My first impression of Roland E-A7...

Well, it is small...it is light...looks like a toy..

and a lot of fun to play..

The keys ..yep , like the BK5, although they feel a bit stiffer..
after you play a while , you get use to them,,they are more playable than my
Edirol PC80 controller..

The operating system became second nature after a couple hours,
playing and editing..

All the buttons are rubberized, feel good and perform perfectly..
The sliders are firm and smooth..

This E-A7 is loaded with goodies, just as many features as the
BIG boys..

Coming from a week with the Korg PA4x, I can tell you the E-A7
competes favorably,,

Same features, and they work just as well as the Korg..

Many of the sounds , edge to Roland, drums strings, E guitars, choir,
scats, EP and Acc piano for starters..

The sound is surprising..I was told they were shorter samples than the BK9 etc..
Others on YouTube state they were as good or better than PA4x and Tyros5..

Styles are plentiful and nicely done,,easy to edit on the fly while
performing..Realtime mixing with the sliders..

The new OS with two displays turned out to be a great idea, they work in
conjunction with each other...and direct tabs on the display border, help navigation..
The six assign buttons for pads, phrases , tones, work great...ande are in sync with
styles and songs..

The 3 upper and one lower tones are easy to access and view..volume level via sliders ..
Favorite tones section, also user tones and styles..UPG section that saves all panel settings..

There is no sequencer, but make up tools do the job we normally do in the sequencer..

The playback for SMF,Kar, MP3 and wav..works great, and feature chain play
tempo change and transpose,,Parts mute also covered, as is center cancel..

Search feature works great for any data , song, styles, Upg etc..

Song play is easier and smoother operation than Korg..one button to play.

SMF play sounds best of any board...

Sampler improved with update 1.10....samples increased from 512 to 2,048...



I will follow up after a few days...but it looks like a keeper..

BTW: It looked like a toy, but anything but.....this is a very capable keyboard...
ready for the stage, and a light traveler..

Congratulations use it well Fran.

Fran
Nice review on this and the Korg. Now go get a BK9, you know you want one ! LOL !

Will it display text files? And link to registration?

Hi Fran
Certainly sounds like it's packed full of goodies.
Great price range.

I've been watching E-A7 video's all week and wondering why nobody's talking about this peripheral keyboard in here. The instrument sounds are OK, but the styles are fantastic.....well-thought out...versatile....creative.......authentic, etc. So.......what's the reason no one else is discussing this keyboard when TOTL arrangers are talked about?

Roland E-A7 videos

Not sure I'd buy one but for me, being a "styles" person, it would definitely be in the running alongside the PA4x and the Ketron.

One thing puzzles me. Why the odd name for this keyboard? It looks more like a chord progression than a keyboard!

Don,I would say no..but there is more then one way to skin a cat..
You could record a style that you play, and save it as an SMF..Add lyrics to the file..
Add 4 markers..

Now as you play the file,filter the parts that get in the way of your realtime play..
Use the realtime phrases ..6 of them.variation of guitar strums etc..As you play left hand chords, the phrases will follow in sync....Chords will show on the display.
You can save this file as part of your User program..
This would give you all the flexibility of a style, with total control for your performance..

I have something like a thousand text files in my PA4X. Why would I want to do all that? It's the main reason I didn't keep the BK9. Too bad, but a deal breaker for me. Also no vocal harmony, right?

Well....If it looks like a toy, can't bring it on stage. Just not in my nature. That said, I am seriously considering a 2nd arranger with speakers to just leave set up in my studio. Are the keys full size?

Don, No harmonized.
Steve, they are full size, but shorter in lenght.
Measures 5 and 1/8 th. Compared to 5 and 3/4 on most top models.

Guys we are talking $1,299 selling price.

I bought it as a specific use..Senior centers, one hour shows..but it offers a lot, and it is fun to use..also sounds great.
It wasn't going to replace my G70..If I am playing a 4 hour job, I"'ll be behind the G70.

and for a little bit more you can get a used S970 just sayin...

I think Fran said he thinks the ea7 sounds better then the S970, so why would he then consider an S970..

To each his own I guess..

I'm guessing the Roland arranger is a good one.

But I wonder how user friendly it is?

Many moons ago I bought a recording deck...a Roland VS 2480...light years ahead of its time technology wise...still a good deck.

However, the one thing it was not is user friendly....very complicated to use.

From reviews and videos it seems its quite userfriendly, and has a lot of direct access buttons just like pa4x on the panel... A German reviewer named the ea7 the pa4x for the poor....

I don't think it looks like a toy, in fact the opposite is true. Maybe it is so light that it feels not a 'pro' arranger for some people. It now became my main keyboard when I need an all in one keyboard. When I travel, then it's the MidJay Pro.

Isn't the EA7 close in price to the Casio Mz X500?
I would say better bang for the buck you can't go wrong...
although personally at this time I'd be interested in a
Hammond SK1-73

Looks indeed that the ea7 outperforms the mzx500 where it comes to sound quallity, by quite a margin.. Tough the. Mzx might still have an advantage when it comes to features and interface.


The hammond SK1 is an incredible fun formfactor... But not an arranger, unless you add the Ketron SD40 (2 kgs) to it.... But then performance instruments like the SK1, or Nord stage make a perfect arranger base in combination with the SD40...

Nice review Fran! I have to disagree on the quality of buttons - rather cheap and Yamaha like. You are correct, the sound- samples are shorter and sound more compressed than on the BK9. Another shortcoming is the MFX section - lacking 2 MFX blocks for the upper tones. However, to me it's worth it the price simply because of the accordion sounds. All in all, I love the little toyish looking thing.

Fran the Roland is cool and sounds pretty good but to compair it to T5 well that is a strech but for price range it a nice little unit

i could mess around with it and hsave fun but not play a pro gig with it well if that is all i had i could but not my first choice

but I stll love the G70 and always will.

Steve get the Yamaha 970 you will love it as a back up it great .

I have t 4 and T5 but thinking about 970 for quick small gigs