Hey I haven't been to this discussion a whole awful lot, but I have a dream to share with you. I have long thought that someone should compile a list of features that they want on their dream synth and send it to the manufacturer. Of course this is just wishful thinking becuase they probably wouldn't do anything with it.

But the reason I think this is because every time Roland comes out with a new board it's perfect...almost. They always take out one feature they had previously, or fail to include one little thing that would make it perfect, or it's something else.

Maybe if we compile a list and put a TON of signatures on it and send it, something will happen...?

Anyway, here's my list:
-128 voices polyphony (at least)
-Sequencer quality of XP80 at least
-an EFX processor for EVERY TRACK on the sequencer
-a decent sampler
-LOTS of expandability
-floppy and Smartmedia

I know there's much more but this is all I can think of off the top of my head. Feel free to add your wishes and who knows, maybe we will make the world a better place :-)

//-128 voices polyphony (at least)//

Roland can do that.they already have it in the Xv line.

//-Sequencer quality of XP80 at least//

I thought the best thing they did was to take the MC-80 and stick it in the fantom.

//-an EFX processor for EVERY TRACK on the sequencer//

Not going to happen. The only keyboard that was close to yoru request was your old school korg Trinity.(I don't think it's old school but lot's of people do).8 insert Efx.

//-a decent sampler//

Roland will probably take the VP-9000's features and stick it in there next big thing if they will ever do it.

//-LOTS of expandability//

I sure would love to see 4 SRX and 4JV expansions built in like the Xv-5080.

//-floppy and Smartmedia//

Roland will probably use MINI-CD if they are smart enought.MINI-cd have 210MB and way cheap than a smart media and comes in two types. MINI-CD-R and MINI-CD-RW.

just my opininon.

I know that Roland has 128 voice polyphony on the XV line but it doesn't have the sequencer, which is what I'm interested in right now. The point is that all these features would be nice on the same machine.

As for EFX processors for every track on the sequencer, there IS a synth that has it (the one I'll probably end up getting). It's not a real widely known manufacturer in the US but they are huge in Europe. Anyway, it's the Ketron SD-1 which has almost all the features I mentioned except for 64 voices and (I think) no Smartmedia. You may ask, why am I bringing this up on the Roland board...because I trust Roland quality and I would rather have them come up with one of these dream machines. (By the way, the SD-1 is 32-part multitimbral and has 16 tracks on the sequencer. That's a lot of processors.)

You're right about the mini CD. I didn't think of that. Thanks for your input.