I still think that Roland has on the whole done a good job with the GW-8... It's very likely I'll end up buying one of these. I've been wanting to add an arranger to my synth set up for some time now. (I'll probably go for the more oriental version though-lately I've been having a blast doing hip hop with a middle eastern twist).

I just don't like how the pricing is done on these arrangers when you compare them to what you get on a synth in the same price category.

The GW-8 will fit my needs (good sounds, ability to create user patches, good styles, and REAL TIME CONTROL KNOBS!.., why isn't that standard on pro arrangers I'll never know... I'll go the software route for recording because simply the arranger market forces you to go this route.

I will say I'm very surprised that more people don't create their own styles though. I would think that alone is one powerful feature on an arranger keyboard. Even if you take out the 16trk seq.., recording user styles (to me) only makes sense......

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 07-12-2008).]