I would like to know your answers to the following survey. This is for my own benefit and maybe others who are on the fence about the next keyboard to purchase:

A. How satisfied are you with your G70?
1 - Very Un-satisfied
2
3
4
5 - Very Satisfied

B. How satisfied are you with the Sounds on your G70?
1 - Very Un-satisfied
2
3
4
5 - Very Satisfied

C. How satisfied are you with the Styles on the G70?
1 - Very Un-satisfied
2
3
4
5 - Very Satisfied

D. How satisfied are you with the price/value you are getting with your G70?
1 - Very Un-satisfied
2
3
4
5 - Very Satisfied

E. Would you purchase another G70?
1 - Not Very Likely
2
3
4
5 - Very Likely

F. Would you recommend a G70 to a close friend?
1 - Not Very Likely
3
4
5 - Very Likely

A - 5
B - 4.5
C - 4 (but I don't use them so much)
D - 5
E - 5
F - 5

Summarizing, I'm a G-70 fan, and I think this is well known to SZ forumers.

Close to 5s across the board for me. Coming from a G1000, it was the natural progression. Finally, a world-class piano in an arranger! And a pretty good B3 to boot. And, oh yes, V-Drum multi-velocity sounds!

My only complaint would be how jacked up the price of it got after Roland relegated it to the venal CK Division. It is still good value (I made my G1000 gig for 7yrs, and it still looks cherry, hoping to get that much out of this one!) compared to PA1XPros and Tyros, but would have been less expensive if Roland had let the MI division retail it, like the G1000.

This is not to say that it can't be improved (my comments on the Danish G70 Users Group prove that!), but what keyboard couldn't be??

My only dissatisfaction with the styles is - I want more of them (except the beerhall stuff the Europeans love!) - they are that good.......... but I primarily use the drums and remove a lot of the other stuff (but I do that to ALL arrangers!), so YMMV

For the sake of clarity, Mine is running OS 2.0

"How satisfied are you with your G70?" = 3
- It does what I bought it for about as well as I expected it to (however read on....)

"How satisfied are you with the Sounds on your G70?" = 2
- It sounds very similar to my existing VA-76 and I don't rate that very highly. As with all arrangers, there are some great individual sounds within (sax, brass, organ, strings, some pianos) and some not so good (electric guitars, drums)... but my "2" rating is for what the whole thing sounds like with multiple sounds used together, as you would expect to do.

"How satisfied are you with the Styles on the G70?" = 0 (Very Very Unsatisfied)
- Terrible. The worst I've heard on anything with styles since the 1980's. Wouldn't attempt to use it in style play mode under any circumstances.

"How satisfied are you with the price/value you are getting with your G70?" = 3
- but I bought mine used, at around half new price. It is overpriced new.

"Would you purchase another G70?" = 4
- I am assuming you mean as a replacement if this one got stolen, rather than an extra one

"Would you recommend a G70 to a close friend?" - Two answers here:
- as a proper arranger = 1 (it is slightly more controllable than the VA76, otherwise it would get 0)
- as an advanced midifile player plus live keyboard parts = 5 (which is what I bought it for)

In summary:

If you think of it as a very advanced Discover5 it is great. This is how I treat it - hence I am happy with it so far. Operating system is generally excellent. Generally good balance between functions with physical buttons and tasks done via the (excellent) touch screen. Can be made to sound quite decent with a fair bit of work. Early playing around with the vocal harmoniser suggests that this should be quite usable also (I currently use a stand alone Digitech and will welcome the integration of this function that the G70 offers).

However, if you are looking for a true "live style play" arranger the G70 has a lot of problems. The inbuilt styles are terrible by any standards I can reasonably think of - to the point of being laughably bad in some cases. Would struggle even in comparison with old war horses like the KN2000, PSR4000 etc and is not even vaguely in the same league as any Korg PA or old i-series.

The lack of proper "break" buttons makes it a none starter in terms of the most basic style control functions. This one issue means that too many work arounds are required to beat it into submission, and even then you can't always make it cooperate properly with fairly straight forward stuff.

Even with OS2 installed, the instrument sounds grim straight out of the box. If I didn't know from owning a VA76 that it was feasible to get some sort of reasonable sound quality from it (at least as a midifile player), I would never have looked at it twice.

I could see it being just about acceptable as an arranger if you don't play anything at all modern - by that, I mean nothing more modern than a Bossa Nova. It does great cheesy versions of those.....

