Squeak Welcome Home !!!!

To me, GW-8 looks a lot like Frankenstein keyboard mixture of:

- great sound engine (Sonic Cell&Fantom)

- great arranger section (same as E-50/60/80 and G-70)

- 76 keys keybed (E-60, G-70)

- and mediocre synth/arranger capabilities (in line with GW-7, only 2 voices compared to 4 at E-50/60 and 5 at E-80/G-70)

- plus dot-matrix screen that looks so much like GW-7 segment based screen, and "World sounds" related

- and some gimmicks like MIDI player, mp3 player and karaoke voice remover

I can't help it but to think of it as kind of:" too much for a beginner, and too less for a pro".

Leezone.... I would assume you could use any of teh G70 styles in the GW8?

leezone, have a look at the Roland UK site. Scroll down and you'll see this "*Style selection may vary from country to country. For details, please contact our Customer Service Team on 01792 702701".
http://www.rolanduk.com/synth_room_catdet.asp?id=GW8

Donny, wouldn't consider the Zone home (sorry), I just posted on this topic as the GW-8 has really sparked my interest, and possibly Russ's GW-7

Squeak....
no prob your always welcome with me

stay in touch

I have owned the G70, E60, GW-7, Sonic Cell, and Juno G..

I will assure you , although they all sound great..the G70 is easily the winner overall and also in the sound department..

The GW-8 is a GW-7 with a Sonic Cell engine with it's player..Same sound engine in the Juno G...and most likely the new Juno [76 key]...

The drawback on the GW8 is the dialing for sounds and styles...No searching while play ..even the performances have to be dialed..

The GW-8 made be a little easier than using a controller and soft synths...maybe a lot easier..

Fran I thought so that's a deal breaker for me on stage bad navigation is no interest to me....Arggg! a Juno with styles!!!

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 06-24-2008).]

Man, you guys aren't looking hard enough. Perhaps your seasoned years are catching up to ya (Joking of course)

The styles now have separate category buttons! Not only is the category feature new, but the GW-8 now has numeric entry. The current GW-7 does not have the dedicated category style buttons nor numeric entry, and numeric entry would make style selections easier too.

Just look at this list of upgrades from the current GW-7.

Poly upped from 64 notes to 128 (BIG JUMP)
Category Style Buttons
Numeric Entry
New Screen
Styles now have 4 intro/ending/variations
USB key feature
More Contemporary Styles
SonicCell/Fantom X sound engine
New cosmetic look (more pro look)

Roland didn't just change minor things. They've done a major overhaul on the GW line. The Style Category button and numeric entry alone are two huge upgrades. Then you add all the other goodies. The big question now is the PRICE. My guesstimate would be $1000-$1200....



[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 06-24-2008).]

Squeak.....my concerns are easy access to registrations/programs setups is imperative on stage.....I will certainly still check it out thoroughly...for hopefully around a Grand+ its a super bang for the buck even as a backup piece....we'll see, heres a nice demo of it.....
http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/2008/06/lims08-roland-gw8-on-show.html



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 06-24-2008).]

You can't say that Roland hasn't listened to their customers on this one though I would say two of the biggest downsides to the current GW-7 is the lack of catergory search and lack of numeric entry. Scrolling through all those styles can be a pain in the (beep), but Roland IMO has really taken the GW to the next level with this new model.

Being able to now access styles by category and use numeric entry is a big step up which will make style selection much easier. Roland has tickled my funny bone with this model. I just need to see the online manual now. (come on Roland.., post that darn manual)

Donny also understand there's going to be "arranger bashing" going on here from Synth players. The GW has always been listed under the "synth section" on Roland's website.., they dont' include it on the arranger page, and many online retailers also list it as a synth. Synth snobs (who completely hate arrangers) are going to talk a lot of smack on this model.

Also kudos to that video link you posted. That's the original video posted on Sonic State, but it's now gone and replaced with a really terrible one.


[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 06-24-2008).]