Trying to decide which board to purchase. I have a PSR 740 at this time. In spite of the
sometimes negative comments I see about it I like the board and think its pretty good for the money. The sounds are very good and the styles are good . I have plenty of them too.. converted from other boards, my own etc.... It also works very well in tandem with the xg works seq on my puter which has good styles of its own and the ability to use any of the other SFF styles available on the net . The board is rather limited though. Sometimes though I want to compose away from the puter, so I don't care for the limitations of the sequencer ( Few real editing abilities, no step sequencing...cant punch in to change or mix styles in song record mode in real time... and for some unkown reason my punch in / out function is not working at all...) and the inability to modify styles in an external sequencer without having to split the styles from the CASM sections and then reinsert them. I have programs on the comp to help do all this stuff but again I'd like more functionality in a board itself... Also, are the sounds better on the higher end boards ( not with the built in speakers but the actual sounds going through the same mixer and amp) ? So how much of an upgrade would the PSR 9000, EM2000 or other board be ( x1 - kn - korg series come to mind ...), and how do they compare against each other? How about the sounds and sampling capabilities ? The most frustrating thing is that I dont think that there is a store within 100 miles of me that carries these boards. Sam Ash ( 80 miles away ) has the EM 2000 but no other higher end arrangers that Im aware of. I live in upstate NY near the Pa border in Sullivan county. Where is the closest store where I can try these boards ?? ( Im afraid of the answer..lol ) I would like to try the x1 and KN stuff as well, spend some time with all of them. If I am going to invest in a board I probably won't get a shot at a new one again for quite some time, so I would like to get the one that is best for ME..
Just how does someone try these things out other than downloading sample files to hear the sounds off of the net? If it's driving 100 or more miles I dont think I am going to like the answer to THAT one either, but if I HAVE to I'd at least like to find a place that has ALL or at least most of the boards I want to try out.
Al M