All of this is a real shame as there is a lot of clever stuff within. It's just that the absolute basics are not right.

From my point of view, I am generally happy with it, as it does what I bought it for very well - so I am not being critical of it from the viewpoint of an unhappy owner. However, I would rate it's style play abilities as unusable on stage, and barely useable even for roughing out the basics of a new midifile via the (excellent)inbuilt sequencer.




[This message has been edited by MikeTV (edited 10-20-2005).]

[This message has been edited by MikeTV (edited 10-20-2005).]

[This message has been edited by MikeTV (edited 10-20-2005).]

[This message has been edited by MikeTV (edited 10-20-2005).]

Mike , I still don't understand the wide opinions 'terrible" to "great"..
It has to be more than personal taste..

Let me understand that you have the just released[week ago] Version 2, or is it just one of the OS upgrades?

It sounds like your G70 may be suffering from the "poor" style effects or something that others mentioned on the G70 release..

I have the G70 styles converted to the G1000, and out of the 285 factory styles..more than 60% are "great"..
Another 30% are still better than most of the competitors...and the remaining 10% lack something ,that I believe the G70 handles correctly..

Sounds are personal, and I prefer my G1000 bank of sounds over anything else I have played, with a few exceptions of individual sounds..

I have not tried the G70 yet, but I will totally be surprised if I do not like it.

Mike please confirm your true OS and if indeed you have version2...If you did not update on the last week...you do not have version 2...

Mike

Truly I am not here to fight or disagree with your impressions of the G-70. I respect everyones feeling in these matters.
I don't think I have ever read a review like the one you just gave. I am taken back by it and I am not an owner. I find it very hard to believe there are that many cons regarding this board. It's true we all have different desires, likes dislikes but come on were you serious. To me it sounds like you HATE this board. I think you should conceder selling it and buying something a little better.

I want to thank everyone that has replied thus far. I know it takes some time and effort for these opinions so it's very much appreciated.

However, I'm more confused now that I was prior to the reading this. My primary use for an arranger keyboard is to do a two piece with a female singer. I sing myself so I would be using many styles. The sounds must be of very high quality. I have an aversion to cheezy ump pa styles and sounds.

The two areas that MikeTV did not rate high, Styles and Sounds, are both keys to my purchase. I agree with Fran, I just can't understand the extreme range of likes and dislikes with this board.

To me that translates to 50% of my audience will not like the way this board sounds!!!!

That is just too risky to me. I'm going to have to go and play it for myself to determine if I like it. I purchased the Tyros sight unseen and except for the keyboard size and feel was extremely happy with it. I can only extrapolate that I will be MUCH happier with the Tyros2 when it is released.

What the hell do I do now?

Easy: play a G-70, then play a PA1X-pro, then wait for the Tyros 2, then make up your mind!

P.S.: My understanding of the G-70 (which I have played a couple of times) is that it has good sounds (after all many of them are derived from the Fantom X), a terrific keyboard and really average styles. This last point holds true even after listening to the styles that come with OS 2.0.
Roland has released an expansion board (SRG-01) that has terrific sounds (including one of the best Rhodes piano I have ever heard) and a few sampled loops, but I still have to listen to demo's of styles that make us of those loops.
I am, more or less, in the same situation as you; Tyros 2 will be here in November and I am planning to buy one, because it would be silly to loose all the tweaking work I have done with my Tyros 1. But I love the concept Ketron implemented first: sampled loops playing along with styles, so I will probably buy a Midjay as well.
A.


[This message has been edited by Dreamer (edited 10-20-2005).]

Just a thought when talking styles etc etc on the AR KB's..........most people want excellent styles right out of the box and thats very personalized & opinionated as to what is a great style....AR Kb's are able to make those styles which you dont like better to suit your needs, or for that matter other kbs styles too, knocking a KB thats has such aweome power to edit things is unfair......you dont hear much about tweaking editing styles etc etc to make the styles & sounds better to suit your needs...
otherwise why do we need all the stuff inside these KB's?

A. How satisfied are you with your G70?
4,5

B. How satisfied are you with the Sounds on your G70?
5

C. How satisfied are you with the Styles on the G70?
4

D. How satisfied are you with the price/value you are getting with your G70?
5 - only paid 2000 Euro (e months old)

E. Would you purchase another G70?
5

F. Would you recommend a G70 to a close friend?
5

I like the G 70 very much. Before I had a KN 2600 and the styles did not have approximately the quality of the G70 styles. Anyway the sounds the styles are based on are of a much better quality.

