Hello! I have finally obtained a E-A7 from 2nd hand returned unit at my local music shop. It has been only 1 week since and want to share my findings so far. I do not do covers, I only noodle and compose melodies and musical explorations.

It is a true Roland experience they must have put a lof of effort in the design. The performance controls are extremely well thought of. This keyboard is not for a novice user (it can be but many features are under the hood need some experience). It might hold it's own as a standalone keyboard without arranger features however for the price one should consider using everything is has to offer.

This seems like a very well made product so far. The hardware feels very robust and the key bed is quite hard and very solid. The 2 screens are a bit futuristic but it's nice to have them. No complaints whatsoever. Just need to turn down the constrast.

Sounds : My first goal was to turn off the speakers as I want to hear it from my PA. I am using a dummy 1/4 male plug into the headphones jack to turn it off (hopefully there is a better way.

I have also disabled the speaker EQ in global settings (the line/speaker light on the button still stays on however). Also disabled the Master EQ and compressor. This really helps with the overall sound as it is easier on the ears. I will use EQ and compressor only at a later stage if ever. I would like to emphasize that many of the online demos probably have bad settings and this is why the keyboard is hard to evaluate imo.

It took a while to get around the User Programs (UPG) and how they are set up with Reverb, Chorus, MFX etc. After reading the manual, it is possible to figure out.

I am liking the tones. Actually the frequency response is very wide and high quality. Lots of deep bassy sounds, lots of highs as well. I have not found many bad samples, looping or aliasing so far. I am sure there are some legacy dated sounds in there but overall the variety is wide. You have to use the right sound for the right purpose. The synth tones are well made and using the mixer for envelopes is very easy (some tones you cannot edit but there is a basic filter and envelope in the "kbd mixer" option as usual in arrangers.)

The acoustic tones as quite OK. Probably not to the level of high end libraries but still quite good for any electro, pop or musical soundtracks. I have found there is a certain level of quality that is enough for many needs and does not need to be exceeded. Anything higher is perhaps wasteful.

I will continue to experiment but so far so good in the sound department. The sounds is the usual mixed bag of classic and have references to XV, LA (D50), etc. Synths need to be layered like any other. Slight detuning, vibrato etc always helps keep things fresh.