I am AMAZED! Had it been a new Tyros, there would have been at least 10 new topics about this. The SD9 is AMAZING, it's out and the only reports I find from new owners are on the Ketron forum. Hard to believe...

As good as it probably is, I am afraid Ketron has more obstacles to gaining acceptance than Yamaha. I hope this will change with this product. As good as AJ is, he has to start with an exceptional bug free keyboard to work his magic on.

It will probably become more obscure when the new Yamaha Genos is released and Pa4x continues to dominate with Os upgrades, ....that said I'm sure the SD9 is a fine arranger KB and I for one look forward to seeing and hearing more about it.

good luck

Henni: I don't know what it is...but it's the same on all Ketron boards. The ensemble voices sound nice...and then this Blatty emeny organ trumpet comes in. You'd think after all these years they would have replaced that sample with something more realistic sounding like Yamaha. To an old trumpet player...it's like fingers on a chalk board. I hope the board does well for them all the same.

Ketron will never enjoy the popularity of the Korg or Yamaha. Bugs
turned off several owners when the SD7 came out. Lack of support by Ketron is another turn off.

Too bad as Ketron has great potential Lloyd

Well, this might Piss off a few readers but here is my take on the Ketron products. First, I own 2 of the Ketron SD7 keyboards and have used them on gigs for over 2 years now. I have read just about all the gripes and complaints from users on the forum and I have come to several conclusions.

My first one is most Arranger players have become really lazy in that they want the keyboard to do everything for them with little effort on there part. I guess that is not a bad thing but what ever happened to putting some effort into what you want to accomplish? Just my opinion.

Second, without a doubt the Ketron products are not meant for the home player or players with limited ability. Chord recognition is an example - play sloppy left hand chords and you get very strange results.

Third, if a Ketron owner has limited knowledge with technology they will not enjoy or like the Ketron Product they own. It helps if an owner understands how an OS works and how resources work together.

Fourth, if an owner truly does not know how or does not have the time or desire to learn how to work with the sounds and styles on his keyboard he will also not enjoy the keyboard. It does take some work and time to get what you want.

Fifth, as one of the above posts mentioned, some unhappy users complained of OS bugs with the SD7. I find this very interesting because with both of my SD7 keyboards I have not run into any of the issues some of these owners have reported. It really makes me wonder what they were trying to do when a problem happened. Perhaps I just have not used some of the SD7 features that these players were using.

All this is what I have learned in my two years of gigging with my SD7s and I truly believe it to be true.

I completely agree with the problems all of us have mentioned about the level of support we get from Ketron. God forbid anything ever happens to AJ because we all would be SOL. I also agree with those who say Ketron is behind the other manufactures in a lot of areas - including OS updates and system improvements. Italy seems not to listen to it's customers at all.

Well, this is my 2 cents worth.

Deane

Sounds good, Deane.....EXCEPT, there isn't any product I can think of, no matter how well made or how desirable, that I'd pay 3-4k for and there was only one guy in the world I could reasonably expect support from. I think the risk factor (product support) is the biggest impediment to sales success. JMO, though.

chas

Chas,
You are absolutely right! I have have thought about that many times and it seems Ketron does not understand how important that is to owners.

Deane

The SD9 might be great...but I'm guessing it's going to be hard to find out.

At one point I was interested in an SD7. $3,800 up front(paid $2,800 for my PA4X...store model)I was told with a possible three month wait.

SD7/SD9'might be great instruments but that's too far a reach for me.

About two years ago, I bought a custom built acoustic....well over $3K. Thing is the builder wanted me to play one of his custom acoustics before buying. Once I did, I bought one.

Guitpic1,
Again this is absolutely right! However, not all the other companies have product in local stores. But is sure would be nice to walk into a store and find TOTL Yamaha, Korg, Ketron, or any other keyboards on display and ready to try out.

Deane