A very powerful tool ist the "Style Makeup Tool". You can import a lot of older styles and very easily change most of the parameters. Try it!
If you use Styleworks in addition, you can easily convert Yamaha styles, Korg styles and others. It only took 3 weeks - now I have all styles I need. I guess some of them sound better than with the original keynoard. E.g. the dance styles sound great and even German Polka sounds better form PSR 9000 than of the internal memory.

You have to see the potential of the keyboard and the hardware. If ou only use internal styles, you have to buy additional styles or to work by yourself. I don't think there's any other board with such a wide based choice of sounds. And lots are really cool! I look forward to the new expansion board. Some missing sounds will be added in outstanding quality.

Only a sampler is missing. But I don't really miss it, cause I have all I need!

I, like Fran, can't beieve that Mike's ratings are even close to what dozens of my customers here at my music store and myself personally would be able to agree with at all. I've not even received my Version 2's as of this posting (however, they are do to arrive by UPS today) so I also think that you might be running a lower number operating system. Even then, the styles and sounds are very good to my ears although I would agree that there should be more available from Roland by now to compliment the G70.
As most of you know, I sell Yamaha, Korg, Ketron, Generalmusic, Roland and Casio arrangers and I would put the G70 right up there with any top quality arranger for sound, styles and functions.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

quote:
Originally posted by kbrkr:
What the hell do I do now?"

Maybe you could look at the Genesys xp module and a controller keyboard?

I have played G70 in the store, and to my ear both the sounds and the styles that I have tried sounded excellent. I would take issue with the excessive reliance on touchscreen for navigation, and a few other things (you can search for my recent comments on this subject), but not sounds and styles.

Of course, I don't own the instrument, and perhaps Mike has come across some really bad sounds and styles, which give rise to such a negative review.

However, i think there is a different explanation, and it has to do with the fact that liking sounds and styles is an extremely subjective matter. You may very well like them like me, or you may hate them, like Mike. The only solution is to try the instrument yourself.

You can read this forum, and check out what people's gripes about this (or any other) instrument are. Then, when you play it, try to pay particular attention to those concerns, and decide whether they will pose problems for you or not.

Good luck,
Alex

Hi

I am not suprised to have stirred up a few astonished replies to my comments, but I stand by what I said.

No, I don't hate the board at all. It is a recent purchase and it sounds and behaves pretty much exactly as I expected in every respect. So far I am generally pleased with it.

To clarify why I seem to be adopting a contradictory attitude on this instrument - i.e. there is much I dislike, yet I still bought it & say I am happy with my purchase:

- My G70 is running OS2. I formatted it's internal memory before loading this, and replaced all factory data with the latest OS2 stuff also. It is therefore sounds and functions the same as you will get in a newly shipped one.

- When I first had it, it was running the original operating system and contained the original factory settings. It sounded so bad straight out of the box that I am amazed that anyone bought one at all. Side by side with my existing VA-76 it sounded much worse than the VA (and I don't have a high opinion of the VA's sound quality either).

However, if you called up a corresponding tone on both instruments, it was obvious that they essentially sounded the same. It was the factory settings (mixing, FX etc)that were the main problem, rather than the inherent tone quality itself.

- I bought the G70 specifically to use in on stage in midifile player mode, with keyboard parts (splits, layers FX etc) plus vocal harmony settings linked to each midifile in a set of user programmes. The G-70 does this job supremely well.

- Used in this mode, it can be made to sound pretty respectable, albeit with some effort. Each manufacturer tends to have their own distinctive sound quality, and I accept that users will have different tastes.

Personally, I find that Rolands arrangers generic sound quality seems "old" and "tired". I also find that the overall sound seems cluttered with not enough "air" around each individual tone. I generally prefer the punchier, clearer sound of Korg instruments. To me, the difference between the two brands is rather like listening to an MP3 copy of a CD. It's essentially the same music, but with some of the subtlety taken out in the Roland's case.

- As an arranger, whilst it is a big improvement over the VA range, the G70 still has too many limitations over how easily you can control the basic style play functions - no individual "fill" buttons probably being the biggest shortcoming. The "autofill" function is OK in it's own way, but isn't an adequate substitute for the real thing. There are other issues here also, like the lack of flexibility in terms of which break is allied to which main style division etc.

