They should have you demonstrate these instruments, Diki...as it is, these demos are only of benefit to Yamaha and Korg.

The difference is that you can't find out for yourself if an MS can be made to sound better than the pathetic factory demos (although they sparkle compared to this heap of steaming.. ) without BUYING ONE!

You can't find them in a store to try for yourself, and no MS owner is stepping up to the plate and showing what you CAN do OOTB with the MS (why does buying one put an immediate halt on your desire to post? Somebody needs to explain that one).

OTOH, most of us will be able to get our hands on a GW-8 in a store (my local Roland dealer, who won't carry E and G series at all stocks the GW-8) to find out for yourselves, and I imagine that plenty of users will be putting their work up soon...

And, bottom line, you 'buy to try' and get stuck with it, you are only out $850, not several thousands...

Sorry, but if the guy CAN play, he was instructed to 'Play as badly as you can... Here, have another tequila!"

I think the GW-8's going to do very well. The promo videos clearly suck donkey butt.., I think we all can agree on that However.., in all these vids we've seen it's clear someone needs smacked.., and smacked hard.

The GW-8's shortcomings (in terms of sequencing ect) can easily be overcome with a software sequencer. All you need are the instrument files (if memory serves me correctly I thought I saw a link on a site somewhere for the GW-8's instrument files too, not sure what app they were written for though).., and you could create all your sequences on the PC or Mac then slide them on over to the GW-8. Plus using a software sequencer you could overcome the MFX (live only issue) by doing a few audio tracks.


[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 10-31-2008).]

The primary issue for me was there is NO ROM style editing other than volume or mute. And you can't copy them out of a ROM style folder and edit them on a G70, or something with Makeup Tools.

I haven't used an on-board sequencer for decades except for a VERY quick simple fix, so that doesn't worry me. But I don't think I have a single style that I haven't massaged into the way I prefer.

To not be able to do this to the ROM styles is a shame... some of them are pretty good.

If Roland can come out with some software that could address this issue, or release the ROM styles in STL format, so they CAN be tweaked in another Roland, that would fix the problem, IMO.

But mute and volume alone is not enough for me...

One thing that's been upped for sure is is the wave ROM-256 MB. That puts it on par with at least two Pro keyboards (Korg M3 and Rolands Fantom G) sound wise.The GW 7 only had 32 MB! You can hear the results in that piano patch demo-not bad!

It sails past the G 70 spec (192) but the Yamaha Motif XS still has the lock with 355 MB. But that is neither here or there.Here is what COULD happen though.

A lot of people who aren't exactly thrilled with the Fantom G may look to the GW 8 as a nicely priced "Fantom G Junior" at least in terms of the soundset.The GW 8 has roughly half of the G's presets and I'm sure that they're all very usable to the pros. As limited as it might appear to be function-wise,hey,just squirt the GW into your computer and you can do whatever you want!

The GW 8 is VERY nicely priced for something that sounds this good-why pay 2k plus for a Fantom G? I wouldn't,especially since the Fantom G appears to be crashing more times than George of the Jungle! I mean 256 MB IS 256 MB right? Why pay more?
I wouldn't!

don't get too excited about the wave rom memory. it might very well mean in fact only 32 MB, read the other thread anout this subject.
i have some serious doubts the difference would be so great from GW7 to GW8. rather, it's sounds are better sampled and more cleverly compressed.
but anyway, the best way is to listen to it yourself, and if you like it, all of these does not matter after all.

There will most likely be a HUGE differene between the soundset on the GW-7 and the GW-8 adimatis.

Don't forget the GW-8's soundset is taken from the FantomX/SonicCell. There have also been reports that some of the sounds on the GW-8 were taken from SRX expansion boards (like what Roland did with the Fantom G).

I think you're going to hear a very notable difference between the two boards. Not only have the sounds completey changed, but there are many other features that have either increased or are completey new on the GW-8.

128 note poly (up from 64)
new screen (much better than old one)
Fantom/SonicCell sound engine
Style selection by category
Numeric Entry (GW-7 really needed this)
Style sections have now been doubled
USB memory player

The GW-8 is amost an entirely different keyboard with these upgrades they've made. Roland went all out on these uprgades and they really set the GW-8 apart from the GW-7.



[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 11-01-2008).]

Roland has the Gigging musician in mind for sure versus all others imo.

Roland always express wave ROM as uncompressed size, whether they muck it up (deliberately or not) by using Mb or MB to express the data. How much that expressed ROM is compressed remains an undocumented figure, but generally, the cheaper the product, the more it is likely to be, IMO. But, if they say 256MB, that's probably about right. Sonic Cell has 128MB (according to all their lit) and the GW-8 has an additional bank of 'World' sounds, the area that each different model puts it's sounds in. Some of the best sounds in the GW-8, I felt, came from this expanded area, including better horns, strings, and a large latin percussion selection. So, 256MB feels about right.

BUT.... one thing I think sets the GW-8 apart from previous models (of any kind!) is that it uses Roland's brand-new Sonic Cell as the underlying sound set and chip architecture. And, just as the Sound Canvas pushed small, inexpensive multi-timbral modules into new areas of 'bang for the buck', I feel that anything based on this new chip and ROM is quite a bargain...

There ARE gaps in it's soundset. I felt the saxes and brass to be not as good as I would have liked (but at the price point, still usable), but let us not forget TWO SRX slots Whatever your particular area of sonic interest, there's an SRX board that can fill the hole quite elegantly.

This thing makes the GW-7 seem like a toy, in comparison. Try it... You might like it