I got a demo model for DM 690 = about 400$, and it's a lot of value for the money in this 19" expander. The display is even less than crappy, but I love the very good selection of pads, solo synths, and the wide range of midi controller numbers it accepts. The sound quality is even better then in some of the originals and if you want to play around with dance, house, or techno, this unit is ideal.
Simon Greenwood : Excellent value at their current proce of £239 at Turnkey. Not quite as much fun as having your own synth museum but pretty damn close. The module is basically the Vintage Synth card for the JV-1080 with the addition of CR-78, 808, 909 and RV series drum sounds, and can be edited with a JV series editor as well as the frustrating matrix on the front panel. Instant Orbitalness can be yours!
Comments About the Sounds:
This is the stand-alone rack version of an JV expansion board having lots of real analog sounds of all the classic boxes of the past, from TB303 to Solton, from Moog to MKS, CR78 and other real good sounding stuff. Pity, you can only edit via sysex.Wonderful Mellotron standard sounds (strings, choir) and some nice chewy bass sounds. The drum kits plunder the Roland back catalogue but without a decent editor the kits