Even if the quality of style programming was good, these restrictions still remain, and are, in some cases, a function of hardware design. In my situation, these problems didn't matter too much as I don't intend to ever use the instrument in true arranger mode.

I would point out here that my comments are not based on any lack of practice in using style play arrangers. I used to gig an old Korg i3 with a band for years, exclusively using it in style play mode (and also extensively road tested many of it's obvious competitors over the years).

There is no way that I would attempt to use the G-70 as a substitute for the old i3, mainly because of the G-70s style control limitations. The old i3 is still infinitely more flexible here, despite appearing simpler on the surface. (I won't get into a debate here about comparisons on style and sound quality between the two, because that isn't the issue).

Although I never owned a G1000, I get the impression that there are still certain functions and degrees of control that this instrument offered that the G70 cannot emulate.

Roland are not the only offenders in terms of forgetting the basics. Korg themselves went backwards in some respects with the later i30HDD (owned one - couldn't get on with it - got rid and kept the older i3) and PA80. They forgot the superb panel ergonomics of the i3 (lots of BIG good feeling buttons in exactly the right place) and made mistakes with some of the basics like not allowing the "bass inversion" button setting to be saved as part of a user programme (i3 could, i30 and PA80 can't -latest PA1X operating system can).

I mention this in part to show that I am not a "Roland Hater" in any way. Each manufacturer has their own ideas and ways of doing things. It just seems sometimes as if they never look at each others products. There often seem to be so many "obvious best" ways of doing certain things that wouldn't be patentable, that I'm surprised that manufacturers don't copy competitors best ideas more often.

My move to a midifile based way of playing was a concious decision. It turned out that the Roland (initially a VA76, now being replaced with my new G70) seemed to be the best tool for the job. Hence I put my money where my mouth was :-)

I appreciate that there are a few other instruments that may have offered the midifile + live keyboard parts that I was looking for, but I passed over some because (for example) they might have had pitch bend wheels instead of the lever that I prefer, or other similar issues. Doesn't make the Roland better or worse - just nearest to what I wanted.

There is a lot that is very good about the G70. I very much like the look and feel of the operating system. The new touch screen is excellent and Roland have generally got the mix of hard buttons versus touch screen controls about right (with the exception of the lack of "fill" buttons mentioned earlier)

Sound quality seems generally on a par with the VA series. As well as the additional drawbar organ section and guitar mode (haven't explored that yet) the G70 offers some additional new sounds, but loses some of the older ones - some of which you will miss if you already own a Roland.

Drums in particular are an issue here. Although the kits on the G70 are OK, there are less of them than are on the VA. However the G70 is supplemented by the very useful ability to swap out specific parts of the kit (change to a different snare & bass, for example) and to fine tune each individual drum instrument. Despite this, I have still not been able to exactly replicate some of the better sounding VA kits - notably some of the "Standard" kits that carried over from the G1000 and the VA "Standard 1" kit, which had a particularly good snare sound for some styles of music.

The G70 vocal harmoniser also appears pretty good on early aquaintance.

The new sequencer is excellent and very easy to use. File handling, memory usage and the USB facilities are excellent and the instrument is generally very easy to set up and programme.

Because there is so much that is good, I just feel that it is a shame that the instrument doesn't sound better, and that it has such severe control restrictions over the main arranger functions. There are a lot of subtle refinements under the skin, but the basics just aren't right.

It's a bit like buying a car that is fitted with every accessory, option and gizmo under the sun, but discovering that the basic vehicle itself is nothing special.

Anyway, I hope this makes my view clearer! My advice? Play one yourself in the manner you would intend to use it. If you like it - buy it!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MikeTV:

(and I don't have a high opinion of the VA's sound quality either).

This particular comments says it all to me......if you don't like Roland VA sounds, why bother with their next board? I happen to LOVE the VA sounds and am sure that I would the G70 also.

zuki

Hi Zuki

The reason that I bothered with the G70 is the same as I bothered with the VA. It does the functional job I need it to do very well.

I think that several other keyboards I have either owned or tried out sound better than these two Rolands. However, it is possible to make them sound acceptably good and they offer the particular functionality that I wanted.

