New TOTL Arranger from Ketron

[mikf]

Genosmusic - Lee tried to excuse you on the other thread but I repeat here what I said, you are are a nineteen year old being a smart ass. This is an 85 year old long time, well respected member you are addressing here.
We are very tolerant and respectful here, and I think maybe you don't belong on this forum. I'm thinking about it.
Mike

[genosmusic]

Genosmusic - Lee tried to excuse you on the other thread but I repeat here what I said, you are are a nineteen year old being a smart ***. This is an 85 year old long time, well respected member you are addressing here.
We are very tolerant and respectful here, and I think maybe you don't belong on this forum. I'm thinking about it.
Mike

I excused you for not apologizing to me
for interpretating one of my comments incorrectly.

Lee Batchelor, had the intelligence to understand , and spoke up in my defence,
but your pride didnt allow you to do that.
--------------------

Now your allowing someones AGE to over ride insulting comments like :
UTTERLY USELESS
-----------------------------

Your right,  i dont belong here,

As a Moderator , your judgements are Flawed.

.

[mikf]

I think your follow up posts show that I "interpretated" your comments correctly.

[EileenL]

My comment was made in general use and not aimed at anyone as an insult.
  Trying to guess what or will not be on anything is utterly useless. We must waite and see for ourselves what is on New Flagships and then Decide if it is what we want.
  Why waste time daydreaming. Much better things in life to do.

[usaraiya]

My comment was made in general use and not aimed at anyone as an insult.
  Trying to guess what or will not be on anything is utterly useless. We must wait and see what is on New Flagships and decide if it is what we want.
  Why waste time daydreaming? Much better things in life to do.

Like making music on what we have currently and enjoying it!

Uday

[vitalog2010]

Genos New Firmware Update V2.13 released.

https://usa.yamaha.com/support/updates/firm_genos.html

As we can see, they did not release major updates.

- Fixed a problem in which, with firmware version 2.00 or later, the pitch detection accuracy of Vocal Harmony decreases when the input volume from the MIC INPUT jack is low, and the original harmony sound could not subsequently be obtained.
- Fixed other problems.

Perhaps this is a reason to think that the yamaha corporation will release a new genos 2 soon? 

[Lee Batchelor]

I really wish they'd specify what "other problems" are 😖!!

At the moment, I have Yamaha Canada totally stumped as to why my Knob and Slider window displays are corrupted. Perhaps they figured it out and fixed it but how would I know? Yamaha Canada is communicating with me but at a painfully slow speed.

[mikf]

My comment was made in general use and not aimed at anyone as an insult.

Eileen, Of course you did not insult anyone ,   - to say Bob is utterly useless would be an insult, to say speculating or daydreaming is utterly useless is just a harmless opinion. Everyone - or maybe I should say every reasonable person - knows this. We can't legislate for unreasonable people, but what we can do is not invite them to our house - or forum!
Best wishes
Mike

[pjd]

I really wish they'd specify what "other problems" are 😖!!

Back in software engineering days, we had quarterly bug review sessions. [Dear Lord how I hated those. Glad to be retired.] Anyway, the bugs were ordered by priority and by level of effort, and assigned to an engineer.

If Yamaha is preparing a major new release, then they have probably fixed the lowest hanging, easy fruit. This allows a quick bug-fix release without taxing the main development effort. "Fixed other problems" is a euphemism for "Yeah, we fixed some small, minor stuff. Leave us alone." 

At some point, Yamaha will see a business requirement to move on from the current product.

Oh, well -- pj
 

[Lee Batchelor]

Thanks for that, PJ. And there folks, is the benefits of having forum members from all walks of life on board. The level of expertise never ceases to amaze me. I believe PJ also plays a Genos 🤣.

[RoyB]

A Chinese poster has recently posted these spec details of the Event on SynthZone. Appears to be genuine, and those members on SynthZone who are close to Ketron development have not disputed it.

*********************************************************
Ketron EVENT :

Polyphony: 216 notes, multitimbral.

