The last time I saw John Denver perform, he was out in front of a 40 piece orchestra.

Gotta admit, though, I never peeked beneath the stage of a rock band.

Gary

R.I.P. JD

I had really bad seats for a Fleetwood Mac concert - we were directly to the side of the stage, and hidden behind a wall, behind Mick (the drummer) was a young buck playing a digital drum kit. He played every song, and no doubt, had his audio feed pumped into the main house along with the acoustic drums that Mick was playing, but here's the thing ... at the end of the show, when the band took their bows - they never had the kid come out from behind. He was a hired gun that stayed in the shadows. Still, a good gig, but with all the tech today, he should have been featured on stage. My guess is that the bog boss wanted everyone to think he was making all that glorious sound. Yeah, right.

Henni's right - there's an interesting interview with David Rosenthal (Billy Joel's keyboard player) that shows you the triple backups they use with PCs, ipads, and redundant keyboard gear. Pretty high tech.

all these concerts, broadway shows, etc, are all smoke and mirrors
but they pull it off at your expense......
Tix, parking, transportation to & from, dinner, etc,..
not a bad thing but an expensive thing for two hours..
who cares life is too short enjoy it.
Took the family to the Planetarium Christmas LASER Light Show
last night and singalong all I could say is WOW!!

There is no bennefit to software arrangers..
They just copy some (or a lot) of features from a hardware arranger..
Witouth the dedicated workflow (interface)

Thats why i said, that to become really worth it, they need to have all thing the big ones have... and then some more to make them really unique...

Can anyone here name one reason to choose a software arranger above a Genos/Pa4x/SD9? (Except a financial one)

Maby one day a nice software arranger will arrive on the iPad. How hard can it be? There are tons of remakes of vintage synths so it would be fun to see a remake of a vintage arranger. Keep hoping.

Generally, I agree with the ease of use,navigation,and functionality of the TOTL arrangers.There are some,however, that want to delay obsolescence with added software enhancements. One can say that the software was not up to par with the arrangers, and they are trying to catch up, but some of these features have been added to vA2 eg,that only the most expensive keyboards can match. This is at a cost of $400 instead of $4000. Some would think this difference is worth a little quirkiness. Dan is a prime example of providing countless enhancements for free.

The other is from a physical standpoint of being vastly lighter and a small footprint. So, I think both markets are viable.

Bernie

Dont get me wrong, i think v-arranger is a great product at its price €350 +€100/sound set. However, what does it add for me as a Genos owner?

And if you consider it as an arranger module, how does it compare to hardware arranger modules? And how cheap is it if you want to run it on a dedicated laptop/tablet?

Thats why i think that they need to offer unique features to be a viable choice over hardware,... and yes there are 2 unique features on the v-arranger, vst support and support for all arranger brand styles... so thats a first step..

A Genos is a great keyboard (Just not my cup of tea) with loads of sounds and easy play features to keep users going for ages, however it sucks when it comes to in depth use, editing and adding additional voices etc.

A Montage (Or any Synth/Workstation) gives fantastic sounds, in-depth editing and a boat load of new sounds, however you have to put the work in as there are no easy play features to get you going, or if you just want to sit down and play a tune on the fly.

To solve this problem is easy, just get a Genos and a Montage (Or any other combinations) and you will have the best of both worlds, but it is expensive and each will have features you don’t need.

Enter Software, you want fantastic sounds and in depth editing for your Genos etc. then get a computer (A decent one is not that expensive these days) add some VSTs and you have a sound quality and flexibility a fraction of the price of adding a Montage (Or other Synth/Workstation) and also less bulk.
The same applies to the Montage (Or other synth/Workstation) in that you can add a computer and run a program like vArranger (Or any of the other arranger software out there) to give you all the easy play features of the Genos, for a fraction of the price with less bulk.

Would you need VSTs if you had a Montage? (Or other synth/Workstation) probably not, likewise if you had a Genos would you need vArranger? (Or other software arranger) probably not, as in both cases you are duplicating what you already have.

All of them have their place, (There is no one size fits all) so just get the combination that suits your circumstances and stop trying to make out that there is one keyboard that can do it all, as that is just complete nonsense. (Just like an Acoustic Guitar cannot do what an Electric Guitar can do, and vice versa)

A good example of how adding a computer (In this case built into the instrument) can expand the users horizons can be found here

Bill

What I like about software is that I now own a mini moog, a oberheim, a Korg wavestation, a M1 etc. I never could afford these synths but now I have them as a app and I love them. It is just what you want to do and almost everything is possible nowadays.