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#356942 - 12/19/12 08:29 AM Re: ABSOLUTE MAGI C, must have !!!! [Re: john smies]
DonM Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 06/25/99
Posts: 16735
Loc: Benton, LA, USA
Maybe I'll check it out if I decide to keep the S950. What I really want is a midi foot pedal to control it.
I really don't need to carry another piece of gear around, but I am spoiled with the nice sliders on PA3X.
I didn't expect to like the S950 as much as I do. Love those guitars!
DonM
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#356976 - 12/19/12 02:06 PM Re: ABSOLUTE MAGI C, must have !!!! [Re: john smies]
Diki Offline


Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14182
Loc: NW Florida
Actually, the sliders on my G70 are some of the best thought out I have ever seen. For starters, they double as Hammond drawbars, so they are white and brown (BBWWBWBBW), which makes grabbing the right one on stage a snap. A bank of 8 or 9 identical ones can be a lot harder to get the middle ones right (I have a K2500... trust me!).

Secondly, the values do not jump the second you touch the fader. You have to take it THROUGH the preset value (which is shown on the graphic representation on the touch screen) before the value moves. No abrupt changes!

Then a couple of buttons to the left toggle between volume/pan and Chorus/Reverb (including overall amounts of Chorus/Rev on that page) and buttons to the left toggle between Keyboard Parts and Song/Style.

I can get to pretty much anything I need in a hurry close to instantly. I prefer it enormously compered to the Yamaha's inc/dec buttons, and to the Korg's bank of identical faders on the left side (being in the middle allows either hand to control it).

Like I said, I have a BCF2000, and have never felt myself slowed down by any task enough to need to go to the bother of programming and connecting it to the G70. Of course, if you don't have sliders, sure... but, other than the motorized aspect, there are MUCH cheaper fader and knob controllers out there...
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An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!

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#357020 - 12/20/12 01:27 AM Re: ABSOLUTE MAGI C, must have !!!! [Re: Diki]
john smies Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 05/05/00
Posts: 1384
Loc: koudekerke, Holland.


Diki,
I could not disagree more ( a friend of mine has had a G70 for years) and your comparison to the use of the Behringer is pretty faulty. Amazing really as you seem to have the Behringer yourself but have only used it for computer stuff.
I think the use of the motorisation on the sliders can also be cancelled, not sure though, but the fact remains that you have more instant knobs and sliders to control every imaginable midi parameter. No way your G70 or for that matter the Tyros or PA3X can do this.

Don,
You should give it a go with the PSR950. And , assuming you have flogged the PA3X you might want to reconsider on a super lightweight sidekick to your Yammie in the form of th KMA.( with my resources, that goes without saying, haha smile
And with the Midi set up I created you would basically be playing the KMA from the PSR keys, at least all accompaniments.....

regards
John

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#357024 - 12/20/12 01:41 AM Re: ABSOLUTE MAGI C, must have !!!! [Re: Diki]
Nigel Offline
Admin

Registered: 06/01/98
Posts: 6482
Loc: Ventura CA USA
Originally Posted By: Diki
Secondly, the values do not jump the second you touch the fader. You have to take it THROUGH the preset value (which is shown on the graphic representation on the touch screen) before the value moves. No abrupt changes!


But that is still not as visual as motorized faders that are already at the parameter position. While it is workable having to wiggle the fader around to find where the current parameter is it is not quite the same as seeing the fader at the correct postion before you move it.

I am sure working with the onboard G70 non motorized faders is fine and avoids carrying an extra piece of hardware but motorized faders are always better than non motorized if the choice is available. Non motorized faders are NEVER a preference, they are simply a cost cutting choice. I can't imagine working in a pro recording studio that didn't have motorized faders on the main mixing board.


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#357026 - 12/20/12 01:56 AM Re: ABSOLUTE MAGI C, must have !!!! [Re: john smies]
Diki Offline


Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14182
Loc: NW Florida
John, I respect your right to disagree, but I might point out one thing. Yes, I've only got nine sliders. But the buttons adjacent rapidly (as rapidly as calling up different presets on the BCF, and FAR better labelled!) change their function, so in practical terms, I've got at least nine or more banks of nine sliders to do what I PRACTICALLY need on the gig.

Oh yeah, I forgot... Press and hold any Tone Assign button for the Keyboard Parts (all 6 of them) and the sliders now control most of the main voice programming functions (nine parameters) for that voice.