Keyboard: 76 half weighted keys. 4 Dynamic curves. Pitch and Modulation wheels. Aftertouch. Portamento.
Legato Mono_Poly. Transposer -/+ 24. Octave +/- 2. Expr. Pedal with 6 curves.
Controls: 15 sliders with RGB Led indicator. Brightness and color controls. 8 potentiometers for external EFX
control.

Display: 7" touch capacitive. Brightness control. 5 different skin colors.

Factory Sounds: 10 Voice groups: Piano, Strings, Organ, Brass, Sax, Pad, Synth, Guitar, Bass, Ethnic. 464 Preset
Voices. Voice 1, Voice 2, each Voice with up to 3 different sounds. Drawbars. Factory Advanced Voice Editing.
High quality multilayer Sounds with a vast selection of Real Solos ®. Factory overwrite and restore. Up to 1.280
User Voices available. Arabic scale and key shift programmable per Voice.

User Sounds: 2,5 GB free storage in non-volatile Flash memory (1,5 GB for additional Factory Sound Banks – 1
GB for User samples). Sample Editor: up to 8.192 samples (max 6 seconds per sample). Up to 4 layered stereo
instruments (Voice or Drum Set). Advanced editor with Split, Octave, Level, Range, Tune, Cut off, Velocity, Adsr.
Sample Loop utilities. User Drum kits.
Adsr/Filter: separate sound controls for Attack, Decay, Sustain, LFO, Cut Off and Resonance.

Drum Set: 62 Stereo Drums kits. 32 User Drum kits with Remap, Filter, Tune, FX controls. Drum Mixer: 9 sections
with separate controls for level, pan, reverb, pitch, velocity compression. 86 Midi Drum styles (Pattern)
available on Grv1_Loop section.

Drawbars: 9 digital drawbars. Slow-Fast Rotor. Overdrive, Click, Vibrato, Reverb, Percussion. Full
programmability. 24 Organ Presets. Twin Organ: possibility to mix PCM and Digital organ tones for a wide stereo
sound reproduction.

Arranger: Over 400 Styles. Real Styles, featuring a mix of Midi and audio parts (see below), Live Styles and Midi
Styles. 10 groups: Ballad, Pop, Dance, Rock, Swing, Latin, Country, Folk, Party, Unplugged. 3 Intro, 3 Ending, Fill
to End, ABCD, 4 Fills, 4 Break. Reintro, Count In, Pause, Key Start, Key Stop, Variation. User Styles with unlimited
store capabilities.
5 Midi Chords and Bass. Close, Parallel, Logic mode. 3 x Lower with Mono/Poly function. Chord Variation.
Varitone. Voice to ABCD. Auto Fill, Fill to Arrange, Fill to Aftertouch. Chord modes: Easy1, Easy2, Easy3, Fingered
1, Fingered 2. Orch. Variation Morphing. Rootless mode. Manual Bass, To Lowest, To Root. Bassist and Pianist
mode (Standard/Expert). Bass and Chord Lock.

Live Drums: 580 Live Drums with a complete Arranger structure (3 Intros, 3 Endings, ABCD, 4 Fills, 4 Breaks).
Reverb and 3 band Parametric Equalizer with 10 presets, programmable on each style. Drum Boost. Possibility
to load external User Live Drums. Drum Lock.

Grooves: 3 x independent Groove sections. Huge library of more than 780 Latin percussions, Electro and
Acoustic Drum loops, Single percussion hits. Groove to Variation. Separate volume and EFX controls.

Live Guitars: 216 sliced Guitar patterns including Long Chords. Separate volume and EFX controls.

Real Chord: More than 300 Real audio accompaniments covering a full chord range (up to 13 different chords).
A wide variety of electric, acoustic, and jazz guitars patterns and other orchestral sequences perfectly
synchronized to Midi. Dedicated Insert EFX with full editor, programmable for each style. Possibility to load
external User Real Chords.

