I agree with your views about performance, but editing A300-A500-A800 (I own a 500 and an 800), esp. from the front panel, is very difficult to impossible, and the manual on how to change settings from the front panel is useless. So if you need something you can change what roland calls "control maps" ("settings"?) on this be prepared to put in some work on the software, and don't even bother trying to make useful changes with the front panel [act] + < nonsense.

@kiskadar69

4 жыл бұрын

The controllers is only partly editable via the keyboard itself. This means you are REQUIRED to use the included software editor to gain full control over MIDI on this unit.

@craigmoran893

3 жыл бұрын

Looks straightfoward.

@steveclem7873

3 жыл бұрын

Something,in computers,'keyboardMapping'that doesn't get much use(pc,Mac,Linux)brings,constantly a gross'imposteringMillKeyWayStir'buggaWerkeyUseYouNonMindSpannerSpamInstruktionalConstrictivInformationPayA10shuntEncryptiveSpyJakassMooSicGamutRideSinglingGunWonWarJonECashDvoracksRushSamJazzNonClassics)so,midi Vault was decidedDivineOr'how pentium said cant use division'(azSwearSumNumnutGetYooozCountIngleFiArWigeezNonMannerUnsounDescrytptivGangPlanksOdearMeYoozUsedTrebelCleff,soWeCanLordySysdemPedalGloballOwnUseNon&c)PopActAutomatenChimneyBlackWhiteSteeVwandaPythornXplodeXwinProgrammarz??! Wairs yuh granny,in goal?!

VERY helpful review, Nic!

Great job! Love your humor too!

+1 for the joystick, I have been using boards with it for decades for synth-action performances. A lot more nuanced expression, and if I need to lock the modulation out, I can use a different controller switch mapped to do that. When you combine aftertouch and the joystick, it is a whole new level of expressive playing.

Getting one of these tomorrow - great review - thanks

Enjoyed this review and yes you are right there are not many. I would have really liked to see your review of its daw controlability namely with vst and mixer parameters.

Best review by far

NicHasegawa , great review! this is what we want to hear in a review. You go to those details that are important for the busy musician. And about the keys, yes I got used to the full-sized keys, and I'm picky with that. But I love Roland, they are a brand that really cares about the professional musician.

@NicHasegawa

5 жыл бұрын

N N Eyyy thanks for the kind words!

@steveclem7873

3 жыл бұрын

ROlandesIzzaRat!

Great review duuuude ! i was looking for something like this

@NicHasegawa

6 жыл бұрын

Not enough people know about the A-Pro greatness!

@steveclem7873

3 жыл бұрын

Xquez,dya kno of any mods(a300/addingExtx4batteryPack)switches2lower/MidiCH1,any time turned on USB wired,no daw,etc?! (GuessUmayNeedPowerDownLine4RolandSeq&c?)any ideas much appreciated!(Moog,has manyOctopusInfo2roland/korg&c(pre60sFairlight/Emmersons?)!!ValveTranMainframeEkomix'clones'(AVbEmzSweedeborjaz?!) WendyKZreadMoog?!

Thank you for the video! I have a Yamaha P125 with the stand and use that for playing traditional piano. I was looking at getting a smaller midi keyboard to keep on my desk to use for quick midi background tracking and I think this might be the ticket! I'm a guitarist by trade, but I'm trying to expand my horizons and learn other instruments and create my own songs. I think this will be a useful tool and appreciate you taking the time to upload this!

@NicHasegawa

5 жыл бұрын

Hey thank you for taking the time to write this Michael! Over two years in now and I’m loving it more and more. You can’t go wrong with it my friend! Hope you enjoy it as much as I do 😊

@Michael_Is_Avg

5 жыл бұрын

@@NicHasegawa You are most welcome! And it is comforting to hear it has aged well. I'm glad you're still enjoying it and that it's working great! Take care, man!

Roland is a very popular brand everywhere around the World to my knowledge, including in the US. I played Rolands back when I was young in the 80s, which is when they were probably at their height of their popularity as a brand. Back then I remember that the keybeds had a really nice feel to them, even the unweighted synth ones, not like today where many of them feel cheap and toy-like.

@steveclem7873

3 жыл бұрын

Encryption tsar iz the skurjOthe massIz!

