Finally, we have some nice pictures of the G70, more specifications and at last the weight ...20 Kgs
http://www.rolandkeyboardclub.com/v/prod_detail.php?id=213&pagina=1

Godfrey

Thank you very much Godfrey !
The pics are great

Great!
Thanks g,mon

This seriously looks like my next keyboard. Can't wait.

Does anyone know what the price will be for this board? I keep reading all those specs and can't help but see the dollar signs racking up

Squeak

For non-metric people that's about 44 lbs. Now we just need the price.

It does look nice and despite my usual avoidance of Roland products I'll be taking a look at it.

I like this marketing line: "Many of these styles have been recorded using live studio musicians to create top-quality professional backings"... well, what arranger keyboard doesn't?

Ouch!! but I wouldnt rule it out for a studio piece only, cant wait till Fran gets one so I could play it hehehehe !

PS. and what is the button called "DJ Gear" for?

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 11-12-2004).]

DJ gear is under the D Beam controller button. This allows your hand to move over the D Beam and produce sounds associated with DJ music. An Example of this would be a "scratch" sound. You can get the same effect using your hand as a DJ turning a record with a needle scratching the surface. You will also notice there is a button for sound effecs, instrument sounds and controller functions.


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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

"Music Assistant
about 500 presets, programmable"

This feature appears to be very interesting. I wonder HOW programmable it will be.
The weight of some 44 pounds will probably exclude it from consideration anyway, but it does seem to have many great features.

DonM

Thanx George for the info.......sounds like a very ineresting KB for sure.

take care

I noticed the G70 doesn't have Insert Jacks in the back. That means you cannot daisy-chain inputs like you can with the Tyros.

My Triton Extreme is 37.3 lbs and is built tough for extreme gigging. The G70 looks tough and the case substantial.

I'd be willing to accomodate the additional weight for a tougher case and longer keys.

Don, the Music assistant works the same as the VA series version 2 upgrade...The VA7 Version2 reads Performances direct from the ZIP , for unlimited selection..you do not have to load into performance memory..When you select Music Assistant it shows all the titles?names ,{alphabeticle}from the zip..Every possible parameters from the panel can be saved,including other styles that are also stored on the same zip..This is by far the best way to select personal song selections,,you can also have the performance linked with a SMF..

Well im about to eat a few of my own words and welcome some 'NEW' features here from Roland FOR ARRANGER KEYBOARDS.

The adaptive chord voicing looks good. The demo sounds excellent as well.

The amount of samples onboard is 192MB linear (non compressed). This would usually sound at 86MB compressed. Not complaining just pointing out some facts, not bad.

Can someone tell me if the sliders are usable for track volume / MIDI controllers? This would be a major selling point for us.

What are Roland like at supplying new styles and do they offer these for sale?

New styles are abundant...I don't need anymore. My Library is over 12000 styles..When a competitor has a great style I convert it to my Roland format.

I notice the Nutric connection[XLR or 1/4}..

What do you need to daisy chain? I don't understand..

Besides the Mic input, you have stereo[L and R] inputs...as well the two pair of outputs..

Fran - are your styles 'SHAREABLE'?

To a select few...

Only if you write ten times:
"Roland is the best"

It seems nice.
But why no pads?
Pads enlighten styles a lot. Technics had pads, Yamaha has them, why Roland not?

Well, if i get one of these puppies (only if the sliders work as volume / MIDI controllers) then ill be in touch. Hows about some bartering?

Just out of interest. Do you think a lot of people use Harmonic Drawbars. This seems a strange thing to make a big thing out of for such a modern-looking instrument.

Our band is looking for a new keyboard and even though i personally feel arrangers havent moved on a great deal in some years, im hoping to use this in our home studio as a master keyboard (to replace a Tyros), and the 76 key solution is far more professional, as is the USB connection, which just DOESNT work reliably on our Tyros, even after a costly repair.

We looked at the 1x from korg, but at £2400 with speakers and only 61 keys and after having to pay £400 or so for vocal harmony add-ons, it would take us about 50 gigs to pay for after expenses (way, way too much).

I hear the G70 is around £2000 which works out to about 30 gigs, making it just affordable.

So lets hope those sliders do more than drawbars!!!!!!!!!

Digitalvision,

The sliders actually do work as volume controllers or as drawbars. You can quickly change the function by pressing the mode buttons for "Harmonic Bar" or "Part" on the right side of the sliders. They feel very solid I think. More like actual drawbars than simple volume sliders. When you select "part" the screen changes and shows all the music parts, or the tracks of your midi file. In the mixer mode you can also use them for effects, pan etc.

Hit "Harmonic Bar" and the 3D drawbars are shown. The position and registration of the drawbars only changes if you move a slider, and then it changes only for that drawbar.

I asked the Roland guys to explain this at the demo and I can tell you it works great and very fast.

By the way, it's very nice to hear a factory demo for the first time now. And it is a very good one I think!

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Tom NL

Which one of our resident SZ'ers will be selling this beast?

Tom, FANTASTIC.

Common sense dictates NOT to part with hard-earned cash before we actually get a chance to try it out and that the price, or any deal we get isnt above £2K.

Thanks for clarifying this.

Digitalvision,
The Hammond tonewheel sound is totally back in the modern music, if it was actually ever gone anyway!