Real Bass: 256 Real audio Basses synchronized to Midi. Twin Bass: possibility to switch Midi or Audio on the
same style. Support to external User audio Basses. 3 band Parametric Equalizer with 10 Presets, programmable
on each style. Possibility to load external User Real Basses.
Style Modeling: navigate and choose Drums, Grooves, Bass and Chords from the massive Midi and Audio
Library. Multichord and Multibass templates.

Style Edit: advanced pattern recording and editing. Copy, Quantize, Velocity, Octave functions. Special quantize
available for oriental styles (7/8, 9/8, 13/8, etc.).

Registrations: 4 Banks with unlimited Registrations controlling the global set up of the keyboard.

Performance: provides fast access to Styles, Registrations with Style, Mp3, Wav or Midi files. 7 Sets with
unlimited file storage.

Play Mode: Master, Accord/Style, Accord/Classic, Organist.

Phrase: real time recording and play for Style chord sequences.

Custom Slider: 2 x Custom slider (alternative to Lower 2 And 3) assignable to Micro, Arranger sections, Drum
filter and other functions.

Footswitch: 4 programmable Set. Assignable to the most relevant machine functions and features.
Arabic Scale: 16 sets. 6 scale memories.

Dsp: Reverb, Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Overdrive, Distortion, Tremolo, Autopan, Equalizer. 2 stereo EFX Insert
assigned to Voice and Voice 2, 1 Insert to Arranger chords, 1 Insert to Real Chord. External panel controls:
Overdrive, Brilliance, Chorus/Wah Depth and Rate, Delay Feedback and Level, Reverb Time, and Level. 64 Single
Presets and 64 Chain Effects. Deep editing.

Stem: 4 Scenes. 5 audio tracks per scene to be played simultaneously. Lead track, Transpose, Time Stretching,
Loop, Solo, Mute, Autoplay. Fixed pitch for Drum section. Support for external User Stems.

Player: 2 separate Player units feat. Transpose, Audio Time stretching, GM, Jukebox, Playlists, Drum Remix,
Markers, Lyrics, Cross Fade, Search, PFL, Midi Mix, Karaoke Backgrounds. Support for wav, midi, mp3, mp4, avi,
mov, flv, cdg, jpg, png, txt and pdf files.

HD Recording: 1 stereo audio track. Midi and Song Style recording.

Audio Miltitrack: 5+1 audio tracks with separate slider control.

Micro: 2 x Micro inputs. Micro 1 (XLR) with gain control. Effect with Reverb, Delay, Equalizer, Pitch shift. Micro
2 (jack) with volume and reverb control.

Voicetron: 3 voice vocalizer. Assignable to Arranger or Midi file with Presets, Equalizer, Mode functions.

Video: HDMI connection for displaying lyrics, pictures, and videos. Mirror mode. Up to Full HD Resolution.
Support for external touchscreen displays.

Bluetooth: Streaming audio input (ad2p profile).

Wi_Fi: Networked remote control via KETRON app.

Storage: 240 GB internal SSD disk (80 GB reserved for System). Optional external SD Card (up to 512 GB ).

Side Connections: 2 x USB device. USB Host. HDMI.

Rear Connections: Main Out Left / Right. Aux 1 & Aux 2 (Left/Right). Headphone. Sustain pedal. Volume pedal.
Footswitch. Midi In1, Midi In2, Out, Thru. Line In L/R. Micro 1, Micro 2.

Optional: Volume pedal normal or deluxe. Sustain pedal normal or piano type (available also with Footswitch
connector). Footswitch 6 or 13 switches. Midi Pedalboard 13 notes (K8 ). Soft bag. Hard case.

Dimensions: 114 x 36,5 x 12,5 cm (44,8 x 14,3 x 5 in)

Weight: 14,8 Kg (32,6 lbs.)

************************************************************************

There's some interesting stuff in there. The Stems feature (also found on the Ketron Lounge module) will be of particularly interest for those players who use audio backing tracks in live performances.

[Bill]

 Support for wav, midi, mp3, mp4, avi,
mov, flv, cdg, jpg, png, txt and pdf files.

Video:  HDMI connection for displaying lyrics, pictures, and videos. Mirror mode. Up to Full HD Resolution.
Support for external touchscreen displays

Hi Roy

A compressive list.  Like the 2 highlighted above.

