Hi all,

This is MAJOR news. I have it officially from AJ that the SD9 is NOT the Audya replacement and also NOT the new Ketron flagship.

Henni

The SD9 Pro is the professional version of the SD series and in a unique class of it's own, offering unique features for customers who what to spend more time playing and less time editting and creating from scratch. Thanks to newer technology, Ketron has succeeded in creating a musical instrument that truly puts music ...the arrangement of music at the hands of you the musician ... and which requires no engineering or IT background to operate (as seems to be the case with many instruments being released these days).

Audya's deep editing tools, multiple outputs including SPDIF in/out and additional audio features such as parametric EQ on audio drums...etc puts it in a unique class of its own for those who love to dive in deep ....( but not necessarily ahead) of the SD9 Pro, which also has unique professional features like Launch Pad not found on Audya ...or any other keyboard to date!

Ketron's SD9 Pro is for those who want a professional sounding product without all the in depth "editors and menus" usually associated with one ...one that sounds professional out of the box, a product you can purchase at 3pm and be gigging with at 6pm that same day.

In my opinion, both the SD9 Pro and Audya are flagships (a company can have multiple flagship instruments) ...just for different consumers and in different categories.

Thanks,

Hi AJ,

Now you've lost me. You are playing with words like the politicians do.

Are you retracting your implication that a new Audya will be forthcoming?

Henni

No more Audya, maybe one update.

Told to me by AJ, by phone two weeks ago.

We new that since sd9 was released.

Very confusing.

1. Audya means audio = new technology using audio with midi
2. SD series were NEVER audio oriented.
3. Audya will not be replaced by anything.
4. SD series now becomes the audio/midi flagship, but is not a replacement for the Audya?

Sorry, I cannot see this other than a mere excuse for the SD9 not compatible with what whatever comes from the Audya. It is an easy thing to update the onboard SD9 converter to simply point the relevant Audya audio parts to the relevant new audio memory (albeit an updated version of the original) allocations on the SD9. (Surely Ketron did not completely throw away their original audio parts investment - they merely updated the original with more modern versions so no REAL need to port the original older stuff over to the SD9)

The SD9 sounds incredible - but to say it does not replace the Audya makes no sense. It is the same as Yamaha killing the Tyros series altogether by making the Genos not compatible with whatever comes from the previous models.

I have always been a staunch campfighter for Ketron - everyone here knows that. I am not on a sudden Ketron bashing spree. But please don't feed me things that makes no sense to explain away a serious manufacturer problem.

Gigging musicians like to use their hard work on the next new model - this is a standard thing that should be catered for and not merely be explained away!!!

Please enlighten me then:

1. The best available universal software that converts styles between arrangers are not even at the Audya level yet - they currently sit at SD5/Midjay Plus level max as is.

2. How do you expect to get non direct Ketron styles onboard the SD9 so that you can start adding the fantastic onboard stuff to it?

3. The ONLY way current is to 1st convert it to *.PAT format and then do a onboard SD9 to *.KST conversion that does not appear to be working at this stage.

4. Once this works as it should, now you can use the various outstanding style modelling features onboard the SD9 to update these into SUPER styles that could be shared amongst the other SD9 users.

5. Why should you be limited to use only what is available direct from Ketron for this?

" How do you expect to get non direct Ketron styles onboard the SD9 so that you can start adding the fantastic onboard stuff to it?"

I am not saying it is right or wrong, but maybe they don't want 3rd party styles in there.

Ha Bernie!

What a joke - if that is the case I'll put my Audya away and focus purely on the Yahama. I think I have now created/converted/modified close to one hundred thousand styles for the Audya. I am sure many had some happy moments as a direct result.

Welcome to the year 2018! - We no longer live in the dark ages!!!

Henni

Henni why would someone need so many styles in the first place?

Loathe to enter this discussion but Donny certainly has a point here. I have always been absolutely astonished by the insatiable desire for ever more styles. A few hundred really good styles should leave any capable keyboard player and tweaker with enough as it is. ( I am not including the songstyles, to which in particular Yamaha players seem to be fond of)....Incidentally the same applies to sounds imho.....

As for the overall discussion on the merits of Ketron, I would say to Deane and Bernie " count your blessings " the overall Ketron service is appalling and apparently they do not lend a very close ear to their customers. Furthermore I think that relatively speaking there are very very few Ketron players in the USA. Do not get me wrong, I owned several ( older)KEtrons and in many ways they were ahead of the competition ( drums !!!)
but with the current quality of the totl Korgs and Yamahas you might want to think not twice but even thrice before investing a lot of dough in an SD9 or whatever they come up with.......

regards
John

Hi Dnj,

Maybe for the same reason as some need to change arrangers so often.

