For SMF playback, and style play the PA-50 is great right out of the box. To give my songs some extra ompf I use the Motif. I have the AN, DX, and VL modeling expansion cards for it, and also the motif has a breath controler input, as well as a pattern sequencer. This gives me a tremendous amount of tools to work with. The EP's on the Motif are better than the Korg. But, the Korg's voices are integrated to work within the styles, and midi files. I find that I use the motif to play solos, and the PA-50 the backing tracks. The Motif has a nice feature that lets you store a bank of patch Favorites that you can bring up instantly.