Roland AX-Edge Keytar

[Tom Williams]

Mikey, thanks for posting the link to the review -- the description of the voice architecture (4 oscs per part, 4 parts per patch) is very encouraging. It appears to be a different engine from the AX-Synth; in particular, I don't get the impression that the SuperNatural patches made the cut this time around. That's a bit of a bummer, as it woulda been fun to hear Roland's take on a violin when there are two more sources of pressure-based expression.

[MikeyP]

For me personally, I care more about the MIDI implementation than the sound engine, which in the AX-Synth is a bit of train wreck.

[AnotherScott]

I don't get the impression that the SuperNatural patches made the cut this time around. That's a bit of a bummer

For me personally, I care more about the MIDI implementation than the sound engine

If they somehow make it easy to use the buttons to simply change the MIDI transmission channel (alas, there are 10 rather than 16), it could also be a nice Integra controller, where you'd be able to easily switch among the 16 sounds in a Studio Set on the fly. That gets you all the SuperNatural stuff... and a lot of sonic power in a near zero stage footprint.

[Bucktunes]

Hmmm, this actually looks and sounds tempting. Definitely not just another Lucina!

 

[video:youtube]

 

 

[Quai34]

For me personally, I care more about the MIDI implementation than the sound engine, which in the AX-Synth is a bit of train wreck.

You know what, I think I van never been able to send midi (or is it receive program change??, cannot remember....) with my AX Synth.... ok it might be me but I didn't find changing midi channel very easy etc....So, I'm using it mainly with the inboard sounds, just soloing and the synths/Guitarish sounds are quite good....enough to have the girls going crazy so, I'm happy....

[Mogut]

Buy a guitar if you want to be cool! Your bandie's will let you play guitar whenever you want

[MikeyP]

You know what, I think I van never been able to send midi (or is it receive program change??, cannot remember....) with my AX Synth.... ok it might be me but I didn't find changing midi channel very easy etc....So, I'm using it mainly with the inboard sounds, just soloing and the synths/Guitarish sounds are quite good....enough to have the girls going crazy so, I'm happy....

My understanding on that is that it transmits PC only - no bank changes. So no cc00 or cc32 when you change a patch. This is a problem. Also I believe that the volume of an external patch was either not stored or not transmitted.

[rockinredeye]

The Support page has a downloadable User Manual, Parameter Manual and Tone list. I am not a Roland owner, but Tones aren't finished programs, are they? Anyway, 1296 tones! Did not find a list of Programs.

[AnotherScott]

It looks to me like Tones (1296) are what we commonly think of as Programs, and Programs (320) are more like combis/mults/setups/performances, they are sets of up to four Tones.

[SeaGtGruff]

I haven't looked at its MIDI reference yet-- but if it has that many different Tones and Programs, why wouldn't it transmit Bank Select messages?

[AnotherScott]

I haven't looked at its MIDI reference yet-- but if it has that many different Tones and Programs, why wouldn't it transmit Bank Select messages?

That's a bit of a non-sequitur... it does send bank messages, but that has nothing to do with how many Tones and Programs it has. From the manual, it looks to me like each program allows you to send up to 4 MIDI Program Changes on different channels, each with MSB and LSB. This has nothing to do with the # of internal sounds it has.

 

I think MikeyP's comments (i.e. no bank changes) had to do with the older AX Synth. Bu I've never looked at that one.

[EscapeRocks]

My understanding on that is that it transmits PC only - no bank changes. So no cc00 or cc32 when you change a patch. This is a problem. Also I believe that the volume of an external patch was either not stored or not transmitted.

 

Yes and no. The previous Roland AX Synth does in fact transmit CC00 CC32 and PC0-127

 

You just can't specify what MSB/LSB were.

 

You can either have the AX send PC separately from changing it's internal sound, or you can use the inc/dec or direct program buttons to change internal and external.

 

When you hit an internal program, it sends cc00 cc32 and pc# associated with that internal sound.

 

I used to use my old AX Synth with Mainstage now and then. Using the tone list on page 37 of the Roland AX manual, I would simply assign the Mainstage patch to the MSB/LSB/PC being transmitted.

 

I only used the AX on a few songs, so this workaround was easy.

 

A brief look at the AX-Edge manual show you can program and save full MSB/LSB/PC to be transmitted on the unit. A nice change.

[AnotherScott]

First time for these features on a Roland keytar:

 

[*]Aftertouch

The original Roland Axis had aftertouch. Also nice side-by-side wheels for pitch bend (spring-back-to-zero) and mod (stay in place), which I like.

 

How to run across a larger stage w/ only the two unbalanced stereo-audio cables connected ?

What´s the max. length of unbalanced cables normally used ?

For me, it´s about 5 meters/ 15 feet.

Wow, that´s what I call freedom !

Wireless Guitar/instrument Transmitter Receiver System

 

A little large-ish.

Yeah, I'd prefer a shorter stalk.

 

I don't get the impression that the SuperNatural patches made the cut this time around. That's a bit of a bummer, as it woulda been fun to hear Roland's take on a violin when there are two more sources of pressure-based expression.

No SN "acoustic tones," but at least according to a thread a gearslutz, a synth engine that goes beyond the SN synth. Definitely more of a "synth" than a "rompler."

[Tom Williams]

There are a couple of cool features I haven't been able to explore yet (due to a very cumbersome voice editor): One is the ability to have legato retriggering based on distance between notes; another is programmability of unison mode, both in number of layered voices and detune levels.

[AnotherScott]

I do wish it were narrower. Ideally, a 49-key keyboard plus a stalk would be in the range of the width of a 61, but this is noticeably wider than lots of 73/76 boards. (The Edge is 49 5/16" wide, you can get plenty of 73/76 key boards at under 45" wide, some as little as 42" wide.) Unnecessarily visually big, and correspondingly a bit heavier as well, and needing a bigger/heavier case, and increasing stage "footprint". I guess maybe I'd find it more forgivable if I thought it just really looked cool to be jutting out like that everywhere... but if looking cool is your goal, the keytar is a questionable choice to begin with. But who knows, these kids these days...

 

That said, I do think the black looks kinda cool. I went with white because I was concerned about use in low light situations, also keeping in mind that it could conceivably do double duty as the second board of a stack. Has anyone here with a black one run into situations where the blackness was an impediment, whether for playing or for control operation?