Roland E86. 1993. Man, that makes me feel old. Where did those sixteen years go?

How great does it still sound, though?
http://www.keyboarddemo.com/audio/E-86_DEMO/Roland_E-86_-_Demo_N_2.mp3
http://www.keyboarddemo.com/audio/E-86_DEMO/Roland_E-86_-_Demo_N_3.mp3
http://www.keyboarddemo.com/audio/E-86_DEMO/Roland_E-86_-_Demo_N_1.mp3

I have very fond memories of that board, which I gigged to hell and back for ten years. How many of today's boards will we still be playing ten years from now?

Got ten years out of my G1000. Will probably get that and more out of my G70.

Unless they bring back the Chord Sequencer...

You see, you couldn't actually PLAY that harmonica solo in realtime unless SOMETHING was playing the chords for you (too many bends at chord boundaries).

[This message has been edited by Diki (edited 05-22-2009).]

wow, E86 is 16 years old and listening to the E86 is just like listening to the G70.

Well if you play the Korg PA800 that's just like playing i30 and Pa80, there styles are all recycled.

I can say the old boards that have taken a big leap in the last ten years are the Solton, now Ketron and Yamaha.

[This message has been edited by mc (edited 05-22-2009).]

Yep, it sounds pretty sweet...I think I spent time with nearly every E back then, starting with the E-20.

I used an E-70 for quite some time, and later the E-86 because the style cards were a bunch of money...I even had the "Super Card".

First heard the E-70 played by a guy named Luigi Bruti....ever hear of him?

Ian

I can't hear much improvement in Ketron, either. Not without a huge drop in flexibility to accompany it.

Only really revolutionary things have been Mega Voice technology and SA1/2/DNC, IMO.

Mind you, I'll blow that E demo away with my G70.

The drums are a HUGE improvement (and so is the harmonica!)

Yes and don't forget that Roland also use Articulation Voices in their Atelier Organs and these sound so great. I hope they put some in their next series of arrangers.
Listen to their audio demo at http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=932&ParentId=79

I heard those Atelier demos ages ago. I am utterly unimpressed. Have you even HEARD the SA/SA2 voices on a Tyros2/3?

If this is what Roland thinks is cutting edge sound design, I don't even want to SEE it (let alone have to pay for it) on any new Roland arranger until they have gone back to the drawing board and made lead voices as good as Korg's DNC or Yamaha's SA...

Go here: http://music-tyros.com/en/audio/index.html and play the jazz and clarinet demos (in fact, play them all). When Roland get anything to sound that good, you can tell me how great they are again, OK?

I used to play yamaha arrangers and have hear the tyros 1 2 3 etc but I am not impressed with the Tyros. I quess it is all personal but at the moment I like Roland more.

I like Roland more too (got a G70), but when it comes to Super Articulation stuff, sorry, but Roland haven't got a clue.

Rumor was, they had a new arranger in development that used this feature. I guess they played it for a few people, and it was so bad they shelved it (but released it for the organ division, who don't have much SA voices to compete against). Hopefully, they are still working on it, but I can wait until it competes successfully with Yamaha. I am not holding my breath. Even if the get the technology right (like Korg have), it takes quite a while to develop the content for it (as Korg are showing).

I can wait...

I don't know about that rumor but the trombone on that Atelier organ sound really good in my ears. My last Yamaha was the psr 6700 a great keyboard but had to sell it in that time because I needed the money. Then I stopped with music several years until a few years ago I started again with a casio ctk 900. Now I own the Roland GW 8l and I am very happy with it. I am saving for a new type Roland arranger I hope he arrived at the end of this year.

Roland NEVER had Solo on their arranger, yes, it personal taste, 1 against 1 million.
In english thats not personal taste, its called a FACT!

1 against 1 million I don't think so.

______________________________________

mc, I think you're doing Korg a bit of a disservice there. Yes, SOME styles haven't changed that much over the years, possiblly because they were pretty damn good to start with, ever consider that?

The differences between, say an i30 and these newer boards, is like night and day. Take a trip to your local dealer and give a Pa800 or Pa2XPRO a run through. Of course, if you've never played an i30 or such, then you've no basis for comparison.

BTW, my first board was a Roland E38 - pretty nice little tool, that one.

I've owned a i3, ix300, is40 & pa80. I was always a big fan of korg. But with every new model I would purchase there would be some newer styles, but a majority would be recylced. The PA800 was really a big turn off for me with the exception of the guitar voices. I find it almost identical to the pa80. So never looked at another korg again!

[This message has been edited by mc (edited 05-23-2009).]

I'm disappointed that Roland haven't recycled their old styles, some of which were brilliant, stretching right back to the E-20. I think many of those older styles were better for being more generic and therefore more useable.

The G1000 zip drive disk had hundreds of styles from older models. see if you get your hands on one.

Legacy Roland styles are available all over the web. Some have already been converted to E and G modern arranger, some haven't. But Roland's famous Makeup Tools makes editing these to use the best of their new sounds and drumkits (with great multi-velocity V-Drum sounds) as easy as it possibly can be.

If you haven't got these yet, you haven't looked hard enough!

There's one caveat. Sorry, but this IS two or three generations (not simple model changes, but whole generations) past when those styles came out. You CAN'T simply load them, and hit Play, and they sound identical to an old, old Roland. They need a certain amount of tweaking. But you CAN tweak them to sound pretty similar to what the original sounded like, or you can tweak them to sound MUCH better, too!

