Hello guys, i ve read all the stuff here and i would like to contribute my opinion to what has been said. I am an XP-80 user but not actually a keyboard player myself. I play what you would call "dated" stuff like the blues and good old rock n roll and hard rock (think led zeppelin). Before i bought my XP-80 i was lloking for something to sequence backing tracks on (drums and base) and probably some lead lines (flutes , horns etc). Here is what i did, i took my guitar to the shop and played along with the TRITON to see how it blends with natural sounds. Now here is what i think is the main difference between KORG and ROLAND. ROLAND sounds NATURAL -you can probably call this "dated"- KORG sounds POP -as in the sound is processed and "MASTERED" before you hear it. So for me NATURAL is best for what i do. OVERPROCESSED is UNNATURAL but its what some people require for their music. I Think when ROLAND sounds get the right treatment (mastering, that is after you have recorder the whole piece)they sound absolutelly AWESOME. Before that you just play with NATURAL SOUNDING stuff.

Two things of interest:

Listening to the same tune played back by both ROLAND and KORG synths the UNEXPERIENCED PREFERS ROLAND!!!!.

Listening to the Same drum track on KORG and ROLAND synths the UNEXPERIENCED prefers KORG
while he things the ROLAND version actually comes from a cheap sound card. (That means i have to check the bass 7 drums expansion card which i ve heard has some amazing kits on it)

So... it all comes down to what you prefer for me:

KORG: current, pop sounding well(or maybe over?)processed sounds

ROLAND: natural, ear friendly (yes i ll say that once again) natural sounds.