A-80

There are some other glowing reviews on this site about how great the action is; how it's like playing a nice grand and such. Having only this information to go on, the first time I played it I was taken aback. My first thought was, "Wow this feels cheap." Second: "This is really light."  (The action, that is.) I was expecting a grand piano action, like the Kawai I was used to. It's important to understand (as I did later) that digital keyboards never perfectly duplicate the action of your favourite grand piano. It's not a fair comparison to make. It's like comparing a soccer player to a baseball player - they're not on the same field. That being said, the A-80's action is remarkably good for a keyboard. On a firm stand, the keys give desirable resistance on the way down, bottom out solidly, and return quickly without bouncing. My initial "cheap and light" conclusion changed over the next few days, and as the action grew on me I came to like it more and more. The action may be slightly lighter than you're used to, but you sure have to press darn hard to send velocity 127, especially if you depress more than one key per hand. To put it another way, the action is neither too light, nor too heavy. It's just right, for me at least. Compare the A-80 tech specs to other controller keyboards and you will quickly find that they pale in comparison. Four MIDI outs, two in, one thru; four programmable pedal inputs (and two more: patch up and down), four sliders and buttons, a large display screen, and separate pitch and modulation wheels in addition to the Roland joystick. Also worth mentioning is that this board can send true polyphonic aftertouch; something of a rarity in modern keyboards. I don't know how many devices today can take polyphonic aftertouch, however the board can be set to send channel aftertouch too. Mind you, you have to have hands of steel to use it, to quote another reviewer. More on that below.

Roland started making this model in 1989. I don't know when mine was made, but apart from a few scratches and one chipped key, it feels like it's brand new.

I finally managed to get my hands on an A-80 after about a year of on-and-off looking for it. I got mine through Kijiji.com, and I also remember seeing one on Craigslist.org. Editing patches becomes easy after you've done it with the manual a few times. After that, setting up pedals and MIDI channels is a snap. The manual has slightly strange wording; you have to go slow when reading it. Fourtunately, a one-page "Turbo Start" manual is available to download on the web that outlines the board's primary functions (key zones, program changes, muting outputs). Once you learn the system (which doesn't take long), every last function can be accessed quickly and with minimal headache.

In another review here the owner states that Roland replaced the key bed (or something like that). I wrote Roland's repair centre in Canada asking if they still service A-80s, got a response confirming they do. I was asking about changing a resistor on the internal circuitry that supposedly makes the aftertouch a lot easier to use.

All in all, if you're after a MIDI controller, the A-80 certainly ranks in somewhere at the top, perhaps the top three of all time. Another keyboard worth investigating is the Yamaha KX-88, which has similar specifications to the A-80 and was made in 1986. As for modern keyboards, the only ones with better action might include the Roland RD 700 SX, Yamaha P250, or the Yamaha CP300. All of which cost at least three times what you could get an A-80 for.