Thanks to Niels for showing us the demo's of the E80. I think the E80 is even better than the G70 which is my favourite until yet. Real good keyboardplayers know to value such a good instrument.In Antwerpen and in Rotterdam their will be a Night of the Keys with the introduction of the E80 and some other great Rokandinstruments.
I will be there !

I think you are right Wis.

Now if Roland would only spend as much time on bringing their styles up to the standard of Tyros2 as they do bringing out incremental improvements in their hardware........

I agree that the E80's hardware improvements have addressed some of the G70s shortcomings, but if they don't tie it to some SERIOUSLY improved styles, most on this forum will judge it unfairly. Few here understand the difference between hardware capability and just the 'sound' of the styles, played by average players. Mediocre styles, played through a superior arranger will not get the credit it deserves.

FAR less capable arrangers get high marks here because, when you hold down a C chord, the style ROCKS!!! No-one cares if there are 5 insert effects (or whatever) if, when you hold down that C chord, out comes something limp from the 80s. If Roland cannot match the Tyros2's quality of styles, no-one will care about any other wonderful feature, and the incredibly 'live' sound.


WAKE UP ROLAND............ forget hardware for a while. Concentrate your budget on hiring the most capable style creation team and finally get to show off what the new arrangers are capable of.

(Oh, and find a way to bring back the bloody Chord Sequencer, fer Chris' sake!!)

Diki, that is why I like to play with many of the userstyles that I have now. But I have no problem with the presetstyles,they are good for my way of playing.
But most of all I prefer the Rolandsystem.

I am not impressed by the demo's of Roland again,sounds just like the G70.
We know that story . . .
Tyros2 has again no competition . . .

Soryt,

Impuls, When you owned a G70..what didn't you like about it, that would cause you to sell it?

I think the only competition that the T2 is likely to see is from Ketron if and when they get their SD1 replacement out (supposed to be later this year on the grapevine).
I do hope though that the E80 is an improvement on the G70, I will definitely go to see one when it's available.

How much is the e 80?

Roland:

GO back to basics, a Pro arranger's draw is it's styles.....not a re-cicle of them, and most of all, make them user-playable, lately all I hear in the G70 is a FEW new styles, there is a small section that is aceptable, but that is it, I would never buy ANY arranger for only 15-30 New styles.....forget about the VA's styles carry over, I got rid of my VA faster than ANY keyboard I ever owned (that was when it came out), I had it for around 4 months, and God know;s I really tried, I am a Pro keyboard player, also a keyboard specialist in most brands like Ketron, Yamaha, Korg, and I owned several Roland boards.
Also it should be a demo using ONLY styles, and another if you wish, using custom SMF's showing the tone generation, but making it clear what is been use in that particular demo, like the demos from Ketron, using a style. I agree with Craig_UK.

Fran,
I played a few times on the G70V2, and i couldnt find the right setting for my taste.
I find the styles very poor, the sounds not real enough,the drawbars not like the Hammond sound i expected (now i own a Hammond Xb1, with motionsound pro 3)
It doesnt matter for me if the case is a beauty, and all the bels and whistles if it sounds old age than it isnt my keyboard.
When the G70 came out, i (and more people)give the G70 a fair chance, and i hoped that it sounds as good or better than the T1, but it doesnt,after a lot of tweaking it sounds average and that is not enough for a top keyboard in this time.
i have never heard a decent peace of music out of the G70 using the style's
just my opinion

Impuls

It is nice to see so many positive reactions on the message that the E80 will be introduced soon. Yes I agree with most of you that the G70 is a great instrument allready and I hope with you all that the E80 will be even better.

The E80 rrp in UK is £2499 but the shops will sell you one for £1999 and possibly a little less if you twist their arms.
I can pre order one now for £200 and only end up paying £1999 for it from 3 different shops, not that I want one until I hear and see one face to face Then if it's like the G70 ahhhhhhh lol

Guys,

The E80 is indeed a superior instrument. It makes a great imitation of Hammond B3 - in weight . Carrying it up a few flights of stairs is a perfect way to rekindle that old feeling of being around the original big boy. And if you still miss carrying the Leslie, you can augment your setup with the equally heavy, but of course, not as good Korg PA1X.

