...................and no vocal harmonizer, no EC5 pedal jack no built in MP3 recorder ( although on the PA800) it's an option.

Cass I feel your pain, been there and done what you're going thru in 2007. Finally settled in on the Korg and an s900. For my use I got the best of both worlds. Good luck in your quest. Take a trip out East come to Frankieve's store, we'll round up half a dozen more or so of SZ members. TonyMads and I will bring some great Italian food from our little Italy known as "Federal Hill."

here's a thought... maybe it's not the keyboards that are faulty. oooow

Going back to an earlier comment, I've haven't much used my arrangers as such in the past. I always had my trio with me and we mostly played with SMFs; styles were few and far between. Now that I'm going solo, I find I'm not proficient enough in the nuances of actual arranger playing - actually I'm pretty uncomfortable and revert back to SMFs to save my butt.

I had the opportunity to listen to one of Bill Corfield's sets and was impressed with his playing style and control of his T2. I don't think he used any SMFs. The sound was solid and there was little down time between songs. I'm still fumbling thru music finders, registrations and such. I can't decide which chording system to use. I have been using the AI systm on both boards, but Bill swears by full keyboard. Hell, I can't get anything to sound quite like Bill's style. I guess I'll have to drive down there again and get a lesson from him.

BTW, I went out the other day and cold called on six facilities within 7 miles of me. I've booked two additional places and am waiting on a third. My August could actually be somehat busy and give me a chance to put these boards -and myself - thru their paces.

I think that all of us (myself included) are prone to heap the fault on the arranger, and then we go and hear someone else playing what we just put down, and it sounds GREAT...

Most of it IS the player, and their familiarity with their gear. Sometimes sounding exceptional isn't so much a product of having an exceptional keyboard, but in learning what your own gear DOES do well, and doing ONLY that, and learning what it does NOT do well, and NEVER doing that!

That way, you sound like a genius! But trying to shoehorn something that does not have styles to your taste into something that does can often be an exercise in futility. Pick the gear for the way it sounds best on the music you play the most, and then simply let it dictate to you what else it can do, and your audience thinks you are great. Try to make it do something it sucks at, and they (and yourself ) will blame you for it!