I must admit, comparing two arrangers on SMF playback when one of them is a Roland is hardly fair..

After all, Roland basically INVENTED the idea of standardized SMF playback, and have never relinquished their lead at this feature. And given that MOST SMF's are actually prepared on a Roland (for the greatest compatibility) and that even Quicktime Player uses a Roland licensed set of sounds for web playback, the deck is stacked against everything else.

I am sure, if you took a Yamaha made SMF, made on an XG standard keyboard, and then put that file in a Yamaha and a Roland, the Yamaha would come out the victor. The quality of playback in unedited form goes to the brand it was MADE on.

You want to turn this around, take a PA800 style, convert and tweak it for G70, and then play the two back to back in a blind test. THEN, which one sounds 'better'?

I wouldn't bet against the Korg, under those set of circumstances...

I have no problem betting against the Korg..I prefer the converted style on the G70..Here is a random selected style converted to the G70 from the PA800....Tell me if you like the first offering or the second..

Fran,

I just listened to both of them many times.

They are both okay; the second one is a bit better, but neither of them are what I would call stellar.

The pianos aren't all that hot in neither of them, maybe that's what it is, and the guitars are kind of...dull.

Otherwise, I'm sure they would both be fine in a playing situation.

Ian

What a sacrilege, playing one of my favorite Jimmy Smith tunes on an arranger. The truth; if you ever heard the original, you'd know it sounds crappy on both.

In answer to your question, the first one sounds slightly less crappy than than the second. Play it live on a Nord C1 with an expression pedal (or even a Nord E3).

chas

Hi Fran:

Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed both versions. If I were forced to choose, version one did not sound quite so "canned" as v2. I'd offer a half-dozen caveats for my reasoning... but you wanted a quick vote... and you got it.

Best,

Dave Rice

I would love to hear the sequence on the BK-7M! For me the 2nd version sounded the best. I missed some more punch in the bass though - guitars sounded ok in my ears.

DocZ

The first one is the Roland the second one the Korg. Still don't no what you wanna prove with this Fran. I love both brands and both have their pros and cons.

I dont think this is the best way to make a comparison between two keyboards...

The reason why is because each board has different EQ settings / effects and different samples. Im sure if more time was spent EQ'ing and adding effects to the PA 800 it might have a better result - but same goes to the G70... or any other board brought into the equation.
 
Fran, You have owned the G70 for many years and I am sure you know it inside out compared to the PA800. Thus you would be able to achieve much better results on your G70 than the PA 800 in any application...
 
You can never judge a better keyboard by making it play the same midi file as the next one... Midi files need to be optimised for the keyboard they are being played on...
 
The best comparison for me would be restore both units to factory default and play the midi file straight out - the only changes should be re voicing...
 
but then again Arrangers are all about personalising and tweaking so a person who has more experience with the Korg could get a better result than someone who has only had it 1 month - 2 months.

Nick
 
 

Well said, Nick...spot on.

And, we all know Fran wanted the G-70 to win in any case.

Ian

No I didn't care if the G70 won..I posted a random style Organ swing that I had on the G70 (converted)..It was a style on my external memory card..that I never used....It was to prove a point...conversions from Korg to Roland work well...(disagreed with Diki)..it wasn't a contest or showing a great style.

As I have always said..a style is just a style...I would not judge any keyboard by it's factory styles...but what else can it do...

The first take was the G70.