Re: ASR-X Pro vs. MPC2000

[Laurie Hatch <lahatch@dnai.com>]

On Wednesday, September 02, 1998 3:44 AM, Stew Benedict 
[SMTP:stewb@earthlink.net] wrote:
>
> Has anyone bought from this SoundOnSound outfit in Japan?  Their
> prices on Roland and Akai are incredible, but I'm a little hesitant to
> just send a check off to Japan...

Stew, I've been hangin' out on a Roland list, and at least 10 people (from 
several different countries) have posted with very positive, enthusiastic 
results about doing business with SOS.  (Nope, they're not paying me for 
this 
endorsement, but I could definitely get into some barter...  %^).  No one 
has 
posted any complaints so far -- SOS seems to be competent, fast, and 
reliable. 
 One thing ya gotta check/deal with is whether the voltage on hardware 
products 
is compatible with where you are located.  (Is it 220 in Japan?)  I 
haven't 
looked into that piece of it myself, so I don't know for sure.

Another variable is whether one will be charged customs duties here in the 
US. 
 Several of the Roland list guys have been charged (usually 2.9%), others 
were 
charged nothing.  My guess is that it depends on what kind of mood the 
customs 
dude/dudess is in when the package rolls by.  Send 'em some Wizard of Oz 
and 
Pink Floyd to distract them...

Yet another consideration is the product warranty being registered through 
an 
out-of-country retailer.  This may potentially be a costly problem on some 
products if you need repairs, but not necessarily on others.

I can send you more particulars off list if you'd like.

http://www.soundonsound.com/index-e.html

ciao,
laurie