Hmmmm, maybe I should give my 2 cents on the E80.... after playing with it for about 4 days.
Well, the keybed itself is the same as in the PA800 (not so good), still has a stinking Floppy Drive(in 2009 , can you believe that)...and the unit is veryyy heavy might I add.
The overall sound is quite decent, but drums haven't really improved from the VA series. The drum edit function in the make-up tools is lacking the ability to substitute different sounds from different kits(big -). I found the Brass sounds quite weak and lacking richness that I am used to from the VA-series. All the other sounds are pretty much average!
The effects haven't seen any major improvement over the previous series, in my opinion. I also found out that styles from the older Roland series have to be converted in order to work properly ( I guess because of the new style structure). One thing that I love on the E80 is the guitar mode, which is 10 times better than on the PA800. As far as the harmonizer is concerned, PA800's TC helicon is far superior.

And by the way, in order for the E80 to sound great, be prepared to spend $300-500 on the SRX expansions. Without those, this is basically a improved VA7. The price tag that they slapped on this arranger is crazyyyy. Even at $ 1600 I still think it is too expensive. You get much more in the PA800, which by the way weighs a ton LESS.
If anybody has any specific questions about it, please ask !

[This message has been edited by hitman (edited 02-26-2009).]

[This message has been edited by hitman (edited 02-26-2009).]

Perhaps four days wasn't long enough.

There are plenty of tempo synced delays in the E80, not just in the MFX section, but also as an alternative to the Chorus send parameter...

The drums have many of the other kits' drums available as alternatives. Admittedly, not ALL of them, but for every V-Kit, you get a choice of about 15 different kicks. If that ain't enough, then you may be in trouble. Personally, I've never had an issue with it.

And the floppy is as an ADDITION to USB, and simply serves as a legacy backup for those without modern computers. Yes, it's kind of redundant, but it doesn't substitute for a modern interface, just adds to it. You perhaps didn't mention the 80MB (I think that's the figure) Flash RAM drive onboard, which essentially makes loading times of styles and smf's instantaneous. Far better than a conventional HD, especially as there is little need for a big drive except for MP3's, and those can be put on the Card slot for several GB online.

I'd spend just a bit more time on it to find it's strengths, and perhaps learn that some of the weaknesses you have found don't exist, you merely haven't found the right parameters yet... Perhaps before offering answers to other's questions, you could spend a little more time asking those that DO know the arranger well for those answers yourself?

Well Diki,

It took me about an hour to figure pretty much everything out!!! Once again there is no possibility to SYNCH the DELAY to the BPM, without having to calculate it (guess what, I know how to do that also). And NO, you don't get 80MB of flash to load your styles and performances, more like 30ish which I managed to fill up in about 20 minutes of loading my old styles and performances. Then, the USB only serves to establish a connection with the computer and can't be used for a USB flash drive. Now, if you consider something that has a USB port a "modern computer", you got a serious problem. I have played Roland arrangers for the past 12 years and havee seen only minor improvements which cost the naive consumer a few thousand of dollars. This Keyboarrd should have been released in 2000-2001, in order to keep up with the competition.
I work with pretty much 90% custom styles and what is on board is not of much use to me. So with that being said, I want the ability to mix and match drum sounds from different kits without having to specify program changes within the style itself!!!

Lastly,
"I'd spend just a bit more time on it to find it's strengths, and perhaps learn that some of the weaknesses you have found don't exist, you merely haven't found the right parameters yet... Perhaps before offering answers to other's questions, you could spend a little more time asking those that DO know the arranger well for those answers yourself?",

I find the above statement totaly out of line here since you don't know me, or my experience background!


[This message has been edited by hitman (edited 02-26-2009).]

P.S. if those onboard drums sound good to you, then you need to go and hear a real drum set again. I also happen to own Roland's V-drums, and know what the company is capable of! But again, in order to get kick ass drums on the E80, you will need to buy that SRX expansion!

The E80 with a G70 keybed.. Now THAT would have taken some beating!!

Dennis

Effects>Keyboard Chorus>6.Delay>Edit

Notice that field on the left that says Note and then the middle field that says 1/4 note, 1/4T, etc.? Tempo synced delay.

Effects>MFX>68.Long Delay>Edit

Effects>MFX>70:MLT TAP DLY>Edit

Same deal. Tempo synced delays (plus other MFX's have tempo synced tremolo, slicers, pans, etc..)

You might reconsider that hour figure.

Sorry, I just looked in the parameter guide and you are right! I will edit and take back my comment about the delay! But I was expecting to have it under the stereo delay!

Anyways, I am sending the Keyboard back and will still hold my opinion that it is not worth the money!

[This message has been edited by hitman (edited 02-26-2009).]

p.s. if somebody is interested, B&H should have mine by tomorrow! Careful, it has some shipping damage and factory flaws on the keys!

Expecting to do more than simply scratch the surface of any unfamiliar arranger in just a few days is simply unrealistic...

But I look forward to your next arranger review. I'll probably spend more time reading it than you will have actually TRYING the various features.

Oh, and the next time someone who has OWNED a piece of gear you have just skimmed corrects you on a technical point, give them the benefit of the doubt that they might know more about it than you...

Please tell me what has improved soo much over the va series!!!!!

Cover Tools = Style Morphing
D-Beam Effects= sad try to compete with Yamaha's and Korg's Pads
Still no Sampler of course...
Took them almost 10 years to make half way decent OTS functionality...
Sound editing= almost non existent

Correct me if I am wrong, and tell me what is there so much to explore on the E80!(lol except digging through the effects)

[This message has been edited by hitman (edited 02-26-2009).]