I am disappointed that he doesn’t attempt to dial the effects so they are closer. I think that’s one of the main things to take away from these comparisons… do a little editing and you can get them so close it’s pretty moot with the basic meat and potatoes sounds.

And, to be quite honest, even the mid-line arrangers will be close to indistinguishable too..!

What sets the TOTL arrangers apart is all the stuff he’s NOT using, Yamaha’s Ensemble voicing modes, Korg’s two styles running simultaneously, Ketron’s clip launching, things like that.

But, as with his previous comparison (posted here a few weeks ago) my opinion still stands. If this is as good as you can play, and if this is as complex as you want to use an arranger, why pay $4-5K for a modern one when a used E80 (or G70) will sound VERY close, and can be found for well under $1,000?