First, let me make it clear. I am only speaking for myself. I, for one, am not ready to throw Diki under the bus. Is he perfect? No, but who here on SZ is? Is he sometimes a little harsh with his writing style? Yes, but it's usually when he makes a valid point that the loyal opposition chooses to ignore. Does he do the exact same thing himself? Yep, sometimes. Does he appear to be a little harder on some products than others? It appears that way, but in all fairness, it seems to crop up more when exuberant claims are made for a product that are not always substantiated. I think that he sees his role to be to keep everybody honest. It may be that he may be a little over zealous in that role, but I think he is sincere in his motives.

Here's my problem. There are a couple of guys on this forum who are a bit more tech savvy than the general membership. These people generally garner more respect than the average member and the rest of us generally defer to their opinions, declarations, pronouncements, whatever. The problem occurs when these very strong personalities differ on an issue. Then camps are formed, insults are hurled, ancestry is questioned, and chaos abounds. In other words, a normal day at Synthzone.

The other problem is the 'benevolent dictator' syndrome. Sometimes these elite people will bestow upon us gifts, usually in a very public way, in the way of personal consultations, supplementary software, and 'not to be challenged' buying advice. This gives them a certain power that other elites may either envy or resent. This doesn't mean that everyone that lends a helping hand has some ulterior motive. On the contrary, most just enjoy helping someone that they consider part of 'the community' and are also proud that they have the knowledge to be able to help.

I have heard Diki on more than one occasion praise the MS/Groove for it's workstation capabilities. He readily acknowledges it's potential as a potent and powerful studio tool. Where he goes off track, IMO, is his (stubborn?) insistence on comparing it's ARRANGER features to TOTL dedicated arrangers. Until the MS/Groove has styles SPECIFICALLY WRITTEN FOR IT using a sound set designed FOR THOSE STYLES, it will probably NEVER sound as good as a dedicated arranger OOTB. If everyone could just wrap their heads around THAT, I think most of the animosity would cease.

Of course, this is all just my opinion.

chas