E-20 invented the class.

There was no such thing as a "pro" arranger prior to the E-20. Roland invented the whole concept. The self-accompanying keyboards from Yamaha and others at that time were laughably awful in comparison.

Every self-accompanying keyboard since owes something to the E-20.

Actually the first self-accompanying keybords were the pop organs.

I will now go duck & hide someplace. LOL

Great thread

Jerry

I agree,

Roland also held the edge for quite some time, but the introduction of Yamaha's mega and Super articulated voices had Roland and everyone else, for that matter, trying desperately to catch up.

They still haven't.

Perhaps the new G- series will let them gain some lost ground.

Ian

How can companies be trying to catch up when Yamaha isn't even ahead of the game? "SA" is just a bunch of glorified hype for a multi sampled sound. Multi samples have been around since the early days of high end samplers and most TOTL keyboards utilize them. My old Fairlight CMI III has sounds that make Yamaha's SA and Megavoices sound like poop. For that matter I've never heard any sampler have such an organic, raw, and full sound compared to the CMI III. Bring your PSR-S900 or Tyros over and we'll put it head to head with my antiquated Fairlight, you'll be amazed how anemic and unrealistic those Yamaha sounds are in comparison.

I seriously doubt Roland is desperately trying to catch up with Yamaha. One listen to Roland's top end keyboards clearly shows their sounds are competitive with nearly every other top end arranger or workstation made (with the exception of instruments like Wersi and Lionstracs that can support VST's). No embedded workstation or arranger can come close in sound to any workstation capable of utilizing VST's. Just listen to the Miroslav, Garritan, Kontakt, or Giga sound libraries and see how well your Yammy compares. It's not even in the running!

Always best to compare like with like, rather then what can be added to enhance the existing. Roland and Korg have plug-in expansion boards which take them to a new level, but you have to pay extra to get them.

Bill

Well Mr Ensnoreyou, Fairlight vs. Tyros? I think you are comparing apples to oranges.

Regarding Worsie and Lointracs...they are not much better sounding than a Casio (sorry Casio users) with mediocre stock sounds and incredibly boring styles....I've listened to the demos...they tell the whole story.

They are also vastly overpriced considering they need to be VST'd to sound anyways decent...Yammies (and Rolands and Korgs) sound great out of the box.

But, you can continue on your way and support the losers...the rest of us will stick with the winners, thank you very much.

Ian



[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 08-31-2008).]

I gotta agree with Ensnareyou. Although some of these mega voices, and SA voices are nice..., they are in no way anything NEW in terms of how they function. Sure the samples have gotten better that's used for them, but the velocity switching was being used well before we saw the fist Mega Voice hit the scene.

I think these new boards have nice stock sounds, but on the whole.., as he stated VST's are going to give you some much better sounds..., and they should too considering the size some of these things are. One VST he mentioned was Garritan.., Holy Crap do they have some nice stuff! Ian show me any keyboard on the market that can compete with the Garritan Stradivari... Show me ANY keyboard on the market that managed to "rent" the actual Stradivari Violin and sample that! Now I remember rumors years ago that Kenny G's sax was sampled for the Sweet S. Sax on Yammie's.., but that has never been confirmed.

Also Ian once again you show your true self by this comment:
--------------------------------------------
But, you can continue on your way and support the losers...the rest of us will stick with the winners, thank you very much.

Ian
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That's real grown of you man. Just because a board doesn't hold to your standards it's a loser? Lionstracs and Wersi may not be in every other house throughout the world, but last time I checked they had many supporters who didn't feel they are sticking with the "losers" Dom has done something that probably none to very few of us here could even dream of. We all bitch and moan about what we want on a keyboard....., how many of us actually had the balls and guts to just MAKE THE BLOODY THING. You may not like the Lionstracs, but in this extremely competitive market for keyboards.., Dom (whether you realize it or not) has gotten the attention of the big three. Can you say the same with your skills?????



[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 08-31-2008).]

I got nothing to say ... I still have a Korg I5s in my studio!
Sometimes the old dinosaurs have a personal appeal .... my Korg sits on top of my Rhodes suitcase ( and secretly plays the sounds of the Roland JV1010 through it! )shhh.......

I keep this Korg for a backup, and a usable whurli/bass unit for livejams. Some things are dated, but the bass and Whurli sounds are right on target!

Fran ... I will never want either of your new toys ... as I know you would never want the Korg. Squeak - if you want a DX - call me ... my partner at school is dying to dump his .... it's useless for us.
215-284-1328

Thanks Squeak...nice to have you believing me instead of calling me a liar.

My opinion of Lointracs and Wersi is not an isolated one...there are many of us who are very skeptical of the product's validity as an arranger.

The on-line demos only go to show that we are right....decent demos would probably make us sit up and take notice...but, as they stand, they really don't do much in showcasing these instruments.

Regarding my skills...I really don't see what they have to do with the poor showing of Wersi and Lointracs.

Perhaps they should hire you to do some adequate demos as Ensnoreyou and Dom are incapable of providing them?

Ian