Hi
Having recently bought a Roland GW 8 arranger, I am writing a comparative review to my psr3000 that I own as well, having never had anything before apart from Yamahas, the Roland was for me, a good eye opener that there are other brands available just as good, and all I needed was a little faith, to give them a shot.

First of all
Build Quality/Key feel
My PSR looks a lot more (home friendly) and at first glance when side by side with gw8 looks like it incorporates a lot more features. The Roland has a completely different look going. It looks more pro almost synthlike. With a stronger more robust feel. And although it looks like it might not have as much features as the psr3000 with its compact size, less buttons, and smaller screen, after playing around with it, it’s not as I first thought. So which one looks better? Well for me the GW 8 looks like it’s better build quality and more pro looking, but the 3000 just looks a lot more inviting and sits nicer in its home environment. However what one lacks, the other makes up for it, and they complement each other very well.

The key feel on the GW 8 although doesn’t feel any heavier than in the 3000, it feels more responsive. And I have to say this, it’s like I feel the keys? Or the Tone? Better. Which make my hands more creative when I play. (Please help me on this one. It could just be that (mind, persuasion, falseness, thing going on.) Has anyone else experienced this? Or my just nuts?

Sounds
GW’s pianos sound definably crisper, sharper. Same thing for E/Pianos. Organs PSR3000 sound more authentic/real, guitars GW8 wins here, especially in the electric guitars, they sound awesome. Strings PSR3000 sound a lot lusher, and I prefer it. Brass/sax PSR3000 sound more genuine and authentic. Synths HANDS DOWN GW 8 (I never understood the beauty of synth sounds until I heard them on the Roland.

This a tough one, I love my sounds on my psr 3000, especially the cool, sweet and live ones, although there are times when I feel a bit frustrated by the thinness of the sounds. In some music this is not a bad thing, it’s a positive. In other music were you want that oomph it’s a negative. In Yamahas weakness is were the gw8 shines, overall the sounds a full and clear nothing gets muffled when assembled together. Each sound holds its own.

I also feel that the sounds in the gw8 are a more usable than in the psr3000. Don’t get me wrong the Yamaha sounds amazing, but most of them are the cool, live, and sweet voices, I hardly used a normal voice when I could instead choose a similar sounding say (sweet Voice) which sounds so much better.
The GW8, More good quality sounds, and more different to each other than in the 3000.

THAT’S IT FOR TODAY IAM TIRED, PROBALY AS YOU ARE BY READING THIS
PART 2 WILL BE ON STYLES, FEATURES/EASE OF USE, AND OVERALL

That's very interesting. Please keep us informed.

Bernie

Just curious, buch, but what kind of sound system were you playing them through?

Was it the same for both, or are you comparing the PSR-3000's on board speakers, against the GW-8 through a different sound system?

Also, the PSR-3000 was made in 2004.

Still, it's nice to see you are happy with your GW-8...I'm considering one myself, as soon as they add on-board style assembly.

Ian

hi
i played them through the same sound system to make it fair, i also tried to remember i bought the psr3000 4 years ago and gw 8 is quite new,
however i paid £1400 for the psr3000 when new(iam not sure how much that is in dollars. and i paid £535 for the GW 8 new,
quite a price diffence.
i actually played the newer s700 and honeslty havent found anything different than psr3000 except a few minor details.
and i played the s550 priced here at around £500 which felt like a huge step backwards from my psr3000 and the GW8, so although the psr3000 is quite old in its features its still quite new? (if you get what iam saying)

That's good to hear, bucho...the GW-8 is a very nice instrument, and you probably wouldn't use style assembly anyway.

You can do some basic editing, as far as I know, and Fran says you can use styles from other Roland arrangers, so you won't be short of goodies.

You sound excited. I'm pleased for you.

Ian

actually thats one of the drawbacs that i have with GW8 in the style department. the yamaha is alot better in using different styles, in the gw8 i cant run a style through the usb stick, it has be imported into the keyboards memory which has space for about a 100, while the 3000 you van have thousands depending on your usb space, alhough iam not going to use athousand styles its good to know that its there for you, if you want