Spalding, in my heart I know you're right.....but man-o-man, is that brass sweet. To be honest (and fair), I think that my main problem with the FantomG is that I'm not particularly WORKSTATION oriented. I'm more SYNTH oriented. Most of the features that make a WS a WS (like on-board sequencers and samplers) are wasted on me, making them overpriced synths for me. I tend to judge them based solely on their on-board sounds (unfair to the designers) and in that regard they don't fare much better than your garden-variety sound module, especially if you've got fairly sophisticated recording capabilities.

The FantomG in particular, being strong in the 'loop', 'arp', 'rhythm pattern', 'synth sound', etc. dept., is an excellent tool for certain types of modern music (but not for what I do). Although intuitive, I don't think it's very good as a 'performance' KB (as in 'live'). Some functions can only be gotten to quickly with a mouse and most 'live' functions require a heavy dose of pre-programming to function smoothly on a gig.

Does the 'Brass' board make sense? Maybe, if you've already shelled out for the board and intend to keep it (I believe it really does have some strong future potential for those willing to spend a little more money and invest lots of time learning the board in-depth). You know, in for a penny, in for a pound. Truth is, I can't justify any of it financially, working just 1 gig a week, so it's mostly a case of how much musical pleasure will I get out of it. Oh well, it's that or leave it to the grandkids. Sorry kids .

chas