Aerophone Pro -Roland with some Fantom get demo

[Mark Schmieder]

My recollection is that the length is meant to provide proper COG for comfortable playing (regardless of extra weight) and different playing angles, as well as being close to soprano sax length for familiarity?

 

I am leaning strongly in favour of giving the AE-30 a go, but am not sure I should prioritize it over other stuff. It's very difficult making decisions on purchases when most of my gear is 3100 miles away.

 

I did bring the Yamaha WX5 with me from CA to NC, so I at least would be able to do an honest comparison, and I'd be disinterested if not for the inclusion of actual MIDI jacks on the AE-30.

 

I'm thinking it might be safer to wait until Winter NAMM in case Yamaha has a trick up their sleeve. I don't think a new Akai would appeal to me as much as this model, for ergonomic reasons alone.

[ElmerJFudd]

Slimmed down updated model,

 

[video:youtube]

[D. Gauss]

i have the AE-05.

 

pros:

-has keys pretty much like my sax.

-midi and bluetooth.

-can run on batteries

-only cost an arm, not an arm and a leg. (i think they're over 400 now, but got mine for 200 on fleabay)

-headphones!

-great for pandemic-everyone-is-home practice

 

cons:

-the um, "sax" sounds suck ass

-still looks like some jizz wailer horn from star wars

 

biggest bonus:

use it with the SWAM sax program (mine is PC but there's an app too) and it actually doesn't sound horrible any more.

[El Lobo]

Roland announces Aerophone AE-20 wind controller

https://www.kvraudio.com/news/roland-announces-aerophone-ae-20-wind-controller-53848

 

I have an AE-10. I never pulled the trigger on the AE-30 and I'm glad I didn't. I've read dozens of posts on Facebook isax group and other places about difficulties people have with setting up and figuring out how to fix settings, etc. I like my EWI Solo wind synth and it was $500 - a third the price of the AE-30 and half the price of the new AE-20.

 

https://www.akaipro.com/ewi-solo

[Mark Schmieder]

I saw the new AE-20 announcement this week but have been too busy to check it out in detail or see what is being said at the Sax on the Web forum. My cursory take is that it has all the best new features of recent models at a mid price point so might be the best bang-for-buck. Patchman Music didn't yet list it when I checked Matt Traum's website earlier this week. usually he has something to say about each model.

[Fleer]

Turned in my EWI Solo as I found it unwieldy and too hard to blow. Here"s hoping this new Roland might be the ticket.

[Mark Schmieder]

The Sax on the Web topic has barely gotten started, but so far one poster says:

 

"The main difference to the PRO is the lack of the motion sensor and the right hand thumb pad as far as I can see."

[RABid]

When posting in this thread a couple years ago I said I would never play my Aerophone on stage. I've since sold my decent Yamaha alto sax. I have to say, I would rather play the AE-10 than a cheap sax that you have to fight to tune the notes.

[Mark Schmieder]

Here's a feature comparison chart:

 

https://rolandus.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4414721295643-Aerophone-Pro-AE-30-Aerophone-AE-20-Aerophone-AE-10-10G-Differences-between-the-AE-30-AE-20-and-AE-10-10G

 

No MIDI In/Out on the AE-20. So you'd have to use USB and a converter or just stick to triggering internal sounds and computer-hosted libraries and VI's.

 

https://rolandus.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4414857356443-Aerophone-AE-20-Playing-an-external-MIDI-sound-module-using-the-AE-20-

 

One more way is described above: If you have a MIDI module connected to your computer, then you can trigger it through the USB connection via the computer.