Just listen to quite a few of the latest productions and you'll notice lots of Hammond added to the mix. But on stage it's where it really shines. The good tonewheel- (or in this case "clonewheel") organsound is immediately recognized and loved by many. But as stated in another topic, it requires the proper registration and playing technique. And I must admit that I personally have shortcomings in this area, but just love to have the sound as an extra cherry on the pie

------------------
Tom NL

Frank, I use the inserts for this scenario;

My Amp only has two stereo inputs. One for my Tyros and One for my Korg Triton Extreme but what do I do about my add-on Roland VK8M Drawbar module? I'm out of inputs.

With the Tyros, I can plug the outputs of my VK8M module into the inserts of the Tyros which will thru-put into the amp!!!!

Nice to hear that these sliders also function 'otherwise' than just for the drawbars. I want a 'modern' keyboard to get along with the music produced nowadays.. The VA-7 couldn't fulfill this task always, unless editting and searching a lot for good drums, or other sounds... I have not heard the G70 yet, but I wouldn't just buy it seeying the specs. Also the demo's on www.rolandg70.com do not convince me, since my Roland VA-7 can also handle the jobs and I heard TOO much an old VA-7... I don't think there's any stunning development on this board. A lot of the features on board were previously invented AND implemented on other boards. The sliders, I have seen them on the PA1X Pro which I tried, they worked fine to me. The D-Beam is also on my VA-7.. There were other boards with colorscreens before this one.. Etc.

But! I now heard a new official demo and that sounded pretty refreshing! Also the new board looked very well and I think it's smart to trade my VA-7 as fast as possible for a G70, because the price of the VA-7 will drop soon way low..., I think..

Again, I hope to hear AND feel this G70 soon.. And I just feel I'm going to get this board soon when it's available.. Just a feeling.

I hope the keys are better too.. I had to screw the board open several times to fix the keys.. Opening and closing the case takes 2 hours, fixing takes 5 minutes. I don't know why some keys get disfunctional just now and then, but it's quite annoying..

So, that's my critical story.. I will stop now When I have played the G70, I'm sure that I will place my opinion here again.. To see whether I was true..

[This message has been edited by Sander (edited 11-12-2004).]

Al the G70 has inputs[stereo]..you would be able to do the same, adding another instrument..I have done the same thing with my VA7..

I would dearly love to see the G70 manual to learn all the nitty gritty details about this board. Does anyone know if and when Roland will make a downloadable pdf version of the manual available?

We went to Music Live Exhibition NEC Birmingham.UK. yesterday Friday.
Saw the Roland G70 for the first time. Very impressed with the construction, the top of the keyboard is metal. Excellent keybed response & feel (G1000-VA76). I was not pleased with the sloppiness of the potentiometer volume pots. This is just one of my bugs which other may feel is not important. They had a row of headphones for people to listen through whilst the demonstrator was performing which was acceptable but still difficult under noisy show conditions to come to any firm conclusions, but I have no reason to think the voicing would be less than excellent.
User friendliness was good. They have provided a button for most operations so you can either use the touch screen or it's appropriate button. This is lot of board for the asking price of £2,199 UK Pounds. Available Late this month November.
Other Keyboards at the show were Casio.Korg & Yamaha.

This sounds ineresting on the G70?

Adaptive Chord Voicing
The greatest innovation in the arranger section is a new technology called Adaptive Chord Voicing (ACV). The technology is based on an intelligent real-time chord voicing for each accompaniment part, which creates a natural arrangement - each instrument in the style plays smooth musical lines instead of jumping to awkward intervals each time the chord is changed.

Hello.
Is that official demo somewere on the web?

Upsss, I founded it on http://www.rolandkeyboardclub.com/v/prod_detail.php?id=213&pagina=1 Opera browser couldn't show the link with demo.

I downloaded just one file from:http://www.rolandkeyboardclub.com/v/prod_detail.php?id=213&pagina=1
I am not very impressed with the demo song.
If that is the acoustic guitar and organ sounds, Yamaha is a lot better.
Still waiting for convincing demos.

Chico

I disagree Chico. I found the AC Guitar quite convincing and the Organ sounded pretty good too.

Possibly the problem lies with your PC speakers?

Since the demos are .mp3's, which is a compressed music format, it is a less than ideal way IMO to truly gauge an instruments real sound quality and expressiveness. Plus if your PC speakers aren't accurately reproducing the sound, i.e. "not up to snuff", then it will make the demo even less representative of it's true sonic nature.

Hearing the demo through my Klipsch PRO Media 2.1 speakers/w Subwoofer it sounded very good overall IMO. In fact the AC Guitar sounded of Mega Voice quality to me.

If it/they (the Guitar voices) can be played Live with no drop outs or glitches, unlike the Mega Voices, which cannot be played Live realistically, then Roland will most likely have a true winner on its hands with the G70 IMO. At least, as far as Guitar sounds go.

Best regards,
Mike

PS: Chico, you may have top of the line PC speakers as far as I know. Sounds are subjective of course. If you have top quality PC speakers and you still say the AC Guitar and Organ don't sound good to you, then it is a personal opinion and one that I respect.

To my ears and through my speakers the AC Guitar and Organ sounded very good. Again, it is simply my opinion.



[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 11-13-2004).]

Hi Mike.

I didn't say that AC guitar and organ sounded bad.
I just said that I am still waiting for more convincent demos from a brandnew and expensive keyboard that was announced and posted in net, before the final adjustments (The European demos showed that problems).
My sound system is the same that I make use for all keyboards.
For the time being Yamaha AC guitars and organs sounds better here, IMO, of course.
Maybe I will change my opinion.
The future will say

Cheers
Chico