Korg M1 Workstation Vs. Roland D50 Vs. Yamaha DX-7

will you marry me?

Maybe.

There no thing like the Yamaha CS80. :)

As for digital synths, those Roland and Korg ones were groundbreaking, and they kind of represented the first case where you could actually arrange your own composition on your own synth at home and get sort of an impression of how it will sound using "real" instruments. They have been improved today though, but the DX7 was also improved by later synths.

Picking the D-50 because it was largely the first proper PCM workstation (Ensoniq ESQ-1 was before it, but it sounded really crappy).

I loved how easy it was to use, program, and sequence with my ESQ-1, but it is true that the tiny 8-bit waveforms sucked ass. Looking at your list, I'm realizing how badly ALL those digital keyboards aged.

I love my Nord Electro.

I mean, isn't it ironic how recent synth technology sounds first and foremost the way synths used to sound before the DX7. Only with a few sounds and features added that didn't exist back then. Synths are defined by that sound.

FM or PCM sounds kind of cheap and demo-like. If you want a guitar, use a guitar, if you want a piano, use a piano, if you want a trumpet, use a trumpet!

Actually, FM can do some pretty great stuff, was popular with everyone from Eno to Detroit Techno folks, and has made a comeback with several softare and hardware options out now.

I love how Keyboard Mag would always review how good the different wannabe-real-instrument patches sounded and judge the product on how well they could fake a violin or a sax or something. As if any self-respecting musician would ever use those horrid sounds. I guess they were targeting the bottom tier of professional musicians and hobbyists... There was this fantasy, I guess starting with Switched-On Bach, that "someday, you won't need an orchestra!" Finally, when samplers and synths got to the point where they could actually create somewhat convincing versions of real instruments, it's like everyone finally asked themselves the obvious question of why the fuck you would ever WANT to replace an orchestra/violin/sax.

Of course, our nine-month-olds seem to prefer the weak-ass, synth-patched nightmare versions of "Baby Neptune/Bach/Mozart," to the real live versions, so I guess there is at least SOME audience for that stuff.