I have had no problems with the buttons freezing...the only thing I compain about is the fact that the pads need to be struck hard at times (depending on the quality of the sample) to get a really audible hit worth keeping, so I often find myself switching it to the full level and adjusting the velocity manually. And there are numbers assigned to most of the functions, but I find this process to be extremely intuitive. ANd, one last thing - built f***ing tough...one BIG difference between the two. Put it this way - you would not be dissappointed with the switch...Maybe except for the fact that the 3000 cannot read wav files. But this is not much of a problem if you use many of your own samples and you are a MAC user. Even if you use PC, I find that converting the files is not that much of a pain. Sorry for going on and on, I just live this damn machine.