Yes, I have some questions

. Is it possible to use my VA7 user progs?

. Are there any VA7 styles in the E80 ROM?

. How good is the quality of the
picture/text display?

. The 'Dynamic Split' is that a useful
function? I'm not shure about.

. Can the MFX used for user styles?

. What's your impression of the mp3
player?

Thanks in advance


[This message has been edited by Rolman (edited 02-27-2009).]

Yes you can import the va7 users, but they will need tweaking, and can only be imported via Floppy Disk ..
The rom styles are similar to the VA-series with a few new additions...
Video out picture is OK, I think that vga out would have been more suitable...
Dynamic split would come in handy when you play chords along with a solo line; You can specify wheather it should play high or low notes, so when you are playing a melody with a single note only upper1 sounds, and when you hold that single note and play below or above it, the rest of the uppers will be heard...
You can use up to 3 MFX's for style parts and song parts combined...
This one does not have the MP3 option installed, so I wouldn't be able to tell you about that...

Your answer sounds very good to me. Thanks again. In addition with two SRX cards it will meet my needs, I think. I tested the Korg Pa800 but the style section and the
long-winded OS didn't please me.
Greetings
Peter

Peter,
the E80 is not a bad keyboard, but my frustration is about the fact that Roland is always behind the competition. They certainly are not behind when it comes to the price! I am pissed that the company has so much available, but refuses to incorporate the technology in their arrangers.

Good Luck with it!
Goran

For me, there are two distinct parts of an arranger. The sounds, and the OS.

You've got to like ONE of them, or why buy an arranger in the first place..?

I am not sure where hitman gets his opinions from, perhaps expecting an entirely new arranger only one generation after the V/VA series? Unlikely. Most of the sounds and features in the T3 are legacy sounds that go back a LONG time. Same with Korg, and unsurprisingly, same with Roland.

Not a word, for instance, about the three new Grand Piano sounds. All of which are RD-series staples. Not a word about the VK-series organ section. Not a word about the multiple MFX's and effects sections. Not a word about the multiple Mastering Tools section (separate EQ and 3-band compression on keyboard and style sections). Probably not a visit to Roland-arranger.com to download a myriad of user styles, not a visit to Createsongstyles.com to get conversions from Korg, Technics, Yamaha, you name it.

If you haven't got V2 in it, I guess you missed the new Gold Collection of very usable styles.

But, after all, how much should one expect anyone to understand a TOTL arranger in four days? Let's be honest. As erroneous as his adamantly sticking to his guns about issues he was so obviously wrong about was, what else has he not got yet?

But anyway, best of luck with what you get next. I fear, however, that if four days or less is all you are prepared to give, and as focused on only the negative points as you seem, I doubt that anything is going to satisfy...

Let's put it this way. I presume you got the $2000 blowout price? Name another arranger anywhere NEAR as good at that price!

[This message has been edited by Diki (edited 02-27-2009).]

Peter that a perfect discription of the KORG OS.....

Well Diki,

there is the Tyros 2 in the same price range that blows the E80 away! If the T2 does not have a satisfying piano and organ sounds, then it has the 1GB of Ram to compansate for those shortcomings. Considering that the E80's ROM is 128 MB, imagine what kind of piano sound I should be able to have with an available 1GB of space. And, yes it has "mastering tools" such as a compressor and EQ (5-band).
I mean I could go on and on about it....

I did however compliment the Guitar Mode, and the possibility to make it sound great with SRX boards. But again, what is the price tag of all that?

But anyways, the E80 should be in the $ 1300 range in order to be attractive!!! (MY OPINION).

I guess you haven't read any of the threads about how slow the Tyros's are to load up samples. That GB will take nearly an hour to load!

Although you DO pay for those SRX boards (not that TOTL sample libraries are cheap, or even plentiful for the Yamaha's closed format) you gain all their sounds being instantly available. Mind you, it's not going to fix your drum problem, as they don't make an SRX board with newer drum kits on it (just older legacy stuff) of the V-Kit standard.

But trust me, if you hate the E80's drums, you are going to cry when you hear the Tyros's And you'll be looking to get one for $1000 Best of luck, my optimistic friend...

The difference between the E80's mastering section is that there are TWO. So an overly aggressive RH part does NOT duck the arranger side down. No such luck with the Tyros's.

And, I'm sorry, but I can't even agree with you on the thing that you DO like! Unfortunately, unlike Korg's Guitar Mode, or the new T3 guitar NTT's, the Roland Guitar Mode is live playing only! It does not work with the style section at all. For most of us, the whole idea of a Guitar Mode is to do authentic guitar parts in the style section, while we play other parts ourselves. You might not have gotten around to finding even THAT out given the rushed assessment..

Oh, BTW, although yes, the E80's RAM disk tops out at 64MB (and stores the OS and ROM styles) - my bad! - the Card slot is functionally identical, and can accept up to 4GB Microdrives. Instantaneous loading (no transferring to RAM first). Not too shabby.

Look, you are entitled to your opinion. I only hope that you don't review the T3 in so hurried and negative a fashion. If you think Roland users get defensive when faced with inaccurate reviews, wait until the Yamaha fanboys let loose on you!

Negative opinions are fine, but when accompanied by so many factual mistakes and failure to understand core concepts, should be taken with a liberal pinch of salt, IMO...

There are players who never load a sample & couldn't care less about that feature

I for one have never felt the need to add samples (or even just ONE SRX board to my G70 ) to shore up it's soundset. There are enough alternative sounds (did you have the 'Extended' soundset enabled when you played it, hitman?) that there's either a great single sound, or a layer or cross-split that you can make that does everything I've tried to throw at it. Mind you, it took me more than an hour to find them all!

I'm about as picky as most when it comes to brass and sax sounds. Being a horn player, that is. Yep, I agree... there isn't much in the way of single sounds that do the brass justice. But a two voice layer gets as close as anything else I've played, and a three voice is an absolute joy to play. Again, a hurried, rushed playthrough of the ROM patches doesn't teach you this.

The SA solo sax sounds and solo trumpets are the only area that I'll give the nod to the Tyros's for (for brass sounds). Mind you, they alone account for a large percentage of that touted ROM superiority. Remove them, and the T2 probably has a much more comparable ROM size.