Question: Which midiguitar system should I buy ?

There is no one correct answer. It depends on many personal factors including budget, style of playing, features, etc. Here's a run-down on some of these considerations.

COST

The cheapest way to get into midiguitar is to buy a used Roland unit, ideally one with the onboard sound module since then you won't have to buy a separate sound source. Look for a used Roland GR33, 30, 50, GM70. Other Roland models are also worth buying but won't have any sounds; you'll need to buy a sound module also. Rolands are also the cheapest units when purchased new.

The next cheapest device is the Yamaha G50, a close relative to the Axon, but it has no sounds built-in.

Finally, there is the most expensive -- the Axon. You can choose to buy one with or without the built-in sound module, the one with the sound module being about $150 more when purchased new.

SPEED/TRACKING

The Axon is unquestionably the fastest when using the neural net technology (see my MIDIGUITAR page for more info). The Yamaha uses the same technology, so it is identical. However, the Axon is reputedly better tracking with the Piezo style pickups than with either Roland or Yamaha units. Axon has developed some software upgrades to improve on piezo pickup performance whereas the YamahaG50 is a slightly older software version of this neural net technology.

Some people prefer the Roland units (GI-10, to name one of the most popular choices) for fingerstyle, and it should be noted that when "fingerstyle" is turned on with the Axon or Yamaha units, they use the same kind of technology as the Roland units so tracking is pretty much identical and issues like slower tracking of lower strings become the same for all units.

Also, the Roland units with onboard sounds have already gathered together for you a collection of patches which are "guitar friendly," so you won't find many problems of tracking or glitches when playing them. The Axon unit tends to have a wider range of midi sounds and some MAY or MAY NOT pose problems for the player.

The Axon/Yamaha units tend to work best for plectrum players, but many fingerstyle players have also learned to use them without problems. This is where it becomes highly personal and depends on your playing style and idiosyncracies. You would be well advised to personally try them all out before buying. As the saying goes, different strokes for different folks.

FEATURES

The Axon has the most to offer in this area: fret splits, string splits, pick splits, powerful continuous controller capability, many hold pedal functions. They are only rackmount. Read about these in the link mentioned above. The Axon presets are already set up for general midi sound modules, especially Yamaha sound modules since the onboard sound modules are manufactured by Yamaha. The quality of the sounds available are completely up to personal taste; some people like the different patches, others consider them a waste of money.

Next comes the YamahaG50 which has all the above but fewer hold pedal possibilities and no fret splits.It is only rackmount.

The Roland units vary. There are the GM70, GR50, GI-10, GR1, GR9, GR30, GR33. The very old GM70, for example, offers individual string transposition for special tunings -- not available on the other units like the Axon-- and sends out 4 different branch messages to different midi units, so for example, you can send separate patch messages/settings to four different midi units at one time. Newer Roland units offer only the same string split possibilities as the Axon and Yamaha. Some of the Roland units are rackmount, others like the newer GR33 are floor pedal units with built-in expression pedals. Again, the quality of the sounds available are completely up to personal taste; some people like the different patches, others consider them a waste of money.

Below are listed various posts by various members of the midiguitar@yahoo.com, offering their opinions on these units. I've collected some of the more helpful ones together to save you the time of having to search through the messages section of the midiguitar list. However, you should still search through the messages if you really want to answer your question. These posts I've collected are only the tip of the iceberg.

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Subject: Re: RMC Pickups for GR 50 In "midiguitarist" magazine (many years ago) the GR-50 midi out was slightly faster than the GR-1's. In my experience the GR-50 is good for sequencing, except for a PB=0 message with every single note on and off, and many more zero length (or several ticks long) glitch notes. This is the reason I recommend the GR-1 or later to new buyers. The GR-50 has a cool feature of actually having two sends (branch A and B). I used these in sequencing by recording both branches, one in poly mode and one in mono mode. This gave two versions to play with, but I've since learned how to copy and paste! Incidentally, I try to always record in mono mode (channels 1-6). This lets you see the fretboard and TAB view in Cakewalk products and also break out each string to a separate track and adjust mix and timing.

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For what it's worth, I've kept my GR-1 and I'm not even tempted by the 30 and 33 because the GR-1 was the last unit with velocity layers. I play it at all gigs and I've made a few patches on it that I use all the time. The older GR-50 is a nightmare because it sends so much extra midi data both in null data and zero or one tick length notes. The 50, 1, 30 and 33 all share the same pitch detection system according to Roland. So, for sequencing and work with better samplers and sound modules, the GR-1 is great as well.

I've played all the pitch to midi units on the market and in my opinion the GR-1 is a great buy and recommend it highly.

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I have an Axon, used to have a Yamaha, spent many years with an older Roland system (GM-70) and have spent several hours playing with the Roland GR30 and GR33. In my opinion, if you play fairly cleanly with a pick, driving external MIDI synth modules, the Yamaha G50 tracks noticeably quicker and cleaner than the Rolands. The Axon tracks as quick as and cleaner than the Yamaha. This is using a Roland or Yamaha magnetic pickup (GK2a, G1d). Using piezo pickup, the Roland tracks much cleaner, but still not as clean or nearly as quick as the Axon. The Yamaha is not suited to piezo pickups, as it produces high pitched ghost notes on the unwound strings.