By the way, this thread is EXCLUSIVELY reserved for only those posts that express their adoration with the Roland in general, and E80 in particular. All others should put their wrong, dissenting opinions in a different thread, and not spoil our love-in with the E80, and any other Roland's gear, whether already released, planned to be released, or not planned to be released.



[This message has been edited by Alex K (edited 05-13-2006).]

Thats a very irresponsible reply.

The smiley face, laughing face, etc., should give a tip-off that it was supposed to be humorous, which I think it was.
Just another way to say it is too heavy for some of us to consider.
DonM

That's my point exactly

For who wants a real Hammond the best advise should be "Buy a Hammond".
For who wants a Roland "Buy a Roland".
Take a look and listen to the new E80 when it is there and decide for yourself.

Oh sorry. I replied before i saw the smiley face. glad to be wrong . If i had to honestly tell u people what went through my mind when i tried a g70 i would put it like this. THE GOOD: keyfeel, touch screen MUCH MUCH better than pa1x,good looking, good vocal harmony,studio like editing for the 16 track seqencer which is easy to use,srx drum kits can be used in styles in version 2 which is great. Cover function is a nice touch THE BAD: its heavy, fill ins dont have ease of use like the tyros. no multi pads? THE UGLY: Sounds and styles

I would be really happy if Roland would finally correct the obvious mistakes in the project of the G-70, and do what they are apparently doing now with the E-80: adding more SRX slots, more effects and new styles.
Also, why did they implement in OS 2.0 the wav. sync function, deciding that this function should work only with waveforms found in the SR-G01 card? And finally, why not make the G-70 a real master keyboard, adding the ability to send bank and program change numbers and also to control parameters like volume, pan, etc for each zone (two lower and three upper)?
With the exception of the SRX slots, all the other changes could be done via a software update, so I wonder: what are they waiting?

P.S.: even if I presently own a Tyros 2, I think that competition is a very good thing; if the other brands (like Roland, Korg or Ketron) wouldn't develop new and better products, Yamaha would sit tight and never feel the need to introduce better products as well...

Are the SRX slots there because the internal sounds are going to be just as bad as the G70, therefore Roland will get more money out of us lot because we will have to purchase SRX cards just to get better sounds that in all honesty should be in the keyboard in the first place! hehe

Craig, the internal sounds of the G70 are not bad at all. I like them and I play my G70 every day. Therefor I expect the E80 to be a very good instrument as well.
It is just an opinion.

THe E80 was at Blackpool http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/Forum37/HTML/013261.html if you read through you will see how it compared to other keyboards.

Bill

Abacus.....thanx for the link to a great review of the show.....I was dissapointed in hearing the reviews of the E80....I wiash they would have a show like that here in the states also>

You've got to remember that the Blackpool review was one person's opinion (and reading between the lines he seems to be something of a theater organ fan, but I may be mistaken.... He's definitely a PA1X fan).

The main thrust of opinion between Roland and Yamaha's 'sound' is that most people compare the Roland to a 'live band' sound and dynamic, and Yamaha gets the nod for polished 'CD-like' sound. It just depends on what you are trying to sound like.

Most of my playing career has been in live bands, so when I use an arranger, I am mostly looking for something that makes me feel I still have a live drummer behind me, rather than playing along with a CD. But that's just me...... Everyone has their own needs and expectations.

My REAL hope for the E80 is that Roland take the time and money to correct the well publicized shortcomings in the OTS implementation, pack it full of newer, hipper styles (the REAL reason it doesn't compare too well with the Tyros2), get the database manager sorted out quickly, and then port all these improvements over to the G70!

I certainly am never going to buy a 61 note keyboard that's even heavier that a 76 note one, (and more expensive) even if I could stand playing short keyboards.