Yes, I opened a can of worms all right just to see the response. It certainly got people to make some good comments. Even so, I didn't find the 2000 to be all that much better than the 740. And I didn't like having to fight my way around all those menus and screens. And no telephone type keypad which I use a great deal. As some of you know, I paid very close attention to the details of the 740 and 2000 when I did the updates for XGworks and there weren't too many changes from one to the other in that regard. I did notice a significant difference between the 740 and 9000 however, and was almost tempted to get the 9000 but lack of funds and the fact that the 740 was adequate for my needs stopped me from upgrading. Besides, the 740 makes a very good sound when hooked up to an external amp and speakers, particularly my 600W/channel amp and speakers to match.

As for the 10%, unless you're using a realtime sysex editor like XGworks, most of the synth is unavailable at the keyboard, though I noticed that the 2000 was a big improvement in this respect, providing some access to the DSPs. On the 740 all I can do at the keyboard is select some of the preset effects and only change the wet/dry parameter. No access at all to the Variation DSP except for style recording. With XGworks (with my updates) I can get at the entire synth, all 5 DSPs, all the parameters, with up to 16 for each effect, all the multipart and the A/D input. Just like having a young MU100 with a built in keyboard.

Bryan


[This message has been edited by Pilot (edited 07-11-2003).]