Joystick pitch bend is what I prefer too I have an A49 and want this one as well it looks good

Thanks Nic - really useful information as I am about 2-3 days from possibly buying the A800Pro - thanks for the heads-up about transport controls as I will probably be using Logic Pro X. A quick question:- there have been conflicting reviews that its aftertouch is very hard to activate and impracticable when playing (very hard pressure required) - how did you find the A/T? - thanks again...

@NicHasegawa

5 жыл бұрын

groki30 Thanks for the kind comment Groki! In regard of your question, I don’t usually use After Touch so take my word with a grain of salt: I’ve never felt that it’s difficult to activate it. But you do have to press firmly enough so that it doesn’t activate the AT accidentally. To be completely honest, the answer to this is kind of hard to say. It’s really relative. You might not the keys when you purchase it. All I can say is that it never bothered me! Sorry I can’t give a concrete answer 🙏

Thanks for this video, well explained! Have you used this with external synths? If so, any video have, or can post? Thx again.

@NicHasegawa

6 жыл бұрын

Snehendu Chakraborty Thanks Snehendu! I haven’t used it with external synths...only soft synths...

@kiskadar69

4 жыл бұрын

If you want to control external synthesizer(s) with DIN MIDI Out, you must disable the MIDI interface function in the Roland A-300PRO.

@kiskadar69

4 жыл бұрын

..so if you want to control external synthesizers with the Roland A-300PRO"s keyboard.

Are you still using this keyboard? So no, what are you using now??

@craigmoran893

2 жыл бұрын

I got a 500.

I have got hands of a baseball pad, so THANX ) you saved my money, I go for Roland FP-30 instead (although it is not MIDI)

the look is ideal for me, and the joystick is absolutely exclusive thing. Maybe only Arturia and Axiom competes with this one . Better than joystick would be touch screen faders . But is hard to find all in one. It misses there the buttons for the faders for example . They could imitage KorkNanoKontrol buttons, between the faders. Anyway Roland has a very own classic character and i like this

Sorry for the question but does it work for practicing piano? Or it only works while using a DAW? Cause I’m looking for something that could be useful for practicing piano (offline) and for using it with FL Studio.

Hi Nic, can i still use that using with sound module only? Thank you!!

This keyboard was my gateway to external synths. My bank account regrets me buying this more than I regret buying it.

@NicHasegawa

2 жыл бұрын

Your bank account just needs a therapist and learn to move on 😉

@35milesoflead

2 жыл бұрын

@@NicHasegawa :)

How are you feeling about the keyboard 5 years later? Any issues? I've heard that the knobs and faders get sticky as the rubber coating degrades over time.

@bradkeyboards

Жыл бұрын

I have had an A500pro for several years now and the sliders do feel sticky to the touch. The aftertouch is a joke. You almost have to break a finger or key before it works. Mapping the controls is easy with a pc but not so easy as a stand alone(without a pc) It has never let me down with all the time I've used it except just recently I took it out of its case and the high B and C stuck on and I had to shut off my sound module and turn it back on but the glitch seems to have corrected it self (may have been a sticky contact). I programmed it with a pc but I use it live as a controller on top of my weighted 88 controller. The A500pro mostly runs my Roland VK-8m quite nicely as I have set a control map for it with all the dials and sliders working the drawbars and the mod wheel controlling rotary speed and brake. I think it was a good investment.

@PhilipZilfo

Жыл бұрын

@@bradkeyboards I actually went for the A800Pro.. found one second hand in great condition.. I only found out after, that one of the keys doesn't have the right sensitivity.. like you only get soft notes out of it unless you hit quite hard and then you'll get the hardest velocities but there's no inbetween. I've ordered a replacement rubber pad strip to change out the one in my keyboard under the problematic note because it might be faulty or dirty, I don't know.. Other than that, I love the feel of the keyse and the sliders and knobs feel premium.. the throw on the faders is just perfect for modulation and expression swells with string instruments. I was also able to map the buttons to anything I wanted using Cubase's new remote mapping features. Pretty happy with it. I just have to fix that note now..

Will this work automatically with Pro Tools and Ableton Live? Or do we need to map everything manually?

@NicHasegawa

6 жыл бұрын

bobbda I can’t say anything about Pro Tools but I use it with Ableton all the time! It should all map automatically!

