As Advertised on Sweetwater website....

Roland E-A7
My first impression of Roland E-A7...

Well, it is small...it is light...looks like a toy..

and a lot of fun to play..

The keys ..yep , like the BK5, although they feel a bit stiffer..
after you play a while , you get use to them,,they are more playable than my
Edirol PC80 controller..

The operating system became second nature after a couple hours,
playing and editing..

All the buttons are rubberized, feel good and perform perfectly..
The sliders are firm and smooth..

This E-A7 is loaded with goodies, just as many features as the
BIG boys..

Coming from a week with the Korg PA4x, I can tell you the E-A7
competes favorably,,

Same features, and they work just as well as the Korg..

Many of the sounds , edge to Roland, drums, strings, E guitars, choir,
scats, EP and Acc piano for starters..

The sound is surprising..I was told they were shorter samples than the BK9 etc..
Others on YouTube state they were as good or better than PA4x and Tyros5..

Styles are plentiful and nicely done,,easy to edit on the fly while
performing..Realtime mixing with the sliders..

The new OS with two displays turned out to be a great idea, they work in
conjunction with each other...and direct tabs on the display border, help navigation..
The six assign buttons for pads, phrases , tones, work great...and are in sync with
styles and songs..

The 3 upper and one lower tones are easy to access and view..volume level via sliders ..
Favorite tones section, also user tones and styles..UPG section that saves all panel settings..

There is no sequencer, but make up tools do the job we normally do in the sequencer..

The playback for SMF,Kar, MP3 and wav..works great, and feature chain play
tempo change and transpose,,Parts mute also covered, as is center cancel..

Search feature works great for any data , song, styles, Upg etc..

Song play is easier and smoother operation than Korg..one button to play.

SMF play sounds best of any board...

Sampler improved with update 1.10....samples increased from 512 to 2,048...



I will follow up after a few days...but it looks like a keeper..

BTW: It looked like a toy, but anything but.....this is a very capable keyboard...
ready for the stage, and a light traveler..

Here is my follow up on the E-A7......

When I started thinking about buying an E-A7, I thought it
was primarily a European/Eastern keyboard, thus wasting
control surface space and paging through tones, and styles
I would not need as a USA player...

But Roland handled this nicely, you select the language / country,
and the tones and styles are organized, so the content covers the
language selected...first..

I thought the keyboard scale function would be useless, it doubles
as the phrase/pad controls..

You will be able to play the E-A7 and never know it can be an Eastern
keyboard...for us Western players..

The keys are definately better than the BK5, they have more dept,
resistance, and more playable..

Now about the sounds..
I spent time comparing in detail the E-A7 to Roland's best (G70)..
I believe the sample pcm waves are the same...I guess the digital
converters could be better in the G70 (old argument when we compared
the E60 with the G70)..
The sound of the E-A7 are better than the E50/60...Similar to the E80..

I compared my favorite G70 tones and other common tones with the
E-A7 offerings....they are identical, ..
The E-A7 tones have been changed via multi effects..For example most of the
organs are using a leslie effect controlled by the bender..

The styles are excellent, best to date...and the realtime mixer makes it easy
to get the style to sound ..your way..
I also really like the way the phrase player is in sync with the style..
muting style parts and let the phrase play (pads)..is interesting.
This is also available to use with SMF play...adding 4 markers with the pads
and you can perform in a way to make it your own..

The file utility is great, helps you organize files in your external and
internal storage.
I have over 40,000 files on my 32g micro usb drive, including 2,000
custom /library styles..

Search feature makes it easy to locate a request song..

I also have songs to use in chain play..25 tunes for senior gigs..
about 7 or 8 sets..

Roland is still the only one that reads chords in SMF, without embedding..

The lyric window is great, with a zoom to enlarge words, also
showing the chords, even a measure ahead of the change...makes
playing with a file a breeze..

You have a favorite tone section for immediate selection..the tone incorporates
the Multi effects..
There is also a User tone section and user drum section...
Sampling can also be stored as a user tone or user drums.

EQ is available for every part, song, style and realtime parts..
Compression and EQ is available in the mastering (overall output)...

I really like this keyboard, much better than I anticipated..

The German review that mentioned the E-A7 is a poor man's PA4X.....
wasn't far from the truth...at 1/3 the cost...

After a few days I can get around on it with no "oops"..I did install OS 1.10..

This keyboard can serve as a primary for any gig..

The mic/effects works great with plenty of gain..

There also is a 1/8 inch stereo input for any source .tablet etc.

There are seven assign buttons, and 100 user program locations.
Additional banks can be loaded instantly...so 100 limit is not a factor.

Thanks to Mike Arango, my Sweetwater rep..

That was a great review on a great arranger keyboard.

Fran, I am not sure why, but I get the feeling that Roland has you on the payroll. (smile)

But I like your post -- a lot of info --
I might even add one to my Sx900.

Thanks for the post, John C.

I'm not on anyone's payroll, and I can say with great confidence - the EA7 does NOT compare favorably with the PA4x. It's more than a few steps behind in almost all areas I tested. Don't get me wrong - I like it for what it IS, but if it didn't have speakers - I wouldn't have one.

Fran, years ago it was Technics and Roland, same type of discussions. At when of the jams I attended I few of us went tot the local music store to see the new Roland; it had a “D” Beam controller, nice. Two years latter I bought a Roland, forgot which model it was. I liked it, but the OS was very different. I sold it because of, “if it only had” – I was trying to make it operate like a Technics keyboard.

I do not need another keyboard, but your post and your love for the Ea7 is so strong you have me tempted – just gotta find one at a good price.

Thanks, John C.

It must have been the time a rep came to the jam with the new E-80. 2006?

Here are a few factual reasons that are better on the EA7 over the PA4x (not personal preference but known facts ).


The EA7 has 6 pads (PA4x has 4), The EA7 has 7 assignable buttons (PA 4 or less?), EA7 sampler is easier to use, EA7 "makeup tools" are unmatched. And Korg still can't touch the "jazz Scat" .

Tell me again why the PA4x is worth 3x the price



Let me answer that question for you.. PA4x has a 16 track sequencer, harmonizer, and separate outs...All top models should have these, but at what cost

I just wish roland would offer the EA7 in a module like they did for the BK7M , which by the way is impossible to fine and has held its value very well. Maybe that's something their marketing dept. should lok at. Many people want and like modules instead of a toyish keyboard and tiny speakers.
DP are selling at an all time high so its seemsllike most players want a real keyboard