Any word on this keyboard yet? I see it's being sold all over the place now. Has anyone played it? Does anyone have it in their store yet (DanO, George Kaye) From what I've heard, it doesn't really allow editing styles like other models do... Roland is a pain in the ass at times because they never give you much on the specs. Anyone know the capacity for the sequencer, and how many mb's are dedicated for the sounds? I noticed there are a lot of them too. Hopefully it's WAY more than 1mb like in the EM-15/25. Also I noticed it has a pretty high price tag.. Over $800........

Squeak

I have played EM55 and EM25. They are different.

EM25 has usual voices as others EM (EM50, E-36, E-38...); it has less Mb for sounds (1 Mb), but it sounds nice.

EM55 sounds fonts come from VA series. So, EM55 has a lot of voices, I think the same as VA3, and with similar Mb (8 Mb). VA5 and VA7 have similar voices, but they have a lot more MB for these voices, and so they sound very very better, better (you may compare piano sound, for ex.)

But EM25 is pretty (for its price). Its piano sound is, for my ears, better than EM55 or VA3.

As you say, on these kbs it is no possible to edit styles, but on EM55 you may mute (not edit, only mute) each part of arrangement, and you have also something similar to pads you may see on Yamaha or Technics keyboards.

But for the price of EM55 (similar to PSR1000), I think Yamaha offers more. Specially I don't love EM55 piano sound, and its impossibility to edit styles.

Cheers

Artaher

This won't make roland very happy but i recieved 2 EM55's last week and kept them for 4 days and then returned both of them.
First of all, no style editing on a $800.00 keyboard ($999.00 retail) is crazy! Also, it looks just like the low end EM15 and EM25. The VA3 I sell for $795.00 and it is much more pro then the EM55. The only good thing i liked about the EM55 is the ability to turn on one extra track which has 8 variations . It was easy to mute accomp. parts via these buttons, but not worth the extra money to do this. These are like the pads on the Yamaha keyboards. Other than that feature I was very disappointed and won't sell these keyboards until they come down to the $500.00 price range (in my opinion this will happen in the next months). Truly, if anyone likes this keyboard, I would recommend the VA3 instead.
Regards,
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

Atta Boy George.
Wish there were more retailers with your knowledge, common sense and dedication.
Eddie

Hi George.
Thanks for the review of the Roland EM-55. Well that`s of my list, thanks for the honest input.
jedi

Thanks George! I agree with you in that the VA-3 is a much better value. Look at all the advantages of the VA-3 compared to the EM-55. You at least get a touch screen with the VA-3, plus it's much easier on the eyes. Maybe it's me, but I think the design of the EM-15/25/55 is quite ugly. They look so cheap. The VA-3 at least has the good looks of the VA-5/7. I think you're right about the price too. It won't take too long for Roland to realize this keyboard is not in any way worth $800.00 It should be in the $500.00 range. I can't believe they are asking that much money for a keyboard that does almost nothing in editing styles....

Squeak