Recommended for Reason?? Thanks

What about the MIDI merge feature on the side?

Hi, may I ask for someone beginner just wanting to learn and making something for streaming what do you recommend to start mixing tempo and other sounds?

@steveclem7873

3 жыл бұрын

Arduino

What full size keyboard would you recommend with similar features?

@synthfreak291

3 жыл бұрын

Roland A88 MKII

I use A-Pro only with external synthesizers sysmem1, m, jdxi. When I turn off and turn on A -Pro, the keyboard velocity sets back to Touch mode, which I would like to stay always on 127. Is this normal for external keyboards these days or can be fixed with DAW,..?

@magnatatar

6 жыл бұрын

In manual book on page 68 on number 6 says to >Press the [ENTER] button.< But In may case nothing happends...

@Red_Melodies

6 жыл бұрын

I am trying to do this... use the Apro with my Korg keyboard. Any video tutorial you can suggest please? That will help.

@kiskadar69

4 жыл бұрын

IMO unfortunately you have to set the fixed 127 velocity every time you turn on the A-PRO.

can you use it without a laptop or ipad?

is there a solution to the MPD226 double triggering? was looking into buying one but the countless amazon reviews had issues with it

@NicHasegawa

3 жыл бұрын

Looks like quality control isn’t very good on Akai’s end because some people seem to not have a problem with them. I’ve heard of people buying 5 or six and trying all of them to find the one that feels the best then returning the rest. This doesn’t guarantee a good one either though. It’s truly a pain if you use it a lot but you can go into midi editor in your DAW and remove the unneeded midi triggers after recording your take. There also seems to be some workaround with adjusting the screws in the back. Tightening them or something. You can find videos on KZread. Most cheap pads seem to have this problem anyway so for the price the MPD probably isn’t a bad option because the hardware as a whole feels decent. I personally bought a brand new Maschine MK2 for around 300bucks after the MK3 was released so I replaced my MPD with that. The pads are worlds apart imo. If you’re looking into getting good quality pads, Maschine micro might be a better option. If you’re looking for good faders, there might be a better controller dedicated to only knobs and faders.

I found a used one for 120 on ebay, but the seller is not willing to deliver it so... yikes

A midi keyboard 's are very popular, in 2000 years ago .PC plugs in with speakers out put.....

Anyone knows if it works in Reason? The A-500 Pro is on sale for 120€ here where I live. Is it worth?

do your faders still feel smooth after 3-4 years?

@NicHasegawa

3 жыл бұрын

Although I haven’t been beating it up with extensive use, they’re holding up many years down the line. Still feel and perform the same way it did when I made this review. I preferred the faders on the MPD but doesn’t mean the A-Pro faders are bad by any means.

is there any shortcut to transpose instead of going into the act mode and to functions

@kiskadar69

4 жыл бұрын

The Roland A-300PRO/A-500PRO/A-800PRO can store up to three keyboard sets which you can bring up with the SPLIT, DUAL and LOWER buttons. So you can call up 3 different transpositions at the touch of a button.

Okay, it has smaller keys. But how much smaller? Would you do me a big favor? Could you please measure the distance of an octave? Thank you! [Thumbs Up]

@NicHasegawa

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah sure! From the start of a C to the end of a B is about 6.5cm! Hope it helps and have a great day!

@phpianocover

4 жыл бұрын

@@NicHasegawa Thanks for the quick response, but I'm pretty sure you measured it in inches, not in cm. (serves anyway!)

@NicHasegawa

4 жыл бұрын

@@phpianocover Oh my bad! I actually meant to write 16.5 but I guess that comes down to 6.5 inches! Sorry about the small confusion there haha

Can A 800 can be used for live performances???

@kiskadar69

4 жыл бұрын

Yes, but care must be taken with the USB and pedal inputs to prevent them from breaking. The problem is two-fold: 1.If you're gigging a lot with this board you are constantly connecting and disconnecting from these connectors. 2.The cable plugged into it is going to "weigh" on the connector and any movement of the keyboard or cable is going to stress it. The USB jack is soldered directly to the A-Pro's main board, not panel-mounted like it should probably be and the pedal inputs are made of plastic. A broken connector is probably not covered by the warranty. I use an A-300PRO in one of my bands, but I don't use its USB and pedal input connectors so I'm not affected by this issue.

