Roland USA Discontinues E80!

At the NAMM show in January, Roland was offering E80 keyboards at a very discounted price to authorized dealers. I didn't order any until the week after NAMM. Not having many dealers, I thought I'd have no problem getting a few. However, on Friday, I was told Roland didn't have very many here in the USA and so they were out and apologized because I couldn't get any. I asked if more were coming and the answer was no. They were not shipping any new ones from Italy to the USA. So, I can say they've been discontinued! Not enough had been sold here in the USA to have Roland continue to stock them.
If any of you are desperate for an E80, you should be able to pick one up for around $2000.00 brand new if you can find a dealer who was luck enough to purchase one of the last ones.


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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com

Maybe this means something new is on the horizon.
Ever the optimist,
DonM

I was curious about the product but could never get a definitive answer on how good or bad the speaker system is

Bebop always said his was pretty good...

Still not sure I would go the E80 route, being even heavier than the G70 is...

Now George, are they discontinued in the US only, or are they out of production worldwide? To be honest, it seems like Roland are capitulating the arranger market in the US completely, spending next to nothing on promotion and incentives. They have a good thing in the WS's, but don't seem to have any interest in arrangers at all over here. But Europe seems a totally different market...

GX90

GW-8L.... that is Roland's only recent arranger. Downmarket. Stripped down. Basic. Cheap. Light. And nowhere on it is the word 'Arranger'.

I predict the sub-$1000 toy arranger market will survive, but does anyone remember what happened to the 'home organ' market during the last recession? Just like the auto industry, they went high dollar luxury gas guzzlers in a sub-compact world. And now they are in museums. Ketron's ONLY new arranger in years is a $5000 behemoth.

Roland's is a sub-$800 compact.

Guess who'll survive...

Guess who'll survive...

My guess is neither will survive.

Gary

On a long enough timeline, NOTHING survives!

Hammond, Sequential Circuits, ARP, Oberheim... who could have guessed at the time that their days were numbered?

Well, probably Gary! He knows all...

Ketron has no WS line, is a tiny company... Roland is a large corporation with diverse products, some of which, at least, are market leaders. I don't think survival is much on their minds, but getting out of the diminishing arranger market is probably a good way to not waste money, at least...

I think yamaha has the total opposite idea...& is looking to totally dominate the arranger market in the years to come.....just look what models they have put on the market in the last 10 years compared to all the rest.

Dikim GW-7 and GW-8 are not even arrangers,
hence no Arranger mark or word on them.

A question for those who have tried both... does the E-80 have the same keybed as the E-50, or is it a more expensive action? How does it compare to the Korg PA80 and PA800?
Thanks,
Ted

BRAND NEW at B and H for $1699
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/576221-REG/Roland_E_80_E_80_88_KEY_ARRANGER_KEYBOARD.html

man, that's REALLY REALLY good price. cheaper than midjay.
wow! i want to come for shopping in america.

Roland Italy has leaved home many workers, perhaps they're taking the same route as GeneralMusic (closing), hence no new arrangers from Roland Italy. Here are closing a lot of companies...

Zuki i tried the E80 extensively. Through external speakers it literally one of the best arrangers available on the market in terms of sound. the unplugged styles are actuallly in my view the best available on ANY ARRANGER KEYBOARD . Its very intuitive to use but not very programmable in terms of sound editing and simply cant compete with your Korg Pa800 in terms of live performance and flexibility.

However....the sounds from its internal speakers was rubbish. They should not have even bother with the internal speakers if they were not going to make them sound great. I own the Korg PA1X which has incredible onboard speakers so i was truly dissappointed when i heard the E80 through its own speakers. I demoed several E80 Units at different shops in Birmingham UK and even booked an appointment with a Roland employee who acts as a roving specialist for roland products over the Westmidlands area. He could not make the internal speakers sound anywhere near as good as my Korg

Thought E80 was only 61 keys. Wish I could get myself wrapped around that touch screen. Yes, starting to find them around different places like EBay for under $2k.

IMO Roland G & E models have the best touchscreens....easy & accurate to utilize in my experiences.

As discussed in another topic with Fran about the G70, yes, their TS is far better than Korgs, but in my sightless situation, it is cumbersome. Selecting styles, tones and other regualarly formated lists may be ok, but when editing seems to be an issue. I've been reading G70 and E80 manuals for the past few weeks trying to decide if I could actually work more of the board besides just the standard items.

If anyone knows where I can spend some time with one of these two boards in Southeast Florida with the exception of Ft. Lauderdale south, it would be helpful.



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Vince Mistretta

At launch the speakers were widely criticized, but they were much improved in performance by a subsequent software upgrade.

At the price quote above, the E-80 still deserves serious consideration, even against newer competition. While most dealers here in Europe are still asking close to retail for them, $2000 USD is a price that has been obtainable here with a little persuasion (it's roughly what I paid for mine last year, at current exchange rates).

If I didn`t have a T-3 , I would buy one !

I looked long and hard at both the T-2 and the E80.

However , patience won , and I waited for the T-3.

The E80 @ $1699.99 is a a steal , even though I was told by Roland that the "key-bed and action is not all that great".
and that there "new Fantoms have far better action " .

Have fun !!

Gary 

I've bought a couple of things from B&H. They were packed well, shipped quickly and good to work with.
DonM

Somebody buy my PA800!!!!! I want the E80, like yesterday!!!!

