Trying to decide between these 88-note controllers/synths. I would like to hear from any owners or players of these boards. It will be used primarily at home and hobby-related recording vs. gigging/professional. I do not currently own any other modules, so extensive MIDI control is not an immediate need. I have considerable time playing the XV-88, and like it very much, especially the action! I have much less time invested with the Kurzweils, especially the K2600XS (difficult to find someone who knows their way around this one). The only reason I'm even considering the K2600XS is due to the recent price decrease - I can pick one up for only $1250 more than the XV-88. Any comments...thoughts...advice is appreciated. Thx!

Well wayplo, it all depends on what you really want,for a controller MIDI,any can work at a very basic level,but the type of keyboard seperates the sheep from the goats.It's like this,the K2600xs is probably the hottest synth/workstation/sampler on the market.

The XV-88,rolands' heavy hitter ,is bascially an all in one sound provider,without the luxury of sequencers/deep synth architecture....sampling etc.

So ,there it is,all laid out in a nutshell,but to be honest from what i've read of your profile of future and present endevures i'd recommend the K2600XS,it has a steep learning curve,and i'll be upfront about that,but being a minimalist at the moment,you'll do best to have it,for not only you;ll have probably the greatest all synth architecture V.A.S.T + triple mode +KB3,but you'll also get a superb onboard sequencer.

But as i said,it's only an opinion based on the info you've given me.........you have to make the final choice !.......good luck !

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A Wuz here