Hello to everyone
I'm from Rome, Italy and have always been a big Roland fan. I am going to buy a new module and have to choose between the XV 3080 or its big brother, the 5080. The price difference is not frightening (about 550 USD here in Italy), but I would like to be sure to buy exactly what I need, nothing more nothing less. I own already two samplers (Akai 2800 and Ensoniq ASR 10 rack), so I really don't need much sample-playback option, but I would not mind processing my samples through 5080's DSP. The point is that I am kind of picky about sound quality and so would like to know if someone could compare the two modules from this point of view and has noted (any) differences. Also, do you know if the 5080 supports midi sample dump? (I have read of problems handling wav files).
Thanks in advance.
A R from Rome

Dreamer,

Sound quality is the same, with same effects on both, aside from the COSM effects found only on the XV-5080.

That's a tough decision, since you already have sampler playback capability (which is really the weakest aspect of the XV-5080, at this point with the current OS).

Just remember that you'll also have to buy SIMM (up to 128MB can be installed, and is not included).

The question is if you think COSM is worth the extra $$$.
www.xv5080.com and the lakewood site (the link can be found at the former site) have good comparisons of features: worth a look.

Chris

Sound quality

Thank you Feefer, you have been most helpful; I think I'll buy the 3080: it looks like a winner from every point of view.
A R

Interesting conclusion. I went the other way, largely because of the two extra SRX slots, the better user interface, and digital connectivity.