vArranger VS Groovyband Differences?
What are the differences between the two programs....?

Hi Dnj


For what I could understand: Groovyband requires a PSR keyboard or Tyros or genos. Sound quality will depend on the keyboard associated with it.
vArrageur is delivered with sounds in SF2 format and can load all SF2 you want.
the RAM on your computer allows it as well as the OS .
In addition vA lets you load any VSTi (up to 16) free or paid software

Groovyband will play exclusively Yamaha styles
vArranger can play up to 5 style formats ( Yamaha,Ketron ,Korg,Roland,Tecnnics )

Both have several MIDI entries and allow you to connect several keyboards

Groovyband only has a MIDI output connected to the PSR
vArranger has 3 MiDI outputs and allows to distribute to the local synthesizer, VSTs and for example
one MIDI out for expanders or synthesizers .

I wouldn't go into the details here , it would take me the day .

Groovyband seems to improve the low and mid-range PSR significantly , Henni will not say otherwise .

To arrange , I invite you to visit the Forum or you will learn more .

Magali.....
Thank you for this informative explanation between the features
& uses both of these programs. I now understand a lot more about them
Seems like the vArranger is much more versatile being able to use many different sources which is a good thing for sure.

Thank you again

Merry Christmas to you & Yours

Someone asked a few days ago why you need that many sounds. Now my question is why do one need so many styles. Be creative just use the onboard tools of your arranger to make the styles to your liking. No need to buy expensive software if you already own an arranger. Just be creative just like in the old days when arrangers only had about 100 styles. Just my opinion ofcourse.

Most modern users (Particularly younger types) require everything to be done for them, (Just press one button) and the fact that they would need to put some effort in, is completely alien to them, thus it gets discarded.

Bill

I agree Fran no need for so many styles....
probably 50-100 or so could handle most any song.....
and with that you can change sounds, parts,
and edit & tweak to suit also with no problem.

Agreed Bill and with that said it is also partly the reason for the dwindling scenario of younger generation embracing arranger keyboards as there is so many devices out there that have it all done for them at the push of a button.

To take a different approach,if someone is not inclined, or has not the ability to create or edit styles,more styles might be advantageous, especially if one is looking for that groove. Since it is Christmas, I will use the example of a Christmas swing, with the adorned effects, to a simple 4/4 swing. Some would prefer to play than spending time editing, and even then,end up with a style inferior to a well crafted one better suited to the style.

Different folks-------

Berniew we are talking about people with
thousands of styles that they will never use......?
personally for me I have to tweak/edit every single style
and ots to my liking.

Fully concur with Frans,Abacus and Donny here...
the amount of styles available is almost frightening and is definitely killing creativity to some extent. With a hundred vedy good generic styles and a similar amount of good sounds, a bunch of decent emulations of natural instruments with an added bunch of fantasy sounds,pads and synth sounds should go a long way to keeping each arranger player happy.
I know it makes me happy,that is probably one oth main reasons I purchased a secondhand Ketron SD7 two weeks ago.....for all the right reasons......and you'd be surprised nay shocked even to learn what I am considering to add to that one of these days!!!!!

regards,
John

Groovyband Live! cannot be classified under the soft synths. It is also definitely not a supplier of new styles.

The sole purpose for really using Groovyband Live! is to make an older PSR sound MUCH more in line with a SX900 or even a Genos using the much older Yamaha style engine.

If you cannot verify the above by simply either playing with the free demo version or by listening to the numerous demos posted, then you are purely biased - period!

Please do not try to play the two brands against each other. Both developers are extremely talented, but they target different markets.

1. Because I have a PSR S770 only
2. Because I would love a SX900/Genos
3. Because I could NOT! afford the upgrade
4. I've found in Groovyband Live! the total solution to my personal scenario

And just because I did, I have no intention of going around stirring or bashing another product as I have no hidden motives and do not suffer from tunnel vision.

I'd rather spend my energy in demonstrating the specific product I use by posting demos that I've created with it personally. Why don't the rest of you follow suite? Demo your preferred product to us - this way we all learn & we all grow. Talk is cheap yet is so carelessly & ceaselessly dished out...

Some of you own the one product but not the other, some invested in neither - what are you basing your facts upon when you make your statements? Live and let live. Divide the total earth population by the number of current users of the above and you just MIGHT realize there is ample market for both developers to expand their respective products.

