Korg Forums

advid · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 2:15 pm Post subject: NEW Roland ?

..has anyone looked at the 'newish' Roland AE-7 arranger keyboard...?
It looks pretty 'versatile'...just wondered how it compares to PA3/4x....
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karmathanever · Platinum Member Joined: 12 Jan 2004 Posts: 10402

Only looked at the youtube demos - it looks and sounds like a slight upgrade to the BK9 but with 61 keys.
Personally I don't like it much (and I am a big Roland fan) - sounds are quite nice but the styles seem very "home-keyboard" to me.

So as a home-keyboard - not bad but as a professional workstation quality arranger then it doesn't get near IMHO.

Anyhow, just my personal views.
Check out Bonners Music (UK) demos on youtube - there are others too.
Bonners rank it with PA600 - think I would rather a PA600 than two EA7s
Also, this demo should set you straight....
https://youtu.be/GMgqqPXG2Nc

Cheers

Pete Very Happy

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PA4X-76, Karma, WaveDrum GE, Fantom 8 EX
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Sharp · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 11:21 pm Post subject:

Looks like somthing build by CASIO. Rolling Eyes

Bachus · Platinum Member Joined: 23 Apr 2006 Posts: 3127

johnnie · Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 5:22 am Post subject:

As a personal choice I don't like it. Iv'e not played one but given just the demo I don't think I would go out of my way to even try one. If anyone has access to styles and sounds from the E86 (how many years ago was that) 1993 and they called that "An intelligent Synthesizer" would think they have not moved on that much but then I guess Roland didnt move on that much when Technics dropped out of the game.
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Negativity is a disease of the brain. Positivity is owning a PA4X

karmathanever · Platinum Member Joined: 12 Jan 2004 Posts: 10402

Yeah - Roland is an odd-bod these days.

Their first arranger (E20) in the 90's was amazing and instantly left Yamaha for dead even though the sounds were very "analogue" (based on the MT32 I think)
It had some awesome funk styles which I still use today on my PA4X.

MP3 samples of two of them played on my PA3X:-
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5RyHLMkfcEvek92ME94RFBtRFE/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5RyHLMkfcEvalctY2FpWll3ZG8/view?usp=sharing

It's interesting eh - I still reckon that some of Korg's best styles were from the "i3".

Cheers

Pete Very Happy

_________________
PA4X-76, Karma, WaveDrum GE, Fantom 8 EX
------------------------------------------------------------------
## Please stay safe ##
...and play lots of music Very Happy

------------------------------------------------------------------

johnnie · Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 6:22 am Post subject:

mintjamman · Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 10:17 pm Post subject:

Yeah shakatak tones and it dont sound that bad given what this new offering is.
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Dmkeys · Full Member Joined: 04 May 2009 Posts: 168 Location: USA

I owned one for a short bit in between my PA3X and getting the PA4X.

It's a great board for the money, especially if you play world music, which hs not traditionally been Roland's strong point.

It is a middle of the line arranger, and so there are compromises like 61 shorter keys (for some reason Roland makes many of their keyboard with full size keys that are shorter than piano keys), and no aftertouch.

It has a number of features that I actually preferred to Korg's systems, including the "style make-up" tools that let you easily and intuitively tweak styles. Korg's system is not intuitive.

It also lets you easily choose a 2/4 fill, which occurs frequently in much pop music, and yet is, as best I can tell, impossible on the Korg, unless you program a specific 2/4 fill into a custom style. Roland's approach on this is much better, and there's no reason Korg couldn't implement it in a software update.

The Roland allows for more pads as well, which allows for a lot more variety within a style.

In short, it's a good sounding middle-of the line arranger, and if it allowed remote keyboard operation via MIDI (it has MIDI, but you can't set the controller to be viewed as the internal keyboard) I'd still have mine.