"Just played my G-70 for a couple Hours"

Well this brings the Total time up to about 6 Hours now!...This Home Renovation is going to kill me, just kidding...I had a few people E-mailing asking an evaluation which I could not Honestly give for the lack of playing time with the G-70...ALSO being I had the Korg Pro here also...I'm not getting into comparsion of Keyboards...EVERYONE has different taste and needs!
Well now I'm not sure I can sell it just yet and If I do it's NOT because of any Issue with the G-70, ONLY if I can justify the Investment to the time I have to play it, etc...There has been endless postings about the G-70 and as in every keyboard both good and bad(Remember when the PA-80 and Pro was Introduced,OS after OS to bring the boards up to their potential)and Korg is still working on Improvements on the Pro, WHICH is GOOD...They are getting VERY Close...I don't agree with all of this, But if you look at EVERY Professional Synth Workstation,Yamaha,Roland Korg,Kurz they are built to be Improved on and Expanded with Updated OS Systems...So this IS REALLY VERY IMPORTANT!
Now back to the G-70 and my Opinion only(I have Owned the 9000Pro,Tyro's,PSR-3000,Technics 2600,Korg PA-60,80,Pax1-Pro,Ketron SD-1 and Now The G-70)All fine Instruments...I think Roland has a Super Start on this Keyboard. The QUALITY Pro Construction is there(Yes it's a bit heavy, better that than chessy construction),The Layout is Excellent,The screen is Excellent,MANY Excellent Features,Important is POWER, it has Horsepower!...Editing is Super easy...Piano is top notch(the only arranger with Super Sampling as the Roland X)...I rate the Organs as my Favorite also...In fact I like most all the Sounds VERY Much and it's easy to edit them to your taste...Oh! the Action is being discussed...AWSOME, Smooth ,quality keys I mean ALL OVER, the ENDS,Sides. perfectly weighted, you can really slide your fingers around for Organ and Great touch for Piano Work...My opinion..The BEST so far in any Keyboard....Styles...The LIVE are Fantastic finding 8-10 very usable...I think Roland needs to add more Jazz and BIG Band with high standards...Like George said the Lower 3 and Top three Parts(Sounds) can be layered or played anywhere on the Keyboard...I like to use that in Whole keyboard mode just to switch sounds back and forth live, so east to Play with using improvision, etc!
So I know a OS 2.0 update is coming soom October maybe with alot of Changes and additions... How about a Style converter?...Put some of your favorite,Yamaha,Ketron,Korg styles in!!!... I heard that was forcoming, Is a Style converter possible???...
Well I think you most likely have figured out, I like The Keyboard more each time I use It...Maybe I should Use it More and forget about selling it???...Anyways off to Bed and If it's not raining tomorrow back to the House Project!...Have to get it done before retirement comes...Have a Great Day Everyone!!!!

Forgive the Poor grammer and Spelling Error's...It's 1:30 am I'm TIRED!

Harold,

You get to retire? WOW! My wife says I have to be dead at least three days before I can retire. If rigormortis hasn't set in, and the body hasn't become somewhat pungent, I gotta' keep working. Something like the movie "Weekend at Bernies." My wife, on the other hand, gets to retire this coming year, either in January or June (her choice). When this happens I'll have to play more jobs to pay for her health insurance until Medicare kicks in. WOW! You actually get to retire. NAH! It's just another fantasy.

Cheers,

Gary

------------------
Travlin' Easy

Gary....If I could Play and SING as well as you...And many Others Here on the Zone I would not think about retirement!!!....
Hopefully It's about 5-6 Years for My Wife and I...We both have *JOBS*...If Our House project does not kill me first and the STRESS of it all!...Shes sings better than I, maybe we can team up???...second thaught best not, to preserve our Marriage!...
And Yes that Insuance thing is Exactly why I'm working my *job* until age 63 for the Medical Coverage....It is only going UP,Up,Up with no end in sight....Sorry Everyone about getting off Subject....But this is why this Forum is so Great!...You will not find better People anywhere....Have GREAT day Everyone....

