I went through the same thoughts/questions recently. I decided to go SFT w/edm. And I'm very pleased with the results.
If you look at the adv/.050/and .200 duration specs of a well designed. 904 lobe, they can fare pretty well against moderate solid rollers. SFT's can get off the base pretty quickly. I'm not particularly fond of hyd rollers.
Mine is a "mild" RV/tow cam by adv specs,
270int/274exh. But .050, 243/247, .200 162/164 @ .584int, .596exh (
[email protected]). I went with a 108lsa (I like a choppy idle).
Even with a basic tune (10.3comp, TF240's, haven't checked AFR's yet) it blows the tires off over 2500rpm in 1st & 2nd on a 95 degree day no less.
It's in a .030 440 6 pack Challenger.
I've run solids on the street for years, and with reasonable maintenance, have never had an issue. This is (for me) the first time with edm's.
There are advantages and disadvantages to each, but I'll take the simplicity, and reduced cost of SFT. I don't feel (imho) there's much performance loss, particularly on the street.
Just my $.02