Anyone can suggest which board is best to buy
I was thinking about TRITON but then I heard
that MOTIF has better sounds and that XP80 is almost like FANTOM but i like XP80 better because its cheaper and got more buttons MOTIF looks kind of hard to use but most important things i am looking for are:
1) good tones/sounds
2) arpegiator/ alot of arpeg. petterns
3) sequencer with host of editing
i have VA 76 but all the songs i made i never used any music styles, but i used them in live performance that`s why i`m thinking about a synth.I was also thinking about drum machine but never tried one before.
Any one can suggest which synth is best for me(Korg Triton,Yamaha motif or Roland XP 80)Thanks.

I own an XP-80 and have messed around on the Triton and the Motif before. In my opinion, the XP-80 is far and away the best of the three - I seriously considered the Triton and Motif before buying the XP-80, and this was only a few months ago (when the XP-80 was already out of production!). It's got a wonderful interface, including a graphical display conspicuously lacking in eye candy and rather good at being functional. Most keyboards these days try too hard to have a computer screen, which, for a keyboard, is just a pain in the butt. The XP-80 also has a great (not perfect, but great) sequencer, a great selection of expansion cards available, and (drum roll here) it looks way better than the other two. The Triton and Motif have annoying control panels (bad design, bad layout, vexing buttons), which was one of the major things that turned me off of them. I'll admit, however, that all three have, more or less, good sounds.

I would get the XP-80 any day - even over the Fantom.

I would like to know more about XP-80`s arpegiator, the patterns on TRITON are mostly like rap some like techno, the ones not rap or techno don`t have drums, or I`m missing something here? because i never had a synth before just arranger,and another question i have is: can you record arpegiator patterns on sequencer for multiple tracks? because on triton i heard you can record just two or just trigger two?can anyone tell me more?

I admit to not having tried out any of them, but from what I've read the Roland Fantom is arguably the most powerful synth in the world. The features on that thing are mind boggling.

If Dirty Harry played synth, he'd probably play a Fantom. So for that reason alone I'd go for the Fantom.

Well, I heard that fantom is like xp-80 just has some new features,I played on fantom in store a little on Triton a lot, a little on Yamaha (don`t remember wether it was S90 or S09) but I think it is like motif, I din`t like Yamaha alot but i liked the tones,Fantom had very good piano sound, I don`t know if xp-80 has the same tone engine.The Triton for was very easy to use unlike Fantom or Yamaha S90/S09.Fantom`s arpegiator was more like for funk or dance.

Well, one thing's for sure...

-you can probably programme the thing to do pretty much anything you would want from a synth.

The Motive seems to be a bit of a beast also.

Since you're looking at the absolute top of the line synths, have you considered a Korg Karma?

---------------

I Knew about Karma long time but it never interested me much, I just looked in my musician`s friend catalog, the price is better than Triton`s, I would of get Triton Le if it would have floppy drive and some audio inputs to record from guitar. Not the triton studio, because price is a little high, higher then triton classic, but triton studio is not that much better then triton classic.Karma doesn`t interest me that much, if it would look like triton I`d be much more interested in it, but apearence is not that important, I was also thinking about Synths like Roland XP-10 Yamaha S03, (XV-88 interested me but The price is a little too high,[itprobably costs alot because it has 88 keys]) To save money I will buy a 61 key synth(if possible),and it is more compact.Why I want a Good synth, is because I want a synth to have it for about 5-8 years to last ,and for church or wedding music(song accompaniment)[like arrenger keyboard`s Ballad,8 beat,16 Beat, Pop styles,Light 6/8 slow rock,walts that kind of music].In other words: almodt any music but not LATIN, JAZZ, ROCK etc..

[This message has been edited by Vadim (edited 08-04-2003).]

Well, if you were thinking of an XV88 but you thought it was too expensive, then I can tell you for a fact that I *know* the synth that you want.

The synth you want is a Roland RS-5 or an RS-9.

I'm not gonna bother explaining all the features and stuff cos you'll be able to read up on that if you want.

But what I will say is that I've spent quite a lot of time playing around with an RS-5 in my local music shop (on more than one occassion) and I was TOTALLY blown away.

The two things that struck me most about it were *it has rock solid construction* (it'll last 8 years if it lasts a minute!) and also *its ease of use. I can remember in the shop imagining some freaky synth sounds in my head and then within less than a minute I had this thing pumping out the excact sound I was after. On my Korg, that process would normally take me anywhere from about 20 minutes to half an hour! It's dead easy to use.

I'll give you a word of warning though- the RS synths are pretty cheap and because of this (I think) they've been given a pretty poor, almost non-existant write up. The video demonstrations on the Roland website are rubbish and they do the synths no justice at all. I could have done a more impressive demonstration if you just shoved a camcorder in my face when I was at the music shop!

Anyway, I urge you to check one out in person at your music shop. It could save you a fortune and I bet you'll be thanking me for the recommendation.

