Members KJI Posted July 11, 2011 Members Share Posted July 11, 2011 Hi all, I've been looking for something simple that I could hook up to my sound module (Roland SonicCell). It's not for any "serious use" (for that I have an RD-700), just something I can setup and relocate easily for practice. While a piano-style hammer touch would be more preferred, I'm willing to go with a synth action for the weight savings and convenience in setup. For the last few months I've been experimenting with a Novation RemoteLE 37 that I got a good deal on, but i've found the keybed action to be awkward (seems like it doesn't like it when I play the white keys up closer to the black keys, which I didn't even realize that I was doing all that much until now...), and the 37 keys were more limiting than I expected... So, my search continues. Today I found a good price on a Roland A-30. Digging up info on the interwebz, I understand that the keyboard touch on the A-30 is basically identical to the A-33, which came later on with an extra MIDI out port (which I don't need...). I ONCE got to play around with an A-33 and thought it was good for what it was. Can anyone offer advice on whether an A-30 would be worth it at this point? For example, are there any known long-term reliability issues that I should be aware of before I plunge? Are there any, ANY midi controllers worth even half their cost these days? Anyways, thanks in advance for any help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gaul Posted July 11, 2011 Members Share Posted July 11, 2011 It's half-half. Rightly so, because we are speaking of the keyboard from 1990, that was 21 years ago. Well, 21 years of playing leaves some marks for sure. Keys where much better than standard masterkeyboards of today, but they were not to everybody's taste even than.On the positive side, it is very well made. We are speaking of the top quality product designed to last and last.Now, it all depends on the current state. It can be well preserved and doing the job just rightly, or it can be in a state of used agricultural device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ RAZZ Posted July 11, 2011 Members Share Posted July 11, 2011 If you can find a Roland A-50 they were the bomb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members j_e_f_f_g Posted July 11, 2011 Members Share Posted July 11, 2011 I have a Roland A-33. It took a bit of abuse, but finally died one day. The keys are rather short on it. (A white key is about 5 1/4 inches long). Another thing is that it doesn't support the full velocity range. It skips every 2 out of 3 velocity values. For example, the lowest note-on velocity is 1. The next lowest is 4. The next lowest is 7. Etc. (In other words, it will never produce velocities of 2, 3, 5, 6, etc). The result is a slightly less even dynamic range. The A-30 is the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_big_e Posted July 12, 2011 Members Share Posted July 12, 2011 Programming it is a bit of a pain but there a couple of PC based editors on t'internets that you can use and make the job a whole lot easier. Need a midi interface on your PC though.I used to have an a30 hooked up as controller to my keyboard. I had it programmed either as a single board or with splits with each split part on a different channel (3 and 4) and my keyboard using 1 and 2. That way I could mix and match the main keyboard with the a30. Worked fine for me but I'm not that fussy about all the technical stuff, just need something to make a noise most of the time and it was only for home use anyway. Sold it when my keyboard died so I could get a new kb. I thought it was great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KJI Posted July 12, 2011 Author Members Share Posted July 12, 2011 Thank you all for your answers I'll check on what state the controller is in (I often find that around here in Korea people buy gear that they end up never using, so it may be in pretty good shape. Hmm, actually, that sorta sounds like the state that most of my own gear is in these days... ) Anyways, thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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