One very welcome feature is Program Mode. Almost all user parameters can be saved to disk.
No description of the synthesis method is provided, but the instrument obviously employs a sample‑based synthesis system of some kind, and the overall sound quality is very clean. The 256 'Multi‑Synthesis' voicings are arranged into two banks and boast 28‑note polyphony. Portamento, portamento speed, a global transposer function, octave down function, keyboard split, a special user‑configurable scale section called Arabic scale, and the full chord facilities are also included. There are four dynamic curves, with aftertouch assignable to modulation, pitch and volume.
Available sound editing parameters comprise: DCA and DCF (attack/decay/release) Cut‑Off Resonance LFO Rate, Depth, Delay Aftertouch Reverb and Chorus. The MS40 is also a 'real' synthesizer in that sounds can be edited, albeit in a slightly limited way. Looking at the sound generating capabilities first, there are 256 PCM/algorithm voices plus 192 percussion sounds spread over 12 drum sets (including one user drum set). The MS40 sound module under review offers an 'instant gratification' Style generator/creator, scads of wonderful sounds (even the usually mundane GM set is worthy of attention), a generous backlit 40x2 display, basic MIDI recording, and an integral DSDD disk drive. Keyboards and modules with built‑in auto‑accompaniments have always been treated as a bit of a joke by serious musicians, but are those attitudes now out of date? Ketron Lab have been making musical instruments for many years, mainly for the home and cabaret markets, but with the introduction of the MS series, they may have come up with a line deserving of a wider audience. Michael Anthony plays Orpheus in the underworld of home keyboards in an attempt to discover what level of technology lies beneath their distinctly untrendy exteriors.
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