Hi Ian

I have had the Abacus for about 5 or 6 years, (Possibly longer) it was a used instrument running OAS 4, however I upgraded it 2 or 3 years ago to OAS 7. (I have not bothered with the OAA as I am not a massive style user)

Before I had the Abacus I was using a computer system, (Controller, VSTi, Sequencer etc.) however while this was really cracking (Way beyond anything a hardware board could achieve) you couldn’t really have it in the lounge (Fortunately I am a home player so don’t have to keep dismantling all the time) which is a bit isolating. The Abacus allows me to use all my computer VSTi etc. inside the instrument so no wires or external equipment required, (Plus minimal setup) so it’s now perfectly happy in the lounge. (The capability to load VSTi and Akai samples was the main reason I chose the Abacus and everything else on it was just a bonus)

After using VSTi for so long (Well over 10 years or more) to go back to a fixed (Take what the manufacture gives you) hardware board is (For Me) a No No, hence the Abacus is ideal.

Bill