Bill

[Jeff Hollande]

Hi Guys :
Very impressive but frightening at the same time.
Best wishes, JH

[Joe H]

I excused you for not apologizing to me
for interpretating one of my comments incorrectly.

Lee Batchelor, had the intelligence to understand , and spoke up in my defence,
but your pride didnt allow you to do that.
--------------------

Now your allowing someones AGE to over ride insulting comments like :
UTTERLY USELESS
-----------------------------

Your right,  i dont belong here,

As a Moderator , your judgements are Flawed.

.

I think Mike is right... you don't belong here with your negative attitude and a lack of respect for others.

Joe H

[mikf]

Specs might be interesting but not really that helpful to the majority of arranger players.  What matters for most is -
how does it sound over the full range of voices and styles,
how easy is the overall operation,
how does it feel,
Does it do everything I need,
how does it look,
what does it cost,
how available is it,
what is the support like.
The first is probably great, but then it gets a bit more hum ho.
Ketron seemed a good little company, has the reputation of producing innovative and quite advanced products but with limited distribution, and often some flaws. But then they all have some flaws and shortcomings!
As I stated earlier in this thread I have actually seen and played the previous flagship Ketron, albeit briefly, and it was pretty impressive. Had some cutting edge features. My understanding is that it has a number of loyal users, especially in Europe, and mostly performing pros.
I could envisage it being of some interest for example to someone like Lee, but doubt it will be a serious attraction to the vast majority of typical arranger players like those on on this forum, who will have little exposure to it, and who want the comfort of a market leading distribution and support network.
Mike

[RoyB]

20 or so years ago I had a (made in Italy) GEM WK4 Arranger, which was great. However, GEM had the same drawback as Ketron - limited international distribution network and limited international dealerships. Although the arranger itself was terrific and I loved it (it was also built like a tank, and had the weight of one), I found that owning a GEM arranger was quite a lonely experience - lack of dealers meant help and support could be tricky; there was a GEM user group but it had a small membership and you had to pay for anything.

Ketron today I believe is somewhat better and there is an active user forum. However, it is a small company so you just have to accept that international distribution and dealerships (and the consequent help and support network) are somewhat limited in comparison to the likes of Yamaha, Korg and Roland.

Ketron also produce a number of sound modules, and have tended to produce module versions of a number of their arrangers. There has been no word yet as to whether we can expect to see a module version of the Event.

[Jeff Hollande]

In Europe Ketron's arranger keyboards have never been such a real commercial success compared to Yamaha and/or Korg arrangers due to poor distribution, weak service and high prices.
Regards, JH

[JohnS (Ugawoga)]

I think I'm quite sensitive to audio quality... But I challenge everyone above the age of 30, to recognize the difference between wav and hi quality mp3 just by listening. Saying that, the problem is not mp3 format itself. It's more about the quality of audio source before converting to mp3 and what compression settings are used.
Youtube is recommending to use high audio quality for uploading, but not every Youtube uploader knows how to do it properly.

Just my 2 cents,
Bogdan

My 1/2 cent
Mp3's are nowhere good as a wave file. Some of the nuances are compressed out of the song for320Kbps quality
Flac files are better than Mp3 they can be 800kbps plus.
Wav files are King. Better detail.

Better still Hi definition 24 bit music is fab!!   You can get loads with a VPN!!! Nudge , Nudge, wink Wink!!

[JohnS (Ugawoga)]

Nah... A machine could never compete with a Real-Live Saxaphone player
perhaps you havn't heard any live ?

The Genos has great saxes and it is close as it gets to the real thing.
If you set the Genos sax up right it is really convincing especially if you can master the articulations.
The Tenor is really warm and the alto is pretty good.
I must admit though it can get a little sqeaky if you go too high and that is where a real sax excels over a Genos sample.
Genos saxes also have those nice breathy sound if that is what you want.
I can get those Baker Street saxes almost blob on with the right touches of reverb.

