Greetings all...

A few years ago someone here (Mac) suggested I should pick up the Ketron SD2 sound module. I did get one and knew right away that it was one of the best investments I ever made. She sure is one powerful little puppy.'

I'm now looking to expand my sound banks and will without hesitation pick up another Ketron module. I'm just wondering if the Ketron SD 1000 the latest model out there or has Ketron put out something newer?

I was toying with the idea of getting something from Native Instruments but they are really expensive. And I just don't like working with vst. I'm old school and just want to use something that I've been comfortable with for a lot of years, that being sound modules. Would you believe that I still use my Roland JV-1010? And still loving it.

It looks like the SD1000 is the latest product that's just a simple sound module. There's also the Audya, but that gets you arranger features you may not need, and is very expensive.

Cheers
Kent
PG Music

There are very new excellent sound modules, according to the You Tube demos ; These are German products.

See there V3 sounds

Many thanks for the comebacks and suggestions, guys... all good advice and ideas indeed!!!

I find myself going back and forth daily on what I want to do. The real question is, do I really have to spend more money to expand on what I already have? Between the Roland and SD2 I have hundreds of sounds right now... a lot of which I have never used. My main genre is classic country and old rock and roll. Am I really going to need hundreds of symphonic sounds and effects in doing these styles of music?

No matter which way I decide to go, be it NI, Ketron or V3 sounds it would be very expensive. I think I have to change my way of thinking from "I really WANT it" mode to "I really don't NEED it" mode. As I look at the hit my bank account would take, I strongly believe that I'm going to go with the latter; I don't need it.

You are correct, if you have these GM sound options you don't really need any more. But there is a world of sound beyound GM. Keep looking at the NI stuff. A lot of that is just too cool to not invest a bit of time and money to infuse into your sound making. Just my two cents.

Bobby9999, get the free Kontakt player. There are a lot of great sounding free and inexpensive sounds that will work with it. When looking for sounds for it just be sure to carefully read the sites info as some only work with the full Kontakt.

Getting the free player will let you try out Kontakt's approach. The engine is the same in both Kontakt versions but with the player you will not be able to open the sounds to add or change effects and things. But that may not be a problem as I have had the full Kontakt for many years now and I have modified the sounds very seldom. Most all of the time I get into the inner workings just to change the volume control from a keyboard to a wind controller.

In addition to GM and GM2 Roland also has the GS midi patch standard. Also, don't forget about Yamaha and their XG midi patch standard.

I like Ketron products and they appear to be as durable as any other product. My issue is their products are not well represented in the US. Neither of the online music stores I shop, Sweetwater and American Music Supply (AMS) sell Ketron products. PG Music use to but do not now. Amazon does sell the SD2 and Midijay. I've never heard of the US Distributor, +++ AJam +++ The website says the distributor has a website developer but the site itself is rarely updated.

Thanks for this, Mario!!! While doing some of my research I seem to remember seeing something about the "Kontakt Player" but really didn't look in to it very deeply. For sure I'm going to have a look at that.

As for Kontakt... There was one thin that got me thinking about it, that being the "guitar strum" sounds. They sound amazing!

Jim... now that you mention Ketron 2 and PG Music... I'm pretty sure that I bought mine from them. But that was quite a while ago so don't quote me on that.

It's true that the Ketron is hard to find. I deal with two different music stores here in Montreal and neither one carry it.

But there again; If I were to buy the SD 1000, would I be getting all the same sounds that I now have with my SD 2 and then a few more new ones that I don't have? Would those few new sounds be worth $500+ dollars?

In any event, I'm managing to stay away from impulse buying... for a change.

Here is one of the coolest...
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/guitar/session-guitarist-strummed-acoustic-2/

In fact, here is it with BIAB.

https://soundcloud.com/dan-hoch-784636941/in-a-latin-mood


I have long been a advocate for Reaper\BIAB as a incredible music making combination. Add Kontakt to the mix and the possibilities are endless.

Thanks so much for this! I'm going to have a very close look. I'm still looking at how to use it with Sonar Platinum. The "free Kontakt Player" needed to use it is confusing me. I'm going to do more research to make sure I understand it before buying. But a hundred bucks is a lot better than eight hundred bucks considering that Guitar Strummed is what I'm looking for more than anything else in Kontakt Komplete. I'll keep you posted.

I hope this helps. Kontakt Player has the same engine as the full version of Kontakt. The difference is that the Player is for only playing the patches while the full version Kontakt allows you to get into the guts of the patches so you can change some of its parameters and effects. Guitar sessions 2 will run on the free Player.

If you get Kontakt Player be sure to carefully read the read the system requirements of any patch that you are thinking about purchasing. Many patches will only run on the full Kontakt, but this will listed under those requirements.

If you are thinking about Kontakt you can buy it separately. If you can wait then I would get the free Player then wait for a sale on Kontakt. Most of the time a sale will get you Kontakt for about half price.

Both version of Kontakt will load as a VSTi in Sonar with no problems. If you know how to load VSTis into Sonar you are all set, if not other Sonar users here can help you. It has been quite awhile since I've used Sonar and I don't want to give you some faulty advice. I have CRS!

If you are also looking for a finger picking program check this out:

https://realitone.com/fingerpick/

This also works on the free Player.

Also you might want to Google/Bing guitar patches for Kontakt and/or free and shareware guitar patches for kontakt. There are a lot of third party patches out there for Kontakt.

Good luck

Thank you so much Mario!!! Sure is good advice for someone who has never really worked with vst before. I had some out of town visitors come in yesterday so I haven't had much chance to get set up yet. I'm sure that if I do run into problems I can get a lot of help here.

Much appreciated...

Bobby