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I use SW-60XG board almost two years and i am still very happy with its features. Board's output is connected to SoundBlaster's Live input and when i have completed MIDI composition i record all parts separately to wave files. Then i do multitrack editing & postprocessing with my favourite editor. Note that SW-60XG is not my only MIDI tool, it's part of my home studio and when i compare its sound (i mean quality of D/A and A/D converters) to other devices (Kurzweil K2500, Roland XP-80, Korg Trinity, software synthesis...) i must say, it is not lame, BUT different, not very punchy, some smoothing, definitely board is serious with its price. I'd also SW1000XG board, but i think it sounds same, in it was more voices, patches and effects, but i never used it because directX plugins offer more quality, but it's not only reason. Every company have their syndroms and it is good to have equipment from more manufacturers. I personally choosed to have only one Yamaha product from electronic instrument cathegory, although exists many more (sampler A3000, EX5, CS-2x, VL70m) i have checked. Best thing is controllers. You can control every sound with attack, release, filter and resonance and also with other standard controllers e.g. Expression pedal (variable volume), depth of fx send (reverb, chorus, variable), pitchbender, RPN's coarse and fine tunning, portamento, modulation etc. EVERYTHING in realtime and EVERYTHING you can correct after record with controllers and its parts (in your sequencer such as Cakewalk). This can guarantee fresh of your compositions and expressiveness of your performance. This is real power of XG standard, tabular work with sound engine. You can do that with all modern synths (Kurzweil K2500 for example), but if in machine is no "standard" you mu5t remember sound structure or create structure of controllers in setup. Since i am member of XG Developer program i use licensed version of XGEdit and this THING is really amazing. Before this date i'd in brain all System Exclusive commands to modify DSP effect units (reverb, chorus, variable), now i can use all that in realtime with virtual knobs! I don't use it for normal MIDI songs (except setting up environment at the beggining). For example i've good drumloop in MIDI sequencer, then I start XGEdit and do modifying effects, filters, envelope, modulation on channels where is that drumloop. If something sounds very good i record sequence to wave file. Don't forget to use drummap mode, then you can use different filter, pitch, effect settings on EVERY instrument in drum kit. Yes and i've found something strange in MIDI volume, when i start computer and run XG MIDI tune it sounds quiet, always must start application EffectGearII that comes on SW-60XG's CD and slide down/up MIDI volume setting. It is only technical problem, everything other works properly and also signal-to-noise ratio is very good.
Adios muchachos and sorry for my english knowledge
Martin Demsky
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