No one has answered the question of existing registrations on my 970. I want to beef up the drums and effects, but not at the expense of starting from scratch with new registrations.

Hi Donny,
not the same thing. Comparing apples with oranges, really.

VA2, is designed to play styles from different manufacturers.
Groovyband Live looks like it’s designed to improve styles and functions on Yamaha keyboards, by giving them a new engine.

I’ve downloaded it, not sure what difference it would make to my sx apart from giving extra variations. I haven’t had a chance to actually try it yet .

Must admit I was interested if I was able to use it with my p121 as controller and the sx as sound source, but unfortunately then discovered I couldn’t use my User styles,
( unless I misunderstood something) some of the psr factory styles I use are missing from Groovyband .
Plus I will be modifying a number of the factory styles on my sx, I copy and paste style tracks. If the resulting styles can’t be used, software isn’t of any use to me.

Why do people need so many styles?
To sound as authentic as possible, with a specific songstyle..
And don’t have the capabilities or time to create their own styles.

When can you work with a smaller set of styles?
When you don’t care about authenticy, but are a musician that intends to make his own version of a song..

top keyboards sd90, Genos and pa4x have a whole plethora of tools to create your own styles or edit excisting ones..

The fun thing about todays arrangers is that they fit all these needs..

No Bernie,

They won't work. Styles are treated COMPLETELY different than on the Yamaha, hence the VAST improvement in sound quality. Rather think of Groovyband Live! as a "Pa4x/SD9" like module added to your PSR. It won't play with Yamaha type styles, registrations or mfd just exactly like a module cannot as a "different" operating system is being used.

In fact it is much more like a module than a soft synth & hence you CANNOT compare with other soft synths at all.



Hi Rikki,

No ordinary Yamaha styles will play. As I stated, they've TOTALLY replaced Yamaha's style engine with software. The style file is 10 times smaller and only calls the different subroutines controlling the style used at the time. The output is handled like midi but portrayed like a ordinary style. This is how they've achieved i.e. many more effects, 4 lead voices each harmonizeble individually to a different harmony type simultaneously, 8 variations, 8 fills, 8 OTS's, 2 breaks, round robin drums like on the Genos, humanized played lead notes (similar to round robin drums but applied to what you play with the lead voices) that includes i.e. decent guitar strumming, style immediate reset, half bar fills, extremely advanced editing capability, intelligent transpose splitpoint that follows where you play your chords and lowers/raises the splitpoint accordingly - to name but a few of the improvements over the standard older Yamaha's.

And because it's software driven, the sky is the limit to whatever they choose to ad to it in future WITHOUT you having to change your arranger. And there is the user memory on the arranger itself for any newer voices that might be required as an later upgrade (I will not be surprised should they pursue this route in future). Heck, I've already added voices from the GHENOS pack to it & I'm only a novice...

Henni

I guess my choices are narrowing:
Ghenos? Is this a separate engine also? If nothing improves my present setup, then-
2 Start over with improved styles and effects.
3.Buy an SX900

Bernie congrats ok n your new Sx900...
Start from scratch you'll be surprised
at what you can do going forward with all the new stuff inside. ...

Hi Bernie,

This is the choice that only you can make. For more info on adapting Groovyband Live! for your personal situation contact them direct.

My explanations are purely derived from the last three day's personal experience playing around with their software - they are the developers.

Henni

Deleted - no longer relevant as Bernie does not have a Genos as yet.

Bernie doesn't have a Genos Henni?

I don't have a Genos, never had. The main reason I am exploring the SX900,besides the better speakers and effects, is the ability to play MP3&G for vocals not played.

Good move Bernie and Goodluck...

Sincere apologies then & deleted my unjustified comment - I honestly thought he already had the best of everything that's currently available.

Yes Bernie, the SX900 would make for a nice upgrade then and should you wish later, Groovyband Live! will still work with it. I'd recommend that they create a specific version that would recognize all the voices from the SX900 & Genos including the Revo drums. Then update all on-board styles to suit. (I think they most prob. are working on something similar already as they have already included all the extra effects from these units even though my S770 can't play it))

Henni no problem..
Merry Christmas to you and your family

Hi Henni,
appreciate your input. Think I’m getting a much clearer understanding of what the software does.

If I was someone who just used the onboard styles as they are, it sounds perfect.
Changing sounds , changing effects , is great, but not being able to alter just say a bass line, or a piano track, ie the midi part of a style , doesn’t work for me.

