Ketron SD1

4.0c (I think...:)
Presets are some of the best on market today!

Very live sounding. If you want a "polished" studio sound get the any decent board but if you are playing live on stage..there is no better "live" board then Ketron or most other Ketron units.

Editing has learning curve but well worth the effort.

Manual needs index badly. Hunt, scan and read is the only way to find stuff and then some things overwritten and some not touched on at all.

Poly means nothing to me as I play guitar and control arranger with pedalboard. I also have switches on guitar that control arrangements, fills, and ending. (these can be edited easily to perform different functions.)
Built in effects as good as most new digital stuff.
I guess you could expand this board but really no reason to. I don't use the sampler, sequencer, or the vocalizer. I have an outboard Digitech unit. Its easier to control live then onboard system.
I do not use MIDI files so MIDI is not a big issue except for controlling unit with pedals.
Sequencer appears hard to use but then again, I've never tried...:)

Very Realistic and like most boards some are better then others.

All forms of music. I play classic rock, blues, funky country, typical local bar scene music. Board has many many styles that I will probably not use although its fun playing a flamenco style. No drummer that I know locally can play 1/2 of what drum patterns this board has.
Effects just fine.
Board has numerous "live" playing button functions. Outboard switching makes it great for almost ANY lead instrument or singer to play along with.
Velocity and aftertouch seem fine.

So far..:)
Always...cause I can't afford two of them.

Could be better.

Excellent repair record so far. Only had a couple issues since I've owned Ketron/Solton since the Programmer 24s days.

Yes, I would immediately buy another. It is worth more probably (just don't tell Ketron!...:)
playing for 30+ years.
I use 1200 powered Yorkville mixer/amp. Gibson SG-1,Yorkville/Traynor Tri-Jectors, JBL XR 100's, Digitech vocalist.
The most LIVE sounding and musician friendly (on stage) machine out there.
My entire show went up in quality. Bookings are coming easier and faster without me doing anything except playing the same way I always have been but with the SD1 the "Live" feel makes it all better.
Ya. a manual interperter.

No problem with os 4.0c. Lots of buttons allows me to do everything in real time, editig patches is very simple because they removed stuff that you never use ald reduced to the essential, professional look. manual is ok

keys mechanism is very light, however keyboard action is wonderful. polyphony is ok. sequencer is great allow to use wave files, as on pattern section or arranger. built in sampler an 6gb hard disk. i heard lots of comments around here and i really don't understand. aren't you yamaha or roland guys, afraid about competition? i had yamahas, roland e96,korg x2, roland xp80, korg triton, kurzweil sp76, e-mu sampler, roland g70. roland g70 is very good keyboard, but hasn't so many features and sounds are more unrealistic. the others can't come close from ketron sd1 plus. it was a bit expensive, but when i unpacked it, i discover why. i use ketron sd1plus, ketron midjay (his younger brother wich sounds are identical, and has many features like mp3 and wave playback) , and roland rd300sx for piano action.

expressiveness is great, lots of velocity curves. presets aren't many but they have excellent quality. sounds are present in user, program and preset. piano is very good but i prefer to use digital pianos with hammer action, organ, flutes, sax, accordeon, guitar, etc are all excelent. it looks like ketron select the great sounds you need and give a not large library but very good. the sound by category simplifies the instrument search. sd1 has one touch function wich allows to program 8 pages with 10 presets each, for quick sound selection, ideal for live playing.

never happened any problem, roland g70 and his toyish lcd sometimes go crazy. ketron os is more reliable and faster.

never needed, however some friends of mine went to the ketron agent here in portugal and solved all problems in a single day

i have been playing pop music for ten years, i have lots of stuff but this keyboard stays! maybe it could look great with a black design. if it were lost or stolen i couldn't buy another!!! that is why i have taken care with this. i have it for 8 months and it hasn't a scratch. my advice, for pop and world music, buy one. nordlead for rock and funk.

I rate the software 4.0a a 1. I'm using software 4.0a which has given me a new stack of problems , most serious are the drop out of bass notes while playing the arranger , the tremolo activates when switching from one midifile to the next in the jukebox mode, and the effects dissapear when switching from midifiles mode to arranger mode ,Need to keep on resetting.

I rate the sounds a 8. The preset sounds are fine when they work.

I rate the editing functions a 3. and the manual a 1. I have not attempted to edit any patches because as someonelse stated "it gives me a headacke just opening it" beacause it very poorly written and by the time you find what your looking for you forgot what you were looking for.

Polyphony was ok but since intalled 4.0a (by ketron techs) is unreliable.

No expansions , thats not good when copared to similiria priced keyboards.

sequencer is worthless , mainly because noone can figureout how to use it because of the poorly written manual.

