Yesterday I've attended the SD1 public demo here in Rome; I've tried to send my first impressions in as I got home, but I was so tired that I posted to the wrong forum... Well, here it goes. Specs first:
the SD1 is 64 notes multitimbral, has 48 Mb of ROM sounds and 16 Mb of RAM (where it can load .wav, .msp and .ins files, to be used both as solo instruments or for the rhytm parts). It comes with 307 styles, 109 of them on flash memory (rewritable); has a 6 Giga HD, a computer interface (PC and Mac), 13 Arabic scales, 3 digital multieffects, a vocalizer/harmonizer (you can plug a mic in, sing and sound like a male/female chorus in real time). Can sample at 16 bit-44.1 KHz, has a 16 tracks 150.000 notes sequencer, a 240 x 128 backlit LCD, 4 outputs, a video interface (optional) and weighs 16.5 kg (or 36.3 lbs).
Now my impressions: the instrument looks nice, with a silver-gray color and even the floppy disk (on the top right) is well integrated with the overall design; the display, however, doesn't seem at the same level as the one I've seen on the VA7.
The styles: they are overall terrific, the most natural I've ever heard; I especially liked the Slow Swing, the Big Band, the Rhytm and Blues (just like a real band playing onstage) and, overall, I would say that they can keep your fingers glued to the keyboard for hours. The SD1 has two distinct drum sections: section A is based on sampled drum hits triggered by midi notes (as usual), while section B is composed of sampled rhytm patterns; the two sections work in a very well integrated manner, with section B overtaking in more "exposed" parts (like intros, breaks, fill-ins and endings): this gives an amazing feeling of realism.
Now the sounds: they are mostly good, compared to other arranger keyboards; sounds I liked most: drums and percussions, basses, acoustic guitars, voice, accordions, flutes.
Other sounds were less remarkable; I cannot say for sure (lack of a direct comparison) but I would say the the VA7 has better electric pianos and the PSR9000 maybe has better organs, but is difficult to be sure. The acoustic piano (stereo) is in the same league as the one on the VA7 and the PSR9000, but it was demoed with very fast scales, so I could judge only the attack portion of the sound. All in all, I would say that this a terrific instrument, almost intimidating: I think that one has to ask if he will really be able to dig it or will just scratch the surface.
I have been given a lot of paper stuff (and even a CD with 16 songs); so, if someone has questions, even on technical issues, I hope I'll be able to answer.
Happy playing to everyone.