I have the utmost respect for Dave, always have. Having said that, Frank, My only advice is .." try the thing out first before you go sell the PA80 for it, no matter who is telling you ". I haven't played the 9000 pro, so I am not qualified to comment on its sounds, but unless they are a major improvement from the 9000, for me the 9000 pro wouldn't compare to the PA80. Maybe there are those who will not agree when they read this, but again it's all in what someone wants to use the board for. I know that when I listen to recordings I have made on the PA80 vs the ones I made on the 9000 or 2000, well, the PA80's just sound more realistic and pro overall. I cannot argue in favor of the PA80 if your primary use would be live playing, with an emphasis more on vocals rather than musical and you will be using the arranger functions to emulate "standards". No doubt, the Yamaha styles, while simpler, will work for a wider variety of popular songs. The 9000 and 2000 are easier to work with "out of the box". Where the PA80 shines is if you want more of a typical workstation and are willing to work a bit on the styles. ( Yes with a bit of work some of those "objectionable fills " can be altered even without changing notes in many cases to make a better fit ). For drum sounds, no comparison. Guitars? Unless the Pro has improved vastly over it's predecessors, again for electric solo guitars, no comparison. Maybe in a mix I can
live with the Yamaha electric sounds, but never on a solo. I'll add the Motif to that comment as well.

As far as the PA80 being comparable to the 2000?. I don't think so. I have both boards sitting less than 5 feet from me right now. The 2000 has its place here, and is nice and easy to use for my duet gigs with a singer. It does have excellent features as compared to the PA80 as well..minus a few. For anything that is being recorded, yes there are even a few sounds I actually prefer over the PA80, but not very many.

AJ