This is the way arranger voice sets should be... The CLP170's specifications show that 36/54 mb's are dedicated to only 38 sounds and an additional 10mb's dedicated to the XG voice set... Imagine having an arranger with the basic 38 instrument sounds from acoutic painos, wood winds, reeds, and so forth, and having 36/54 mb's to just those sounds... Having 10 mb's just to the XG voices would be great too. It would be great to have a arranger like this but also left some memory to add your own voices too Anyone play this piano yet? I would love to hear the 38 sounds on this thing...

I think Tyros has set the standard for the new minimum mb for 2003...96mb...

I have a feeling roland is gonna release a new arranger series next year with 192 mb pcm sound for 3500 + voices....and 256 polyphony......Tyros and X1 may be in trouble after Roland's next arranger....notice how quiet they've been in the arranger department..probably working hard on something NEW for 2003

I hope your right, Rolandfan. I don't need 3500 sounds, 350 high quality sounds from a 192mb wave rom, triple layered. Oh yea!! All the sounds, every one, equal or better than Yamahas "Sweet voices". Roland introduces the brand new VB arranger keyboard. Specs: 76 note semi-weighted keyboard, brand new styles, with ability to import Yamaha's mega voice style, 9 real organ drawbars (not sliders, not virtual organ flutes), real Hammond organ drawbars, technology borrowed from the Roland VK-8. 30 megs of wave ROM dedicated to the Accoustic Grand alone.
Sigh!!
Starkeeper

Good Lord! 30 megs to just the piano.... Can you imagine what that would sound like? I agree that it would be nice to see all the acoustic instruments at the level of "sweet", "cool", or "live". However, that keyboard would need some MASSIVE DSP power, especially in the sequencing department. Having all those cool, live and sweet voices would utilize a lot of DSP resources. They'll need to make a keyboard that is capable of using multiple (and I mean a lot) insert effects at the same time.. Example running say 5 insert effects in one sequence without compromising sound quality...

Squeak

Oh yea, well the new Roland VB arranger has that ability, and I'm wrong, it has 800 high quality voices not 350. It will be priced at the PSR550 level, most retailers will swap used PSR550's for the new VB100 at no charge and no taxes to you. It will import your favorite Yammie and SVP World styles. Interested squeak_D?
I hope it will be called VA,VB,or VC and not VD. Wouldn't want to play with a keyboard with a VD model number.
Starkeeper

Oh yeah if it had killer features and sound quality at the price of the PSR-550, I wouldn't even think twice about buying it... The 550 would be out there door on that one...

Squeak

Yamaha's high-end digital piano has 89MB for the piano sound alone, 144MB overall. In the software realm Conexant has a 500MB General Midi set. Maybe some of this is overkill, but why did Ketron put only 24MB in the XD9 and Vega, when they aleady had 48MB in the SD1?

clif,
probably cost,to make the keyboard cheaper by compressing the samples.Roland is doing that too. don't forget that you can get an xd9 or a vega for around $1500 now.compare that to the what? $2800 SD1?..Correct me about the price if I 'm wrong please!

[This message has been edited by vic83 (edited 11-05-2002).]

Clif,
that's marketing at its best: the XD9 is not going to be a competitor for the SD1 and they will be able to come out with flash cards for the XD9 with all the missing sounds...

Starkeeper, any news on the VB series ? (wink,wink) lol

I like that Roland VB idea !
But isn't 192 MB ROM a little low?
I mean, for only $70 you can plug 512 MB in your computer.
So memory isn't that expensive?
Well, Why not put 512 MB in the newest top of the line models.
That would be reasonable.
Imagine what they could do with 512 megs
Lets see, at least 32 MB dedicated for the piano sound, and of course a lot of stereo sampled stuff with a lot of velocity layers hehe .
Maybe someone could write some sort of virtual arranger program, A combination of a high quality soft synth (And I mean real HQ!), arranger software (That can import styles from any brand), sequencer etc., and install that on the Open Labs EKO .
Just sharing some (crazy) thoughts LOL.

Greetz ,
Marcel



[This message has been edited by Wazza (edited 04-27-2003).]

Wow, is this a confusing topic! The last I heard, Roland was coming out with a V(R)-760 keyboard which had jumbo piano samples, the drawbars from the VK8 and a synth section - NO arranger functions. They are also producing the DisCover5 MIDI-Orchestrator which has some arranger functions, but is more of a souped up MIDI file editor. The newest arranger from Roland is the VA series, but they still have EMs and the G1000.

------------------
Cass Pawlowski
Detroit, MI
PSR2000, Roland SC88
Cakewalk, Sonar, Power Tracks, BIAB

[This message has been edited by cassp (edited 04-29-2003).]

Cassp,
The discussion on Roland products is wishfull thinking not reality. There is no Roland VB line. The G1000 is discontinued. The EM10, EM20, EM30, EM50, EM2000 are discontinued as well. Roland fans are hoping for a new arranger at the summer NAMN.
Starkeeper