Someone made a comment on another thread that the PA80 sounds aren't as good as the ones on the Triton. That is so subjective . I think exactly the opposite here when it come to the acoustic instrument sounds. To me ( and my ears ) it appears that more effort is put into featuring the typical acoustic instruments on an arranger than on a workststion. This is very evident when I listen to a PA80 Sax sound vs it's counterpart on the Triton. It's just better on the PA80. While I like my Motif very much and have finally figured the whole board out ( sampling works well once I was able to understand it ), I will say the same of the Tyros vs the Motif. The guitars and sax sounds and maybe some of the others are better on the Tyros. Not even close in some cases. Some of the best I've heard to date.

On the other hand, I find the reverse to be true with synth sounds. The Tyros has some nice ones, but true tweakers ( "I make my own sounds" types ) will surely tire of them and the lack of editing quickly. The sysex thing is too bothersome for me, and would never be my choice especially for live play. Can't store the voices in the kb permanently, and I'm not bringing a laptop to a show or to jam with, so not an option for me ( been this route before with the 740 and 2000 )

Depending on what I'm doing, I bounce back and forth between wanting great acoustic sounds and having my own sounds made up. For my homemade sounds, the first choice for me is the Motif, especially with the add on boards, but on an arranger the PA80 is my choice, ( and remains one of the primary reasons I won't part with it ). I have no experience with the SD1, so it could be a viable alternative as well.

I'll say it again. The PA80 does have all the synth editing features and the same samples as Triton. It has basic sampling via the external cards. Where it will lack vs Triton is in the effects dept and the ability to add expansion modules. Because of this, it simply isn't as good as a Triton for homemade sounds, but it is better than any other arranger if your priority is homemade sounds( again maybe the SD1 would be in thse same league, I'm not sure ). If my two top priorities are arranger functions and homemade sounds, the Yamaha arrangers simply wouldn't cut it ( lack of detailed editing and sampling eliminates them as a choice for me ). On the other hand, Tyros has great sounds and I could easily make it my first choice for songs that primarily feature non synth or acoustic type voices.

AJ



[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 01-20-2003).]