Nice Tyros stand!

Arno.

Arno,
Oops..... fortunately it does not affect the sound. (Goed gezien overigens)

This keyboard looks like the EX series, which is NOT like the VA series.
zuki

Do you think the G70 has the Roland Fantom X Sound engine?

It has no doubt many of the Fantom X sounds, including the grand piano and the acoustic guitar. If you are interested into hearing some official Fantom X demos, go here: www.roland.it
then click on "Fantom X series", followed by "Demo interattiva"; at this point you will find a page entirely written in english and -on the left side- you will have all the demo songs. A couple of them (Still solace and Akebono) sport the new grand piano; on Still solace you can hear also an acoustic guitar.

quote:
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Originally posted by freddynl:
Let us know Tom if Roland added another upgrade to the O/S.
I wait anyway till it's completed.
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I visited a second demo of the Roland G-70 last night. The setting was in a small music theatre. As opposed to the demo in Rotterdam last Saturday this time the amplification was excellent and the instrument sounded much, much better. Although it was announced that Christian Jager would do the demo it was in fact Kristof Mertens again, with Christan assisting him. But he did a very good job, and in the nice atmosphere of the theatre they really took there time to explain everything you would like to know with the help of a Powerpoint demonstration, emphasizing that the G-70 contains the best of Roland's latest developments.

The repertoire of the demonstrator was the same, but since the PA system was a lot better you could evaluate the keyboard more fairly this time. After the demo there was plenty of opportunity to ask all you wanted to know to both of the Roland guys. For this purpose they even brought two G-70's!

In the demo I still found the organ sounds very "plain", so I asked Christian if the VK8 engine is really integrated in the G-70 without any concessions. He ensured me it absolutely was, and demonstrated al the parameters and registration possibilities. It just happens to be that this guy loves to play the VK8 and really excels in it. It was immediately clear that it really is the VK8/virtual tonewheels that's in there. It sounded really authentic. So it's (again) just a matter of registration and playing style. And the affinity of the musician with this particular type of sound of course. And yes, the grand piano is the really the best you heared.... But I also asked for the electric piano sounds and can confirm that they are also very good.

They upgraded the O/S on the keyboard and contrary to last week it didn't go wrong this time. The second board still had the old O/S and on that one the notes "got stuck" during playing and it had to be turned off and on.

Roland ensured us that it will absolutely be ready by the last week of this month when the first keyboards will by shipped. I asked if Roland deliberately wanted to put this keyboard on the marked as soon as possible and they confirmed this. Could this be a sign that Roland wants to beat the competition and they know some other top-arranger is also coming on the market real soon?
Strike one for Roland! ;-)

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Tom NL

Tom,

Thank you so much for this review!
You made me a happier man.

Roel

Do folks in Noordwijk always look so "enthusiastic" when being shown a brand new top of the line Arranger; this one being the new G70 from Roland? You tell me...



The only one with a hint of satisfaction on his face is the Roland Demonstrator.

Or do Norwegians always have a look of consternation on their faces? Or should it be ?? Maybe the cold has something to do with it??

From that pic my first impression is the Roland G70 sure doesn't excite these people does it. Which makes me tend to think the G70's sounds are probably not as wonderful as we all hope they are. Also evidenced IMO by the people attending this demonstration.

PS: I hope I'm wrong about that assessment btw.

Where's the smiles?? Where's the look of enthusiastic facial expressions? Where's the gleeful ecstatic look of joyful surprise and wonderment from the supposedly awesome and stunningly realistic sounds emanating from the G70? Hummm?? Those people are a bunch of bumps on a log if you ask me.

Sorry, no offence to Norwegians in general. But the looks on their faces reminds me of a bunch of people being told by their Doctor that they all have 6 months to live......

Is this indicative of the sound quality of the G70? Let's hope not!

Here is more info on the G70:



Roland G70, the ultimate music workstation!

Roland is renowned for producing revolutionary keyboards and now reaches another historic milestone with the introduction of the G-70 Music Workstation. The G-70 incorporates concepts and technologies from across the entire Roland product range, resulting in an instrument epitomising the very best of Roland.
192 MB WAVE ROM
76 keys Pro-Action Keyboard
The best piano sound derived from Fantom-X
Virtual ToneWheel derived from VK organ
285 Styles
ACV - Adaptive Chord Voicing
SRX Expandability
Internal Memory 50MB (Solid State Disk)
DigiScore and Lyrics / Chord display on LCD
Makeup Tools / Cover for Songs and Styles
Vocal Harmonist
16 track Sequencer / 8 track Style composer with micro editing
7 independent effects sections
Full-color Touch Screen
9 Multi-function Sliders
USB connectivity
The best sound engine
The G-70 uses Roland’s most powerful sound engine ever. With its lightening-fast processor, 128-voice polyphony and 6 realtime performance parts, the G-70 will satisfy even the most demanding player.