Plus I couldn’t find the free play styles in the list? Maybe I just missed seeing them.

What I’ve actually done is set up my p121 as controller for my sx. I mainly use piano for r/h voice.
I have sx to the side of my p121, ( ie L shape, I can’t play them stacked) fortunately with my setup I can see the sx screen and I can press some of the buttons, but I use the registrations and the pedal to get me thru the variations and fills for a particular song.

I would have been happy to just use my sx as a sound module for Groovyband , but if I’m having to use sx for some of the styles and the software for others, I might as well just stick to the sx.

Appreciate your time.

i THINK THIS WILL CLARIFY THINGS MORE:



GROOVYBAND LIVE! IS ANOTHER MODULE LIKE A SD40

YOUR TABLET TAKES THE FULL PLACE OF THE MODULE

THE YAMAHA OUTPUTS DRIVE THE AMPS

IF YOU CAN USE A MODULE LIVE, YOU CAN USE GROOVYBAND LIVE!

Note, that you can also transform your PSR into a bigger one with vArranger, with 5 instruments layers for right hand, and 3 for left hand.
You can directly load your PSR styles in vArranger, and play with the OTS too
You can import the list of instruments of your PSR and have access to all of them from vArranger
The Yamaha DSP FX are well played, but a new version will let you to edit them easily too.

Fantastic!!! Dan. Tx for updating us on this. These are the kind of things to be made known.

Dan, being the gentleman that he is, has tried to stay out of a shooting match, but a fuller picture is necessary to make an informed decision.
Thanks Dan

Bernie

rikkisbears,

not sure what you mean with "being able to alter .. the midi part of a style".

Actually you CAN alter the midi part of a style. Let me explain, maybe it is just what you are looking for.

In the mixer, below the volume fader you have two buttons: one with the name of the track (i.e.: "BS" = bass), you use it to select the corresponding mixer strip, another one with a letter (A÷D) that tells you what pattern (within those preprogrammed within the style, for that part, is currently assigned to that part AND that Main section).

If you push that button, you cycle through all the patterns A->B->C->D ---> back to A and so on. While cycling through the patterns the style engine in REAL TIME and SEAMLESSLY will play the selected pattern. Like a real player that improvises on the fly different riffs while the whole band still pushes hard the groove! You can change the pattern as often as you want: the style engine will keep changing the riff naturally and seamlessly as the continuous change was preprogrammed into the style.

Now think about it: for each of the 8 MAINS you have 8 parts (drum, percussion, bass, chord1, chord2, pad, phrase1, phrase2) whose pattern can be independently varied in any possible combination.
Just pressing a single button with the style running and seamlessly playing the result.
When you find something you like (you have 4^8 = 65536 possible combinations to try !!) you leave that variation as it is. Move to another variation (let's say MAIN2) and repeat the process. You can customise the midi part of all the 8 MAINS.

Additionally for each section (Intro, Ending, Main, Fill, Break), and for each part within a given section, you can customise any parameter, for example:

1) Part enable (= if the part should play or not)
2) Volume, pan, sends to var, chorus, reverb, dry level
3) The voice and/or any voice edit parameter (i.e.: filter cutoff, eq, octave shift, detune, ADSR, ....)
4) The DSP algorithm and/or any parameter (i.e.: you could increase the guitar stomp box overdrive). Or even if the DSP should be applied or not.

All the editings are done by turning knobs on the main Mixer screen or Voice/DSP edit screen with the style running and real time feedback from your speakers.


Now think about it: because the fun starts here. You have customised the patterns for a couple of MAINS that in the preset style were not just right for your specific song. They are now much better. You have 8 MAINS to match each section of the song (chorus, verse, intermezzo, .....).
You want to improve them even more. You notice that the guitar track has a nice Amp Simulator applied throughout the style sections. Yes it's nice, but a little boring having it from the beginning to the end of the song.

You go to (let's say) MAIN2 and apply a different Guitar Effect to just that section. You then go to MAIN3 and increase the drive and cabinet type just for that section. You go to MAIN6 and you also change the Guitar Voice to a completely different one. The new voice has by default associated a suitable effect (which is probably different from any of those already in your style). Let's say you want to keep the effect you earlier applied to MAIN2. You go back to MAIN2, copy it (one button push), return to MAIN6 and re-apply it here (another single button push). Done!
Now your guitar part is nicely varied throughout the style, it always changes. Not only the midi pattern, but also the actual guitar and/or the effects applied to it!

