by marzzz » Fri May 08, 2009 7:19 am
fab wrote:John Bowen wrote:marzzz wrote:Note on Roland A-80: It has PolyAT, but it is very difficult to use! You need hands of steel to get it to work, even after the Roland-approved mod to increase the PolyAT response.
I assume this is also true of the A-50?
-jb
not quite! i have two a50s (which don't show up often, but when, they tend to be reasonably priced.) i never tried an a80 but it is said that on a50, the response is lighter.
on both a50 i have, polyAT works and can be used. i got one of them modded at xtended for lighter response (mod can be find via google). so this one works easier, but a little less linear. good parameter moothing is very important!
I have never played the A-50, but Roland's mods were for both the A-80 and A-50. Personally, I prefer a "piano weighted" keybed for polyAT, as found in the MIDIBoard, CS-80, and Prophet T8. A really excellent synth-type keybed for polyAT is the GeneralMusic S2/S3, but good luck finding any of those. They are built like tanks and have 7 assignable sliders, so they make excellent controllers, but the one downside is that you have to save your "set up" to a 3.5" floppy disk so that you don't have to dive into menus to activate polyAT each time you power on; I would hate to rely on a floppy drive in this day and age.
Another completely excellent polyAT keybed is the one in the Rhodes MK 7 AM, but you basically have to buy a Rhodes to get it! At NAMM this year I checked it out and was extremely impressed- I
begged them to consider releasing a non-Rhodes controller, it was that good...!
Not sure what is happening with the VAX77, their website stated that they would have demo models available in March, take orders in April, and begin shipping in May, but unfortunately none of this has happened. I am in the camp of people who did not like the keyboard action....
[quote="fab"][quote="John Bowen"][quote="marzzz"]Note on Roland A-80: It has PolyAT, but it is very difficult to use! You need hands of steel to get it to work, even after the Roland-approved mod to increase the PolyAT response.[/quote]I assume this is also true of the A-50?
-jb[/quote]
not quite! i have two a50s (which don't show up often, but when, they tend to be reasonably priced.) i never tried an a80 but it is said that on a50, the response is lighter.
on both a50 i have, polyAT works and can be used. i got one of them modded at xtended for lighter response (mod can be find via google). so this one works easier, but a little less linear. good parameter moothing is very important! [/quote]
I have never played the A-50, but Roland's mods were for both the A-80 and A-50. Personally, I prefer a "piano weighted" keybed for polyAT, as found in the MIDIBoard, CS-80, and Prophet T8. A really excellent synth-type keybed for polyAT is the GeneralMusic S2/S3, but good luck finding any of those. They are built like tanks and have 7 assignable sliders, so they make excellent controllers, but the one downside is that you have to save your "set up" to a 3.5" floppy disk so that you don't have to dive into menus to activate polyAT each time you power on; I would hate to rely on a floppy drive in this day and age.
Another completely excellent polyAT keybed is the one in the Rhodes MK 7 AM, but you basically have to buy a Rhodes to get it! At NAMM this year I checked it out and was extremely impressed- I [i]begged[/i] them to consider releasing a non-Rhodes controller, it was that good...!
Not sure what is happening with the VAX77, their website stated that they would have demo models available in March, take orders in April, and begin shipping in May, but unfortunately none of this has happened. I am in the camp of people who did not like the keyboard action....