Hi to all of you.
I'm joining for the first time this forum with a question that maybe does not puzzle just me. The subject is, as usual, the search of the ideal keyboard. My personal viewpoint is that it should have great, inspiring styles, beautiful sounds and a mass storage system (internal loudspeakers are a welcome optional). My actual setup is composed of a Roland G 800, plus a Yamaha SY 99, an Ensoniq ASR 10m and an Akai S2800, leftovers of a time where I was concentrated more on sounds than music. Unfortunately, the very fact of being accustomed to the sound of samplers and synthesyzers makes me less indulgent towards the instruments sampled in arranger keyboards. Someone could reply that Yamaha PSRs have good soounds, and this is true, but in my opinion they are sadly lacking in the styles area. The main reason I have chosen my Roland G 800 is that with most preset styles my fingers start moving automatically within a few seconds, while Yamaha styles -in comparison- sound less inspiring, less natural, more academic. For the same reason I did'nt trade my G 800 for a G 1000 because I still prefer the G 800 styles (G 800 styles imported in a G 1000 sound worse, due to a lesser dinamic range of the 1000). Solton keyboards have great all-around styles and generally are preferred by professionals because they are ideal for making people dance the night away...but the sounds are not at the same level (I had an MS-50 in the past and I would never have dreamt of sampling its internal sounds). Roland VA 7 could have been an interesting option, but aside from the interface problems already mentioned by many of you, I am afraid that in the end it will reveal itself like a transition instrument, with many youth defects that in the future will be corrected by Roland itself. So, in my quest for a perfect soundset for my evenings with my friends I will probably end up keeping my faithful G 800 and buying a portable synth- module like the Roland XV 3080, hoping to discover that they have sampled that famous Stan Getz sax inside.
Unless, of course, someone comes out with a better advice...
Thank you to you all.



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