Hi Rikki,

You will be very happy with the Edirol PCR-M50 if you are looking for a cheap, portable and small USB controller with a professional key feel. This is exactly like the Roland Fantom X6 without the aftertouch.

I will try out the sound fonts on my Audigy2 soundcard.

I became a member of http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EDPCR/
This group deals with the Edirol PCR series of keyboards.

I also joined http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/HOMESEQUENCERS/
This group has some good info on soundfonts and how to use them with sequencers.
The owner, Ian Bennett is a great guy. He has written some extensive tutorials for free download.

The Edirol SD-90 Studio Canvas is the flagship of Roland's SoundCanvas lineup. Roland went all the way into making a self-contained unit that combines a stellar GM/GM2/GS sound set with a 2x2 MIDI interface, a 24-bit/48KHz audio interface and a USB link to a host computer.

Because it is all hardware, there is zero latency. Plus there is zero noise. The unit is detached from the internals of the PC. They included XGlite support. XG MIDI files sound with the proper voices, but the effects are not quite right. XG drums sound ok.

I am getting myself a Yamaha MU100 XG sound module to get full XG compatibility. The OMB styles derived from the Yamaha PSR series will play back better through this.

You are correct. OMB in version 8.0 allows you to hook up a different sound module to every MIDI track.

I think the SD-90 with its GM2/GS sound set and the MU100 with its XG sound set will have my bases covered. Then I can explore the added realism through specialized sound fonts and software samples. I am very pleased with the Garritan Personal Orchestra Collection.

Frank and AJ are the true pioneers. Thanks to this newsgroup, we are all benefiting from their research and experimentation. There is so much to learn and explore!

Regards,

Tapas