Arvon,

That's a good point that Fran brought up. Could the grungy decay be due to the aftertouch kicking in? Have you tried turning the aftertouch off to get rid of that static? I know it takes a bit of conditioning to play a keyboard with aftertouch to keep it from throwing in unwanted effects.

I've been another player who has been holding off purchasing an XP-80 due to all the complaints about timing and now this noisy decay.

Well, good luck with whatever you choose to do and whatever synth you end up with.