FWIW, the new roland gaia may seem exciting but early reports (outside of the sites/magazines that need to help sell stuff) are that it's a bit lame in the sound dept. This is ONE thing you can never say about Yamaha. When it comes down to it, flawed or not, dodgy interfaces or not, cheap build (very occasionally - i.e AN1X which I love) you can not get around how good they sound, on there own and in a mix.
And I'm a roland fan too (have 2 JX's and a D-50 here, had a Juno 6) and they are a very exciting company (moreso than the more traditional 'corporate' Yamaha) and both generally had good build quality back in the 80s, unlike korg imo who cut corners once they moved to full digital.
So, yes I'm more than happy with my AN1x and SY77, 2 great synths that work together well with sounds that beat the competition in most ways (at that price). However I agree with the original poster, it would be great for Yamaha to reintroduce a passion for synthesis and innovation because after the DX7, it was obvious Roland were trying to catch up/copy at every opportunity (Which brought us the analog JX series and D-50) and if Yammy did it, then maybe roland would stop releasing toys with 'classic' names (juno, SH, JX have all been 'abused' in the last decade with sub standard toys/non synths using the names). Korg certainly seem to me the most on the 'edge of fashion, trying new things all the time but most of their modern synths leave me cold for some reason.
I hate workstations, they are not for me. I like discrete synths dotted around my 'studio' to call on when I need, to get different sources into the mix, an 'all in one' was fine in the 90s when just starting out (TG-500/SY85 for me) but with soft synths etc I guess Yamroland see workstations as the one thing computers can't replace 'elegantly' and can put a huge mark up on the price.... they are in business after all. Who knows how the soft synth revolution will end up, I got into it 100% for quite a few years, then ended up sick of it and went back to hardware which I adore, not just for sound or different sources in a mix (compared to all in one box) but the inspiration and hands on... maybe a lot more people will return to hardware and look for REAL synths that need to produce their own unique sound, look good and feel great. Then software won't be such a threat.
Computers have changed the game in so many industries, it's only 'natural' that synth makers would follow, but with new 'exciting' looking products like the Roland SH, I would hope they concentrate on SOUND quality first rather than mimicking soft synths + fashion led presets, give us deep synths with hands on control and character.
If only more of them could make true analogs again, there would be a huge market for new reliable innovative analog synths with character, and made cheaper by giants like Yamaha instead of left to smaller companies.
To:
AN1x-list@yahoogroups.comFrom:
peter@...Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2010 14:38:59 +0200
Subject: Re: [AN1x] Where's Waldo? (er, um, Yamaha... )
Op 13-6-2010 10:59, derek192603 schreef:
> I have said on many forums (fora?) that whilst the Motif synths sound good, they simply do not have the depth, power and expressiveness of what has gone before. Probably because (as somebody has already said) Yamaha have been chasing the goal of a workstation for the mass market.
Probably, they need to make a profit like everybody else. The EX5 has
great sounds, but also serious flaws, and I doubt they made much of a
profit on it, if any.
- Peter
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