Henni

Point well taken John.

1. I have decided to pack the Audya up for a while. Everything I am trying to convert for the Ketron series, has already been converted for the Yamaha.

2. On top of it, Yamaha themselves supplied MegaEnhancer to motivate playing with & upgrading new 3rd party styles (No need to upgrade their own styles as they are already there).

3. On top of the above, there are so many freeware style creating/modify software already available.

4. On top of this, there are a great many very able style modifiers/convertors/creator on their popular websites.

5. On top of this, there are thousands upon thousands of excellent styles ready to be downloaded for it.

6. To top everything, good styles really fascinate me. I intensely enjoy creating those.

I guess this is more the kind of environment that interests me. My Audya is eight years old. In all that time I only had a Yamaha PSR S950 and I only sold it because I HAD to at the time. I do not move from arranger to arranger.

Time to move on I guess... You can't flog a dead horse.

What's next Henni?

Since I don't have the same passion for creating styles, I have been very happy with Ketron products and AJ. I have my Audya and SD40, both of which serve my needs. I have been looking at the Genos and SD9, but don't see that kind of improvement. OOH if Mr. Mason gets one I may have to rethink it.

John that makes sense. I think they call that beating the dead horse"

The new keyboards are fantastic. John C.

Henni... It was an honest question? No Need for a snippy reply..

Dnj,

Just like you, I get bored easily. I need some excitement all the time. To keep happy with my aging Audya, more good quality styles did it for me.

That's an awful long time to stick to one unit. If there is no future for 3rd party styles in the SD9, good as it sounds, I'd rather focus on something else as I am used to the same stuff Ketron so freely offers for each new model. The models change, but the free stuff does not.

Listening to old downloaded styles for my long time ago PSR3000 no longer impress me, even though they seriously did at the time.

Styles are getting much better and more advanced with time and as one gets used to it, the older stuff begins to sound rather dull eventually.

Henni

Hi Bernie,

I recently purchased a new S770. Apart from the vocal harmonizer, and as a direct result of the excellent styles available, I miss nothing over the S970. It was much cheaper than the S970.

It is not a Genos, but I am very happy with it.

Cheers,

Henni

You shouldn't hold your breath! I'm happy with what I have, and I won't be commenting on the SD9. As far as Genos, I think the PA4X suits my needs much better. Maybe a PSR-whatever-is-next for a backup, but probably not even that. If I'm still alive when the PA5X appears though....:)

New SD9 Pro Styles 1:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3ClI6GhMas

New SD9 Pro Styles 2:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT3Za_2Ww1I

Yamaha didn't "kill" the Tyros series, nor remove compatibility of previous Yamaha format work and data from previous arranger models.

To the contrary, the Genos is the replacement flagship arranger and new platform model to replace the aging Tyros series that was stretched to the limits, yet still maintained it's position as top arranger and leader in the world.

The new Genos opens up more breathing room as far as polyphony, new live controller functions/sliders/knobs, deeper editing features, expansion memory, higher sound quantity and massive increased resources in voices, new Revo drum kits, arps, multipads, styles and DSPs, plus lighter than my Tyros 5 to boot.

Yamaha actually went out of it's way to insure that "all" my previous Tyros 5 custom work and registrations are 100% compatible with the Genos. Upgraded YEM transfered all my previous custom expansion data. All my previous purchased Premium packs (even ones I purchased years back for my for Tyros 3) are upgraded free by Yamaha (as per the Premium Pack conversion schedule for Genos), plus "all" my previously purchased expansion "audio style" packs and Genos support already has available "all" 50 upgraded versions Tyros 5 factory "Audio Styles" to download with "all" the Audio parts intact and 100% usable when loaded in the Genos User Drive.

Because the Genos User Drive was increased to 58 GB from the previous 140 MB Tyros 5 version drive, "all" 75 or so Tyros 5 factory/expansion Audio styles can be loaded and stored on the Genos at the same time for instant access and "all" audio drum parts. As long as the user starts with a specific audio style, any style parts from any other style can be reassembled into a new audio style or swap out the audio drum parts with an appropriate Revo drum style part.

All Tyros 5 Ensemble voices/editing functions and Organ World voices are 100% available on the Genos, expanded upon, plus new DSPs to choose from and higher Genos 32 bit audio output to make even unedited Tyros 5 content higher audio quality played or recorded from the Genos.

All my previous Tyros 5 content is now opened up to be reworked and massively upgraded to the huge Genos library of high quality, voices, arps, Revo drum kits/drum editor, multipads, available backing tracks, improved MIDI, and improved Audio Multipad quality (with all my previous Audio Multipad content and registration audio links intact).

