Please, guys. I am trying as hard as I can to like the MS!

No one knows better than I do about the power of VSTi's, I use them on most of my studio productions... The idea of an arranger with VSTi streaming ability is of course the dream of every player. The problem starts when the dream and reality don't coincide. At some point in the MS's development, they probably will, and I'll jump on board then. But as Richard says, content is the key...

As to my take on the demos, well, when people offer them up as 'proof' that the MS is on a par with the T2, sorry, guys, I'm the little kid that dares say 'the Emperor has no clothes!'. Someone has to say it!

I am in no way criticizing the playing on the demos... everyone has their own unique abilities, playing isn't an issue. But the SOUND.... the styles.... the balance of effects. These demos are at least good enough that the RH playing is not a distraction, puzzling though it is, and show off the Ms's styles and lead sounds very well.

Are you REALLY sure that Tito isn't playing ANY real brass over the top of these sequences?

There's a very strange moment at 1:05 on the 'Tito_algodones..mp3' where one of the trumpet players is screaming at the top of his range, and it's just amazing! It sounds for all the world like it's completely outside his good range, and he's just hanging on by his teeth. Now this is either VERY good programming, almost obsessive about getting 'real' player qualities (you would normally program the trumpet to scream, yes, but fairly in tune and in time!), or a very dodgy set of GIGA samples. I just can't 'get' why he would program so carefully some pretty bad trumpet playing....

Please, everyone, take a listen to that section, and see what YOU think....

I guess my point is that average styles, using average sounds, with GIGA quality lead sounds STILL does not make a T2 beater. It is probably a lot of fun to play, for those sounds (and some of the earlier demos definitely pumped up the RH voices at the expense of the style), but would you consider going out and doing a gig with just the MS? If you HAD a T2 or E80, etc.? A few latin styles (poorly balanced, at that) don't persuade me. And, boy!, do I want to be persuaded! ...Honestly!

So...... I'd like to hear if ANYONE is gigging the MS professionally. Exclusively. And on a gig with a wide range of stylistic needs. You know, the sort of gig that many of us who work for a living (playing!) do.... And NOT using it as an SMF player or HD or mp3 player. Styles only.

You see, I believe that if you are doing a very specialized set list, or a short show, yes, the MS might get you through in style. But the rest of us, in the trenches, have to have equipment that can cover ANY song, ANY style. And sound good doing it, no balance or volume problems across the range. Just call up the style and GO!

THAT's why I use an arranger. If I wanted/needed to painstakingly tweak every style I use to use the best sounds available, or have to write styles to fit, well, I would probably end up using SMFs! If you are going to HAVE to put that much work in, might as well just make a custom SMF and get REALLY close to the record!

The T2 shows really well what happens when the styles and the sounds are developed together. The Mega guitar voices in the styles offer a realism that just doesn't translate well to other arrangers. The sound AND the style are one. Dom's piecemeal attitude to sound set and styles hasn't yet resulted in a consistent package yet. When he finally gets ALL the styles developed exclusively (not ported) for GIGA multi-velocity and Mega-type voices, for ALL the sounds in a style (he's been promising it for quite a while), and hires some of the best in the business to develop styles for one consistent sound set, then finally, we are really going to have an amazing arranger.

The trouble is that his progress is so slow, and the pace of technology so fast, a competitor (maybe even the big 3) may leapfrog him, or at least dilute his profits (and subsequent R&D budget) with a competitor. The sooner his style library and GIGA sound set is complete and fully integrated, the better it will be for him.

I do NOT want to shoot Dom down. Far from it. But I hope that my constant calling him out on these unfulfilled promises is perhaps a goad to get him to realize that we are PLAYERS, not Linux geeks. We don't want constant OS updates. We just want the T2 beater (at it's own game, NOT features) that he has been calling the MS for over two years...

The day you can pick ANY style on the MS, and it sound better than the T2 equivalent, THEN he will have what he claims he has now.

I can't wait.....