My choice was the MOtif ES8.

1. KB feel (not important since you are geting a rack but I'll mention it anyway ).

2. Sound. Sounds are good and they work very well in the mix. It's probably the best multitimbral synth I've ever worked with. Something I cannot say for most Roland workstations unfortunately.

3. Plugin boards. Beats Roland wave expansion cards because by adding plugin boards you are basically adding different synths with their own polyphony. Yamaha offer a lot of different plugin boards for the Motif ES. At the moment I have two AN1X PLG 150 boards installed and it's just like having an AN1X inside the MOtif ES. Plugin boards are a huge advantage.

Don't want to come across as if I'm trying to bag Roland Phantom workstations but to my opinion MOtif (in this case Motif ES) workstations simply sound better and are more fun to work with!

-ED-

[This message has been edited by 3351 (edited 05-23-2006).]

[This message has been edited by 3351 (edited 05-23-2006).]