Is the EXZ basically the same as the SRX?

[Chrisk-K]

Does anyone know if an EXZ expansion is basically the same as the corresponding SRX instrument in terms of sound quality, patches and waveforms? For example, is the EXZ Symphonic Strings the same as the SRX Strings? The reason why I'm asking is I want the "Strings" expansion but don't really need Zenology. Currently, I'm a Core subscriber and I cannot edit EXZ patches. So, I'm thinking about dropping my RC subscription and buying a lifetime key for the SRX Strings which will allow me to fully edit.

[BrianMcClelland]

Hey, Chris-k! Brian from Roland Cloud here. Great question. The SRX Strings instrument is our DCB (Digital Circuit Behavior) recreation of the original unit, complete with all of the original sounds. The EXZ Symphonique Strings is a collection of more recent string sounds built for the Zen Core synth engine. If you wanted to keep your Core membership and pick up the Lifetime Key for the EXZ Symphonique Strings, you could do that, but the full editing capabilities of Zenology would start at the Pro tier membership. If you wanted to pick up the SRX Strings Lifetime Key, that would allow you to use the entirety of the unit in one without having to change membership. Either will provide you with lush orchestral sounds that will help flesh out your arrangement, so it would depend on whichever unit works best for your workflow. Thanks!

[anotherscott]

The SRX Strings instrument is our DCB (Digital Circuit Behavior) recreation of the original unit, complete with all of the original sounds. The EXZ Symphonique Strings is a collection of more recent string sounds

In that context, it's interesting that if you look at the docs for SRX-04 and EXZ-009, the two have the exact same tone (patch) lists (the identically named, identically ordered 128 sounds, even with the same MSB/LSB numbers) and the two also have the exact same waveform lists (same 196 waves, identically named, identically ordered). So then if I understand correctly, the SRX has a soundset built from the waves/programs of the original SRX cards right down to software recreations of the hardware circuitry, while EXZ has all the same patches but instead recreated using a newer set of underlying samples?