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#220881 - 02/21/05 12:38 PM Roland EXR-7 review.
painkiller Offline
Member

Registered: 08/22/04
Posts: 52
Loc: Sweden
I've owned my Roland EXR-7 for about half a year now, but I haven't come around to post a review of it. But now I'll post some of my thoughts:

Build quality:
The keyboard is well built and don't feel as much plastic as my old Casio. The buttons are for the most part good, but some of them can be a bit hard to use, because they're a bit hard (you must hit them hard, I mean). One of the buttons (the "5") also has become a bit "worn out" and does not feel as good as the others anymore. The key feel is light compared to my old Casio, but now that I'm used to it, that's not a problem. In fact, I think this fits me better.

Navigation:
As I have a visual handicap, this part is important to me. I must say that the EXR-7 exceeded my expectations. Most functions have a button assigned to them (but not "effects" setting! Why did you leave that out Roland?) and the menus are easy to navigate and learn. Many of the buttons are backlit as well, which helps me a lot (e.g. seeing if I'm in arranger or keyboard mode is as simple as seeing which of the buttons that is lit).

Sound:
The keyboard overall sounds good, with some really good sounds and some not-so-good. Here is the rundown:
Pianos: Really good overall. The "Grand piano" is really good. The only "problem" I can find is maybe that many of the sounds are a bit bright.
E. Pianos: Also good overall. Haven't found anything to complain about.
Chromatic: Well, it's the standard sounds, but they mostly work out well, although some sounds are very similar.
Organs: Really good overall, although a bit few. Also, some of them have a (what I think) "leakage" effect which you can't turn off. I also miss more rock organs and maybe a second "Cool organ" also would be good. The "rotary" works good, but it can only be put in "slow" or "fast" mode, not in between.
Accordions: Really great. The "super tones" in this category are excellent (and there's a lot of 'em! 6 super tones in a single category!).
Guitars: The accoustic guitars are generally good with some really good ones (such as the "super" Nylon guitar, which is a spanish sort of guitar which sounds really good). The electric guitars mostly sound good, except the "Overdrive" guitar which sounds horrible. There are also many sounds that are practically identical.
Basses: Not much to say. They're good overall, although there are 5 different fretless basses that (to my ear) sounds identical.
Strings: Good overall. The super strings are really good as well as the violin sound.
Vocal: Well, it's the same problem as I guess it is with most keyboards: the vocal sounds are good around the middle octave but poor you when go further up or down. These are maybe the worst sounds of the keyboard, but I'm not sure what's standard, so I can't judge.
Sax/Wind: Nice overall, although I miss a really growling sax. As usual the super tones are the best, but the standard ones works good as well.
Brass: The accoustic brass range from very good to so-so. Some sounds are a bit "lifeless", while some others really sound great. The synth brass sound mostly the same but works.
Synth (leads/pads): Varying quality. Especially the leads have some sounds that don't sound that good, but that may be my taste . The super "Bell pad" is excellent and is definitely one of the best sounds of the keyboard.
Ethnic/Perc: Not really much to say. Anyway, does anyone know how many of these are supposed to sound? I think they're generally good.
SFX: Standard fare, not much more.
Drums: Some good, some not-so-good. The standard set is really great, while standard 2 and the power set needs some improvement (just some a bit "lo-fi", some of the sounds). The jazz sets are good too.

All in all, generally the sounds are good, with the 21 super tones shining above the other tones.

Styles:
Can't really comment on them. Haven't used them much. The "full piano" mode works for the most part (even though the manual lies I think, as it states that this mode only accepts three-finger chords while it in reality works like the standard chord recognition mode). I've always though that styles are a bit too "made-up", but these Roland styles are better than my old Casio's styles.

Sequencer:
Nice, clean, easy to use. Not much more to say really. The punch in/out is a nice inclusion which really helps people like me that never can nail things down the first time.

The speaker issue:
This is something I've brought up before. The speakers aren't very good. Many of the sounds are a bit harsh and they don't have as much bass as I'd hoped for. I've gotten used to it now, and if you use headphones, it's no problem.

Overall:
The keyboard is good overall. Easy to navigate, many good sounds, a 16-track sequencer, 76 keys... that's not so bad. It though has a limitation: you can't edit anything. Not the effects, not the sounds, not the styles, not anything really. To put it shortly: what you see is what you get. You get the preset effects, sounds and styles and you can't do anything about it. This is really the only thing I miss from this keyboard.
All in all a good keyboard with some good features, but lacks the customization options.

Final score: 8/10 (rather somewhere between 7.5 and 8 of 10).

If you have any questions just post them and I'll try to answer.

And forgive my not-that-good language .

------------------

Robert.
_________________________
Robert.

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#220882 - 02/21/05 02:34 PM Re: Roland EXR-7 review.
Starkeeper Offline
Member

Registered: 09/16/02
Posts: 1704
Loc: Toronto
Did you try connecting the EXR-7 to an external speaker system? Ex. Some kind of 2.1 speaker system. From my demos of the EXR-7 and my experience with me EM20, I would say you are right on with your review.
Thanks for postings.
Starkeeper
_________________________
I play Roland EM20 and Yamaha PSR550

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#220883 - 02/21/05 10:37 PM Re: Roland EXR-7 review.
painkiller Offline
Member

Registered: 08/22/04
Posts: 52
Loc: Sweden
Starkeeper:
No, I haven't tried with external speakers. I think I have a 2.1 system somewhere, but I don't really know where . But I'm sure it would sound much better, especially with that extra bass.

------------------

Robert.
_________________________
Robert.

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#220884 - 02/22/05 12:06 AM Re: Roland EXR-7 review.
adimatis Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/28/05
Posts: 1159
Loc: Oradea, RO
well, i was not decided for awhile what would be the best deal for me... at the same price i could get a exr7 or a korg pa50. must say the keyboard of roland it apeared to me better, in the sense of it's 76 keys. i almost decided for roland.
but then, i have played arround a little bit with pa50. i discovered the huge customization array of this arranger, and i forgot about the 76 keys...
indeed, even though i am a roland fan, i use a xp60 right now, i must say pa50 i think is better. consorning sounds and styles and number of them! i believe roland could have hit the market if they would've added some possibilities to tweak internal settings and let us add some of our personality to their exr keyboards.
best to you!

[This message has been edited by adimatis (edited 02-22-2005).]
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Yamaha S770, Studio One 3, EMU 0404USB, ESI, ATH, Dell. And others.

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