Not reliable, and I would not trust it without a backup

Terrible customer support, my experience has been that it takes 3 times to correct a problem somewhat. they take the lets try this approach. not sure if its going to repair it or not. took 3 times to load 4.0a by e trained ketron tech on 2 separate repairs and it still does not operate 100 percent . (where do I go from here ?).

The only tech that had some experience with the SD1 was AJ and he recently Quit.

If it were stolen it would greatly relieve my troubles, because having it and not beeing able to rely on it , it only takes space in my studio. I would never replace it with another ketron disaster.

I have been playing professionally for 30 years, I own korg and roland products without ever experiencing any problems. Ketron will ultimatelly be like the FIAT cars that they were banned in the US after so many people got SC___D.

The Manual could be Improved...Just needs more depth...The Keyboard is not Hard to use. Like any Professional Instrument, you must take time to learn the Instrument!

The SD-1 is loaded with Non-Optional Features! The 76 Key Semi-weighted Action is Excellent!..With aftertouch, etc. The Polophony is the Norm at 64. The Sequencer is Fine...Now!...Standard Features: HARDRIVE..SAMPLER...VOCAL HARMONIZER...76 KEYS!!!NO ADD-ON EXPENSES...Which is Rare!

The Sounds are in Majority NONE-Better in Pro Arranger Workstations! Excellent Stereo Grand Piano,Horns..NONE-Better,Arranger Styles:NONE-Better...It is a VERY ALIVE Keyboard, Very Easy to Express yourself in Music!...I have owned Yamaha Tyros,9000Pro, Korg PA-80,Roland G-600(First)....The Keytron SD-1 STAYS!!!Many of the Sounds are Superior to the Sounds in My Professional Synth Workstations I have Owned.

I have never had any Problem with Reiability,My SD-1 is almost 2 years old.

I have never had to deal with the Company...The Customer Support Online is there if needed...What I see offered is Excellent.

My Overall Rating...I still Own it and Love to Play it!...Others have Come and Gone...I would Buy it Again...I like the Peofessional look of the Keyboard, No Toyish Features, etc....It is Solid Built(Metal) and still the weight is acceptable for a 76 key Board...36 LBs I Think?....It is a Solid Keyboard Value!...I have to give it an Overall rating of 9 Simply Because ALL KEYBOARD MANUFACTURES have room for developing Improvement's in their Keyboards!

In my oppinion if you are not familiar with any professional keyboard you may find it difficult to use this unit. But if you are already a keyboard player it is just the mater of few days hardwork and you will learn more than enough. For me the only problem is that the buttons are poorly designed. For some functions, sometimes, I must push two buttons at the same time and it is really hard to remember all the combinations.

The featurers are endlessv. You can fully customize this keyboard. It comes with 6GHD, Sampler, and Vocalaizer. I have had this keyoard for 2 years and still I am finding new featurs.

I have been playing synth,keyboard,piano,Gituar, and drums for 20 years. So far this is the best sounds I've ever heard from a keyboard, to me it sounds much better than Korg pa80, and Yamaha Tyros!! It has amazing pianos, good organ sounds, Excellent drum, Strings, and Guitar sounds, very realistic music styles. It isn't a synth, it's a keyboard but it sounds GREAT!

I have had this keyboard for 2 years. I have used it almost everyday and had no problem. I will never go to a gig without a backup. No matter what kind of keyboard I am using.

Ketron should put more sound and style for free-download, or at least they should make some kind of memo in MP3 format so that one can hear the sounds and styles befor ordering them.

I have Korg pa80, Yamaha PSR-9000 (keybords)/ Roland XV-5080 and Kurzwiel K2500(Synths). I will buy this keybosrd again because it is very flexiable and has great sounds, and lots of futures. I just wish it had a stereo sampler and bigger Flash/RAM memory, or at least the option to add those. it has 16M memory which is really enough for most of application, but the sampler is not stereo.

Ketron Product/Technical Specialist contact information.

AJ

Ketron_tech@yahoo.com
Ketron@ketron.it

Please contact me with regards to all your questions partaining to Ketron products and I will be glad to assist you.
Our website (for more product information) is www.ketron.it.

Thanks,

AJ

I'm using the OS.4. Started with 3 though. Ok, first off, I would not say the SD1 is EASY to use. It takes time to get used to, and I find the buttons to be poorly designed. There are too many clumped all together and this makes it hard when you want to quickly press a fill, or an ending, etc. I've been using it 6 gigs a week for half a year now and I can STILL get lost looking for the right button in time. I owned a Korg I2 before this for 10 years and I think their design was far superior. Easy to locate buttons, and a nice LED light that confirmed for you whether a fill or ending was activated. Many times I've hit the fill button, (although obviously not hard enough), and the next measure starts with no fill. Well, too late now. Little things like that, but they make a big difference.
The presets are very very good. There is absolutely no comparison between my old sounds and this one. Some of them are chillingly real. If i bothered to add aftertouch and little tweaks to individual tracks like acoustic guitar, it would probably be near impossible to tell the difference. Agree with below though, electric guitar could use work, and also would be improved with a hotter sound. Same thing with other lead instruments like saxophone, harmonica. The levels that were perfect on my Korg are now too low when switching over. I'll have to eventually raise the volume considerably to bring out the presence of my instrument solo's on midi files.
Don't even ask me about the manual. It's terrible. Yes if you laboriously wade through it, you can usually figure out the general idea of how to do something, but it's written very obtusely. Many things are NOT explained well, and are assuming you know too much. Companies should learn how to write manuals in the "for dummies" format. Their reviews would go sky high based on ease of explanation alone.

