I will certainly have a look at it as, on paper, it looks very good. It looks to have much improved ergonomics in comparison to the VA series. The acid test for me will be whether it also meaningfully improves on the VA series sonically.

I appreciate that sound in very subjective, and each manufacturer's equipment tends to have it's own characteristic flavour - and that's a good thing. Still, judging by the VA series - which is still a relatively recently designed range - Roland's characteristic sound & style programming sounds many generations out of date to me, which doesn't bode all that well for the G-70.

Whilst it does have some very good individual tones, and some excellent facilities buried in it here and there, the VA has an overall sound of a decent 1980's instrument, rather than something launched only a few years ago.

Its style programming and basic style controllability also seem more what you would expect on something costing a few hundred pounds - maybe a very low end Yamaha of several generations ago - rather than what you would expect on a recent/current top of the range instrument.

I would never attempt to use the VA as a true style based arranger on stage, and find it far too crude and primitive to use in this mode beyond recording some rough guide tracks for future editing & overdubbing.

I was well aware of these shortcomings before buying it, but was prepared to take a backward step from the Korg i-3 I previously used as my main instrument in order to gain the Roland's unique midifile handling abilities.

Despite its antiquity, in terms of style programming, overall sound quality and ease of on-the-fly use, the early '90s Korg is still light years ahead of the VA in almost every respect. It only real fault for me was its limited SMF abilities, and limited onboard memory facilities - hence my interest in the PA1X, which may have the best of all worlds.