But yes, I get your point. If there's anything I want to control that isn't already controlled by the sliders, the BCF would give me access to it. But I think the point I was trying to make is, in a live situation, everything I EVER need to get at live IS already assigned to the sliders. The only things that come to mind would be detailed editing of the FX and MFX, and they have their own touch screen pages and data fields run by the data knob. And I can get to everything with a maximum of two button presses.

Bottom line, the BCF is a HUGE piece of kit, completely impractical to have on stage (where you going to put it so either hand could run it?) that does little more than I actually need than the sliders already built in to do...

Everything that you seem to be amazed to be able to do in the OP, my sliders already do. Most of the other stuff is VERY easy to do with the touch screen and data knob (if the sliders don't already do it!). I'm sorry that your friend and yourself never seemed to grasp where everything is on a G70, but I certainly have no problem finding and adjusting anything I want in no time flat.
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An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!

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#357027 - 12/20/12 02:09 AM Re: ABSOLUTE MAGI C, must have !!!! [Re: john smies]
Diki Offline


Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14182
Loc: NW Florida
Nigel, those motorized faders can be NOISY! If you are laying down vocals while you play, and the BCF is close enough to work, the motor noise from a whole bank of faders jumping to a new position is going to get picked up!

I found the BCF marvelous for running Cubase, and have a pretty detailed knowledge of what it can do (it's been running out Eventide Ultra-Harmonizer in the big studio for a while). I have also been running MIDI faderbanks since the early MIDI days (had a real nice non-motorized Peavey one before the Behringer) and used that to get at all the internal MIDI stuff in my RA-90 and Ensoniq's back when keyboards rarely had a bank of assignable sliders!

Then my K2500's slider bank is one of the most advanced things still in existence, being able to gang multiple things up on just one fader and scale them appropriately, etc., calculate checksums for sys-ex, etc..

Trust me, I am FAR from being a noob when it comes to these things. If there was honestly anything that I regularly NEEDED to control on my G70 that the built in controllers didn't make mind-numbingly easy to get to (I got better things to do live than trying to remember which bank# on my faderbox adjusted the LWR2's cutoff!), I'd already be using one.

Motorized is nice, long throw is nice (if you have room for it) but on stage, neither of those things are a big deal, and tracking, those fader motors can be a distraction.

BTW, Nigel, there is a graphic of the fader on the touchscreen, with a bank of little 'LED's' showing the programmed value for the parameter, so you never really have to hunt and peck to find the programmed value. You can SEE it.

Trust me, if I had a PRACTICAL need for the BCF, I'd already be using it!
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An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!

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#357030 - 12/20/12 02:24 AM Re: ABSOLUTE MAGI C, must have !!!! [Re: Diki]
Nigel Offline
Admin

Registered: 06/01/98
Posts: 6482
Loc: Ventura CA USA
Thanks Diki for providing your reasons for not wanting to use it in a live situation. I can certainly understand that.

Live use and studio use are certainly two different things.

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#357047 - 12/20/12 07:01 AM Re: ABSOLUTE MAGI C, must have !!!! [Re: john smies]
Beakybird Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/27/01
Posts: 2227
This looks really cool. For the T4, S950, and S750 there is also the option of hooking the board to an iPad and using an app that has sliders to control different functions. The nice thing about that is that it can rest on the music rest.

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#357049 - 12/20/12 07:33 AM Re: ABSOLUTE MAGI C, must have !!!! [Re: Beakybird]
john smies Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 05/05/00
Posts: 1384
Loc: koudekerke, Holland.

Beakybird,

Here you touch upon one of the very few drawbacks of the Behringer. It is rather bulky and weighs 2.5 kilos. I am definitely not putting it on my PSR750 plastic music stand.
But any stoo or bar seat would probably do !!! smile smile

regards,
John

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#357056 - 12/20/12 08:23 AM Re: ABSOLUTE MAGI C, must have !!!! [Re: john smies]
Fran Carango Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 05/26/99
Posts: 9673
Loc: Levittown, Pa, USA
I am with Diki....the controls of the G70 are hard to beat....and for stage friendliness , it is the best....Most folks never really get into the G70..if they did they would have found what Diki and I already know....I still believe the G70 OS is the best....and yes I am comparing to the Korg, Yamaha and ketron models..

Sure ..folks that have used Korg, Yamaha , and Ketron for a long time feel the same way...but look at what Diki has mentioned with an open mind...than think how it compares to what you are using..
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