BTW, mc, can you point us to ANY arranger, EVER, that had 100% new styles when it came out? Ketron, Korg Yamaha, Roland, you name it... some are new, some are old, some are old tweaked with new voices of features. But how is any arranger any different from any other..? Condemn one, you condemn them ALL, including whatever you use right now (and will use in the future)...

And if you can't tell the difference between that old Roland and a G70, I wouldn't recommend getting ANY new arranger. If your hearing is that poor, not much point in a new arranger, is there?

"Is it really SIXTEEN years since this one launched"

Yes and man look how far we've gone since then in a short amount of time....
really amazing! At this rate really playing any instrument will be a thing of the past.

I know every arranger company repeats styles into the next model which is fine because they are styles I would miss if were not repeated, but in my experience Korg through-out the years has always had a large number recycled styles from model to model.

As far as my hearing, its fine, nothing wrong here, I have to say the E86 was a great arranger for its day. Roland’s arrangers during the late 80’s to mid nineties out classed many arrangers out there. But I just find Roland from G800 to today’s g70 has not taken that leap that many other arrangers (Korg, Yamaha, Ketron) as far as styles. I listen to styles of the G70 and it still reminds me of that winey bass line from years ago. We don’t have to agree and when it comes to Roland, since you have your tastes and I have mine. I am former Roland owner (RA90 & EM2000) and when I replaced the Em2000 with the X1, it was night and day.


[This message has been edited by mc (edited 05-23-2009).]

I can change the bass sound in two seconds flat. The drums are 'night and day' improvements over the G1000 generation, and from coming straight from G1000 to G70, I am afraid I have to disagree with you about the styles being the same. There isn't a single style in the G70's ROM from the G1000. Not one.

I was trying to refer to the quality of styles g1000-g70, but to each its own.

Keep playing your G70 and I'll play my Ketron. As long as where happy. that's what matters.

Good times.
I can remember my first Rolands.
E20,E30,E70 and E86.
With my E86 I received from Roland Brasil a complete collection of FDs with Brasilian styles that I still have.
In other side, I had my first problem with arrangers: My E86 had a complete mother board faillure that was repaired by local assistance.

If the styles were no better, why would I change? I am NOT one of those that HAVE to have the latest model, no matter if there is little difference.

The G1000 sounded like a machine. The drums had no velocity switching, and sounded like a Sound Canvas. But, for it's time, it was still pretty much one of the best things about.

My G70's drums sound REAL. I can punch up styles from it that give the Audya's REAL drummers and live audio a VERY close comparison. And they achieve that with none of the loop audio's disadvantages. Want the same pattern, but on brushes? Tough. Want to change the kick pattern? Too bad. Prefer bongos to congas? Not a chance. Want a dryer snare? Sorry, no can do. Want to only play the style the way it comes? Finally.... It can do that!

Small world. That was precisely my Roland path prior to the E80.

i agree that it's much better to wait out a few models before changing. The Pa1XPro is one step back from current Korgs, but I got a sweetheart deal on a lightly used one, and coming straight from an i30 it was a significant jump for me - and kinder on my wallet, too.

124... had Korg already come out with OS2 for the PA2Xpro before you bought the PA1?

I am not sure, even with the monetary considerations, that I would have made that choice. I believe that the DNC feature IS the 'new generation' aspect for Korg's, as SA made the T2 the breakthrough arranger for Yamaha.

I am sure, especially with Korg's upgrade policy, that the current OS2 PA2Xpro is by no means the end of the line for this model. Look for new DNC voices to load up, new styles that use them, and doubtless many new features long before the next model comes out.

Unfortunately, all of this will pass your PA1X by. But it is still a great keyboard... I just have a feeling, as Korg release more DNC sounds, that you will start to get a bit envious of its' newer brother

Perhaps a bit off topic, but a question... the E-96 and G-800 were contemporary with each other. It seems to me like the G-800 was more advanced. What was the pecking order in Roland's lineup circa 1995-96?

What key features were introduced in the G-800 that ended the reign of the E-series (until the advent of the E-50/60/80 in 2007)?
Thanks,
Ted

And they were Black

Hi Diki,

LOL! Yep, OS2 was already out when I bought the 1X, but my monetary considerations, as you put it were, well, considerable and, yes, while I would love to have the new stuff, there is plenty in this board to keep me occupied for the foreseeable future. God knows there was already enough in the i30, but I wanted a 76, hence my jump.

I understand completely...! And I have heard a bunch of stuff that sounded great on the PA1Xpro. You should be able to make great music for years on that thing...

What kind of music are you primarily into?

Like yourself, I'm not a quick change artist when it comes to keyboards, though I must admit it was four years between buying the Roland E38 and then changing to the Korg i30.

What sort of stuff do I play? In a word, allsorts. I'd prefer to stay away from Country generally, but if it's what the punter wants, the punter gets. Hence my request for some line dance and two step mp3s in another topic.

Punter? From that I gather you might NOT be from the US?

I'd put that in any requests for line dances, oldies that are popular, etc.. These can vary quite considerably from country to country. Best to say what area you are from. Heck, dance needs can change a bit from one part of the USA to another, let alone a continent away!