In other words, I am knowingly sacrificing some sound quality to get the specific functionality I was looking for.

All instruments are a compromise. The G70 was the most suitable compromise I could find at the time, for the relatively low price I paid. That doesn't make me blind (or deaf) to it's shortcomings though.

Regards - Mike

Where/how did you listen to the SR-G01 sounds?
I looked for demos/preview on the web, but I didn't find anything.

o3bor
http://www.selskabsmusikeren.dk

Thanks Nielshs!
But I cannot find there the sampled loops that Dreamer was talking about.
Do you have another source to suggest me, Dreamer?

I have to say that, were it not for the 80's inspired styles, the G70 would come close to the perfect keyboard. And you CAN change them, either by buying new ones (MidiSpot have some EXCELLENT styles optimized for G70) or converting older Roland styles, or converting other manufacturers' styles (probably easier to do on the G70 than any other arranger).

What you have to understand about these kind of reviews is the kind of person writing them........... Is the glass half full, or half empty? The REALLY telling question that MikeTV answered was E. Would you purchase another G70?

Despite the panning he gave it, the answer was YES!. So I guess the glass is half empty.

My major beef with the G70 is mostly ergonomic and control changes from the G1000, and reading MikeTV, he obviously misses the layout from his old Korg. I think, though, that this tends to point out the fact that, once we are comfortable and familiar with a particular interface, it gets very hard to adjust to something that, from a fresh player's perspective, is just fine.

Quote "The lack of proper "break" buttons makes it a none starter in terms of the most basic style control functions" just means that Mike is probably unaware that OS2 re-introduced the Break/Mute function, and tied it to the AssignSW by the left hand.

Quote; "The new touch screen is excellent and Roland have generally got the mix of hard buttons versus touch screen controls about right (with the exception of the lack of "fill" buttons mentioned earlier)" The fill buttons are in a cluster of four in the Style Control section. They double as Variation selection, all you have to have is the Auto Fill-in button enabled and as you select whether you change variations or return to the same, a fill is triggered. You can also trigger the variation and fills from Rolands excellent FC7 seven button pedalboard, making for a pretty good hands-free operation (I HATE having to stop playing to hit buttons!).

I guess the thing you need to realize is that, despite the glass being half empty, MikeTV didn't go out and buy a different glass.

But if anyone from Roland is trolling, here, if you don't want the G70 to wither on the vine, get some of the hippest programmers you can find, and bring out 50-100 new styles that, at least, compare favorably with Tyros2 and other 21st century arrangers.

o3bor: if you read my post more carefully, you will see that I actually wrote that I was unable to find demo's of styles making use of the sampled loops. I hope to find them in the future, since this is a feature that really interests me.
Regards,
A.

Yes Diki, that is correct - but only for use as a midifile play machine - not as a true style based arranger. I would never have considered buying it in the first place for that purpose.



That is a fair point, but in this instance it is not lack of familiarity which is the issue. I think the operating system on the G70 is very user friendly, whereas the old Korg's was fairly horrible. However, I felt that Korg had done an excellent job on the front panel ergonomics on the i3, whereas the G70 (and many other makes/models, to be fair, including other Korg models) are less good in this important respect.

There is no such thing as a perfect instrument, and I don't mind having to find the odd work-around to get some things done. However, the basic hardware design and panel layout of an instrument is something you have to live with every time you play the instrument, so it needs to be "right" from the start.

Quote:

Quote "The lack of proper "break" buttons makes it a none starter in terms of the most basic style control functions" just means that Mike is probably unaware that OS2 re-introduced the Break/Mute function, and tied it to the AssignSW by the left hand.

Sorry - my comment was misleading. Wrong terminology! I actually meant "Fill" buttons rather than "Break" buttons. I am aware that OS2 functions as you describe, and this is good.

What I wanted was a set of dedicated buttons to enable instant free access to any "Fill" pattern within the style. Ideally, these would have the ability to be set within each user programme so that the user can decide which main variation the "fill" leads into, rather than being stuck with the factory choices only.

Quote:

...The fill buttons are in a cluster of four in the Style Control section. They double as Variation selection, all you have to have is the Auto Fill-in button enabled and as you select whether you change variations or return to the same, a fill is triggered.

Yes - this is what I am complaining about. Although this functionality is OK in it's own right, it is just not versatile enough. It would have been nice for this feature to have been offered this as an additional convenience function, but it is not an adequate substitute for a proper set of dedicated fill buttons.

