DNJ

For me, you and Miden are spot on to the reasons why I like but won't consider the PA1x. I love the sliders and the styles breathe a lot of life into what I play. The fills in the PA1x however, don't seem to be much better if better at all than the ones on my PA80. That's problem #1 for me. Problem #2 is that the guitars are just plain awful, and to me the pianos ( electric and acoustic ) aren't a whole lot better. Unfortunately, along with Hammond type organ sounds, these are my staple lead and comping sounds.

Aside from the sliders, the one real major improvement I see from PA1x is the harmonizer setup, which is relatively poor in the PA80 in today's world.

Miden, your suggestion is pretty much how my setup works btw - PA80 and Motif ES in tandem where space permits. I really just want an arranger that would make me feel more comfortable bringing just one KB along. If neither the T2 or G70 are it, and in the end perhaps they may not be, then I guess I'll stick to what I have for now.

AJ

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 07-17-2006).]

hi aj,
yes i think that would be a good setup....does the lack of a hard drive make much of a difference to you?

I play the Roland G70 for most everything now other than some studio work, where the K2500 still kicks butt!

As a 'live' keyboard (playing pickup gigs with full band), the G70 is one of the unsung heroes of the keyboard world, with fast and easy adjustment of volumes and effects on the fly using the REAL sliders, a VERY decent Hammond clone, and all of the 'meat and potatoes' sounds quickly reachable and assignable.

Basically, if you are thrown into the deep end of a pickup gig (no time to prepare) the G70 is BY FAR (IMHO) the easiest keyboard to call any sound up, split and layer it, dial in the volumes and effects, and just PLAY!

If you have time to prepare, well, Motifs and Fantoms, Tritons, and even older Kurzweils will do a great job (look at them being played on all the major tours......) but I would NEVER want to play a pickup on them unless it is a 'one sound at a time' gig.

As to arranger play, well, I'm finding the G70 to be at least as easy to operate than my old G1000, sonically FAR superior, and only the lack of Chord Sequencer as a minus point. I HAVE to have 76 keys (I play a fair amount of SMF and 'live work') and need the extra keys for more range in the Lower part (I usually play as if I have two right hands, not just chord triggering or comping with the left, so range is important), or for full(-ish) piano parts.

If someone said to me 'you have a gig tomorrow, no idea what they want you to do, you can have any keyboard in the world', I would say 'find me a G70, and there'll be no problem'. It's not familiarity that makes that decision, I'm fluent on Tritons, Kurzweils and Motifs, it's just such an easier OS to get around on.

FINALLY......... I can take ONE piece of gear to ANY gig, and know I've got it nailed.......

One keyboard to rule them all, and in the darkness bind them........

Diki....glad to hear you found your perfect keyboard for YOUR Pickup gigs etc .....as it should be for YOUR personal needs.....quite frankly the Tyros 2 is exactly the same sentements for MY NEEDS on stage every day .....so as long as we all find what WE NEED we ALL will remain happy....we all play differently, we all have different needs regarding a KB, but we all make and share the love of music....& That's All Good !!

Enjoy Your G70

ain't that the truth!!!!

Miden,

My laptop comes with me everywhere that I play live, whether I bring the Motif ES or not so no problem with storage. Still, the floppy disk storage of the PA80 is pretty much an ancient technology now....

I have a lot of great sounding soft synth modules, samples, and effects in the laptop, so I don't miss the ES as much anymore when I don't bring it, other than it also doubles as a very good controller and it's VL150 plug in board still has the best horn and reed sounds of anything I've ever used.

AJ

dnj......... I don't seem to see anything in my post that states the G70 is anything other than MY choice for gigging keyboard (as the thread title asks), and stating my reasons why........

If you re-read the post, you will see not the slightest reference to your Tyros2. Tritons, Motifs and even my beloved K2500S all get unfavorable comparisons, but my reasons are clearly stated (and if Yamaha got of their arses and made a 76-er, who knows, I might be using one!).

I've been a full-time professional for 35 years and try to do my level best to AVOID the knee-jerk 'my keyboard is better than yours' rhetoric so common here (primarily from hobbyist kids, I'm sure), and try to state clearly WHY my choice works best for me. Your choice works best for you, and I'm not trying to tell you otherwise.

My choice of G70 comes from playing in a lot of different situations, NOT just from arranger play, or SMF playback or live band work, but for ALL work. That's why it's my choice, now. Maybe the 76 note Tyros3 will be my next keyboard, maybe not. I won't let my opinion of the Tyros2 OR the G70 affect that decision!

But I DO want to continue only having to take ONE keyboard to a gig......... Enjoy your Tyros2 and make great music on it, I am having a blast on the G70.

And it is ALL good (we could be roofers, instead!!)

[This message has been edited by Diki (edited 07-17-2006).]

Thats is a scary thought.....

Music is my life & my passion

aj, what spec is your laptop? i am asking as i have just bought a laptop, with a view to doing something similar, in my case its to get some decent distorted/overdrive gtr sofsynths happening with both some styles and midi files...mine has the p-m 1.73 centrino with a gig of ram, (80 gig hdd)do you reckon thats enough to do what i want, or does that depend on the soft synth? talking of which, are there any you can recommend i look at (guitar ones) ?
dennis

[This message has been edited by miden (edited 07-17-2006).]

Sounds like you might have the exact same laptop I have Miden ( mine is a Toshiba Satellite btw ). The only difference in specs is that I added another gig of Ram to mine. I also have a Usb Audio Interface hooked up to it with 4 ins , 4 outs, and midi in / out ports.

To date I've run everything I've wanted to in it, meaning seperate sofstynths for each style part in OMB or seperate softsynths / samplesets for each sound while recording tunes in FL Studio, without any hiccups, crashes, or latency issues. In comparison, I'd crash out my old P4 laptop ( 2.8 gig processor ), using half of what I can use on this machine.

My favorite module for Electic Guitar sounds is Plugsound's Fretted. Real nice Strat and Les Paul sounds. Not a ton of distortion there though, but I can take care of that by sending the signal through NI's Guitar Rig. I also use Slayer 2, and while some of the cleaner sounds aren't exactly realistic all the time, you can get a real modern "grunge" power chord sound that I can't find on anything else.

AJ