The Roland E-80 is a serious bit of kit and anyone serious about performing live with MIDI files should give it an audition. Don't be put off by the fact that it would look at home on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise, once you get close, you'll appreciate the logical button layout, not to mention the technicolour touch sensitive screen, all housed in a new cabinet, which Roland would have you believe comes from a top Italian design studio!
Frankly, this keyboard sounds great - the voices sound fresh and bright, the styles are meticulously programmed and the onboard speakers really do this unit justice.
This is what Roland say about the Roland E-80:
Have you ever imagined a keyboard with sounds so real and music styles so alive that it seems like a real band? And how about an attractive industrial design that is a pleasure to look at and use. Now stop looking for such a keyboard! It's time to discover the latest Roland Music Workstation: the E-80!
- A variety of lively sounds
- Breathtaking musical contents
- High quality playback of your SMF
- Powerful onboard speaker system
- Attractive cosmetic design
- Vocal harmonist built-in
- Guitar mode
- User-friendly interface
- 2 x expansion slots
- Text and image viewer
- Mastering tools
- An easy computer connection
A variety of lively sounds
A first-class selection of sounds have been captured live including stunning sampled Guitar and Piano sounds. The E-80 features electric and twelve string guitar, 88-key split stereo-sampled piano tones and timbres that change according to finger pressure. Newly sampled drum kits (Rock, Pop and Folk to name a just a few) have a realistic, natural resonance and various one touch sampled drum articulations such as Cymbal Roll bring sophisticated drum styles to your performance.
Breathtaking musical contents
The E-80 comes with more than 350 styles created by a team of international programmers. All these styles sounds incredibly live and are expertly mixed and mastered. Each tone and drum instrument has individual EQ, along with three dedicated multi-effects for the overall Style/Song.
High quality playback of your SMF
Enjoy the new sound potential by playing back your favourite Standard MIDI files, which will play back flawlessly thanks to the powerful new technology within. Moreover thanks to the Song Makeup Tools editing you can easily customise your songs using the intuitive graphic interface.
Powerful onboard speaker system
The E-80 delivers incredible, hi-impact sound thanks to its powerful four-speaker, bi-amped sound system, complete with a Bass Reflex System and a Digital Bass Enhancer. The E-80 also provides the Speaker Modelling to easily change the sound character of the speaker just by pressing a switch. Finally a dedicated switch allows you to disable the built-in speakers if you need to connect to an external amplifier.
Attractive cosmetic design
Even the most demanding will be surprised by the brand-new cosmetic design of the E-80 music workstation. The outstanding new cosmetic cabinet comes from a top Italian design studio. Truly, the E-80 is a treat for the eyes and the ears.
Vocal Harmonist built-in
The E-80's Vocal Harmonist has over 80 different settings plus additional effects and features, including Voice-FX, Auto Pitch, Singer, Vocoder, Small/Ensemble and Talk.
Guitar Mode
The acclaimed Guitar Mode function is now available together with a dedicated Guitar Mode button. Guitar strumming and various articulations can be controlled directly from the keyboard for both realtime performance and programming (on User Style Composer, 16-Track Sequencer and external software Sequencer).
User-Friendly interface
The E-80 features many switches, buttons and sliders on its control panel ensuring that the most commonly used operations can be accessed quickly and simply. A full-colour graphic touchscreen means that this is one of the easiest keyboards to operate currently available.
2 x Expansion slots
The E-80 provides two SRX expansion slots, allowing users to expand and customise the internal sound set to suit personal taste. Roland's SRX and SR-G01 expansion board series offers a wide selection of the highest quality sounds produced in some of the world's top studios.
Text and Image Viewer
The E-80 is able to import and show both (.TXT) and image files (.BMP) and by connecting to an external monitor your E-80 can easily display text, lyrics, photos and slideshows.
Mastering Tools
For detailed sound control, the E-80 provides powerful mastering tools (Parametric EQ, Multi-Band Compressor) for Accompaniment (Style/Song) and Solo parts.
An easy computer connection
- USB applications
A USB connector allows files (Styles, Songs, User Programs, Bmp Images, File Text) to be exchanged with PC or MAC and also provides MIDI communication.
- DATABASE MANAGER bundled
The E-80 uses the G-70 DATABASE MANAGER software, which allows you to manage Songs, Styles, User Programs directly from your computer.
See Roland's Website Info for the E80
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