ok...... im going to throw a monkey wrench in this.
as far as SOOUNDS- PATCHES go.
i was so sold on the xv 5080/5050 hype and i was quite close to purchasing one of them because of it.
i had both the xp 30 and xp 80, which i was quite happy with but wanted (needed) to upgrade them. i spent about a week at sam ash demo'ing the 5050,5080, and Fantom XR.
the 5050 and 5080 each had almost identical sounds to
the xp 80.. "majestic trumpet" being an example. the same exact piano patches, converters or not they are relatively dull. i couldnt find one actual rhodes patch- a "real" rhodes, not the super-chorused out, tinny, 80's cheesy pop rhodes- on either one.
sorry but there are very real differences from this line and the FXR sounds and if you cant tell you are either lying about using/owning one, or are in heavy denial because you spent all that money on your 5080 and are desperate to convince yourself (it really sounds like you are) how superior it is.
the fantom has entirely different piano sounds. much fuller, much brighter and richer to say the least- NOT the same ones "through better converters". converters dont change the patch itself buddy. converters change quality, not content. seriously.... what about the horn section patches? breathtaking. nothing on ANY module i have played and OWNED- motif, triton le, proteus 2000 and two xp synths- comesim not taling about the run of the mill orchestral horn section that everything has, but i mean, rich, punchy, jazz and soul oriented patches. you will not find those- or anything close to them- on an xv synth and i challenge you to produce an example of it, with patch name, number, bank and all.
the XR still sucks like all roland romplers do when it comes to good organ patches (unless you like rock organ patches, but if you want gospel or soul sounds you are waaaay in the wrong department ith any roland rompler, although the vintage keys srx board shores this up some)but at least they finally put in some actuall rhodes and wurly patches.
honestly man, when you can get the same 5080 patches FOR FREE- because for synth sounds it is excellent- but the converters on the xr are pristine, the fx are cleaner, and the compresser is good IF you know what yo uare doing with it.
but to say the sounds are all the same through each module except through different converters is absurd. of course there are many carry overs but the xp/xv line is such a sham, i was about to pay twice what my WORKSTATION keyboard cost me for a MODULE that had the EXACT SAME PATCHES AND FX that my board alread yhad- but through "different converters". the xv/xp differences were things like converters and "4 tones per patch!" but playing the same sounds..
the xr, in my view, after extensive demoing (at least 20 hours, side by side) is a much better product and is a very real upgrade over the xv line.
the xv engine was the greatest fraud ever to me, because it was just souped up jv sounds in a new box. the FXR is NOT that, sorry to say.