a) Nobody needs techno and 303-ish sounds anymore, that was ten years ago. Of course you're right about the EA being able to generate sounds that are not 303-ish, but they are all VERY crude and boring since it has NO ENVELOPE GENERATOR, no LFO modulation and not more than 1 parameter to alter the filter envelope. One always ends up turning the distortion or the chorus on to see if it helps to spice up an immensely boring sound. I think it generates about 3 or 4 different sound (which are all VERY raw), the rest is all variation of those 3 or 4.

b) An arpeggiator would give this machine the right type of kick (considering the sounds it offers), but it's a 100% budget unit without one.

c) I don't like the event editing. It's much more abstract than a 303 and even misses features (way anyone able to do a cool glide effect?). I'm generally disappointed by built-in step sequencers these days (like the Yamaha DX-200 etc.) and use my MMT-8s instead.

d) Related to the sequencer: I hate to store sequencer data with voice data. It's totally redundant to have the machine save a patch with every 20 or 20 different sequencer patterns that occur in the song. Also, you can't store patterns for the two voices independently and play with them in realtime, re-combining and morphing them. Poor!

e) You can get a used Micro Modular (which also has cool sequencing ablities) for the same money. So, please!

Pros: Very, very outstanding sound quality, it kick asses of every machine in the price range. Features are made for DJs and Electronic musicians, but every kind of MIDImaniac can use it and love it (without spending tons of cash).

Cons: I Don't like MIDI implementation (knobs doesn't send straightfoward CC messages, depends on #6 Data MSB controller. It doesn't respond to #64 Sustain). The machine has very cool features for the price, but a basic LFO, or pulse width controller knob would be perfect.

Overall, the cons are not a big drawback if you consider the price, good for every kind of music that needs fat analog sounds, perfect for techno and electronic music.

Rating: Features 4/5; Reliability 5/5; Ease of Use 5/5; Sound Quality 5/5; PRICE 10/5

I didn't expect a lot and i love it now !

9c-Vic