Your PA800 , is it on eBay ?

If you want an E80 , I suggest you buy one soon , at that price they won`t last.

I think you could easily get 1699 for the PA800 and break even.

Good luck

Gary 

No it's not on E-bay! I am selling it here on synthzone. I am hoping I can get a little more than 1699 for it. There is still over a year warranty left on it.

There is one on eBay now with many bids , take a look >
http://cgi.ebay.com/Korg-Pa800-Synthesiz...1QQcmdZViewItem

And others >
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=PA800&category0=

I guess it all depends on how bad you want the E80 .

Sounds like you want one , so here is what I would do.

Put it on eBay ( auction + Buy it Now , option ) start the bidding at 1499.99 or BIN for 1899 and state free shipping for BIN.

You will loss money either way , but not that much , plus the E80 is more of a board than the PA800.

( Look out for flying comments !! LOL )

Best of luck to you , take care

Gary 

Thanks,
Gary

Any time , Hit Man !!

Here is a link , go-to arranger video , it has a really good demo of the E80 ( as well as others ) >
http://www.keyboardmag.tv/index.html?req=1&station=howtoplay

Later !

Gary 

O__ go to "gear" at the lower part of the page , then choose "arranger" then " how to"

Really cool stuff about the "guitar mode"

Later ,

Gary 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU91Of7Zmho&feature=related

Wowwww, check this out!

Why do we have to always see breasts in these you tube videos

Sounds typical North European Heavy Metal, goes hand to hand with the nipple in the upper right corner!

Yeah, I know what you mean!

It's a shame that young attractive females don't demonstrate their Rolands in this fashion! LOL

Now if that was done using a Style I would be impressed

It is a style!

Funny I see him hitting the laptop when the rhythm starts Hmmmmmmmmm?

He is not hitting anything, its called a D-BEAM. He is activating it through hand motion!

Hitman's right Donny. He used the D-Beam to do this. Is it a styles....??, can't say for sure (someone who owns one will have to verify that). However, he may have used the D-Beam to trigger his backing sequence (that could have used a style).

I don't care what he is using as long as those are the internal sounds of the E80.

The thing sounds fantastic, especially the drums.

I guess so (although a terrible quality video recording) if you like that style of music....Nothing new though, we already know how good Roland sounds are on their E & G series units...& now since discontinued they can be had for a fraction of original price. I'd wait for Roland newest TOTL G arranger rumored to be out very soon.



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 02-18-2009).]

He's using the internal style "Countdown Rock"

Great now we know.... I forgot these styles from my G70 days. I think I have it somewhere here.

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 02-18-2009).]

I'm not very sure if there will be any new top of the line arranger from
Roland.
Looks like they shut down a lot, no new styles, Midi-Spot out of the Roland
collaborate, E-80 Discontinue. Some bad signs, eh?
GJ

Keep the faith....save your pennies ...It's coming

With the economy the way it is.., I think Roland is going to focus more on the budget market. The two latest from Roland were the GW-8 and the Prelude. One a budget performers arranger (with limitations of course).., and the other essentially a copy of the GW-8 (minus a few things) for the home player.

This economy is turning to utter crap and it's happening worldwide. Companies have gotta cut back in some areas. Plus arranger sales are so low in the USA compared to the global sales that it wouldn't surprise me if Roland completely put the US on the back burner in terms of arrangers. The RolandUS site alone shows how little Roland really devotes to their arranger line. Just email RolandUS with some deep technical questions about the upper line arrangers and see how eager they are to respond and respond nicely. Ask them anything about the workstations and the techs are tripping over eachother to be the one to answer your questions.

'Here is a link , go-to arranger video , it has a really good demo of the E80 ( as well as others ) > http://www.keyboardmag.tv/index.html?req=1&station=howtoplay '


Thats a great Demo. Thats what happens when someone uses their imagination with a totl arranger keyboard. Sounded very good to me !

heres another one you might have missed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxBFzyJJi8s.

Thats how you make a demo....




[This message has been edited by spalding (edited 02-18-2009).]

Who cares theres way to much gear out there already to make awesome music...what needs to be improved is the people playing it.

Amen...

With Roland laying off workers in Italy, I wouldn't be surprised to see them 'offshore' arranger production, same way they have with WS's. China may end up making most of them, even though they may still be designed by the Italian team...

But, as Donny points out, and the rock demo shows, there really isn't that much NEED for a new TOTL arranger from Roland. It already does pretty much what you need, sounds ballsy and live, and can be got for a song (compared to a T3 e.g.).

In these recessionary times, now's the time to get something for the next five years or so... And, unlike Ketron, this thing is a piece of cake to either edit styles, tweak converted styles on, or even create your own. No audio loop stuff to deal with. Just what you are familiar with... editing MIDI. That gives it a fair bit of longevity, IMO. If you HAVE to buy a new arranger just to get new styles ('cos the loops are in ROM), that's a pricey path to go down in the long run.

Donny...You right.
Guilty as charged...but I'm working on it!

Lee

I agree with Diki, that this remains a compelling keyboard, even more so at that price.

As far as I am concerned, no other 'board currently on offer has a user interface that that can compete with Roland's for live/on-the-fly use, which is the way I play. It's still orders of magnitude better designed than the market's newer offerings.

You may want to add &fmt=18 to that link to get the best audio quality that video has to offer.

So that will be: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxBFzyJJi8s&fmt=18


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