I agree with Frank about the sonic quality of high end sample sets vs hardware romplers / synths.

I can't argue against a PSR3000 Trident. I played one yesterday and it sounded pretty good to me. That said, I still probably will never own one. I still don't like the way the keys feel vs my Motif or PA80, but that's a personal choice and this topic has been the source of spirited debates here in the past. Not looking to do that again ( debate this ). It's just a personal preference.

I use the Yamaha syxg50 software xg module with OMB for starters. Most of the Yamaha styles play the "right" instruments in it. That said, to me, the sonic quality is fair. I wish Yamaha would release a better module for Windows XP/. I have the SYXG100, which I think is a step up in sound quality, but there is no support from Yamaha / Sondius for XP. Since I only haveXP, it's now useless to me.

Hyper Canvas sounds much better to me than the syxg50. I might tweak a little and add Super Quartet to the mix for pianos and guitars. Maybe the B4 for organs. Maybe a few nice samples in Kontakt as well. Etc..


OMB is portable for me since my primary music computer is a laptop. My laptop is by far the most powerful synth I've ever owned. There really is nowhere else for me to go with hardwre right now. The Motif ES, even with it's less than intuitive OS, still is easily my favorite choice vs any other rompler. Arrangers ? I like the Tyros a lot, and probably would like the PA1x`as well. I don't want to shell out that much cash for either. They are great arrangers, but at there pries too one dimensional for what I want and need. I love the Roland V synth too. Lots of cool and weird noises. I can do most of that with software though, at less than na tenth of the cost.

Sofware is my choice. I add and pay for what I want, and can leave out what I don't need.

The irony is, I had a nice discussion with the kb manager at my local store yesterday. He makes a living selling mostly hardware, but we were on the same page exactly with this.

AJ