In Intro2 there is a nice Brass riff. I want it more memorable! Go to that section, change the DSP to Ensemble Detune (just for that section), adjust the effect to taste (even sourcing from customisable preprogrammed presets), then increase the send to the global VAR bus, that has a killer Ping-pong delay. Step up a little bit the volume, and tweak the pan. Now that brass riff really shines! I could edit it in just 10 seconds!! And all the tweaks just apply to that section. The same brass part in all the other sections stays unaffected.

If I want to change a parameter globally (for all the Sections) I can do that. Do I want to revert a parameter from the local customisation to the global setting? One click: done! NO!! It was better before! Another click: done!

Did I say that the sequencer NEVER stopped and you always were hearing in real time what were going on?

Now multiply this for every part and for any of the parameters you can change and now you discover the REAL power of our software.

It is easier to be done than said!

You will end up with a style that could resemble the original one as little as you wish (listen to Henni's customisation) and as close as you wish to what you have in your head and the song calls for.

Registrations are supported, but given the availability of 8 Mains, 8 OTS and all the customisations I showed you, most of the time you absolutely do not need to touch them!! KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid!

--------------------

Compare all this with your typical Yamaha's workflow and start crying!

Not only most of this is simply not possible. But even when something is possible, the procedure is so convoluted, with no effective visual and audio feedback, and with so much monkey button pushing, that you give up. And anyway your creative moment has already vanished long before you reached the end!

This may sound like an oximoron,but for those who want to go deep, the sky is the limit.

rikkisbears,

I do not want to convince you to buy, I just use your case to explain how the software works and its capabilities. And how they solve problems in the real world.

---------

Groovyband Live! (GBL) supports up to 3 midi input devices for notes input.

You have 2 (your arranger: 61 synth action keys; and your piano: 88 hammer action keys). How can you use them effectively?


GBL supports 3 types of voices:

1) Acmp voices (8 parts): driven by the sequencer for style playing.
2) Lead voices (4 parts): played maually. On Yamaha arrangers these are known as L/R1÷3. In GBL they can simulate that and do much more.
3) Aux voices (4 parts): played manually AND assigned to a second/third keyboard/pedalboard.

Aux voices are customised/saved with each style and travel with it. When you load a style the Aux voices are set up automatically to match the given style.

Aux voices can be used to embellish a performance: having always ready 4 parts to play on a second/third keyboard/pedalborad IN ADDTION to the (OTS) lead voices, can be handy.
Aux voices can be configured as layers/split or any combination in between, because for each of the 4 parts you set:

1) Where you want to play it (2nd or 3rd keyboard/pedalboard)
2) The min/max note range.
3) The min/max velocity range.

Lead voices can be configured as you like from L1÷3/R to R1÷4 (and all the combinations in between). Every OTS (you have 8 for each style) can establish a different partitioning. You can assign an OTS to every main, not necessarily in the canonical order 1->8. OTS (and MAINS) can be reordered at the push of a button. The link between an OTS and a MAIN is preserved even when reordering them.

You have an independent harmony function (fully configurable) for each of the 4 Lead parts (and saved with the OTS).
If you set R1÷4 to play different instruments, each one playing different harmonized note(s), you have an effective way to play quartets of instruments as in a real orchestra (complex multi timbral chords).
As usual all possible combinations are possible, the limit is only your imagination. Not the tool, anymore!


rikkisbear could decide to use the arranger keyboard for chord recognition and lead voice play. And use the piano keyboard for aux voices (possibly using only one, a piano for example!).

Or it could decide the other way around: arranger play on the piano, aux voices on the synth action.

No matter what: the sounds of both keyboards will be correctly configured each time you switch a style.


P.S.: A performance, among the other things, stores the position of the split point, and optionally can refer to a NULL (empty) style.
The empty style NEVER plays any accompaniment part: its only pourpose is to establish the split point and chord recognition machinery so that you can drive your OTSes (and possibly their harmony functions) as a conventional synth 4 parts wide performance.

By loading a single registration (whose number is unlimited) you load a bank of 8 performances (each one 4 parts wide) + global 4 parts wide aux voices (driven by the 2nd/3rd keyboard).
With the software we supply 3440 unique OTSes in all musical genres (good sounding and perfectly balanced). You can use them without any tweaking for instant gratification. Or as building blocks/starting point for your own customisations.

