Ensoniq ZR-76 VS Roland XV-5050?? Which one?

I have an opportunity to purchase one or the other.

I don't need the controller aspect of the Ensoniq so it does not matter to get a rack or keyboard, after selling the Motif 6 I have a vacant spot for another board...

Which one is better and for any and all applications?

Piano

EP's

Strings

Guitar

Drums

pads

Leads....................I had an XP-30 that was nice and the editing was great, however I sold it. Does the XV 5050 have those sounds?

I own an XV-5050 and very nearly bought a ZR-76; I have the latter's sounds in my E-mu/Ensoniq "Sounds of the ZR" ROM. So I guess I'm qualified to answer you:

Piano - the ZR-76 is flat out superior right out of the box with it's William Coakley "Perfect Piano", which is not perfect but very, very good indeed. If you get the XV, you would have to add the SRX-11 to compensate.

EP's - XV-5050 is superior by a country mile.

Strings - XV-5050 " " " ".

Guitar - XV-5050 by several country miles.

Drums - a tie. The XV has some great drums. However, the ZR-76 has an entire bank of great drums. The sound quality on the ZR's drums is not as good, so you would have to add some EQ and/or an Exciter, but they have more variety and creativity than the XV.

Pads - a tie. Naturally the XV has some typically great Roland pads, but Ensoniq was no slouch in this area, particularly with their wavetable ("transwave") sounds. Great FM sounds too.

Leads - another tie (see above).

I would add two more catagories:

Organs - Ensoniq handily wins with some GREAT organ, from B3 to pipe.

Acoustic - the XV-5050 wins by two or three country miles. And then you can add either the World or the Orchestral SRX boards . . .

Since you don't need the keyboard, and since in general the XV has more modern sound quality plus x 2 SRX expansion, I would go with the XV. You will also find the editing on the XV straightforward in spite of it's having a smaller LCD than your XP-30 of late, and there is a great computer Editor. The ZR-76 has a few wrinkles that the XV lacks, namely the sequencer, the sketch pad and the ability to play microtonal scales. If these really matter to you (plus how many weighted 76-note keyboards are there, after all?) than get the ZR. It's a solid board, even a classic for it's time, but time marches on.

Yer welcome.

C'mon give me a break! I haven't seen your reply. Thank you but I have to say I am shocked a bit...I was told over and over that the ZR-76 is a Classic to behold. Maybe I should just get both?

The ZR has some amazing sounds. There are also some nice FX onboard. You won't be dissapointed.

able

As the name implies, the E-MU "Sounds of the ZR" ROM is just based on the Ensoniq ZR-76 waveforms, rehashed to feed a totally different sound engine and effects generator (the Proteus one).

Overall, a nice ROM for a nice synth, but I would'nt dare to compare it to the real thing.

the zr is a monster.

very well built. don't hesitate, it is a great keyboard, usually had at a very good price.

Yeh the EMU ZR-rom, which I had and sold, was very disappointing. Same sampleset but otherwise totally different to the Ensoniq original. I have an MR-61 with the Coakley expansion and used to have an MR-rack. The ZR-76 is just an MR-76 with the Coakley board. I'd take the Ensoniq over the Roland on every count. A Fantom-S would be a fairer comparison, but most of the older Roland's, including the XV-5050, are a distant second place. If you do buy the Roland you'll need to buy some expansion boards to get close.

IIRC , the ZR-76's multimode filters are not resonant?