There is great misunderstanding or misconception about styles. Many think they are not professional to use. In fact, I dare say that some may think that if a keyboard is not full-fledged synth, its user must not be professional.
If you compare Yamaha Motif and PSR9000PRO, they have similar if not identical sounds. So no one can say that Motif is more professional than PSR9000PRO in sound quality.
I would like to go over some of the misconceptions about styles... one by one:
1) Styles are for those who do not know how to play good music so they need a tool to simplify the music performance to them.
Actually, I have seen all kind of people. I have seen top musicians using styles and I have lousy keyboard players embracing their non-arranger synth/workstation keyboard. It is not that these arranger-keyboard musicians cannot perform well but that Styles offer them and their audience an experience that cannot be had by non-arranger keyboards.
2) Styles make playing music easier and therefore, it is not professional.
Well, suppose that styles simplify certain kind of performance or more accurately brings to the performance what is impossible to have by non-arranger keyboard. Why is it non-professional? Is professionalism dictated by how difficult you accomplish the goal or how good the goal is? I dare say that professionalism when it comes to the goal is all about how high of standard the goal is and how easy to get to it.
Let me paraphraze this, if you are one musician and you have the select of keyboards. Is it possible to accomplish with non-arranger keyboards better results than arranger keyboards? Of course not, otherwise, you would need 10 hands. If so, why would your music be more professional when you cannot accompish a better standard of music performance than those musicians with arranger keyboards?
3) YOu may object, on well, if you take a song well-sequenced on a non-arranger keyboard and you compare it to a song performed using styles, there will be no comparison about professionalism...
Wrong comparison. How about you compare your song with A SONG of mine made on an arranger keyboard. After all, the best keyboard sequencer happens to be on an arranger keyboard (GEM WK/SK series)... You may object that you use Cubase or logic.... I do too. But let me ask you to quickly sequence a good song with very little time... YOU CANNOT... I CAN... because styles work magically with the keyboard sequencer.
4) Styles do not sound like a professional dedicated band of musicians performing big band for example...
First, I do hate big band big time... and that is only my personal opinion. I would not miss any kind of music if they take these out. But let us stick to the subject. You are right, a good professional band of musicians who perform professionally on their non-digital non-keyboard instruments will always sound better. BUT, the real question here, what if you are ONE musician with only ONE keyboard... Can you get that big band feel and perforamce LIVE with your non-arranger keyboard? Of course not. You may insist on using the sequencer, but what if you do not have the time to sequence it and you really do not know what song you are performing... WHICH is almost always for true live performers who PERFORM PROFESSIONALLY>... How close can you come? not at all... you are struck of playing your electric piano sound on that synth.