First, the Roland V-Synth. Totally unique abilities, and intuitive to use:

The V-Synth does an exact replica of the Roland D-50, an early sample playback synth with some bizarre but useful compromises. Classic sounds:

Then the Kawai K5. Additive synth, interesting in theory but in reality not productive. Some good sounds though:

The K1r, another severely compromised sample playback machine. The poor man’s D-50. But again, the compromises are musically useful:

And finally, the Korg EX-800, a strangely compromised analogue subtractive synth:

In theory, the V-Synth can make any sound that the others can make. But the peculiar design compromises that were made in order to get these synths into the market place, can lead you down some interesting avenues in the quest for new sounds.