Sorry, Dennis, but the reason I am so skeptical about the open arranger is BECAUSE of my familiarity with VSTi's and loop production, not through ignorance, which I honestly believe is at the root of so much fanboy gushing here...

Yes, it OUGHT to be easy to make great music on an open keyboard, but the fact is, it is not. No more than it is easy to make great music with a computer based VSTi rig. There are issues about sound balance, response, EQ, and the like which don't plague closed keyboard users, because the factory has already done all that work for you. You take a Best Service bass guitar, marry it with a BFD drumkit, add in an Ilio piano, and a Garritan string section, and best of luck getting it all to sound cohesive. They don't record the samples in similar environments, using similar mikes and miking techniques, and just like mixing a pop piece recorded in several different studios, it's often a nightmare to get them all to gel.

And, unlike an SMF, a one-off production that you can balance elements together just for that one piece, an arranger presents different challenges, where ALL the parts need to fit together ALL THE TIME... because you never know in advance what you are going to need until you need it... No time on the gig to do that last minute EQ tweak to the floor tom so it doesn't swamp the upright bass, for instance (while it doesn't swamp the picked bass).

No, I'm not afraid of new technology, just realistic about how long it would take to hammer it into anything approaching a closed arranger's all round general usefulness. Going by the YEARS that some have had theirs and still not been proud enough of anything to post, I think I am pretty much on the mark.

Once again, I point out an arranger is NOT a WS. It isn't a Loopstation/Groove product. It is an ARRANGER. I have no problem with the MS being used as the former. It is what it is best at, after all (and what the designer, bless him, has finally decided it actually IS!). But when the same people that have been unable to produce any music not outright embarrassing in style mode continue to trumpet its' superiority as an arranger (and this isn't the forum to tout it as a WS/Groovebox), I am afraid I HAVE to say 'The Emperor STILL has no clothes'