First off, Happy Holidays wishes to all. Been hectic here so I haven't had the time I normally have had in the past to post here but I still read the forum when I can.

Bebop,

I would try the demo to see if you like it. One drawback might be that it is a large download so if you are using dial up it may take quite a while.

I still use XG works even though I currently do not have a Yamaha arranger at this time. I also don't have the XG board for my Motif. Pilot is right about it being a better tool for XG boards, but I still utilize it with both my Motif and PA80 because it can, as Roy-Andre says, play any yamaha style from within.

I have likes and dislikes. I also utilize Cakewalk Sonar ( thanks to Terry one more time for that one ), and N Track studio for audio. XG works has 480 ppq sequencer resolution - not bad, but I prefer the 960 of Sonar at times. Although XG works does support audio in some ways, I never use it for that, preferring N Track ( even over Sonar ) for Audio work .

What I like about XG works is the ease of editing and arranging sequences ( even without having an XG board ). The sequencer is laid out so that editing is easy to understand and utilize. The importer function works very well and was very useful when I was importing data to combine or modify styles. I even converted some PA80 styles to Yamaha format using XG works along with Michael P Bedesem's style converter. They played well on XG works. I did not change the voices however, and the styles are still setup with the proper PA80 voice / midi data. They play exactly as they do on the board itself. I have the Tyros styles too. I simply changed the file extension to .sty, and they play well on XG works as well.

When I had my PSR 740, the voice editing capabilities in it were about nil. The XG edit function allowed me access to edit many parameters, similar to the editing capabiltiies of the 9000 and 2000, but with greater detail.

Compared to Cakewalk, XG works is simpler. You cannot make custom patch lists for it, so you'd have to edit the voices later manually for a non XG synth. It doesn;t support cal scripts or third party effects or software ( like "Rythym and Chords" for example ), so it is limited in that respect. Still, I think for the price it's a pretty good piece of software, and for those users who may have a 740 or other PSR that does not allow for voice editing within the board, I think the XG edit function is an excellent tool.

Happy Holidays,

AJ