I would like to know if there is a big difference in quality between using samples on cdrom or using expensive racks for new sounds on the ASR. Its definitely cheaper to go with cdroms, but will I be cheating myself out of good quality?

I dont exactly know what you mean by quality if you are talking sound fidelty like the sonic quality of the sounds its probally about the same. If you are talking about the actual sounds themselves, you obviously will be getting much more sounds from a triton rack then from a sample cd, I have a proteous 2000 and its great, but i just use it for basslines and some drum sounds, it all depends on the sounds you need. Just try the cds first and if they arent what you want look into other options, dont just go buy some rack cause someone else uses it.