The polyphony has been increased since I bought it and this has helped considerably. At first I couldn't understand why notes were dropping out because it had double the polyphony of my old board and nothing had changed from my midi files converted over. Now I understand there is more than one oscillator on certain voices, and therefore more "notes" per note in use.
Keyboard action is good. It has a great deal of midi capabilities, and many things I haven't even looked at yet, Unfortunately the manual gives me an instant headache when trying to learn something unfamiliar. The sequencer is really confusing. All I seem to bring up is a screen full of lines. Someday I'll learn it.

Instruments are for the most part, top of the line. The sounds are the biggest draw for this keyboard and in my opinion are what makes or breaks it. Overall, the effects and styles are very good.
The vocalizer is another kettle of fish however. I've had nothing but problems with it. Too many things to list here. Had it entirely replaced, (or at least they said they did), and some of the same problems remained with brand NEW ones a little later. Even at the best of times, there are two major flaws. One, there is a VERY prominent hiss that you cannot get rid of. Second, the menu options are poorly designed IMHO. Scrolling through to the specific vocalizer effect you want is annoying and particularly bad when you have to bypass the special effects page. Anyone knowing the vocalizer knows what I mean when they have to briefly pass through the default voice "falsetto" and sound like Mickey Mouse for a few seconds while singing in the middle of a song and trying to locate a menu choice AFTER that one. Point to remember...sometimes musicians want or HAVE to change things on the fly. I forget sometimes where the vocalizer should be until I'm beyond the intro of the song and just about to need it, so you can see why this would be a little irksome. The grouping of harmonies should be arranged easier, and made more accesible. Even a couple of buttons that were dedicated to a menu choice would be great. I do NOT like the option of changing other buttons for that purpose. Too many problems with conflict of interest. Tried it, had to change back.
One other big aggravation is the pitch bend. It simply doesn't work properly. I have tons of midi with vocalizer tracks, and I have bends in them so they slide up and down a tone when needed. They work PERFECTLY with my Korg IH, a little rinky dink vocalizer mind you that's 7 years old. They don't bend on the SD1. They start acting as if a wha wha pedal was used on them and go completely off key too. Big peeve of mine.
Velocity is excellent for the piano, and the sound is the best I have heard. bar none. Aftertouch I don't really have much experience with. Used too much memory on my old board, so got used to going without it.
All in all, the sounds earn this category a 10 despite the other flaws.

Reliability? Not great for me. I've had it in for repairs more often in 8 months of use than I EVER did for the 10 years with Korg. Funny thing is I had heard this about Solton a couple years before I got around to buying it, and also that the support was crappy. Well the support is not great because I'm in Toronto and the dealer is in Montreal. I want something looked at, I have to travel 5 hours and stay overnight. Since I'm a working musician, I can't send it away. I need same day or overnight service. This is the biggest problem with the board.
I DO use it on a gig without backup, and I pray it survives because unless you are rich you don't tend to buy two keyboard that cost thousands of dollars.

Some ways very good, some ways not so good, although distance is my problem. Overall they have been very helpful, but originally the salesman who sold it to me was difficult to reach and called me (if I was lucky) up to 2 weeks later. The unfortunate thing is there are apparently only one or two people that TRULY understand the board, and one of them was him and he no longer works there.
I've had it in for repair 3 times, with a fourth coming up soon.

Yes I would buy it again because I NEVER want to go through that learning curve with a keyboard ever again. :-)
They are too complicated nowadays. It's definitely worth what I paid, but if I have to keep bringing it in for repair, it soon won't be.
I've been playing for 15 years professionally. I used the Korg I2 for 10 years out of that.
I love the sounds of the SD1, especially the piano. I hate little things like the cymbal crashes. They have no punch whatsoever. Like I said earlier, some lead instruments should be hotter.
I wish more than anything that it had a very easy to understand manual.

Using OS3. The preset sounds are really helpfull and are enough to start playing around. To edit a patch can be quite tricky and a pain in the butt but once done it sounds good.
Lets not talk about the manual because I feel like there isnt one. Oh yes there was one which showed you the rear of the unit, which I can see as well...thank you! It would have been nice to explain how the stupid squencer works. Anyways, apart from that it seems easy to use but you will have to spend a little time on it.

