I think one of the tricks with the Roland drums is, first of all, they are TD-Drums derived, which means they are 'drummer-approved', and secondly, the thing that always strikes me sonically is they are quite 'ambient'... There's a LOT of 'room' around the samples - in fact, I remember when they first came out, a lot of people bitched about it! They were SO used to bone dry Canvas based drum sounds, the sound of a drum kit that actually sounded like a drum kit was quite strange, especially to arranger players, who, let's face it, don't often get out and play with REAL drummers a whole bunch!

BUT.... it strikes me that PERHAPS the new FX sections in the T3 might be able to dedicate a reverb to provide this early reflection/drum room sound, and STILL have another reverb for larger spaces as well. That might, along with mixing them hotter (you've got to face it, Yamaha don't exactly mix them front and center - wouldn't want any of their 'home' player retirees to have a heart attack, now ) finally get the drum sound to an acceptable amount of 'punch'.

To be honest, I quite like their toms already, and I heard some ghosting and the like on some of the new demos. It was just mixed WAY too far back for me! I don't think it's a quantum leap ahead, but it IS an improvement, IMO

I was underwhelmed by the piano, though... It still has that 'hole in the middle' sound, edges are well defined, but the middle three octaves sounds distant. It seemed only a small improvement (it's warmer, but still compressed, IMO - but perhaps the demo is being choked by the Master Compressor). Can't wait to hear the Purgatory Creek file through this...

No Chord Sequencer (the ONE Roland feature worth stealing more than the drum sound )

But it'll be fun to try and convert some of these new styles to Roland. Can't wait for that!
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An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!