If you DO have lots of other gear, only get the 09 if you need 1) a monosynth designed with basslines/oldskool leads in mind and/or 2) a sampler that can easily capture brief loops on the fly. Be aware--the sequencer has only 32 steps (2 measures), and you can only get a max of 6 seconds of music onto each sampled loop.

One key to squeezing useful sounds outta this thing is a slog through the manual, which is written every bit as badly as previous posts here have said. But I spent several hours on a plane flight forcing myself thru it, and it's not completely indecipherable; it just has too little cross-referencing (make your own notes!), and does a poor job of telling you what is NOT possible to do simultaneously. I also still do not have any idea how many loops, patterns, etc. will fit onto a Smartcard of given memory capacity, so if someone has explored this please hit me up.

Pluses/what's easy: Loop capturing and merging is a snap. Four loops of 6 seconds each, and you can merge loops, apply FX and resample as often as you like. Applying the 09's onboard FX to loops and outside sound sources is a good use for this box even if you don't use the synth at all. If you do, it's got 128 synth waves (few FX are built into the waves themselves, but the sounds CAN be modified--hit [shift] 1 thru 16 while the pattern is playing and you can adjust lotsa parameters; this is mentioned--but NOT highlighted--in the manual). This box is good if you like to have loops playing while 1) you put an outside sound source thru the 09's FX or 2) you play a monosynth line/pattern. Now being sold for $150 retail and probably way less on eBay, which makes it worth the risk. 

Minuses: A monosynth (with no square wave, yeah that sux). You gotta program the sequencer step-by-step, rather than just hitting record and playing a pattern like you can with an Electribe. NO reverb OR delay; this is a bitch; but it can be programmed around somewhat with creative use of accents. "Loop control" looks nifty but the manual's obscurities have kept me from using this feature so far. Only has RCA inputs, so if you've got 1/4" input cables like I do get ready for a trip to Radio Shack. Very little internal memory, which can only save synth melodies, onboard drum sounds, or FX settings (i.e., NOT sampled loops; need a Smartcard for that). It takes forever (1-3 minutes) to load a loop from a Smartcard, and to make matters worse, while you're loading a loop the 09 has to stand COMPLETELY idle: can't use FX, can't use the synth. No song mode. No way to lock the tempo without syncing the 09 to MIDI. Drum sounds are cheesy and few.

So much for TB emulation, as a square wave gives you a much more solid acid bass.