I have the House, Techno, Dance and Hip-Hop boards in my JV1080.

Can the kawai macro box be used to control other makes of synths?

Yes, 2mb was standard, but only in the rackmounts - FZ10m/FZ20m. The FZ-1 came with only 1mb and could be expanded with the optional Casio MB10 board (whether 2mb was fitted as standard later on, I have no idea).

I would say, try and look for a Casio FZ20m, I think that this has a built in SCSI and 2mb RAM. There's one on ebay right now - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Casio-FZ20M-D ... 2806483df6

what's wrong with the FS1R?

For me it has to be the Peavey DPM Spectrum Bass - just four knobs and two buttons! Had one for a while and sold it as I found it really frustrating!

Are the two compatible? Can I load my SH32 sounds into the Gaia?

Oh yes, that's right - you could mute or turn off one or more of the four elements. The choice to have a two or four element sound is also possible, but the structure (2 FM + 2 AWM waves) cannot be changed. I didn't find programming the SY35 a problem. It's easy once you know how. There was a very h...

I would have preferred to have seen the three mock ups that have appeared elsewhere on the 'net - the Yamaha AN10, DX10 and VL10. Although they may not real, they look the biz! I'd buy one of those.

Yamaha's answer to the Roland Aira System 1?

No, Captive Nuts work just fine, my S3200XL is quite heavy and deep, but sits comfortably at the top of the rack with nothing underneath to support it.

I have a Quik Lok 513 stand which houses my S3200XL. The rack holes in it are square. So, I have some Captive Nuts that I can clip in to the back on the rack strip and then screw the rack bolts into them giving extra strong support. These are the nuts that I have - http://www.criticalpowersupplies.c...

Voice combinations cannot be altered - it's 2FM waves and 2AWM waves.

Yes it can do dark/lo-fi sounds.

Pads are OK, you'll find a lot of useful sounds on the ROM cards available.

How much should I pay for a second hand one of these?

I can't remember, I don't think so. I could be wrong though. The SY35 does have something called Note Limit for each of the elements, (I think), which may be similar. You could have a four element voice and may be able to split them individual elements across the keyboard.