Hey! I just bought myself an XV-88 and am very please with it so far. I honestly don't have any experience on those other synths you were talking about but... what sort of price were you looking at paying for the XV-88, cos I got mine pretty cheap from a certain site on the internet. As for midi sequencing, you can't go past cakewalk. Email me back at adrianportell@hotmail.com, cos I don't check this BBS that often. I can tell you where to get cakewalk for a fantastic price.