The best sound quality
The quality of sound on the G-70 cannot fail to impress, as it uses the largest internal WAVE ROM in Roland keyboard history – 192 MB*. It boasts the best sounds from the Roland library, as well as the latest and most expressive piano sound Roland has ever produced, derived from Fantom-X. Many new studio-sampled guitars, accordion and other instrument sounds are also featured and give a fantastic live feel to arrangements.
* 16 bit linear equivalent.

SRX expandability
Roland’s SRX expansion board series offers a wide selection of the highest quality sounds, taken from the world’s top professional studios. The G-70 can be expanded in this way to give an even greater choice of sounds to the performer.

76-key Pro-Action Keyboard
The keyboard on the G-70 features a superb weighted Pro-Action, with aftertouch, which has a longer stroke and a natural responsive feel.

Harmonic Bars
The G-70 caters to the needs of organists by including 9 sliders which physically reproduce the feeling of playing a real Harmonic Bar Organ, using the renowned Virtual ToneWheel technology from Roland’s VK organ range. These sliders are linked to the 3D animated Virtual Harmonic Bars on the full-color LCD and can also be assigned to a variety of functions for a truly expressive performance.

Brand-new styles
The G-70’s arranger section includes 285 completely new styles, each with 4 variations, 4 intros, 4 endings, and 6 fill-ins, which exploit the full potential of the powerful sound engine. Many of these styles have been recorded using live studio musicians to create top-quality professional backings.

Cover / Makeup Tools for customizing styles [img]http://www.bonnersmusic.co.uk/acatalog/info_07R_M.jpg[/img]
The G-70 also includes the Cover and Makeup Tools from the DisCover series, allowing you to change instantly any part of your style or song. Thousands of different styles can be easily created using these features.

Adaptive Chord Voicing (ACV)
The greatest innovation in the arranger section is a new technology called “Adaptive Chord Voicing” (ACV). The technology is based on an intelligent real-time chord voicing for each accompaniment part, which creates a natural arrangement - each instrument in the style plays smooth musical lines instead of jumping to awkward intervals each time the chord is changed.
(The technology is patent pending)

Full-color LCD screen / DigiScore and lyric display [img]http://www.bonnersmusic.co.uk/acatalog/info_09R_M.jpg[/img]
A full-colour touch screen, complete with “click noise” to confirm actions, is also included for quick and simple operation.
The G-70 features a high-quality 4-stave score display, developed from the Atelier and HP-i products, as well as the facility to view chords and lyrics. This chord and lyric information can also be viewed on an external TV screen using the video output.

Data storage
The G-70 has a huge 50MB internal memory(Solid State Disk), a floppy disk drive, and a memory card slot that supports many current devices, such as Smart Media and Compact Flash.

Effects and mastering
There are 7 independent effects sections on the G-70, including dedicated sections for the Harmonic Bars, Harmonist and the External Audio Input. Mastering tools derived from the renowned VS Pro Audio range are also included for even greater control.
Harmonist

[img]http://www.bonnersmusic.co.uk/acatalog/info_12R_M.jpg[/img]

The Vocal Harmonist on the G-70 has over 90 different settings and many additional effects and features, including Auto Pitch Correct and Vocoder.

Music Assistant
The correct sounds, style, tempo and effects are automatically selected for each of the hundreds well-known songs on the Music Assistant database, to which new songs can now be added as required.

16 track sequencer / 8 track style composer [img]http://www.bonnersmusic.co.uk/acatalog/info_14R_M.jpg[/img]
The full 16-track sequencer and the internal style composer can be edited in precise detail using Microscope edit functions.

Quick search
Quick search is an essential for the keyboard that has a huge database inside. The G-70 offers the direct Finder function for quick recall of your next User Program, Style or Song.

USB
For easy file exchange and MIDI transfer to PC, the USB connector is provided.

"The specifications are subject to change without notice."
________________________________________________________
Best regards,
Mike

[QUOTE I asked if Roland deliberately wanted to put this keyboard on the marked as soon as possible and they confirmed this. Could this be a sign that Roland wants to beat the competition and they know some other top-arranger is also coming on the market real soon?
Strike one for Roland! ;-)

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tom,theres been some talk about the tyros 2 coming out soon,on another site,if thats true,and roland know about it,that would make sense for roland to rush it out,maybe steve from yamaha (not heard fom you for a while) will let out some info,cause some tyros owners maybe tempted to switch,mike[/B][/QUOTE]

Mike,

This picture is taken at the first Oostendorp-demo. Most of the people got a little frustrated about the Roland-guy, that is why nobody smiles.