Even the minimalist panel design of the VA series managed to find room for ONE fill button..... :-)

Quote:

You can also trigger the variation and fills from Rolands excellent FC7 seven button pedalboard, making for a pretty good hands-free operation

True - but this still doesn't get round the fact that you can't introduce a partial fill towards the end of a bar (not the same as the "Half-Bar" function that is present), and you cannot divorce a particular fill from it's parent style variation (other than by programming a new style by cloning).

To me, these are essential features that I would take for granted as being present on any but the most primitive of arranger keyboards. As soon as I saw pictures of the G70 panel layout, it was obvious that the lack of dedicated fill buttons would be a potential problem to some degree.

Quote:

But if anyone from Roland is trolling, here, if you don't want the G70 to wither on the vine, get some of the hippest programmers you can find, and bring out 50-100 new styles that, at least, compare favorably with Tyros2 and other 21st century arrangers.

Amen to that sentiment!

Regards - Mike

[This message has been edited by MikeTV (edited 10-22-2005).]

[This message has been edited by MikeTV (edited 10-22-2005).]

Hey Mike

Thanks for clarifying your original post. This was a little easier to accept and understand your personal thoughts. As we all know every board has and has not. But the sound of the board must be up to snuff especially if you plan to use it in a recording environment. I only wish their were a place to see and hear all of these boards, it sure would be easier than reading and writing posts for several months, and then only to find ( After purchasing ) that you are not pleased.
In short, I think that Roland is as good as the rest but they lack BIG TIME in advertisement, support and communication with their supporters.
(U.S. that is) and us.( we). I hope that was clear.
I don't think they follow the forums as closely as their competitors. JMO....

Roland is not lacking in advertisement, what it is lacking is communicating with its users (as if in the difference between talking to someone and having a dialogue).

The spend thousands of $ publishing their newsletter - it has snazzy graphics, and nice glossy print. However, the content is absolutely useless. I, for one, don't give a #$^@ about how Christina Aguelera's band uses Roland keyboards, and to me this is a money wasted. And still, while pushing their shamelessly self-promotional crap at us, they have for years not had a way for the users to contact them and indicate what works for them and what does not.

I have been voicing my gripes about Roland keyboards here for years, and found that I am not alone with my concerns. I have also tried to write to various Roland addresses for years, but generally received no acknowledgements. Then, when Roland would come out with a new keyboard, the design would suggest that our concerns were all but ignored.

For example, while we had been asking for an OS which does not require using a touch screen when playing, the G70 relies on the touch screen even more than the VA76 did. We were asking for more buttons, but got less, asking for a lighter instrument than the G1000, only to get a back-breaking behemoth. Chiropractors must love Roland and Korg.

They did add a harmonizer, and got rid of a Zip drive, but that was more to a response to the competition than in response to our requests.

I am not saying that the G70 is bad, only that it could have been way better had Roland done what we were asking it to do. Indeed, we have to use workarounds to get by the shortcomings of various instruments, but Roland could have had a lot fewer shortcomings to work around, such as not having enough buttons for necessary functions.

The fact that Roland decided not to sell the G70 in the regular music stores further underscores the disconnect between the company and their user base, at least here in the US.

Regards,
Alex

Thats not true.The VA76 relies on the touch screen but the G-70 dont. It have lot of buttons compared to the VA-76.

Niels

Sorry, I understood that you listened the loops 'as they are' but not used in a style.
Thanks.

Hello to all,

I had a chance to spend some extensive time last wk. on this K/B and in a nut shell, will confirm what has already been said by some.
I agree that we all use our boards in different ways, so our goals and expectations may differ. Like Scott, I play live. No midi files. I want to be able to sit down and play right away, no tweeking, minimal button pushing. My expectations are high quality sounds and styles.
The sounds were for the most part, FLAT. On OS 2, still too much reverberation on the voices. The salesman and I couldn't figure out how to adjust this. Compared to the PA1X, the voices did not have the clarity, the punch, the crispness. Some of the voices almost sounded muffled.
Specifically, the pianos/organs were excellent, the blown saxes were very good. Everything else needed tweeking for my style of play. I need to spend time on improving my music skills, not pushing buttons.
The styles in general left me uninspired. I kept on searching through the mix of choices in each catagory and couldn't find that inner-satisfaction feeling when playing. (I'm sure you know what I mean) I'm not saying it wasn't possible, it would take too much time to try and find it. Many of the styles were IMO over-processed, rough, busy. For example, the Bossa Novas. Several choices available, but nothing like the PA1X's guitar bossa. This style is simple and beautiful. (Those who know it, I'm sure know.) Less is more.

