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I've never owned one, but I considered an XS8 pretty seriously a while ago. It's a good all-around workstation synth, but I wouldn't say that it necessarily excels at trance. It's great for bread-n-butter sounds and workstation features (e.g., on-board sequencer, mixing, multi-timbral mode). If you're a Cubase user, it integrates pretty nicely with the Motifs, so that's a big plus. Overall, it seems to appeal to the hip-hop/RnB crowd, but it's got a lot of usable EDM presets and drums in it and, of course, you can program your own. But, its programming isn't as user friendly as the knobby interface of many (virtual) analog synths - in other words, programming patches on the Motifs requires a bit of menu diving or use of a software editor, rather than dedicated knobs/buttons for synth programming on the front panel.
Bottom line is that it's a good synth, but depending on how you want to use it, there may be better options. If you're looking for a good workstation/synth, especially one that integrates with Cubase, the Motifs are great IMO. But, if you're more interested in lots of trance presets and/or hands-on programming of trance sounds, you may be better off looking for a good virtual analog synth in the same price range (e.g., Nord, Access, Waldorf, etc.).
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