[BogdanH]

...
Flac files are better than Mp3 they can be 800kbps plus.
Wav files are King.
...

Flac is lossless compressed Wav -no difference between these two.

Bogdan

[musicman01]

What attention to a self-playing keyboard, is that what you want???
A good advice! buy some cd's and you will have almost the same!!!
My opinion is, you buy a keyboard to play yourself, and not let it play.
What are musicians still needed for??

[Jeff Hollande]

What attention to a self-playing keyboard, is that what you want???

Did not know it was a " self playing keyboard " ! 
Sorry, I do not know what you mean.
Plse advise. Thanks JH

[soundphase]

Did not know it was a " self playing keyboard " ! 
Sorry, I do not know what you mean.
Plse advise. Thanks JH

Hello Jeff

In the Ketron/Event sax demo you promoted on another current thread (PA5X one), the player didn't play the main sax part, but the piano accompaniment part.
That's also a "self playing keyboard" for me.
And I'm not interested at all.

Regards
Soundphase

[Jeff Hollande]

Thank you very much, Soundphase, for your reply.
Now I understand what has been meant.

BTW, it has never been my intention to promote the Event.
I only was interested in John's ( UK ) comments and impressions.

For many reasons the Event will not be my next arranger keyboard.

Best wishes, JH

[mikf]

Soundphase - you have completely the wrong end of the stick here. The video you refer to was to demonstrate the quality of the voice on the Event, not that the Event is a self playing keyboard. Doesn't matter whether it's a midi or a style part or some other function that lets the keyboard play automated parts, the voice quality is the same, so it demonstrates it well. And neither was it posted by Jeff.
The Event is no more a self playing keyboard than any other arranger. They all have some capability of playing parts or even  full songs 'by themselves' either by styles, midis or other features. But their primary purpose is to be played. I assume you already have an arranger which has some or all of these features, so some level of self playing, even if you are driving. That's what arrangers do. 
Mike

[Lee Batchelor]

Agreed, Mike. I assume the Event has a mixer where parts can be lowered or turned off. Some of the Genos styles have equally "busy" backgrounds, which can be tempered to nothing.

[JohnS (Ugawoga)]

Hi
Put VST with Genos and it blows the cobwebs off off anything

[soundphase]

Soundphase - you have completely the wrong end of the stick here. The video you refer to was to demonstrate the quality of the voice on the Event, not that the Event is a self playing keyboard. Doesn't matter whether it's a midi or a style part or some other function that lets the keyboard play automated parts, the voice quality is the same, so it demonstrates it well. And neither was it posted by Jeff.
The Event is no more a self playing keyboard than any other arranger. They all have some capability of playing parts or even  full songs 'by themselves' either by styles, midis or other features. But their primary purpose is to be played. I assume you already have an arranger which has some or all of these features, so some level of self playing, even if you are driving. That's what arrangers do. 
Mike

I don't like arranger demos where the player is not playing the main melodic part and the chords I hear. I always think someone is trying to deceive me.

I'm fully Ok when I see a computer is playing preprogrammed sequences.

So, using the style is ok, using the chord looper is really « my personal limit ». It's an opinion. No more.

I understand other people disagree. But I wonder why they choose an arranger and not a sequencer with VSTs. They would have better results and it would be less expensive than a Genos.

As far as the sax sound is concerned, I think the Genos is currently able to reproduce the same result by carefully using the good midi messages in any sequencer.

I think Artificial Intelligence will help « normal players » to get such results « manually » in the future.

[Jeff Hollande]

Hey Guys :

Received a message this morning the Event/Ketron ( 76 n ) would cost approx. US$ 4,999.-- and supposedly available for sale in December 2022.

Hopefully time will tell soon if this news is fake or true.
Do not shoot the messenger, please. 

Best regards, JH

[Gunnar Jonny]

Received a message this morning the Event/Ketron ( 76 n ) would cost approx. US$ 4,999.-- and supposedly available for sale in December 2022.

https://audioproct.com/ketron-event-76-key-flagship-arranger-keyboard/?showHidden=true