Fairlight-CMI

Series 4?  Alright I'll jump in with some of what I'd like to see.

Lets start off with cost - way under $10k. Whether that needs to be a standalone device or hardware pci-e plugin to a pc to meet that price is up to the engineers.  Series IV should continue in the tradition as the ultimate sampling workstation and should support sampling, sequencing and resynthesis.  The system should be expandable so more power could be added as necessary.

Fairlight sound - Should be able to sound like series I-III (crunchy) but also sound as pristine as the xynergi.  

Resynthesis should be updated to compete with Kyma.

I'd like to see something like Korg's wavesequencing with user created samples.

Interface should be intuitive and fast to use.  This is key.  All of this stuff can be done already today using existing DAW's and vst plugins but it is clunky and not fast intuitive.  I think that is what systems like the Fairlight, Synclavier, and Waveframe had going for them.  You could do everything in one piece of hardware/software interface and not have to kludge a bunch of tools together to get your job done.  Integration is key.

I want to see support for multi-terabyte sized sample libraries. The system should support a database for cataloging and searching sounds and some method for tracking samples on backup/archive media.

Memory - the system should support multiple gigabytes of RAM and also support playback of samples direct from disk.

Filtering - I'd like to be able to choose from a selection of filters for various special effects.

I'd like to see support for some kind of 3rd party plugin system/api so that the system can be expanded with new forms of synthesis and effects.

That should get you started...