This is the most underrated keyboard to date..Many have dismissed this board and will never know what a great musician tool it is..

First some numbers.
96 different vocalizer pre-sets.
63 different covers to change sequences in real time..East access..

Any edits can be done on the fly...sounds, effects, harmony, volumes, instrument changes, transpose, tempo, markers etc.

All panel changes can be saved to 128 user programs, including tone edits, also a SMF song link can be saved to the user program..

You can set up 4 user singer set ups allowing you to set the vocal range of 4 different vocalist..This allows any sequence to be quickly scanned to match the range of the selected singer[user].There is also default male or female selections..

You can set up different indexes/and rename them...This allows you to group SMF's in separate indexes.. For example..."Fran"[my songs/my keys],"Jane Doe"...."Joe Blo" etc..Or you could set indexes for music types.."latin", "Swing', "Wedding", "Polkas" etc...

The Vocal effects are Super...very clear and high quality..Combined with the best vocalizer I have used...gives you an unbeatable combination..

The tones are from the VA series, including the best Scat voices on any instrument..

The lyric read is great and you can save from text to lyrics, with in the keyboard, as the VA-7 version2 does..

The key feel is not as good as the G1000[no one is better than the G], but it is good, it is like the VA-7..

The quality built is very good..housing is sturdy, buttons and controls are solid...

The out puts cover all the bases..Beside the front headphone jack, you have stereo outs[total mix], or you can separate the vocal/harmonizer with effects, with another set of stereo outs..

The pedal assigns are great..Besides the EV5 input for parts expression/volume, you have two more input jacks..one for sustain and the other assignable..for an example, vocalizer on/off..
There is also a talk button that removes effects and lowers the music , so you can talk..

The Roland pitchbend/mod lever can also control effects as fast/slow rotary..

The D- Beam is also assignable to 4 selection groups with many choices..

The markers[a great feature] can be set in real time, allowing you to go back to a bridge/verse/chorus/ or end the song..

One of the best features I like is reading of chords on all sequences, a measure before playing[it also shows the current measure]..making it easy to follow sequences..

There are enough drum patterns[sequences] with markers set for verse w/ fills, verse wo/ fills, and ending, to use as a real time drum machine..while playing left hand bass[w/ride cymbal, my favorite], and right hand piano/strings for examples..You can sequence your own drums[externally as from a G series] and set the markers to use with in the DisCover5..

All in all this is one of the best instruments I know of...very misunderstood..

You guys/gals with the G70, I hope you are using the DisCover features in your G70...With the combination of the VA-76, DisCover5 and VK8.....the G70 has to be the best...


Anyone have any thoughts to add? Or complaints!!!

Fran,
It's nice to have someone of your caliber who explores a product deep enough to exhalt the possibilities that the manufacturer has created. Maybe you should work for Roland
zuki

Maybe I do!!!!

They just don't pay me!!!

When are you going to demo the G70?
Starkeeper

Fran....great review, as usual your expertise on Roland products opens the eyes of many lurkers........Hype/Shmype with others!!! gettin down & dirty with features is where a KB shines for the individual performer who takes the time to learn how to really use them successfully...

Posted By: Dnj
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gettin down & dirty with features is where a KB shines for the individual performer who takes the time to learn how to really use them successfully...
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Well said there. Sounds and basic functions such as sequencing/style recording is all on the surface. Really taming the beast requires the user to dig deeper.

Squeak

Fran:

Thanks for your informative posts. We are fortunate to have folks on the "Zone" who care enough to share with the rest of us.

All my best, RICE

Fran, are you suggesting that the looping/markers feature is also on the D70? If so, you're right... I know how good the VK8 sounds.



[This message has been edited by GlennT (edited 01-13-2006).]

All the discover 5 features are on the G70, plus styles and sequencing on the G70 which the Discover 5 doesn't have.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

If that's the case, with Fran's acclaim of the Discovery5, plus and excellent demo posted by Niels, I'm very surprised the G70 hasn't received rave reviews.

Glenn

Perhaps we could take up a donation and get Fran a G70 for his review. Then he could sell it to me cheap

zuki

Roland should give Fran a G70 for review purposes, if not outright. Fran seems to "resonate" with Roland technology, so he would put the G70 in its best light. If he had criticisms, Roland would know what to work on. A positive review would be more likely than a magazine ad to boost sales.

I have sold dozens of G70 keyboards since last February. Many potential customers came in after reading many of the posts here at the Synthzone expecting to dislike the G70 and usually walked away not understanding the criticisms aimed at this keyboard.
Now that the G70 has been around almost a year, my complaint, which is being echoed by many of the members here is that there is a need for more styles. Roland engineers from Italy last year at NAMM told me there would be a website where buyers could download free styles made for the G70. As of this date, only 4 styles have been added to this site.
I for one wish there was a site like the PSR Tutorial or the Korg PA website for owners of this keyboard to be able to visit and download additional styles.
At the keyboard gathering AJ had last week in Maryland, AJ states that his G70 came in second place in Customer comparisons and that the Tyros, Korg and Generalmusic entries were far behind what musicians liked. First place went to the SD1+EXP as I would expect because this is AJ's own creation (EXP board) and he has put a lot of work into this expanded version.
Those who have not liked the G70 I would suspect as I often do might not have heard it with the latest software or got a demo by someone not really knowing the keyboard well or only heard it on the internet which often produces less than steller audio clips.
I do hope Fran some day gets to do a full evaluation of the G70 and share his comments with the rest of us.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

Yes everyone should provide emotional support so that Fran could successfully abandon the G1000 and acquire something else .... even the G70 would do .... but don't give it to him for free!!!!

Fran has recovered his investment more than once (not fair) on his G1000 and needs to spend some dollars to aid the economy and the pockets of the big arranger makers. Fran will end up with to much money and will forever become confused.