First the cons: - rotary controllers aren't very reliable when turning them fast, kinda sucks, but I've cleaned them as well as I'm willing to (I'm afraid to break them!) and they're better than they used to be, just wish I could turn them really fast and get a fast result in the correct direction. - scsi reading IS fairly slow compared to what an internal scsi hard drive should be able to do, even with the slow scsi drive that's in there currently, but still it's adequate and much faster (and bigger obviously) than floppies. - the UI (OS 2.0) is both brilliant and frustrating. I love the visual matrix on the front of the machine, makes sense that they grouped it up like that. I hate that when you're using it you really have to memorize certain step-by-step methods of accomplishing common tasks that I feel could have been shortcutted to one or two button presses. - the scsi drive that came in mine is very noisy (whines loudly and annoyingly). I expect it's probably a 15 year old drive that is on it's last legs (I've experience this with other very old hard drives). I have an ancient powermac with ancient internal hard drives, I know one of them is also really noisy but I think the other is fairly quiet if memory serves, so depending on it's specs I may try dropping that one in the A3000 instead to quiet things down.

Pros: - I used to own an Akai 2000 sampler that had no hard drive or fx unit or expansion ram, just the basic 2000 model. Although there were things that were much easier to do on the Akai, in general the A3000 manages data better and obviously has FAR more features (great fx unit built in, great filters built in, mine came with hard drive). Also the A3000 has a very slightly warmer sound which I prefer. - if you have patience and no compatible scsi connection/cable to get your computer to talk to your A3000 then do what I do - use midi and a pc application (I don't recall what it is) to transfer samples from your computer to the A3000 and further edit them on the A3000. It takes ages, but you only have to do it once as long as you save the sample in the A3000 before powering it off. - I've setup my midi controller to operate filter cutoff frequence, resonance, q and portamento speed from realtime controllers so I can use the A3000 as a sort of fake-analog-moog type live synth, something I love doing (ELP anyone?). For me that's the most expressive way to solo on a keyboard. - my A3000 is super reliable, no issues at all ever. period. use live, studio and for rehearsing/composing. - The OS is quite superior to that of Akai but you have to learn how to use it. When reading through the manual make a simple cheat-sheet of common tasks and keep it with you at all times. I've gradually improved my cheat sheet until it's now so helpful that a beginner can get started right away (patent pending LoL, just kidding) - it looks great... seriously, that is a nice bonus - yamaha build quality (hardware is solid) - imports all of the other sample formats that I've tried so far, although I do have a conversion app if it becomes important. - plenty of outputs, and while there can be a bit of noise from extra outputs it's a lifesaver at times (I use them when composing all the time but when it comes to final mix I overtrack each stereo pair repeatedly from the main outs so I get the best s/n ratio. Takes time but worth it. For composing though I love multi-outs through my mixer running through different fx and also for doing surround work for movies. I couldn't use this for movie work without the multi outs. - I traded a Korg K4R for this (which I miss, I loved the filters and warmth of the K4R). To me though this was a definite upgrade, in fact a requirement for my work, the K4R was a luxery and hardly got used. A3000 is the centerpiece of my synth rack. I've gradually replaced several rack synths and software synths with this baby, often by manually going through and converting or actually sampling the original synth's sounds into the A3000 and creating a program out of it. - I use this for real time drum sounds as well when playing my digital drum kit for recording and rehearsing (I'm a multi-instrumentalist to some degree like most musicians). I converted a lot of main samples from apps I own like toontrack ezdrummer (Love the default kit in that thing, my main recorded drum kit) and as a result can play drums without any lag (software = lag, A3000 = instant response) and without needing a computer with me. (again the multi-outs save the day for real-time sound feedback through headphones while tracking drums to midi... I can compress the snare, kick, toms, room etc all differently from cymbals etc, then when finally happy with midi-recorded track I retrack the audio into multitracks using main stereo pairs over and over through appropriate fx as I mentioned for movie work... great sound, takes time but worth it). This is the ONLY way to play digital drums IMHO. Much better sound than any roland module I've heard yet.

I'm a much happier musician thanks to the A3000.