Choosing a synth for the first time and I'm in a little over my head. I like the variety
and quality of some XP board sounds, but the Triton (just being released) includes a sampler, 4 audio outs, option for hard drive etc. Any pointers appreciated.

What's your budget, Geezer?

My budget is 2k, more or less.

Consider a Yamaha EX5 too if you're going to spend a hack of a lot of money. It features a lot sythese-forms and sounds quite good..but not as good as the Roland or Korg

That's a difficult one...
Fortunately i have both Roland XP-50 and the KORG Triton. (bought it 2 days ago)
I've got the XP for about a year and it's the best synth i ever heard. Especially the pianosounds and all other acoustic sounds.
Now i got this triton, and that's at the moment a whole greater category of synths. (more expensive)
And yes, the sounds, interface and sampler are great!
So i think you got to look at your budget and decide. They're both great synths.

Angelo

i havent seen the triton but i have an xp-80
and i can assure you that the xp is a wild keyboard. go in for the xp-80 or xp-60.
you will not be dissatisfied. the sequencer
is the best as far as hardware sequencers are concerned. the sounds are amazing. altogether i personaaly beleive that the xp-80 is the best workstation sofar!!

I have both a TRiton and an XP80 - the xp80 has been an awesome workhorse - but like all great technologies, the jone's have gotten another toy I like both - and use them for different things - will NEVER get rid of the Roland sound - too good in my opinon!

I have a Roland XP80, and I wish I could have afforded a Triton because I find the sounds far more beautiful and interesting. On the other hand it does depend on what you are using it for because the Roland synthesized piano sounds etc. are pretty good. In an ideal world it's always best to use real instruments than synthesized ones, because imitations never quite make the grade - the best use a keyboard can be put to is in creating sounds that no 'natural' instrument could, and the Triton wins out there.

I owned an XP-50, and now I own a triton. And I know the 80's improved but having played with one there are similarities. Anyway, I would go for the triton, simply for ease of use, I mean, the rolands sounds are based on 4 tones so you want to add lfo ? easy - NOT, first select the tones to edit wade through endless menus to get to where you want, try to figure out exactly what 0-127 values in T1,T2 blah blah blah. Effects are difficult to implement, you have to turn on parameters in different modes to hear a change, patch, performance blah blah. Its just not intuative. The korg is not a wild synth and if your into programming the XP can reward, but its a hassle and not much fun. The korg is simpler so it gives your mind more room to make a tune (hey that rymes!) The korg I say. But wait, theres more, why dont you consider individual items, if you have the room, stand alone units will allways be better than a workstation. Cheap sampler, old synths, drum machines, effects boxs, etc, and it means you can have some great lost evenings with yur mates playing along. How many people can you have together playing one workstation, no fun, no feedback, no creativity.