Getting a little hot in here.... take a breather, guys...

My friend's GW-8 is still sitting here in front of me. Key feel is FAR better than any PSR I have ever played. Note length is a bit shorter than the G70, but most are... I have played the FSX keybed on the MotifXS6, and in all fairness, there's not a whole lot of difference. The GW is crisp, decent dynamics, and feels MUCH more like the keyboard from a $3500 T3 than a $1600 S900.

But it only cost $895

BTW, sorry to burst your SMF bubble, Ian, but it takes FAR more skill to play over an SMF of just bass and drums, and do everything else yourself, than to sit there with your LH glued to inputting simple chords and playing a basic melody....

There isn't a ha'penny of difference between SMF's and styles. What matters is what YOU actually play. Just because YOU perhaps equate using SMF's to sitting there and doing less than you would on arranger mode doesn't mean that MOST people necessarily do it that way!

Personally, I find myself able to actually PLAY much more in SMF mode than I do in style mode. But that's just me

Now that Markers allow for easy rearranging of SMF's, a lot of arranger mode's advantages have dropped by the wayside, and being able to return to being able to play fully two handed, like you USED to do in your live band days (love that shot of you back in the day ) has made me so much happier than sitting there playing dumb chords to a dumb machine

Let's just say that fully 100% of everything you hear on the charts has some form of sequencing done on it. And 0% of style play...

I rest my case

Diki , I read also that the G70 still has more wave data than any other Roland arranger...In fact the G70 has more than 500 more tones than the E-80, and only 4 less drum kits...

I also found it confusing that the E-60 has 512MB...It surly does not have more wave data than the G70...

I haven't got a chance to hear /play an E-80..yet...But I would bet over all..it is not a better sounding instrument than the G70 (wav data wise)...Someday I will get a chance to play an E-80...somewhere..

Number wise..It sures make sense that the E-80 is between the E-60 and G70..spec wise..wav data...

BTW: I got the impression Roland shipped the style converter /edit software...from Sweetwater...too

Besides you can make the styles on a G70 (small investment) and export them to the GW-8..



[This message has been edited by Fran Carango (edited 10-17-2008).]

I don't know, Fran... there's a bunch of stuff in the E80 that's not in the G70, and most of what's in the G70 but NOT in the E80 is legacy Canvas sounds, which used little ROM.

Think TWO more pianos, for starters. Natural and Superior. Both sound as detailed as the G70's GrandX, which was reported to be 64MB alone...

You can download the Style Converter software for free from Roland... I did, to see if there's a manual. There's only the sketchiest of a Quick Start pdf, that shows how distressingly bare bones the software is...

There is no header editing of any kind. You merely import SMF's for each section of the style, tell it how long each Division is, and it stitches them together for you. Bare bones indeed...

You can't edit the MFX section on a G70 and import.

Plus, the GW-8's soundset is TOTALLY different from the G70. Putting the right MSB, LSB, PC#'s in the style is probably going to have to be done in the Style Creator section, again, for each division separately, rather than the ease of the Makeup Tools...

And it still doesn't address the issue of how complicated, if even at ALL possible it is to get the ROM styles OUT of the GW-8 so you can edit them (my primary complaint).

BTW, when you heard how the G70 had the most ROM of any Roland arranger, it probably WAS it's TOTL back then. Things change, mind you. But websites don't necessarily change their copy to reflect this LOTS of websites still calling the T2 Yamaha's latest TOTL arranger...

Geez... that's bare bones alright. It's pretty disappointing in my opinion. How can you market it as a performers keyboard, then cripple the style section like that. My question is this..., what do you think would get used more.., the center cancel feature or basic style editing (such as revoice, panning, MFX changes ect)..??? One I see as more of a "just for fun feature" than really useful in a performance set up.

At this price point, I really don't see it as a 'performer's' arranger. Most performers can afford something more full featured.

There's a LOT of karaoke wannabe's, 'home' one finger players, and kids that are likely to want the center cancel more than a detailed editing kit, mind you...

I think I am starting to look at this as a candidate for emergency backup for a REAL arranger, a sling in the back of the car just in case you get into a jamming situation toy (if it got stolen, It wouldn't be the end of the world), and a MIDI module with great percussion and Sonic Cell (I wish it didn't abbreviate to the same as the Sound Canvas!) sounds for only a hundred dollars more than a Sonic Cell itself.

In a soft bag, I could bicycle around with this!

But expecting the full monty at this price point (but it's only $895! ) just seems a bit wishful. What it DOES do, it does pretty well, it's keybed is the equal of Yamaha arrangers FAR more expensive, so at least it doesn't FEEL like a toy, even if it cost barely more than one!

Before you slam it, try it... I wasn't expecting much. I found far more than I bargained for.

Wouln't you need 76 keys Diki...61 are too restricting for you, aren't they?

Of course you adapt, I'm sure.

Ian

I would really like to try this keyboard, if I can find one. Roland was always pretty weak on latin styles, maybe this is the one that makes up for all the previous models.

How does the styles compare to Ketron latin styles?

Ian please tell us whats wrong with SMF's vs Styles which are also SMF....?
And while your at it I hope your not putting down musicians that create & record, multitrack SMF's, gig with them, etc ....because most of the ones that I know have chops that you only dream of my misguided friend.Maybe I haven't touched a Gw8 but I will very very soon....but in the same thought I haven't heard any of YOUR work either except for a long while ago, or if your a so called yamaha Demonstrator you should at least have a video of your demo work for us all to see?.....I really enjoy Michele Voncken, & Peter Baartman's, but I'm sure your are much better right?....so until that time enjoy your little delusional Yamaha Mr know it all world it doesnt impress me at all. I dont even know why I'm pissin' with you here its getting real boring...I have music to play.
& hurry with one of you rediculous replies so we can end this quickly.BTw, Hmmmmm? Ian do you sing too?



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 10-17-2008).]

Yeah.., I can see the kiddies wanting the center cancel feature. Roland however isn't marketing this thing to the kiddies though. In all honesty Diki.., I don't think it's asking much for a $895 arranger to record a user style. Yamaha's lowest model that lets you record a user style costs $795. Not too long ago a $499 Yamaha could do it.

This thing costs nearly $900 too. You can get a budget workstation for close to that price, and get more indepth voice editing, and full sequencing with great editing... We see it differently I guess. IMO a board that runs nearly 900 smackers should be able to record or at least edit a style beyond what the GW-8 does internally.

I'm on the fence with this unit really. It's up in the air at the moment. What would I really be missing in terms of the sounds? It has a Fantom/SonicCell sound engine. Well.., I got a Fantom already.

I don't know.., sadly I'll never be able to play one anywhere near where live.

Diki...., can you post some examples of the Latin styles? I'd really like to hear a few of these.