I own both the PSR740 and the PA80. For my own tastes, overall, I prefer the sounds of the PA80 over the 740, but as many have said before me, sounds are subjective and a matter of personal taste. In particular I like the drums, organs, and electric guitars and basses quite a bit better, with most of the other sounds fairly close. I also like the full synth edit capability of the PA80. This is not to say that I don't like most of the sounds on the 740. I do like them. I haven't tried the 2000 yet, but having played around extensively with the Motif and 9000 series, I wouldn't expect that the sounds will be much different on the 2000, although I realize that there are a few new ones that the 740 doesn't have. I cannot comment much on the features, suffice it to say the PA80 has many more than the 740 but still could benefit from a few upgrades to the current O/S. The PA80 has much more detail in the styles than the 740..many 8 bar styles as opposed to 1 and 2 bar yamaha styles. I guess for some, simpler might be better, depending on what you want to use the styles for, ( simple styles work very well on many of the standards that gigging musicians might play for an audience ), but for me the PA80 styles are much more complex and varied and for me that works well. The 740 is a very good board to just plug in and play though. It is a very simple board to operate, and I too have made quite a few good sounding tunes with it, enhanced by my xg editing software. Although the 2000 will have more features than the 740, I would expect that it too will be an easy board to work with. The PA80 has a steeper learning curve and is quite a bit more complicated, especially in using the different sequencer modes and also in editing sounds and creating new ones from scratch using the raw samples.

Like so many have said before, it is very beneficial if at all possible to try the boards out side by side. I also realize that this is not possible for some of us. The next best thing is to compare with what you can find on the net, operating manuals, sound samples ( the 9000 and 740 series should give you a fairly good idea if not completely accurate ), and then when you do make a choice, be sure to order your board from a dealer who will accept a return within a specified period ( 30 days is a good time period ), so that if you do not care for the board you can return it for full value. Good luck..


"Korg" AJ



[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 10-06-2001).]