I use a VL 70m with a WX wind midi controller and midi sequencing. The most common misconception of the VL 70 is that it is a synth, when in actuality does not work anything like a synth. So most synth users find the modeling system concept too difficult, or just plain ol' don't understand how it works. The VL 70 does have quite a difficult to navigate menu. In fact, I have been workin on a map of it so that I can edit the paramitors more rapidly (without spending all day trying to figure out where this and that is). Most people don't like some of the sounds (sax players). But if one spends some time setting up the sounds (instead of relying on the factory pre's) you can get as sounds as good as or better than the real thing. You can force the VL70-m to be duophonic.... but the factory does not recoment it. Personally I found it kind of odd that they would put guitar (and other stringed inst.) on a monophonic system. Kinda defiets the perpose.
Is VL dead? no. It's just getting started. I've noticed yamaha is using the tecnology in some of the higher end arrangers vs sampling. For acustic sounds, I'll take the vl over any synth, and for synth sounds I'll use a synth over the VL (exept for the mad tube on the VL, and that just rocks way too cool).