Rolandfan,
thank you for your words.
Re. your questions:
1- Yes, the T2 has an arabic kit, like the T1.
2- In the T2 there are 8 banks of Oriental loops; the first two are just Darbouka and Tambourine and are perfect to play things like a Belly Dance ; furthermore, there are 2 banks of Arabic Percussions, but they are not looped, just single shot percussions; for what is worth, there is also a sample of a woman doing that strange sound with her tongue (if you are familiar with arabic music you'll know what I mean). The Arabic percussions left me rather cold, but the Oriental loops are excellent: can't wait to record a song using them!
3- The Sweet Soprano is one of the few Sax sounds that have not received the Super Articulation treatment; this means that it sounds exactly like the T1, maybe a little better. I cannot be sure, but I have a feeling that in T2 there is an overall improvement of the sound, compared with T1, like there is something different in the converters; however, it's also possible that it's just a psycological effect due to the excitement of the new toy...
4- No, the SFX kits (two of them) don't have an applause; however, there is a nice applause in the GM/XG bank and in the GM2 bank (the sample is the same).
Best regards,
A.

[This message has been edited by Dreamer (edited 10-23-2005).]