I have a Roland XP60 (w/4 Ex Cards), Roland S760 Sampler (w/everything). I was wondering if it would be more approriate to trade this for a controller, a Roland XV5080 and maybe a cheap laptop (think Pentium I, II or 486 PC) with a sequencer to condense this setup.

What do you think? The XV5080 would pretty much close my XP60 and S760 down into one piece of gear. I'm a little confused as to whether I should even be considering this.

The Infamous Epu.

epu: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

My urge to condense came from having too much equipment to cart to jobs, set up, break down, cart home, unload, etc. (I'm exclusively a live performer). If you're mainly a studio dude, that's much less an issue.

If your gear is working for you, there are lots of advantages to knowing your gear inside and out instead of spending all your time with manuals for new gear and, especially if you are using software, with interface problems (most questions on forums and mailing lists of this type concern interfacing).

The bottom line is having equipment that addresses your musical needs, and that's a question only you can answer. There's tons of info on online that can help you familiarize yourself with the features of gear you are considering, but only you know what your musical needs are.

Good luck.

So, the controller, the XV, and the laptop, 3 pieces of gear, is more condensed than the XP and sampler, 2 pieces of gear? Sorry, I don't understand this kind of math. Keep what you've got.

Hi Epu!
Never sell or throw instruments away! The more, the better ;-)

If the fantom had a sampler I would say its your best choice for Condising your "Roland gear".

don't sell what you have!.just add the laptop on what you have. that would be killer!.