had a feeling you would use the second USB port for hard drive. Its a good idea and allows for in keyboard backup of data. But your users should be aware that it is only suitable for data and of no use in case of primary hard disk faliure. (unless you have made a quick access panel that allows for fast swapping of the drives)

points 3 and 4, thats fine; you only needed answer one of the as question 4 is not so important after answering question 3. Again as long as the customers know that you are taking responsibility for the warranty and support thats fine. In the UK we tend to look after customers long after the warranty period, but obviously will have to pass that over to you if they apply your product.

What then would that leave us to buy, if we had the old board ?

Bernie

Its the 7th December now

And AJ has us all wayting for Youtube videos from yesterdays Demo.

Bernie9 - The newer Sound board with the RAM already installed or for you in the USA, the cheapest option would be to send us your keyboard or send us your old sound board and we do the soldering for you - unless your are comfortable doing so yourself.

Just to clarify - this sound board upgrade applies to ..
1. Anyone with the older unit who wants to upgrade/install Ketron's Optional RAM
2. Anyone with the older unit who wants to upgrade to the AJAMSONIC Premium/Delux packages.


Hope this helps

Lots of activity from Ketron on this subject right now...quick responses. What about the handling of problems and respo0nsde rates from them in the recent past?

Love the equipment, but I'd expect "business as usual".

Do a search of posts of problems and responses (or lack, thereof). Pretty alarming.


Russ

AJ,

haw i can know what kinde of Sound Board I haw in my Audya?
Dont know if is old or new...

I am still wayting for some actuall coverage of this Ajamsonic..

How can anyone decide to buy this, if there is not atleast a video of this around... Or a better description of whats exactly inside the package.

Bachus,

You have only been waiting a week for AJAMSONIC, Leezone has been waiting 18 months, LOL

Any time now for the price and the vidoe countdown ?????

Regards

Tony

tic tac
tic tac

The clock keeps ticking....

Knowing how CMC works: the videos are recorded by a Pro Video Studio,
then they are edited (which takes time) then they are Uploaded...
so...wait a little more, they will be up. Editing Videos and then
Uploading it doesnt happen in 2-3 days.

Nedim,

How long do you think it will be, 10?

More like 2 or 3 weeks i guess, and with all the edditing they might not be a good representation of the real soundquallity

WOW, that's a fancy metronome. 60 beats pr minute I asume?

Don't forget the TTT paragraph guys, Things Takes Time! In the meantime,

Cheers
GJ