Of course, both manufacturers have many more MIDI synthesizers than what you mention in this thread, but what you mean is General MIDI, which is a subset of MIDI... 😀
noshutdown wrote on 2020-05-28, 02:06:heres what i think, and i could be wrong: […]
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heres what i think, and i could be wrong:
roland:
sc series: economic computer and consumer oriented line, supported gm and gs(sc88pro and later had unofficial support for xg), very popular but didn't produce best sound quality, and lacked some features like detailed patch and effect tuning and presets from professional models.
jv/xv series, phantom series and integra7: professional models for music production and performance, supported gm2 but no gs.
mt32 and u series: old models that predated the sc series, didn't support gm or gs.
cm series: further cut down versions of sc55 and mt32 with no control, just make sound.
sd series(20/50/70/90): semi-professional models that lied between sc and jv/xv series, supported gm, gs and unofficially xg, better sound quality than sc but features were still not so detailed as the professional line. not very popular probably because consumer synthesizers were already fading out by then.
MT32 and D-series (and some CM modules; excepting D70): LA (Linear Arithmetic) synthesizers, use partials to build up sounds. Partials basically are hacked up PCM samples.
U-series, D70, MV30: predecessors of JV-series. U-series have very limited edit, D70 and MV30 add almost full edit, all expandable via ROM cards, all but MV-30 can also use RAM cards (MV30 uses floppy for that). MV30 has proto-General MIDI bank (but can only use 8 MIDI channels).
JD-series: very high end direct predecessor of JV-series.
JV-series. JV80/90/1000 are the original models, no GM bank. JV30/35/50 are GM synthesizers based on the SC-55 using the JV-name. JV1080 and later are better, more capable models with JV-engine. VE-JV1 card is JV80 engine on a board with 512 patches from JV-1000 and particular ROM card; it fits the JV90/1000/35/50.
SC-series: very dumbed down JV hardware (except SC-55, which uses a different CPU) with virtually no edit and no ability to save custom patches. VE-GS1 is SC-55Mk. II engine with SC-88 CPU etc. on a board and fits the JV90/1000/35/50. Exception is SC-880, which is a almost completely editable 19" rack version of SC-88 more akin to D70/MV30, and the "Pro" models.
CM-series: headless versions of CM/SC modules, only editable via MIDI (just like SC-55ST).
XV/XP-series: successors to JV-series, more sophisticated (but less loved) sound. XP-10 is GM synth using XP name.
Fantom: successor to XV/XP.
Integra7: Final Roland rompler module, integrates all XV expansion cards internally.
yamaha:
mu series: equivalent of sc and sd series, supported gm, xg and unofficially gs(tg300b mode). not as popular as sc in ga […]
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yamaha:
mu series: equivalent of sc and sd series, supported gm, xg and unofficially gs(tg300b mode). not as popular as sc in gamers but still did quite well, and i have a feeling that mu was a bit more serious than sc, comparable to the semi-professional sd instead.
motif series: professional models for music production and performance, supported gm2 but no gs.
tg series: old models that predated mu series, older tg33/55/77 didn't support gm while newer tg100/300/500 did.
TG-33: ghetto vector FM synthesis module with very particular sound. FM section later used for Japan-exclusive Yamaha B500/B700 AWM/FM keyboards.
TG-55: AWM (PCM) 19" module. Various keyboards versions exist.
TG-77: The best FM module ever. 6-operator advanced FM + AWM with cross modulation.
FB-01: very cutdown 4 operator FM module.
TX-81Z/WT-11/YS-100/YS-200/etc.: normal 4-operator FM synths, some with easy edit.
TG-500/RM-50: Successor to TG-55 with much better edit options. RM-50 is drum-oriented version. Expandable RAM.
TG-300: Approximately half a TG-500 with proto-XG GM bank. Sounds are still fully editable including elements.
TG-100: GM/AWM module.
MU-series: Successors to TG 100/300/500 line aimed at semi-pro market. Minimal edit limited to XG standard and no user-patches on most models. MU-10 is actually half a QS300 synth and fully editable (TG300B mode is based on QS300, not TG300!). MU1000/2000 are also more editable. MU100 and later take 1 or more PLG expansion boards.
CS-series and S-series: AWM2 synths, fully editable (up to 4 elements per patch), no GM.
Motif-series and S90 and later: AWM2 synths, support GM, fully editable (up to 8 elements per patch)
however, i dunno what was the yamaha equivalent of jv/xv series before motif was out?
TG-500/300, later CS-6.