The difference may only be a few milliseconds, but that makes the difference between apparent real-time-tracking and apparent delayed-tracking to the human ear.

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It depends on your priorities the G50 will have better/faster midi performance the GR33 will work very well w/ internal sounds but roland GR's DO NOT send midi info as well as they work with the internal sounds the GR33 will be friendlier w/ your piezo equipped godin, some folks have reported some tracking glitches w/ older axon(like the G50) units when using piezo pu's the GR units will respond better to a larger range of gtr techniques including fingerstyle the G50 and ax100 will give you better results if your a plectrum player and don't mind being a bit controlled when using midi, the GR's are a bit more relaxed to use the G50 has a steeper learning curve but will do more the soundset in the GR33 is "good" I think very good but others disaggree, I suspect it will be better sounding than your PSR, but may not be as good as a future keyboard/module purchase

hope that helps even if its not a direct "this one is better" I think it depends a bit on the player

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I have an Axon AX100SB and tried the GR33 and GR30 extensively.

The AX100 tracks faster IF YOU USE A PICK. With fingerpicking, the benefit may disappear. Depends on your technique. You need to try it.If you have to switch the AX100 to Fingerpick mode to use it, you lose many of the performance benefits such as pick split and pick control, as well as getting slower tracking.

The GR stuff tracks way better with piezos (as in Godins) than with the Roland GK2a. The AX100 tracks equally well with both piezos and GK2a.

The GR has good internal sounds, but tracking is noticeably slower and weaker via the MIDI output to sequencer or sound modules.

The AX100 SB internal sounds are OK, and if you are familiar with the Yamaha XG sound set (which is what they are) you can get good stuff out of them - maybe as good as the GR30 - but not nearly as good as the GR33 synth engine. But via the MIDI output to external sound modules, the AX100 tracking is just as fast and accurate as with internal sounds. Both take a significant investment in time not only in setting up sound patches, but in setting the device up to suite your guitar and playing style. The AX100 SB is about twice the price of the GR33.

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The most common systems are Roland - latest GR33, and previously GR30, GR09, GR01.... They have internal sounds, but their tracking via MIDI is a little slow. The best, most versatile and fastest tracking system, is the Axon AX100. It is also expensive.

For playing MIDI instruments via guitar technique, but not on a guitar, there is the Ztar - very expensive.

Your best bet is probably the Yamaha G50. This is based on technology licensed from Axon. It therefore tracks very fast and accurate at the MIDI output, so long as you use a pick and your technique is clean.

All the above except the Ztar need a hex pickup to be fitted to your guitar. This can be fixed with double sided tape, but is much more stable if screwed on. The Roland GK2a and Yamaha G1d are the same inside and so interchangeable. I prefer the control layout on the Yamaha. They are delicate, so unless one is included with the interface system, buy one new.

Alternatively, use a guitar with a built in hex pickup system - Roland Ready Strat (OK), Brian Moore or Godin (superb).

For the record, I use a Axon AX100 with Godin LGXT and GK2 equipped Roland G-707 guitars. Until recently I had the Yamaha G50.

The Roland systems are great to use live. Easy to set up and use. Good onboard sounds. Very forgiving of technique. But with a sequencer, they suck. There is a significant delay on the MIDI out (minimum 32 milliseconds on bottom E).

The Rolands detect pitch by comparing the first few cycles of the string vibration. The system guess the pitch and sends a note - often wrong. It then corrects the note with a flurry of pitch bend data. While playing, you don't notice this, because the initial attack of the note is not pitched anyway. Also, they can send short notes of low velocity when you lift your fingers and also when you put your fingers down, before picking the note. But when you look at what you played in Cubase, you will see a lot of wrong notes, a lot of short and very wrong notes at low velocity, and a whole sh1tpile of pitch bend data.

The Yamaha system doesn't have internal sounds and tracks best if you use a pick. Their pitch detection is different. They measure the time to the reflections of the pick attack from the bridge and fret. From this they can tell which fret you are playing and how far from the bridge you are picking. They still correct with pitch bend data, but need far less of it, as the initial note is far more likely to be correct.

Whenever recording with a MIDI guitar system, set the system to output separate MIDI channels for each string. Set the MIDI output channel for the MIDI track on which you are recording to 'ANY'.

Roland synths work best when driven from Godin guitars and/or RMC pickups. The day I tried this combination was the day I bought a Godin and decided to sell my old Roland GR300 and associated stuff.

The Axon AX100 system, however, works for me equally well with RMC pickups or Roland GK2a type pickups. It was originally 'trained' to work with the GK2a. A piezo mode for RMC and Godin stuff was added later as a firmware update. You can find out more about the Axon here: http://musicindustries.com/axon/index.html

The Yamaha G50 works better with the GK2a. The technology was licensed from Axon, but it never got an update to work seamlessly with piezo pickups.

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Delay with the Axon system and the Yamaha G50 is always between 3 and 13 milliseconds. 32mS is the minimum delay on the low E of a Roland system via MIDI.