The 70 has alot to offer. Rich in features, like the new guitar mode (imatating a strumming guitar folk style)and others, but it has failed to CAPTIVATE me overall in what I look for and I left not begging for more.
I do alot of reading here, and felt I should at least give my honest opinion to the group on this topic.

Seems like you enjoy Latin styles I would suggest you try to audition a Ketron
SD-1 exp? Simply awesome and the editing flexability is super too.

Niels,

When I wanted to select a sound or style, I could use the button to select the group, and then I had to use the touchscreen to pick the individual sound or style out of the screenfull (or to go to a different page). How can you do this with only the buttons?

In VA there was two rows of buttons, which lighted up in different color depending on the function - first row would select the group, the second row would select the individual item, e.g. style, performance (though for the tones you had to select the variation on screen). I did not find the individual selection buttons on the G70, leading me to believe that there is no way other than the touchscreen, to make these selections.

If you can tell me how you do it WITHOUT NEEDING TO USE THE TOUCHSCREEN (and I am not talking about the OTS buttons either), I will agree that my previous statement was indeed not correct.

Regards,
Alex

Wow, it sounds like 2.0 DID NOT address the excessive reverb problem at all, as I came away with the exact same impressions you had, when auditioning the G70 with OS 1.4.

Interestingly enough, your above description (except for the reverb complaint) echoes the impression I came away with when I had auditioned the Ketron SD1 nearly 3 years ago. I only trust this has been resolved on the SD1, by now?

Because it's obvious that different people come away with ENTIRELY DIFFERENT impressions from the exact same keyboard(s), it's obvious that it all comes down to taste: Some of us just have 'better taste' than others.

Scott

try listen to this http://www.selskabsmusikeren.dk/index.ph...pic=996.0;id=59 and this http://nielshs.homepage.dk/DemoSRX-07-04.mp3

[This message has been edited by nielshs (edited 10-24-2005).]

You have made my day!

I now know that I am not alone in the world in my opinions of this machine.

I also now know that at least I am not going deaf......... ;-)

Someone have the time and skils to make the G-70 sounds good, others don't have the time or the skils. Remember it's called a Music Workstation wich give you the opportunity to make you own personly sound.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Scottyee:


Some of us just have 'better taste' than others.

oooooh....cruel

I too tried the g70 about 5 months ago. Roland call it their most powerful arranger ever. I call it their biggest joke ever. It sounds just like the va5. Why is roland recycling the same old crap sounds over and over. The styles were for the most part crap. Drum sounds lacked the punch of other manufacturers. The only good parts are the keys and vocal harmony. Hate the touch screen and fill in methods. For such an expensive keyboard to sound so crap (some sounds were even worse than my old va5) i give it an overall score of 0 out of 5. This keyboard is like watching a big budget movie with a story that goes nowhere!

Hi "Rolandfan"

The "out of the box sound" was not good 5 monts ago, but with OS2 it sound much better. Its the best keyboard I have ever played, and im very happy with it after serveral hours of programming. Just bourgt the SRX-07 expansion board with a lot of lovly sounds. With this card installed it beat all the other brands.
Btw, isn't it time to change your uername?

Regards Niels

The basic voice sample will remain the same no matter how many upgrades roland give the g70. I will keep my username...perhaps rolands next top arranger in 5 years time will have completely new samples and vastly improved styles drum kits and no touch screen

"Different Strokes For Different Folks" as the saying goes.

Give Rolandfan credit of his candidness of the 70 in as much he hasn't fallen into the "no matter what" trap.

For me (perhaps some of us), it isn't a good sign if I have to spend excessive time re-tweeking sounds/styles. Learning to play the correct black and white keys with individuality is hard and time consuming enough, especially when there are other K/Bs that help us sound good right away.

Hi N9FALL,
good idea, black and white keys, sound chip and some styles, that's it. You need no manual, has no questions. This machine can be selled by a discount shop. Pretty good.
Regards,
Hanspeter

Very true, but you still can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!

Regards - Mike