OK, now I got to the second page... Guess I picked the Korg!

What happened to that snare roll in the conversion? You see, that's what I'm talking about. Yep, back in the good ol' days, things used to convert pretty well. But General MIDI has gone out the window. All the major manufacturers NEW products have kits and sounds and technologies that DO NOT translate.

Drum kits with flams, ruffs and rolls that don't follow any standard, guitar modes that don't translate, Mega Voices - the list of non-GM sounds (which are often the really tasty stuff) keeps growing, and making translation harder and harder. Sure, older legacy stuff still can be tweaked up. But most of the MODERN styles have issues, like that roll, for instance.

BTW, if you want to compare a hair more evenly, turn OFF any mastering EQ and compressors in both units. They color the sound too much, IMO.

On to the next topic...

Guys, there is NO reason why BOTH systems of playback can't be used. Each has its own set of strengths and weaknesses. Anyone that slavishly sticks to one or the other is simply making a philosophical decision, not a MUSICAL one. The endless repetition of arranger style mode, the inability for basslines to go TOWARDS a set of changes, the lack of voice leading in all the other voices, they are as apparent a weakness in that mode as the fixture of chord voices in SMF's. And, yes, styles ARE short triggered MIDI files. While chord changes can be imposed on them, the parts WITHIN the variation remain constant. We still have a long way to go technologically before a true 'musical' randomness can be introduced to the static sequences used to make styles. KARMA is a LONG way away from making musical variation. Sure, it can do random, but MUSICAL variation is anything BUT random!

As Chas kind of points out, NONE of these examples is much of a decent trade off for REAL musicians. We are merely arguing which is slightly LESS 'fake' than the other. Under varying circumstances, BOTH of them can be the more realistic. But that realism NEVER even comes close to true musicians.

And, once again we are discussing the differences between sequences someone ELSE made, and styles someone ELSE made. Either way you cut it, you aren't playing YOUR music. Just using someone else's, in slightly different ways. You want to start a big brouhaha over it, have at it! Just remember, if you didn't make the style or the SMF, you are using someone ELSE'S work, no matter how much of yourself you try to put in it. Neither side has any right to point fingers at the other, IMO.

Me, I use BOTH. And a bunch of self made sequences, and a bunch of just playing live, and a bunch of sequences MADE from styles, and whatever else the job TAKES. And I don't lose a moment's sleep over it! I suggest you all calm down and do the same...