Yamaha support is still second to none, and I still have Yamaha's huge style and resource library to work with to inspire my song writing, arranging, composing, and the complete resources within the Genos for editing, shaping, creating, perform and now delve into more serious recordings with high studio quality of the Genos.

Marcus

dont be fooled theres alot of tyros inside genos...

Sure, obviously a lot of Tyros content inside the Genos. I originally estimated that I could make my Tyros 5 sound/play about 75% of what the Genos offers, but now working with a Genos for a couple of weeks, I figure it's more like 50%.

Maybe 50% for single voice comparisons, but the Genos styles are either brand new or massively reworked Tyros 5 versions. The Genos styles are easily 95% different over the Tyros 5 versions.

Even if some content might be the same, or I purely use my older Tyros 5 registrations directly on my Genos, a simple DSP upgraded in the default Reverb Block to the new Real Reverb+ dsp, changes all my previous Tyros content (mostly drawn from Legacy)to give higher quality authenticity to the ambient reverb qualities.

Even then, all Genos output, regardless, goes through the new 32bit Digital Audio Converter (DAC)output circuit, providing higher quality defined sound across a wide frequency range, ensuring Genos always cuts through the mix, performing live or in any new recordings.

Marcus

Marcus
What about 970 registrations transferring to the Genos?

bernie congrats on your new GENOS?......just sayin..

The Yamaha PSR-S series is a different arranger line with some Tyros features missing, while some new ones added to the S970, since it came out after the Tyros 5. Being not too familiar with the S970, I would guess that there would be some issues with some registrations since there are platform differences.

Copied S970 styles should convert/transfer fine to the Genos, as well previous Yamaha styles. Same compatibility issues with S970 Premium Expansion packs or maybe Audio Styles, as they would not be compatible with the TOTL (Top-Of-The-Line) arrangers, nor available as free upgraded packs.

Most likely the new S990 MOTL (Middle-Of-The-Line)replacement would allow full compatibility of the previous S970 custom work, data and files.

Regardless of series line or brand, I always say, "you get what what you pay for" or should at least expect what you pay for.

Marcus

.....if I bought a genos not saying I would, ....but if I did, I would not use registrations from older Yamaha units but instead START FROM SCRATCH and build up my songs in genos from the scratch, yes it takes time, but once you do your homework your done and you will certainly have a much better library done right.

Yeah Donny, I do too, but curious what Marcus thought.

Thanks Marcus
p.s.

And no- I'm not springing for anything until the air clears on several fronts.lol

Yes Marcus, I used that statement to show just how ridiculous it would have been should Yamaha have followed the same philosophy - I knew full well that this was not the actual case.

Thank you for filling in the detail.

You guys are totally off course. It would be as you are bitchin’ about your s970 can’t get premium content from T5 or Genos. It’s childish.

Actually I loaded some Styles from the S-970 into the Genos with no problem.
Then I loaded my expansion pack for the S-970 into the Genos and it works great.
I also bought an Audio style pack from the S-950 since I needed a couple of Styles from my S-970 and they also work great
Eric

Its a sickness we all have...lol

everything we already have can be made to sound fantastic yet we are always looking for something else myself included for a long time to which I have shut all that thinking off in my mind thinking it will make it better but it won't because as technology gets a bit better the playing abilities stay the same if I'm being honest. People just have that newer sounds better in their minds after all it's NEW and Costs more so it has to be right? lol...

There is a lot of truth there m'boy. I think I will try and find a chapter of AA(Arrangers Anonymous).

Sorry Bernie, you're too far gone . Looking at your equipment list, I'd say you're already beyond redemption . Here's an idea; sell everything and buy a new Viscount Legend. You won't make any money but you'll be happier .

chas

cue music ... "Come Fly With Me ..."

Hi Marcus,

I concur what you've stated about the quality of the Genos sounds.

Whilst browsing through the demos of some styles from Yamaha, I came upon one or two that I've already had for a long time and that I've tweaked to absolute perfection. "Scan Look Rock" was one of them.

However, the same basic untweaked styles sounded like completely new styles on the Genos - it just sounded so much better! I could tell however by listening to the patterns that they are the same as the styles I have, only with better voices.

Those new voices and DSPs make for some incredible improvements over previous models indeed.

Henni

Sign me up too Bernie.

Hi Donny, can become a bit of an addiction, not that I have done a minuscule fraction of what Henni has done. For me personally it was a fun hobby.
I can relate to how disappointed Henni must feel about Ketron.

Sign me up too Bernie.
_________________________
best wishes
Rikki

Hi old friend

Chas is right, i'm too far gone, but there is hope for you.

Bernie

Hi Bernie, unfortunately so am I. Haha