It's time...........for the E-60 ten day report card...

Overall..I am going to give it an A minus..[have to leave room for improvement.. ]

my biggest surprise..was the new drum kits..as another E user mentioned..they are excellent.

Compared to the G70 V-drum kits..they changed some tones and release on cymbals...
but the overall edge still goes to the G70 because of the dynamics with velocity of key touch..
The E-60 does not have the same wide variance with velocity on the "new" kits..but boy..they sound good...

The other surprise for me, is how well the key feel is..no weights under the keys, but substantial resistance...
in fact the keys feel better than the other brand 28-30 pound keyboards[no names]..

One of the reasons I think the G70 style keys[G1000/VA-76] are the best...
Roland has smoothed all the key edges, and a slight crown to the white keys...
What this does..it is impossible to hang up on any key..you can play the keys to mimic the instrument sound you desire..

It could be straight up piano, or play organ in the same fashion as a B3..
yet you have the right feel for guitar , sax or any other instrument , expression wise...

The E-60 is not as flexible with the key bed...neither is any other key bed on the market..

If one was to play on the better G series keys with an open mind..
I have no question they would find all this to be true..

Last weekend, I played a couple sequences at my shore gig...
using the new drum kits on the E-60..My lead singer, although technology challenged..remarked how great the drums sound..
He has been use to the G1000 drums[since I recorded all the band tracks as MP3's].

I had to laugh when he asked if I could sync the new drums with the MP3's...
I guess that means it is time for me to re-record our band material....before someone talks me into selling my E-60[Cass}..

Some of my old music buddies are sure getting old...Uncle Dave called me last night to help him move a piano..
.so I told him I would bring the E-60 so he could check it out...

So I packed it up in the 15 degree weather, and drove 10 minutes to Dave's house....
Dave lifted it up and placed it on his 1950 ish dinner table..I could see he was surprised how light [28 pounds] the board was to handle....
same weight as his PA800 [61 keys]..

Dave has lost his inquisitive desire that we use to have..experimenting and comparing keyboards ..
no matter what brand..after he played a few minutes ..I asked him to get his PA800 out of his van so we could A, B them through the Korg speakers....
He said ..naaa, it was to cold to get the PA800 out of his van[30 feet away]..What's this all about....
I had no problem hauling the E-60 to his house....Could it be , he really didn't want to know if there were any differences,
that maybe the E-60 would have a great advantage..

Well I guess the only way I can A, B the two is to buy a PA800 myself....
Anyone interested in a week old PA800[it will be available, the 3 times I played one, I know I do not want to use one...]
but I would like to make the comparison..with instrument sounds including drums..also the styles..
No need to compare the operating system, cover and make up tools or the GM, GS playback of sequences....the Roland is a given...

Every day that goes by...it is harder for me too justify selling this board.....
it is totally compatible in operation with my G70 [no new learning curve],
and I keep finding some things like the "new drum kits"..that I can't part with it...

It makes a perfect keyboard for my band work....I like it , my band members like it..........
.and I bet deep inside Dave likes it...even though he suffers from the Paul Kasper syndrome...pushes all the wrong buttons...

Yep, Dave sure got old..we use to spend hours getting into keyboards to push them to their limits,
and find out what they were about....no more..Dave usually spends two minutes on a board now...Last night about 20 minutes..
.He said the speakers were under powered, ...
some sounds rattled his spoons, sugar jar and salt and pepper shakers sitting on the keyboard stand[dinner table]....
and that the Frugal horn was the best sound he heard on the E-60 [I heard him try maybe 6 sounds]

So that is my 10 day report with an off road conversation to boot....A minus..