Personally, I use both Real Tracks and MIDI. If I was forced to give up one or the other, I'd give up the Real Tracks and keep the MIDI.

But my needs may not be the same as yours.

BTW, the Ketron SD2 is an excellent sound module especially for a General MIDI sound set. It has the best sounding GM set of all the dozen sound modules I have and better than the soft synths I've heard that have a GM bank.

Now why would I keep MIDI? MIDI is thousands of times more editable than audio (Real Tracks included). And 'editability' equals creativity and flexibility.

And don't believe the BS about RTs sounding better than MIDI - virtually every recording produced in Nashville, LA, NOLA and elsewhere, every song you hear on the radio that has been made in the last 30 years has had MIDI embedded in it's DNA. There are bad sounding MIDI synths and there are good ones. Don't confuse the bad ones with the good.

There are things I do every day with MIDI that are impossible to do with audio.

If you have a similar sounding recording studio, the same mics, the same console, the same instruments, the same amps, and the same talent you can do a few, but not all of the things listed below:
  • Insert song specific licks. Many popular recordings have little melody, simple chords but depend on song specific licks (motifs or figures). Without them you don't have the song. You can insert them in MIDI without changing the instrument sound
  • Same for rhythmic kicks (breaks, shots) that occur in specific songs
  • Some songs require more or less snare drum, more cowbell, less cymbal or whatever. Easy to do in MIDI
  • You may want to change drum instruments, for example a ride to the ride bell or cowbell on a Latin/Rock song. Easy in MIDI, impossible in audio
  • How about changing instruments? In a particular song, that piano part might sound better as a Rhodes, Clav, or Bright piano - a few clicks away in MIDI
  • My Edirol SD-90 synth has many different clean guitar sounds. I can change a guitar to a Tele (front or rear pickup), Strat, LP, 335, funk, or something else.
  • Expressive devices like crescendo, diminuendo, accelerando, ritardando, and fermata without annoying audio artifacts are a snap with MIDI
  • Don't want that roll when changing from an A to a B substyl? Copy and paste a non roll measure - no problem
  • Want the A in one BiaB style and the B in another but the instruments don't match? F5 and change the instruments of the second style to match the first
  • and these are only a few

Now don't get me wrong, I like the Real Tracks and think there is genius and/or magic in them. When they are right, they are right, but when they are only partially right, I can't make them right - not even with Melodyne.

There are advantages to both RTs and MIDI, and I like having both tools in my audio tool box, but if I had to live with only one, it would definitely be MIDI.

But like I said, your needs may be different from mine so I can't make a recommendation, only tell you what is important to me.

Insights and incites by Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks