In Reply to: Inferiority of GM sounds posted by Greg Jones on December 08, 1999 at 08:07:29:
GM is a standard set of sounds, implemented on most synths in the last 5 plus years. Because they are a standard set, most manufacturers feel that they need to include it but (in my humble opinion), don't spend much time on creating really good versions. I mean, if you were Alesis, would you use your best Grand Piano sound as patch 001 in the GM bank, or would you put it in your proprietary sounds? I also have a theory that with limited ROM inside these boxes, the manufacturer (quite rightly), wants to devote as much of it as possible to new, unique sounds. This might account for weak sounding GM sets.
I have 2 synths - a Yamaha CS1X (which has XG (a kind of enhanced GM) as well as GM) and a QSR. Personally I find the GM bank in the Yamaha better than the Alesis one. I feel that the Alesis set is a bit too subdued.
On the Alesis, you will find better corollory sounds in the Preset and User banks. To conclude, compare the GM sax sound with 'Breathy Sax'. I rest my case.