Correction on the Pa3X. It does NOT have an on board Sampler. Sequencer yes, Sampler... sorry. Which is one more example of an arranger not having a full featured sampler that is usually included in most, if not all, totl traditional workstations.

What some of you might not realize is that traditional workstations e.g. the Roland Fantom G, Yammie Motif XF, etc. are plug and play just like your typical arranger. You turn it on and start playing. When you want to include the additional "benefits" of comprehensive sound editing and sampler capability the workstation can provide that too. My Fantom G can also layer up to 8 different sounds together at one time which is a plus for those times when you might need a rich complexity in your sound on occasion. I can also split sounds along the keyboard eight ways. Favorite sounds can be recalled at the touch of a button and I can hold the keys down and transition to another sound, seamlessly, without any disruption in sound etc., etc., etc. I'm sure the Motif XF and Korg KRONOS both have a multitude of similar high end features as well.

Arrangers as we know have auto-accompaniment that assists you with your playing to give you that one-man-band (OMB) ability whereas workstations don't of course. But workstations are just as easy to play as any arranger. The main difference being that the auto-accompaniment of arrangers makes one person sound like a whole band whereas workstations are generally used for use "in" a band with other band members and where the songs that are played don't sound repetitious, canned and/or artificial. But if you belong to a band, and gig, you'll obviously have to split the money proceeds amongst the other band members. Arranger gigging proceeds go to just one person - Don Mason. In other words just the arranger player since you cut out the middle man. Sounds good to me.

I'm waiting for the day when arrangers from the Big Three provide more of a "free flow" sound such as the Audya tries to accomplish. But I don't want to spend $5,000 + tax to gain that privilege. Call me cheap, call me frugal, call me miserly, call me wise beyond my years - nah uh... won't do it. Kudos to DonM for biting the bullet and taking out that second mortgage and forking over the big bucks for the Audya but if I was to spend $5,500 i.e. ($5,000 + tax) on an arranger it should also cook breakfast, vacuum the floors and take out the garbage too. Maybe some day right? lol

PS: Just kidding Don. And I'm sure you've already recouped most of your investment by now because of your frequent gigging schedule. At least I hope so anyway. $5,500 is a lot of clams huh? I'm sure the Audya is worth it to you though.

All the best,
Mike