@JohnnyGuitar

3 жыл бұрын

Of Course! Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore, uses 2 live :) Search for Depeche Mode Rig and you’ll find a stage tour where they show this keyboards ;)

is this keyboard is compatible with FL Studio?

@60fpsgamer73

4 жыл бұрын

Yes and includes Native Controller Drivers

Hi mate is this keyboard still going? Does the after touch work well?

@NicHasegawa

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Craig! Thanks for watching! I’m not a keyboardist so I don’t use it too often. With that in mind, it’s still in great condition and I’m still satisfied with my purchase! After touch works fine but I haven’t compared it to other keyboards so I can’t say whether it’s above or below standard quality.

@craigmoran893

3 жыл бұрын

@@NicHasegawa Cheers mate.

I am a Intermediate which keyboard should i buy??? I use Mainstage so...

@NicHasegawa

3 жыл бұрын

I’ve only used this one keyboard so I’m not the best one to ask, but if you’re looking for something to play both hands with I would recommend getting at least 61 keys. Decide if you want weighted keys, semi weighted keys or non weighted keys. Look for if you want knobs, faders or pads, then look for options within your budget. Then watch specific reviews for a keyboard that interests you. You can’t go wrong with the A-800Pro but I would suggest looking at other options before making up your mind! I hope you find a keyboard that’s right for you! Best of luck!

Sir,I want Roland rythems

hi,, how do you map a 500 with ableton live?

@NicHasegawa

6 жыл бұрын

REV. STANLEY THOMAS I don’t believe the 500 is any different from the 800 in terms of connecting. Ableton should recognize it right away as far as I know!

@dadwrestler

5 жыл бұрын

It should just be PnP

@steveclem7873

3 жыл бұрын

Smash In yuh Windows & kick in yer daws

Plz could you recommend the best software for this key board I'd appricate this anyone out help me 😊😊😊😀😀😀

@antoinederoubaix8469

6 жыл бұрын

Ableton Live ;)

@60fpsgamer73

4 жыл бұрын

Also runs flawless natively on FL Studio

A 800 is made for Integra 7

Sorry but you need nail care ! Lol great review

@NicHasegawa

7 жыл бұрын

Dany Avila I agree! I also need skin care on my hands as well 😭 I work at a kitchen and my hands are getting destroyed 😭😭😭 Thanks so much for watching! 😊

Does it have inbuilt speakers?

@appleman515

4 ай бұрын

No its a midi controller only

hi, is compatible with garageband???

@Feltie

4 жыл бұрын

Richard Sukina yes it is

Hello, I have trouble to install the driver on windows 10, can someone help me please?

I've seen a few reviews mention the keys are small on the A-500/800. Can anyone comment if this makes playing an issue compared to a typical controller/synth keybed?

@NicHasegawa

6 жыл бұрын

I wouldn't say it's an issue at all. It might take a few days for you to get used to it. It keeps the controller compact so I actually prefer the key size as a midi keyboard. If you want full-size piano keys, you'd probably want weighted keys on top of that; at that point, you shouldn't be looking for a midi controller anyway. So in short, it shouldn't bother you :)

@60fpsgamer73

4 жыл бұрын

Roland A series keyboards keys feel somewhat weighted imo

I stopped watching pewidpie lately and found this channel lol

@steveclem7873

3 жыл бұрын

Yunno it's the same,sink isn't even sunthesizeredzzzz

what are you using as a drug?

@NicHasegawa

6 жыл бұрын

Life

Why is the video 3/4 your face? If you do a review of an instrument, make THAT the main focus.

@NicHasegawa

6 жыл бұрын

Thonss Because I don’t get paid for this, and I honestly have no idea how to make “professional” reviews. I made the video to share my thoughts on the instrument, not to show the instrument from every angle. I understand your critique however and if I were to make this video again, I will definitely do things differently - more b-roll of the instrument being one of them. Thank you for watching the video and taking your time to write your honest thoughts. This is my honest response and I hope you don’t take this sarcastically. I just honestly don’t know what I’m doing and if people don’t like it, then that’s too bad.

@alex.username

5 жыл бұрын

Yet maybe it delivers far more useful practical information than many "professional" shots out there...

Please do speak a bit faster! Thanks!