//That's great. So if I understand correctly, a person may chose to pay more to expand the wave ROM, or pay less money to get the sounds they need using the other approach. Since I usually prefer to pay less money rather than more, especially when the end result is the same, having the expansion slots is not a benefit to me, that is worth mentioning.//

First of all, let me tell you that only 10% of the keyboard musicans I know.likes to go throw loading samples ans tweaking it them selves. the rest of them like to tweak or adjust a sound that exisit in the keyboard already. the SRX advances in every catagory liek piano,techno,world sounds.

Now let's talk prices. to me the SRX is actully priced very good. for example. I just ordered the World expansion board. this SRX unit has all sounds from "FOUR" redone SRJV80 exb boards. now those 4 exbs will cost you around $900 to get if you order them. Roland is offering all four of them in ONE SRX board for less than $300. does that make sense? besides can you tell me if there is one manfacture that offers EXB boards that crosses 64MB worth of samples?

don't think so.

//This is exactly the problem. While I presently own two Roland boards (and would not be averse to upgrading my G1000 to the new model, should it prove worthwhile), there is nothing in Roland's current lineup that I have interest in using. Judging from the sales figures which RolandFan cited above, I am not alone. Therefore, Roland did lose.

I believe in healthy competition, and would like to see Roland continue to be a force in the musical instrument market. That is why I am hoping that Roland will be interested in reversing the downward direction of its sales chart, and will offer something that I (and others like me) would be interested in buying. Otherwise, the competition will take care of Roland, in which case all of us, whether we own Roland instruments or not, will be worse off.//

so you don't like

XV5080
XV5050
XV2020
XV88
FANTOM 76
FANTOM S
FANTOM S88
RD100
RD700
VR760
MC-909
MC-8000
RS-50
RS-70
EM-15
EM-55
VA-76
VA-7
VK8M
AX7
A37
V-SYNTH
VP-9000
VK8
DISCOVER5
VARIOS

all of them sucks? there must be something you like really. tell me if I'm wrong.

Well I prefer the Fantom too, Its hard to judge the Motif by listening at the demos only, But the Motif, like almost every other Yamaha synth, shared one bad idiosyncrasy, and thats its canned and synthetic sound, Every time I hear a Yamaha I can clearly hear that, its like a typical sauce greased all over their sounds.
And I honestly dont get those people who just say "You can't go wrong with Yamaha", thats not true, You CAN go wrong, I was so full of confidence that the PSR-2000 I tried had to sound fantastic, But I was greatly dissapointed when I heard it live, also tried the Tyros briefly, and sounded a bit better, but it still was a dissapointment.
Its a pity cause Yamaha has almost everything right except the sounds.
Just my opinion, No offence...

Greetz ,
Marcel

No, I don't like any of them. Several times I forced myself to a local music store which has a VA76 sitting on display for near 2 years not, and they keep lowering its price to make it more palatable to someone like me, just to try to convince myself that it is worth for me to upgrade to it from my G1000. It usually takes me less than 20 minutes to come across some feature which I use normally, but can not get to without wading through the menus on the VA76, or which does not exist on it anymore.

Obviously, you have not tried to use it in a live situation, otherwise you would not be listing it in your message above. Ditto for VA7, EM series, etc.

I am not saying that all of its products are crap, but if I want to get a good sample player, I would go to a PC-based sampler, which can stream unlimited amounts of sample data, rather than buy the XV-series box. For a sample-player keyboard, I'd chose a Motif ES over a Fantom S. In addition, Roland products are generally more expensive than the competition.

As for a piano, I have my baby grand to play, so I don't need an electric one. The arranger keyboards I have already addressed.

So no, there is nothing in the above list that I would really want to buy. Sure, if someone gave it to me for free, I would take it and use it (as many big name musicians do, as you can see from Roland promotional lit), but for my money there are better options.

Having said that, I am glad that Roland can still find a market among people like yourself. BTW, what roland products did you buy?

I love Rolands. I have owned many models in the last 30 yrs., but I can't think of one new Roland keyboard I want to buy. The Fantoms look like s*^t, and the operating system is prohibitive IMHO. I really miss my XP50, and I might take a VR760, but that's it. I would only consider a G1000 as an arranger.

Roland needs to look at the market, but remember that its customers love its sounds. We have put up with the old Roland OS til now, so don't give us a spaceship; give us a solid keyboard system. For me, the VR-760 with arranger functions would do the trick. I don't really need or want speakers on my arranger, but I could put up with them if Roland could get back into the race. My Yamaha PSR2000 was the best bang for my bucks when I bought it, but I'd love to return to the Roland stable. R U LISTENING, ROLAND ???

[This message has been edited by cassp (edited 09-07-2003).]

I love some of the sounds of the VA76. Navigation of it's OS along with a few other things ( kept me from buying it, too much money to spend onm a backup that I won;t use very often )and I did not see any distinct advantages ( for me ) vs the PA80 I have. If the prices were similar ,I'd dump my PS2000 in a heartbeat for it. I might give the EM2k / G1000 another look as a backup if I can find one of those for the right price.

I liked the Fantom series boards, but I just like the Motif series boards better. Ironically, I like some of the features and navigation of the Fantom / Fantom S better, but the Motif just has those sounds that I love and it just feels and sounds more "right" to me when I play it.

Personally, I see nothing wrong with a lot of the Roland boards. It's simply that none of the recent offerings really fit as well for me vs those from Yamaha ( Motif ) and Korg ( PA80 ). Could be a completely different story for another player.

AJ

Don't think for one minute Roland is not reading these posts and listening to peoples needs or isn't in the process of manufacturing new arranger type keyboards. Hang in there......Patience is a virtue.

Cassp,
A VR760 arranger!! Hmm. That would interest me as well. Donny says Roland is listening. Heh Roland, I would be very interested in a VR760 arranger also.
Starkeeper

There are rumors that Roland will come out with a new arranger in the spring. Looking at the history of the company, I am expecting an arranger with phanton sounds, probaly at first as a 61key version with speakers and then a few months later a 76key version without speakers. The people at roland have been proven to come out with very good and succesful products. I think they missed the boat on profesional players when they came out with the VA series. I still own my g1000 and i would only trade it when roland came out with a board that has better sounds, more expansion possibilities, and more intro's fills and endings. To me there is no keyboard out there that beats the g1000 in accesibility of features during life performance. I am confident that roland recoginces this and that the new arranger will change the marketplace again, just like they have done in the past. And yes, a VR760 arranger would be a very good idea!!!

Can a VR arranger even beat the tyros ?

Donny,

I certainly hope that someone at Roland is listening. Heck, for all I know Vic could be one of the Roland people himself . I intend my comments to be heard by Roland. If I sound a little harsh, it's because after owning Roland products and using them as my main boards for well over 10 years, I have come to realize that when I try to word my suggestions to Roland nicely, they get ignored. For years Roland had no way to be contacted - no e-mail, no contact phone # for its customers. I understand that there are the e-mail and phone number; however, I understand that this is still not the way that calls Roland's attention to the voice of the customers.

IMO, the only way to give Roland a wake-up call is to give it a kick in the arse.

I am not against Roland, I just want them to again start making products that I would want to buy. But this is not going to happen if they go after the DJ or guitar market, or start adding some wierd new controller instead of making their current keyboards more usable. And they can only do that if they listen to what users like me need. So far they have done a dismal job of listening. If we scream loud enough, this may change.

Regards,
Alex