In the interest of brevity I'll spare you poor folks the anguish of reading a long post about these here good old expansion boards. I'm deciding between the Hip Hop and Techno cards, but there aren't any music shops around my area with those cards (everyone's got the Pop and Piano of course). There are demos online that sound ok, but they don't give me a full idea of what I'd be getting. Each demo seems 'geared' toward the genre of music that each board itself is geared toward. That's fine and all, only I don't plan on using the sounds specifically for the genre they're conventionally used in.

That's why I'm asking for somebody (preferrably someone who has both boards) to help me out by listening to an MP3 or two. I have tons of songs that I can use for examples and in my opinion this would be so much more accurate in helping me make a decision. So would a gracious soul out there be willing to recieve some demo songs via MP3 and give me a summation as to which board is best for what I'm looking for?

Comments on this board are also welcome.

IMHO the techno board isn't all that great! I only bought it thinking it was a dance board with a new name!

Get the Hip Hop board. Yes the loops are totally different but they are very useable (unlike the crappy loops in the Techno board!).

The Hip Hop board inspires me to write!!!!

thanks for the reply post Korgasm (hehe, I just had to type that). I am mainly looking for good drum sounds so I'm making a tough decision. I don't really care about the loops honestly. So if the loops on the Techno board are bad, it's not going to bother me much. On the flip side, if the Hip Hop loops are good as you say, it still doesn't influence my decision much.

Right now I am to the point where I might just get both boards so I can be happy. That way I can have most of what the Dance card offers and more (techno AND hip hop sounds). So it looks like one of my boards (probably the Orchestral) will have to sit out while I use the Bass and Drums, Vintage Synth, Techno, and Hip Hop cards together. I'd like to get an XV but I don't have the money just yet. When I do, then all my cards will have a place to go. What do you think of this? Seems like I can't go wrong getting both boards.

On a side note, I already ordered the Techno board so that's the one I'll be getting first. Should I follow your advice and get the Hip Hop first if I'm gonna get both? By the way, I can work with the sounds and 'will' be tweaking them heavily.

By the way, I've since listened to a couple demos from each board on various sites. I think both boards have some real potential, however, the demos don't give a good enough representation of what the board offers. As I stated before, the shops in my area have neither of these boards so I'm relying on advice and audio samples.

IMHO the Hip Hop board has better drum sounds than the Techno board.

If you get an XV unit, check out the new 64MB SRX drums board. There aren't that many patches on this board but the drum samples are the most fantastic I've ever heard from anything this side of a sampler or a Roland V Drums system! Honestly. Unfortunately, I think that $799 Australia is way too much to pay for these boards! However, if you crave drum sounds, put this board on your shopping list if getting an XV synthe! It's great.

Thanks for the advice. I can't afford an XV yet, but I'm sure it sounds great. For now I'm quite content with the samples of the Bass and Drums board for realistic drum samples. What I need is something a little less realistic than actual drums, but more realistic than 808s and 909s. Taking that into consideration, the Hip Hop board seems to be what I'm looking for.

However, I also need those 808 and 909 sounds in addition to the previous sounds. I'm not trying to copy those analogs though. It's more interesting to make my own drum sounds. Anyone out there using both boards together that has an opinion to share?

I have both the Techno and Hip Hop expansion boards, and agree with everyone that the Hip Hop board has the better drum sounds and loops. Both of the boards offer variations of the 808 and 909, I believe. I think the Hip Hop board is just so much more usable. That is the first set of drum patches I use when I desire drums that are a bit less realistic. If you want to create your own drum patches from the sounds, I think you will be very pleased with the results. The Techno card was very diappointing to me. There are a few sounds that I like, but on the whole, the card doesn't compare to the Hip Hop board. Another board you may want to consider, if you want unusual sounds, is the EFX board.

DanO

Thanks DANO, I've decided to get the Hip Hop board, so the question for me now is...should I cancel the Techno board that I've already ordered and change that order to the Hip Hop board? Or is it possible for me to be happy using the wavforms on the Techno board. I really want there to be usable sounds on that board now! hehe

I am not making hip hop music at all. I will be making acid jazz/techno/house with elements from many other genres. So as long as there is stuff to work with on the Techno card I'll be happy! Please help me out!