I'll cast my vote for the Yamaha as well, based on what my ears like to hear. Of course your ears may tell you something entirely different. I will also tell you that other than the AN150 and VL150 plug-ins, both of which I like very much, the remaining plug in boards don't do much for me. The DX module is fine, but I like FM7 and Sytrus software a lot better. I have no experience with the Roland plug ins, so I can't compare. I will agree with Ed that the AN150 is an excellent analog emulator, kinda like a Prophet 5 to my ears. What I don't care for much is that you can't do more than very basic editing from within the ES, without using a computer to assist.


I chose the Motif ES, so my initial cure for the lack of quality add on boards was to employ softsynths to my setup. The quality of some of the softsynths was better than I expected, and I now use them quite often as alternatives to the staple ES sounds as well. I know some aren't all that turned on by using a computer, and I guess that's a personal choice. The way I figure it though, I need to use the computer anyway to do any meaningful edits to my AN150 and VL150, so why not add some fresh modules and sounds.

As far as working with a computer sequencer, my Motif works fine in conjunction with Sonar, FL Studio, and the SQ01 software sequencer that came bundled with the KB.
Sq01 had a lot of potential, but like so many other Yamaha software projects, it was abandoned in it's infancy. The Motifator site now refers to it basically as "test" or "experimental" software.


AJ




[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 05-24-2006).]