HI, had a chance to have a look at the g 70 i have the korg pro also, what i like about the g 70 is the colour screen and the functions on it, they are much easier to handle then the pro, i will go back and check the g 70 some more out with more time, best regards ,BENNO

Id really like to try one of the G70's it looks like a great unit however im no arrangist, and arrangers just arent my cup of soup!

Phil

I just recently had yet another opportunity to audition the G70 in a local music store and found quite a few things I really like about it. Unfortunately, there were other things I didn't like as well.

Likes: Terrific keyboard feel and key size (longer than the Yamaha's PSR/Tyros's keys). Both the keyboard's responsive key feel and its 76 keys opened the door to arranger playing inspiration & expression for me making me feel immediately 'at home' playing this keyboard. The only thing I missed as far as the keyboard itself goes was that it regretably does not fully include 'rootless' jazz chord recognition like Korg, Yamaha, Ketron, & Technics arrangers do. Interesting enough though, it does support a couple of the important rootless chord voicings, namely C9 (E1-Bb1- D2) as I recall. Another thing I really appreciate (and surprised about) the G70 is how easy the OS & button layout is to navigate. I was able to find most all the arranger functions I was looking for 'on the fly' without cracking the manual as they all seem to be located just where I thought they would (and should) be). I especially appreciate the G70's physical volume SLIDERS which allow you to quickly make 'on the fly' volume level adjustments for each/any indivual live part. This elimates having to go into a LCD screen menu as the Tyros & PSR3000 do. The other thing I like about the G70 is it's solid built construction (metal vs plastic). The downside is that the G70 is (at nearly 50 lbs) a LOT heavier (and less easily transportable) than the Tyros: 27 lbs. I suspect even a 76 note Tyros would also weigh considerable less than the G70 does.

As much as I really appreciate the likes mentioned above, the sounds & styles failed to inspire me. Like many others here, I too feel the sounds have way too much reverb effects added, causing acoustic instsruments (piano, etc) to sound unaturally artificial. I was especially disapointed in the styles, especially the swing, acoustic jazz & big band ones. They sound not much better (if at all) then the old Roland RA800 (module version of the G800) of which I owned quite a few arranger keyboard generations back. These styles don't breathe or swing (too omph pa omph pa sounding) and sounded (to me) too stiff & repetative (same fill repeating over & over too often). Perhaps if only the G70 had incorporated the Tyros' sounds & styles, the G70 would have been the perfect upgrade solution for me. In the meantime, I'll wait to see if (another?) G70 OS upgrade will address & solve my above concerns. I continue to realize that Chris Halon (formerly with Technics) now heads the Roland G70 development teams so keep my hopes up that he may help influence Roland Japan to implement those impressive arranger features (rootless chord recognition), sounds (esp quality Steinway acoustic piano sample) & styles (best arranger kb swing jazz styles made imho (& produced by Chris Halon himself) of the Technics KN7000. Keeping my fingers crossed (for Roland's sake). - Scott

Scott,

Which store did you audition the G70? I'm interested in trying it out as well. BTW, which OS version was on the G70?

Henry

Benno...Yes the Korg Pro is an Awsome keyboard for sure...I guess it's like in the Pro Synth boards that, Yamaha, Roland, Korg have, They all are very different, but all Excellent!...I guess have owned The Triton, New FantomX7,Motif rack(not the new ES rack...I really like Rolands,Quality build, Layouts,Sequencers,fairly easy OS systems and more...But again everyone has different likes and dislikes!
I guess I like the G-70 Grand piano so well is It's used in the FantomX series,In their rack Module,RD-300sx,RD-700SX(It has one better though besides, only avaiable in the 700SX...It sounds Identical beside my Wifes New RD-300sx "X" Piano patch...You may want to lighten the reverb to a diffent setting and save it which takes 5 seconds to do!..And I like Roland Sounds over the years...The JV-1080-2080 synth modules have been used in more Pro studio's over the years than any manufacure(even being used today, out dated as they be )....What Important is having the opertunity to built the sound as you need it...That's where the Korg Pro Shines also in my opinion...
Yes, the Layout on the G-70 I agree is somewhat better than the Korg Pro I agree, and the Screen is clear Quick,easy to touch, and the general layout is somewhat better for "Me"...I really like holding the Sound with the sustain and switching to another VER FAST, and SMOOTH..For the life of me I don't know why The Yamaha Tyro's, 3000 you CANNOT hold the Strings with the Sustain to your needs!...???...Enjoy your Korg Pro...a Top notch Pro Board backed by a Very good Team in Italy striving to keep Improving their Product....