Polyphony is great. Not problems so far. It has built in effects but not easily accesible. It would have been nice if you could tweak the effects. You have to scroll each one using a couple of buttons. I am not sure about expansions. Havent had the urge to. Plenty of midi capabilities. Sensitive Keys are beautifull. It has an on board sequencer but STILL dont know how to use the damn thing. Please, someone tell me!!!

All sounds are very realistic as if they were all digitally sampled. Easy to use and accesible. The unit is usefull for any type of music. Some sound pretty cheasy like you would hear on a cheap wedding or house party. It reacts great to my playing and the arranger is awesome. Velocity and Aftertouch are present.

I can totally depend on the unit. I would use it to get classical sound out. I hooked it up to my Virus Indigo and it works nicely as a controller.

Havent had the chance to deal with them, nor do I want to!

I dont think I would buy it again. But I am happy with it now and wouldnt switch it with another unit. Get one if you are looking for an allround unit that get all the sounds you need.

Using Version 3.0c software version (as installed at factory).
Find the preset sound quality to be excellent for most part, but electric pianos are poor in my opinion. The piano is superb and deserves special mention as do the sax presets. All voices were compared alongside a PSR9000 and KN7000. All have their good and bad points, but overall, I consider the SD1 to be top quality.

I've not yet tried any patch editing and do not foresee any use for it from my point of view.

The manual is comprehensive enough, but lacks an index. If you wish to find a particular item, it's search mode I'm affraid or try, like me, to construct your own index. Rather tedious!

The polyphony is sufficient for my needs and has presented no problems. The keyboard action is good, not too light or heavy, but just right.

The inbuilt effects are quite comprehensive and flexilble. The are very easy to call-up and apply. The built in vocalizer is great fun and easy to apply. Takes a bit of studying to get right, but well worth it in the end.

The SD1 does not have any facility for expansion boards (as far as I know?). Stacks of style disks are commerically available as are various pedals and footswitches.

I've only had one 'go' at using the on-board sequencer and gave up after about spending a frustrating hour getting nowhere with it's use.
This may be attributable to my impatience as I'd no long had my SD1 and was just anxious to get back playing rather than sequencing.

The vast majority of the sounds are superb and react to my style and taste in playing. I could easily play just the saxes all day if not disturbed. Guitars are very good, but the electric guitar needs getting used to. Once again, this suites my style of playing.

The velocity and aftertouch are easily added or removed.

There seems to be a lot said about the reliablity of this keyboard, but I can only say it has not let me down and can only give an opinion to date. I've only had my SD1, bought new, for about 3 months, so it's early days yet. One thing is that when I first got my SD1, upon loading one of the presets (Popdown 01), I kept getting a 'file corrupted message. This was reported to my dealer who had Ketron supply me with a floppy with a non-corrupted file. This was installed and everything now works fine. So the after sales service works fine!

Found the dealer and the main agent to be very helpful. They would assist with whatever queries I had about the SD1, even to the point of phoning me back. This is something of a rare event for me as I have had other dealers, selling other products, promise to phone back but never have. This can only hurt their pockets.

The SD1 is something of the 'end of a rainbow' for me as I have search in vain (and through a lot of expense) for the instrument to suit my style and taste in music. I've found my 'pot of gold' in the SD1 and would be saddened if it where stolen, lost or broken. I have been playing for the past 22 years and in all the instruments I've owned, the SD1 is tops with me. Long may it reign!

can be quite tricky to use , but just like anything you buy for the first time you will get used to it after a while, book could have been explained a little more simpler,

it really is a very versatile keyboard, well for the price of it it would want to be, i have my board nearly 6 months now and i still have not got around to understanding all the features it has.

i`m irish, and to listen to the waltz and country sounds of a typical irish country band ( irish country beats ) the ketron do not have it, i had to get them put in, this section was not looked at at all, well it is a foriegn keyboard after all , but the sounds are excellent i would have to say , so realistic, what i said about the irish country beats , that`s because i`m thinking about myself, so don`t leave that sway you from buying this board

i use a lot of midi files and it`s great,but once or twice at home the backing track went funny , this may not be a fault of the board, i have played the board out live with no backup, and no stopping or freezing, touch wood, i have great confidence in this machine, look after it and it will look after you.

no dealings with the company as yet - in fact i have a few questions on setting up the machine, but have seen no web site where i can do this.

i read some other review , and this is what compelled me to submit a review, crap crap crap is what i read, and i say to that person " bull bull bull**** ! , it`s a super keyboard well if you get a good one off the shelf. buy a new car it could break your heart, another buys the same type car and could be delighted with their purchase, it is very pricey, but you pay for what you get. buy one gig with it and you`ll make back the cost in no time. and impress all around you.