I played on RS-5 at the store once, if we`ll compare Triton`s arpegiator to RS-5, I like Triton`s better, RS`s triggers only one tone guitar, organ etc... those kind of arpegios I can play my self (if I try hard), but Triton`s arpegiator plays multiple tones, like guitar strum, pad, strings, drums,all at once.
About XV-88, I`ll admit, that I never played on it, just saw it in a magazine,and I heard that that XV tones are the "best",(I wished that Roland would make a XV-88 with 61 keys).I`m also interested now about Fantom-s, isit like Fantom?. Now I`m "strugling" between these synths:
KORG TRITON,
KORG KARMA,
ROLAND XV-88,
ROLAND FANTOM,
ROLAND FANTOM-S,
ROLAND XP-80,
YAMAHA MOTIF.

You've kind of got me struggling a bit too now!

I've been thinking of buying a vintage synth, but now that I've been reading up on these modern ones I'm not so sure.

RS's, ugh. The interface on those things is annoying. It you want a slightly cheaper keyboard than the XP-80, check out the XP-60 - same as the 80, but with 61 keys instead of 76. However, Equalizer does have a point about the RS series, if the XV-88 was too expensive for you.

(Everybody seems to love the Fantom but me... I've played around on 'em a fair amount, and I just don't see what's so intriguing about them. They remind me of Windows XP - a toy for adults. The boards in the XP series are much more professional.)

I, like llyren, own an XP-80, and though I agree with his assessment of the keyboard, I don't think it will suit you. The XP arpeggiator is only single as well, meaning only one instrument at a time, not a whole band being run on multi-arpeggiators. The XP is more of a create-it-yourself kind of board. As close as it could come to your style of arpeggiator is in patterns. You can trigger paterns with keys. A patern is basically a short sequence that gets looped. So, you could put a drum loop on one patern, a bass line on one, a string line, etc, then trigger these paterns using separate keys on the XP. However, you still have to create the patterns, and they won't change chords, unless you create a pattern for each chord you want.

XP60 same as XP80 but 61 keys,now I like XP60 more then XP80, I like 61 key better because its more compact,and I don`t need that extra octave.And its CHEAPER.
And I have another question about arpegiator and combinations on synths, can you compare Triton`s to XP60/XP80.

[This message has been edited by Vadim (edited 08-07-2003).]

XP80 arpeggiator is not as powerful as Triton. Triton is obviously a multi-arpeg unit that can run different arpeggios on different midi channels and different instruments simultaneously. Xp only one at a time.

How about Fantom`s,Fantom-S`s arpegiator? Or other differences between XP80/60 ,Fantom,Fantom-S.
I would also would like to know difference between Triton and Karma.And more about XV-88
and more about motif and difference between motif and s90,s80.

mm.. reading thru the suggestions and comments you give, I do not understand why you want a synthesizer?
If I understand well what you are saying, you are looking for;
Styles which are dedicated to your own compositions?

Why not just use your arranger board and make your own styles?

or;

You could save yourselve a lot of money by going the software route!

Have a look at band in a box software or jammer pro software.
Or you could just use your va76 to record each track in sequencer software.

Llyren,
have you played the Fantom-S? it Rocks! it's New sounds with new features that kick's both the XP-60/80 and the Fantom76!

I knew someone will ask a question about why i need a synth, because i have VA 76...Before I got VA 76, I was thinking about buying Synth or Arranger(va 76 or Triton)I was close to buying Triton,before my VA 76 I had Casio WK-1250($300)on my casio was 6-Track sequencer, mostly i was using styles on my casio, but then grudualy i moved into making songs without styles, recording all tracks manualy, but using 6-track sequencer...and that casio wasn`t working properly, I think it was melfanctioning because i took it apart trying to get out a penny which had fallen in between the keys.
But why I still want a synth...well, when i play on triton in a store then play on my va 76 at nome I feel a little sorry for not buying a synth, but then I think: if i get a synth and get rid out of a VA 76, no i`m not gonna get rid of my VA 76, maybe I`ll buy a synth and then after some time passes I`ll sell it.Another reason I wan`t a synth is: when i look in some magazine or anything about professional or wellknown keyboard musicians, all of them use synths instead of arrangers(maybe because, if they would use styles someone would be able to play the same music).And synths are cheaper then arrangers,but why if pros use synths.And another thing about VA 76:I think VA 76/VA 7 has the best sequencer of all keys, including synths,VA`s sequencer has those editing stuff, you can change velocity of every note which is very usefull with drum track, Roland engeniers did outstanding job on sequencer`s editing!Another reason I want a synth is that synths have much more powerfull tones.But VA76`s sequencer holds me tords the va76, that`s why i asked a question before about Synth`s sequencer.I have much more to tell but i hate typing(hate writing even more),and before i type in one idea i forget what i was thinking to type next.

[This message has been edited by Vadim (edited 08-10-2003).]

Here is my opinion,

Triton and Roland XP series are good for synth sounds and not for acoustic emulation. I would go with Roland XV-series or Motif. The new motif ES promises to be spectacular. It seems to me that Yamaha experiments with top arrangers and then brings the voices to motif:

PSR9000PRO-> Motif
TYROS-> Motif ES.

Although it seems to me that Motif ES cotains a very large library of sounds. Yamaha claims it to be the largest library ever.

I heard Triton Demos at Korg.com, it sounds good, better then Xp-80/60 I can say.But I couldn`t find demos for Motif.

[This message has been edited by Vadim (edited 09-12-2003).]