Interesting thread, QuitPic1:

My brother-in-law always had the latest and best gear when it came to photography. This was "back-in-the-day" when digital had only just begun to appear on the scene. His Large-Format Cameras were the envy of all his crowd and I hate to think what he would pay for those things. I remember the day he told me that "digital" would never "catch on!" LOL!

Back to Arrangers! My needs are different from the vast majority of folks who post here so frequently. I need better sounding instruments and would love it if Yamaha could find a way to improve upon their vocal harmony. Since I do most of my recordings without employing "tracks" (even though I have the capability) the Arranger makes it possible to adjust the volume on each instrument to suit the song I'm recording.

I don't need speakers built-into the Arranger because I monitor my recording activity with head-phones. I never have found a decent way to keep the Mic and the Speakers from "clashing" with that horrible feedback squeal. I place a disconnected Mic Adapter in the front Mic Inlet and that turns off the speakers.

Down through the years, Yamaha has pretty much kept the same layout with only minor changes to new models. This reduces the learning curve for me significantly... and old brains are difficult to adjust to new changes.

Since I don't play piano... the left hand side of the board is usually all I need... so, a very compact arranger would suit me just fine. Remember, I'm only a songwriter and the arthritic fingers can muddle through while the arrange takes care of the rest. Throw in well-selected Multi-Pads and I'm usually "good to go!" Now if only I could emulate the vocals some of you performers here at the "Zone" seem to do with reckless abandon and fantastic results. I never perform. To do so would probably cause Wall Street to immediately tumble, children would cry and old ladies would cackle incessantly.

I know, Band-In-A-Box would probably work better for me but I'm doing my best to emulate what the "big boys" here do with such style and panache.

All the best, ----Dave Rice