tried the midjay, now its a Sonic Cell

Just went through yet another go at the Midjay, this time the plus version.

Again, Ketron have a unit that is "almost" but left out a couple of major things in the OS.

I was thinking of adding an SRX card to the G70, but thought for a few hundred more I can get a Sonic Cell which gives greater flexibility..Can be used as a backup system to the laptop with a controller keyboard. I use mostly midis and MP3's

And it has a much more up to date soundset than even the most recent SRX card.

And now they have fixed the number of files issue, it should be a good pickup I think.

Anyone else here using the Sonic Cell?

Dennis

Dennis,
No, not yet...but I am interested in one.
The PA2XPRO will work perfectly with it as you can set Bank/Program change right in the user voice settings! Very cool. A feature the Yamaha folks (my T2)told me was not needed!

Lee

I've still got a secret hankering to add the GW-8L to my rig... it's so light, it's ALMOST like hauling a module around!

The thing it has over the Sonic Cell, particularly as an add on to the G70, is those GREAT latin drumkits (not in the Sonic Cell). I wish they made an SRX card with JUST those latin sounds from the GW-8L, or...

Best possible scenario for another SRX for me would be latin sounds from the GW-8L, basses from SRX-07, and a couple more V-Kits from the TD-12. But I guess now that the Fantom line has dropped the SRX slots, we might not be seeing any more, which is a shame, given how the Sonic Cell, and most legacy Roland products have got slots open... In today's economy, maybe Roland won't sell as many FantomG8's as they'd like, but put out some GREAT SRX cards, and they'd sell a boatload!

Yes I thik you may be right Diki. I might even add some SRX boards to the Sonic Cell later on.

Particularly if they release a SRX with just guitars, basses and drum kits.

You may be able to advise better, but I THINK I can assign arranger parts to be transmitted from the G70, so I think a couple of the arranger patterns might also benefit from the Sonic Cell. Not that I use them that much.

The main piano and the keybed are proving to be almost indispensable on the g70. So even if I only use them, its still going to be a good combo I think.

So the rig is now G70-Sonic Cell- Harmony M- Bose L1- Laptop...That should do me........ I think!!!! Call me Donny junior LOL!!!

Dennis

Dennis Good Luck in whatever gear you choose.

Happy New Year

I do. Great unit.

chas

I thought Roland wasn't going to release any new SRX boards with the introduction of the Fantom G. They're supposed to be working on the SRX replacements which are the ARX boards. Only problem is the new ARX boards are pretty much double the price! Roland carried over quite a few of the SRX sounds to the Fantom G's preset voice list too.

Chas,
How really good are the sounds in Sonic Cell? Especially acoustic sounds (orchestral sounds)Do I need the SRX orchestal card?

Lee

To be honest, I'm a poor one to ask. It's great if you like 'Roland' sounds. For GM sounds, it's probably the best in it's class. Just as an experiment, I've played SMF's on the SonicCell and Fantom G for comparison. The SonicCell sounds better IMO but I'm not sure that's a fair comparison. It certainly HANDLES SMF playing better than the Fantom (or anything else). I like different boards for different things but I'll usually just grab whatever's handy and use that. I'm usually going for El. Pianos (prefer Triton) and guitars (like the Yammy's). Just a personal thing but I sort of view Roland sounds as good all around but great at nothing. If I had only one sound source, it would probably be a Roland. If I were really being picky about a sound in the studio, it would probably be something other than a Roland.

Not familiar with the SRX cards but I would describe the on-board acoustic sounds as "mostly okay". Of course, you get a lot more with the SonicCell than just the sound-set, so that's something to consider as well.

Probably not much help but the truth is, I can't think of anything better as a general purpose sound module (with additional usable features).

chas

Chas,

What are the organ sounds like on the Sonic Cell...I realize the Fantom's are passable, but are the former's any better and do they have a good rotary effect? What about distortion/rotary like for progressive rock?

Ian

Ian, there is one (1) organ patch that I like on Tyros2 and one that I like on the Triton. I don't use either because I have the C1 but also because few synth organ patches sound authentic to me. I think it's because most are usually played without an expression pedal so there are no (as in ZERO) dynamics. BTW, as much as I like my PA1x Pro, I hate the factory organs. The organs on the SonicCell leave me cold, although in all fairness, I only compare them to the types of registrations I would use in the type of music I play. It could have some awesome pipe or theatre organ voices. Since I hate both, I've never paid much attention. And yes, I know; a 'B3' is about as far from a classic pipe organ as you can get and would probably be spat upon by a classically trained organist.

....again, different strokes.....

chas