I wish the onboard sequencers would be removed and offered as add-on devices. It's one way of being able to offer feature-rich synthesizers at a reasonable cost.
That's crazy talk! The sequencer is DSI's killer app, and blows the doors of modulation wide open. And it's pretty much a software thing that isn't going to add to the hardware cost of each instrument.
I'll have to agree on this one... Removing internal sequencers will be a huge step backwards, and I remember how many users that actually complained that no sequencers are in the Prophet 12... I still would really like sequencers in it.
Personally I find them useful because of the way I work these days... earlier I just sequenced from my DAW, but more and more I'm live recording into my DAW without metronome, and that makes it really nice to have sequencers build into a synth because it lets you have tight timing (usually much better than a DAW anyway).
When I make ambient, I usually start out by playing some live drones/pads, that last for some time, and then some rhythmic synthy part or bass start going and taking over for a long period of time, and here is where the internal sequencer or Arpeggiator is nice to have... it lays the foundation "metronome" for the tracks to follow.
Also... small rhythmic presets are nice to have for this task, and that it can be saved as part of a preset. This is one of the major reasons I still have my PER... simply because it can do some of the most weird rhythmic sequences... the Prophet 12 simply cannot cut it.
I understand that it is making an instrument a bit more expensive, especially if it has dedicated controls for the sequencer like the Pro 2, but it could be minimized to being internal only, if for a cheaper product... The Tetra was like that, and even the Prophet 08 is in a way, since it doubles a lot of knobs for the sequencer.
I know for certain, that I'm REALLY happy about the Sub 37's internal sequencer too... so I vote for internal sequencers too!