Roland XV 5080 or Triton rack or Triton workstation?

[Jim S]

I need a synth/keyboard setup for home studio. Regarding sound quality and ease of use for a guitarist, non-piano playing MIDIot such as myself,which would you recommend? (I do plan on eventually getting a guitar MIDI controller like Axon or Ztar to interface with this.)

1. <LI>Roland XV 5080 with keyboard controller<LI>Triton rack with keyboad controller<LI>Triton workstation keyboard (61 or 76)

Re Triton: I know the workstation has the softtouch screen but the rack can accomodate more sound PCM cards.

[Jim S]

My Mac has ATA card except for the SCSI for the DVD-R/CD-R. That would allow me to send sample CD-ROM data to the 5080, correct?

Also, the 5080 is about $500 more than the 3080 with more memory/space and a better LCD display which is worth it to me in the long run (if there is a long run with this stuff).

[knewbee]

Have an XV-5080 and love it. Really sweet & clear sounding, with buttloads of presets - many of which suck, of course.
Don't know the Triton personally.

I'd have to say that you can use the 5080 right out of the box without knowing too much MIDI. But it does A LOT, and you need to dig in pretty deep to totally take advantage of it.

Also, part of the advantage of the 5080 is expandability, and the ability to read & load sample CDs. If you don't need to do this, you may want to go with the 3080, or something else altogether...

[Rams Boy]

I have the Triton Pro 88 key and the 5080. I would not continue without the 5080. Without question, I prefer the 5080 over the Triton. I'm not sure which is easier to operate. I've been using Roland so long it's much easier for me. But if I were starting from scratch it might be different. Nevertheless, you will not be sorry with the sounds of the 5080!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jim S]

Thanks folks.

And comments about Kurzweil? I know they're relatively expensive and sound gret but easey to use? K2600, PC2, PC2R?

(Being a guitarist is easy: walk into the store, plug-in, turn the knobs and it's pretty easy to get to know amps and even some fx processors. These synth modules and workstations aren't as straightfoward to play on and understand their relative pros and cons.)

[This message has been edited by Jim S (edited March 13, 2001).]

[knewbee]

I'm curious about Kurzweil myself. I need a new controller keyboard (still using my Ensoniq SQ-80!), and wouldn't mind getting some new sounds in the bargain...

[pk_hat]

my thoughts on Kurzweil...

I've had a K2000 for over 2 years, and the sounds are truly amazing. Very realistic strings, the most beautiful piano timbres, you name it.

What I've learned is that when deciding on a module or synth, it's good to have a basic idea of what type of music you want to record. Back in 1998, I had no clue, I just wanted a good do-it-all machine for under $2k, with a reputable name on the back panel.
I was looking at the Roland XP-60 and the K2000. I went with the latter for too many reasons to list here.
The Kurzweils are very lush sounding, great for movie scores, rock, pop, jazz and contemporary stuff.
Easy to operate and edit? Hell no, it's the biggest pain in the ass. It can get done with patience, a full pack of smokes and a pot of coffee, but nothing beats a couple of knobs or sliders on board for quick filter/resonance sweeps and such.

If you plan on making electronica, especially with that groove to it, go with a Roland or Korg.

My K2000 does not have an arpeggiator ( a must), does not have an extensive sound library I can add-on like the other guys, is expensive to upgrade due to proprietary 'daughter board', 'P-RAM' and such things, and would cost me the price of an Akai S5000 or EmU E-5000 to have the 'sampling option' added to it.

To conclude, I've been wanting to sell my Kurzweil and get a Roland XP-30 as a main controller, but ironically just yesterday, the K2000 died on me and is now in the shop for repairs that will average around $210. A notorious power supply problem has been goin' round the Kurzweil family and the techs at the shop said they've seen close to a dozen of these come in for repairs since January.

Would I buy another Kurzweil?
NO, not as a main KB.
(but they do sound great)

I say go Roland or Korg,
good luck!

pk

p.s. By the way, these thoughts reflected the K2000 only! As far as their newer synths go, like the K2600, I couldn't tell you if they're much better or have new features mine doesn't have.

[Jim S]

Mostly classic and alternative rock, funk-jazz, blues, metal and predominantly instrumentals with some mild techno rock such as contemporary U2. So basic keyboards (piano, organs), strings and drums and horns, esp. sax are arguably most important.

I don't need a sequencer with Digi001 PT LE and I ordred Sample Cell II. My Mac G4 has IDE ATA 100 but with a narrow SCSI for the CD-R/DVD-R.

Hence, the unit has to accept sample data as well as PCM cards or upgrades but doesn't need to record samples or sequence. I'd rather have 100 great sounds than 1000 mediocre sounds.

Korg is out because new stuff isn't compatible with old and I don't want to be left in the dust so it's down to <UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>Roland XV 5080 + controller, XP 30, or XV 88 <LI>Kurzweil PC2 or K2600 <LI>Emu module like Proteus 2000[/list]
Ease of use and sound quality are number more important than sonic tweaking and multi-MID sequencing since I'm recording at home. Which have the best or worst manuals and tech support?

Also, I've been told I need an external CD-R/ROM drive and not to use the CD-ROM/R and narrow SCSI drive on my Mac with Digi001 to get samples into these units. Does this make sense? Then what good is the Sample Cell II?

[This message has been edited by Jim S (edited March 15, 2001).]

[Rams Boy]

5080 + controller all the way! Great 60s and 70s, Vintage Synth, Techno, etc... expansion boards.
But forget finding a good sax on any keyboard. That would be like finding a good lead vocalist on a keyboard. Sax has wat too much expression and feel for a keybaord. Find a great session player ans stick with that!

[nwkurzrep]

Depending on the style of music you are writing, I would go with Kurzweil. The 5080 is a great bargain and so is the Triton, but for around $1000 you can get the PC2R. It has the most dynamic range and cleanest playback of any module made. It's whole sound set is outstanding. If you need keys, you can use an SP series keyboard from $450 on up. It actually has the Kurzweil Micro Piano as a sound set and is an extremely flexible controller. Yea I may be biased, but I own a bit of everyones stuff and nothing sounds like Kurzweil.