Is there any difference between the GW-8 and the GW-8L? Any differences in the Prelude... OTHER than the addition of speakers?

Anyone using any of these boards?

Glenn

The GW8-L has double the ROM of a Sonic Cell (what all the GW's are based on) with an emphasis on Latin sounds and percussion (pretty damn good percussion). I don't think there IS a 'basic' GW-8. All GW-8's have SOME kind of addition (either Latin, Eastern European or Asian, I think) to their basic shared ROM.


Do a search for GW-8 here. Several people have reviewed it, including me...

Does anyone know if there's any difference in the Prelude other than speakers?

In a word... no. What's amazing to me, the only GW8 version available in the USA is the GW-8L, and L DOES stand for latin. Of the 230 styles on-board, 100 are latin!

and how are those Latin styles?
any G8 owners care to weigh in?
I've been so disappointed by roland styles and drum programming in the past I didn't even consider this board.

thnks
tm

The latin styles are very good. The other styles not so. You can't edit them in any way. The best of the GW8 in my opinion are the synth sounds and the piano's. I am saving now for a korg PA800 because of the lack of styles on the GW8. So if you want programming of styles and drums and need better sounds I advise to go for a yamaha psr s700 or korg pa500. They all have the same price tag.

Why-oh-why won't Roland offer the GW8 styles as an upgrade pack for the E-80/G-70?

Don't forget the Roland E50/E60.
The best board for editing/creating styles!
Greetings
Peter


[This message has been edited by Rolman (edited 06-28-2009).]

Is it possible for someone to download the GW-8 styles to PC and then upload to your E-80?

There is no style file copy on the GW8. You can LOAD new styles, but the ROM style section is not available to the file system.

Sadly, the only way to copy the ROM styles is to painstakingly make SMF's of the style divisions (not forgetting about the different patterns for maj/min/7th) and then reassemble them with your MIDI to style capabilities in your E/G-series arranger.

And even then, you are up against it... Personally, I think one of the BEST things about the GW8-L is the very good Latin Percussion in the expansion ROM. Most of these sounds don't even exist in the E/G-series arrangers, so a translated style still has quite a battle to sound as good.

I know that Roland have moved on to ARX expansion for their Fantom WS line, but there is still a ton of current and legacy products with SRX slots. I am surprised that Roland hasn't taken the Latin and European and Asian expansion ROM's for the GW8 variants, and released them as SRX cards, for adding to Sonic Cells and G70 and E80 arrangers. I can see Roland making a decent chunk of change from us if they bundled the SRX card with GW8 styles translated to work on the card/arranger hybrid.

But them again, Roland seem hell bent to destroy any chance of success in their arranger division. So this fairly obvious move is probably pretty unlikely...