zephonic Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Someone is trying to sell his Roland A-70 for $250. He insists the thing is cherry. Is that a reasonable price, given its age and lack of modern-day connectivity? Any known caveats that I should be aware of? Thanks, Menno local: Korg Nautilus 61 AT | Yamaha MODX8 away: GigPerformer | 16" MBP M1 Max home: Kawai RX-2 | Korg D1 | Roland Fantom X7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Benhamou Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 I would pick it up in a heartbeat, and I already own one. I bought mine in mint condition as well, with the VE-RD1 Piano Expansion board 5 years ago for $600. Bottom Line: Expansion board is pretty useless by today's sonic standards, but as far as midi controllers go the A-90/A-70 line were probably the last great ones to be produced. If you have a multi-keyboard rig and a rack of modules the A70 would be used as the central brain of your rig and control all zoning, program changes, key ranges and transpositions for you. 8 zones, 4 midi outs, 2 midi ins, 2 pedal inputs (continuous or switch) plus sustain, 4 assignable sliders, 3 assignable switches, mod/pitch wheels AND Roland's integrated joystick, and a button matrix giving you one-push access to 16 most important midi parameters for all zones. Not to mention, IMO, the greatest non-weighted synth action I've ever played on. Full-sized keys with textured black keys for non slip playing. Ian Benhamou Keyboards/Guitar/Vocals [url:https://www.facebook.com/OfficialTheMusicalBox/]The Musical Box[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonysounds Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 "Lack of modern day connectivity"....forget the USB port. The A70 will out perform any USB controller with laptop connection for controlling your rig. $250 is the right price (I've procured a number of them for friends at that price), and is a monster steal. You will not regret it. Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan_evett Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 "Lack of modern day connectivity"....forget the USB port. The A70 will out perform any USB controller with laptop connection for controlling your rig. $250 is the right price (I've procured a number of them for friends at that price), and is a monster steal. You will not regret it. +1K 'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo. We need a barfing cat emoticon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 modern-day lack of connectivity Fixed that for you. It's way more connected than anything modern. Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zephonic Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 Whoa, this thing comes recommended, huh? Any known caveats? Thanks for the feedback, people. local: Korg Nautilus 61 AT | Yamaha MODX8 away: GigPerformer | 16" MBP M1 Max home: Kawai RX-2 | Korg D1 | Roland Fantom X7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonysounds Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Only downside is 64 presets, and no card slot, so you cant expand the amount. But any midi librarian will take care of that for you. Yamaha FC7 expression pedals dont work correctly with this keyboard (or other Rolands). Other than that, youll be pleased. Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Benhamou Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Whoa, this thing comes recommended, huh? Any known caveats? Thanks for the feedback, people. I absolutely love mine and will very likely hold on to it for a VERY long time. A few complaints, mostly because it is a board of the 90's and therefore has few out of date limitations: 1. Only 64 performance memories. So if you're a freelance muso like me and play in multiple bands and projects, that ain't going to cover it. I have a performance saved for every song. So each time I have a gig with a different band, I have to do a bulk dump of all my settings into a DAW and load my settings for another project. This happens sometimes 4 times in one week. Not the end of the world, but annoying nonetheless. 2. The assignable sliders, buttons. wheels, pedals, etc. are system settings and therefore global parameters. I'm one to program highly complex midi setups with layers and splits from a bunch of different keyboards and modules, so it would be better for me to be able to make my CC assignments on each patch for specific control. The plus side is that with only one global setting it's easy to remember what each control does. 3. If the A-70 were designed in modern times it would most certainly have USB connectivity, minimum of 8 sliders and rotary encoders (maybe even 9 for drawbar control) and dynamic drum pads. Ian Benhamou Keyboards/Guitar/Vocals [url:https://www.facebook.com/OfficialTheMusicalBox/]The Musical Box[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BP3 Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Only downside is 64 presets, and no card slot, so you cant expand the amount. But any midi librarian will take care of that for you. Yamaha FC7 expression pedals dont work correctly with this keyboard (or other Rolands). Other than that, youll be pleased. A simple rewiring of the FC7 and you are good to go. Having the Roland pitch/mod paddle AND the standard pitch/mod wheels is a wonderful thing. I like each style for different things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Benhamou Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Having the Roland pitch/mod paddle AND the standard pitch/mod wheels is a wonderful thing. I like each style for different things. +1000000 Ian Benhamou Keyboards/Guitar/Vocals [url:https://www.facebook.com/OfficialTheMusicalBox/]The Musical Box[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDP Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 I posted mine for $500 a while back but quickly came to my senses and removed it.....its back in my home setup now. $250 is a bargain! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonysounds Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 Yamaha FC7 expression pedals dont work correctly with this keyboard (or other Rolands). Other than that, youll be pleased. A simple rewiring of the FC7 and you are good to go. Actually, I've rewired a couple FC7s, and they don't work right....big jump in values at unexpected junctures. But EV5s work great. Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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