Hi Henry , great to see you back (from Toronto) now residing here again in the San Francisco Bay Area.


Colton Piano in Walnut Creek.



Good question. I forgot to check the OS version, but it's the OS version installed in the keyboard (when shipped from Roland). I did inform the store salesman (Jeff) about the latest downloadable OS available online & urged him to check & install the latest version to possibly gain from its (sound improvement?) benefits.

Here's another observation I made about the G70. Though I appreciated the color LCD screen, it's size appears smaller (and substantially less sharp & clear to my eyes) than the Tyros' display. The G70's fixed position display screen (lack of tilt adjustment) & finger touch touch screen requirement only to make important on the fly selections are other 'serious' drawbacks, especially if you occasionally need to perform outdoors as I do. Dispite this, the keyboard's feel & navigation & sounds, esp acoustic piano (once the efx are heavily reduced) keep my eyes & ears open to another audtion following hopeful OS improvements.

Henry, let me know what you think of the G70 after auditioning it. Perhaps we could work a deal if we buy 2 G70' together from the piano store. Btw, I trust you're still playing & enjoying your Ketron KB?

Scott

Scott,

Thanks for the info. Walnut Creek is only 20 minutes drive from Dublin. I will go up there this weekend to check out the G70.

Yes I still enjoy playing my SD-1. It's still the best sounding keyboard for me.

Henry

I went up to Walnut Creek to try out the G70 at Colton Piano today. Colton Piano has a large selection of pianos as it's mainly a piano store. There was no other customer in the store, I could play all I want without being disturbed. They did not have a PA system so I tried out the G70 with a set of headphones that was setup there. The 1st thing I checked was the OS version, it was at 1.10. That's good. I think I played for about 1 hour. Overall I was very disappointed with the sounds & the styles. I did not like them at all. I really don't have anything new to report. I always liked the Roland sounds since my band uses many Roland gears. There is nothing new in the sound department except the sounds had too much effects. I'm sure the sounds could be tuned to sound good. The styles were very mechanical. The ones I tried were very busy and had very little musical feel. Another thing is I don't like the fills. There are no fill buttons! When you change variations, it puts in a fill for you. Very strange. On the other hand, this keyboard is well built, it has a beautiful color screen, lots of useful buttons and the keys are excellent. Roland needs to spend more effort on the styles and the sounds.
I have not been to a piano shop for many years. I had a great time playing the different pianos at Colton. There was a Bosendorfer at the very back of the store. It was so nice, beautiful tones and great actions. It was selling for $127,000.00 USD. That's a lot of money! I thought the playing action was a little on the light side.
Henry

[This message has been edited by Henry01 (edited 07-20-2005).]

Henry, considering this fact, and that I played the exact SAME keyboard (probably with 1.10 as well, unless an OS upgrade was actually performed between the time I played it and when you did, which I doubt) it seems that we BOTH came away with the SAME impression of the G70. Considering all the standout features of this keyboard (terrific 76 note keyboard feel, well placed buttons, & user friendly OS & navigation), it's ashamed that the G70's sounds & styles sound so lackluster out of the box. Thanks for your report Henry.

Scott

[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 07-20-2005).]

Scott, I think you played the same keyboard as well. I was not able to make "music" with this keyboard. The G70 has excellent hardware, but it is a lot of work to make it sound good. I have no doubt that someday the G70 will be a great board. Hopefully version 2.0 will fix everything.
Henry