We have also a "smart split" mode, on by default. For those interested, more in depth explanation here.


There are many ways to use our software. Probably calling it only "realtime arranger" is reductive .....


P.P.S: Have you noticed that we have a comprehensive, up-to-date user manual written in clear and plain english, for those willing to master the subject?

Are there any You The demos of this program working in a live mode situation, setting it up,
so we could see how live changes are made and the fluidity of the the variations, sounds, etc,...
pictures are worth a thousand words

You are right: pictures worth a thousand words.
But also: no theory and pictures (and YouTube ? videos) can substitute and are as effective as direct real practice.

We did not (yet) invest in producing pretty marketing videos (we are a small company and till now we put all our resources into the product development, which we steadily improve at a fast pace: changelog).

But we do offer a fully functional demo, with curated content with a quality and immediate gratification on par, if not better, with an HW arranger. You can make any test, discover every feature, learn it at your own pace. No hurry. We are confident in our product, the only way to convince people is let them try it first hands.

You decide if it works for YOU, and if it is worth the admission fee.
Should you decide to buy, having you tested it beforehand thoroughly, will have very little chances to regret!

ok then, Good luck with your product,....it looks interesting.
I hope some day a few buyers will show it off on You Tube
Personally I need to see and hear it in action
for my own needs if so.

Merry Christmas and enjoy.

So far no youtube video’s of groovyband to be found..

Anyway.. the first appthat takes it beyound hardware arrangers gets my money...

Think about features like VST support (allready in V-arranger)
A modern interface for assigning sounds and VST effects to the keyboard, like having 4 zones with up to 4 Layered sounds, just have a look at roland jupiter 80 how they handle splits
A great set of sounds..to mimmick the current hardware arranger (V-arranger allready has this)
A great edditor for sounds
Support for 8 or 16 multipads
A modern mode like ketrons launchpad and multitrack audio player

Etc, etc. Etc....


The first one that creates an engine that surpasses both the kronos workstation and the SD90 by ketron in functionallit... and the genos/pa4x in sound quallity has my money and owns the future..

Both versions currently try copy the mid class arrangers..
The future is for the program that creates a stellar new expereince..

That's a pretty high bar, but who knpws?

Hi Groovyband,
thank you for all the info, it is going to take me some time to work thru what you said. I did download your demo, but, at the moment, I have Xmas guests coming to stay ( I hope) so don’t have the luxury of time to work my way thru it. After Xmas I will definitely check it out.

I tend to agree with Henni, the fact that you use a psr with your software is sort of misleading, it at first gives one the impression it’s a psr style player like One Man Band, and the old Live Styler program from many years back, even Dan’s VArranger 2.
It sounds like you possibly could have picked a different brand of keyboard like a Korg or a Roland to base your software around? but Yamaha might have been the easiest to work with, I don’t know anything about programming , so just guessing.
I think as Henni said, one needs to treat it as a seperate instrument an arranger in its own right, that just happens to use a psr as a base .

Maybe I'm a bit old fashioned, but I fair to see any benefit from most, if not all, software based players, especially for someone that never appears in front of a live audience or sells their musical creations.

There are so, so many powerful tools at built into our arranger keyboards that are right there at our fingertips that never get used to their fullest extent, and some are never used at all because the player/owner has never taken the time to explore all the possibilities and features.

I know of several players that have never taken their owners manual out of the zip-lock back it arrived in with their new keyboards. Yet, these are the same folks that are constantly on line posting questions how to perform a certain task, or complaining that the keyboard cannot do this of that, when it actually can but they never cracked the manual to discover how.

Every style, voice and sound can be edited right on the keyboard, then that information saved to a registration so it can be instantly recalled at the touch of a single button, and this can all be done while performing in real time. I made a damned good living for more than 30 years on stage and never found a use for ANY computer generated voice or sound. No VSTs, none of that stuff. I messed with Band in a Box and several other programs, but never really found a need for them over all the fantastic features already at my fingertips, features that were also very user friendly.

Lean to work with what you already have!

Gary

Gary,

Ever cared enough to peak below the stage of famous rock bands, using mostly guitars only? I did and it looks more like Google's servers than anything else I've seen. You'd be AMAZED!!! by what you'd find my friend.

Do you think John Denver would have approved? We are all operating in different environments and our needs and desires are different.

And here we are down playing a single tablet lying flat on your arranger only...

Henni

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.