Any comments on the Roland KC 220?

beachgig · Post by **beachgig** » Wed Nov 28, 2018 1:13 am

I just turned 71 and I’d like to lighten the load. Also, I was hit with a viral infection in my right ear and I lost most of my hearing, so I think I need to change my set up. I’ve been using two Behringer floor monitors, left and right, for years. I play mostly jazz and Latin, and mostly piano or ep. Any ideas on the Roland KC 220? It’s supposed to be stereo, although, not much separation, but I think I can live with that. All comments on this amp will be greatly appreciated. By the way, I play a Kronos,

19naia · Post by **19naia** » Wed Nov 28, 2018 2:54 am

If you can handle a drop in quality and cracking up of areas of your sound, then it is ok as a needed compromise.

It is a keyboard amp but not really built for the sound quality of Kronos.
I had KC 350 which is bigger and able to handle bigger sound, but it was not good enough for even Korg Triton on some select sounds.

Piano and EP sounds were not a problem though. Some of the bass frequencies were the real issues where they would crack up terribly.

Kronos has lot more bass range than triton did, so there is a chance there could be issues with Pianos and EP on Kronos.
Not sure about it but i have good reason to advise you take bass range issues into consideration.

mikelees · Post by **mikelees** » Wed Nov 28, 2018 8:05 am

Hi,

Take a look at the thread over at keyboard forums here: http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthread ... ost2959273

Most keyboard players would agree that a powered PA speaker or pair (e.g. EV ZXa1, Alto TS212, Yamaha DXR10, QSC K8 et al.) will get you far better results than a keyboard amp. For lightness you could also consider a compact line array like Bose L1. If stereo is important to you, you could also consider Aspen Pittman Space Station.

Most products that get sold as "keyboard amps" today don't really have the frequency response to reproduce a modern keyboard or stage piano well.

Thunder Dump · Post by **Thunder Dump** » Wed Nov 28, 2018 10:24 pm

I've had a KC-220 for over 10 years as my stage monitor. Pole mounted beside or behind me works fantastic in a rock band setting. It won't recreate all of the lows from a full-range speaker, and I wouldn't use it if I needed to rely on it for FOH sound, but since it only serves as a stage monitor (and my FOH sound comes solely from the PA) it is perfect in both size and sound quality. I can even bring in a monitor feed from the board to put everything else in there if I want it and independently adjust my keyboard mix over the rest of the mix. Mostly though, I just run the keyboard through it. I run stereo L/R main outs to the board/snake, and use the headphone out with a T/R/S insert cable to feed the stereo channel on the KC-220.

ITguy54 · Post by **ITguy54** » Thu Nov 29, 2018 5:34 pm

mikelees wrote:Hi,

Take a look at the thread over at keyboard forums here: http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthread ... ost2959273

Most keyboard players would agree that a powered PA speaker or pair (e.g. EV ZXa1, Alto TS212, Yamaha DXR10, QSC K8 et al.) will get you far better results than a keyboard amp. For lightness you could also consider a compact line array like Bose L1. If stereo is important to you, you could also consider Aspen Pittman Space Station.

Most products that get sold as "keyboard amps" today don't really have the frequency response to reproduce a modern keyboard or stage piano well.

Having built-in mixing and EQ is important to some people. Are there any alternatives that have these things?