Roland A-800 PRO Reviews 3.9/5.0 based on 7 customer reviews
Sort By Date
Sort By Rating
Customer Reviews
Olando McCallfrom Chicago July 12, 2012Music Background: songwriter, composer , producer.. I take it Back its a great controller for reasonso in my previous review i said REASON users stay away, well i jumped the gun on that because this is a great controller for reason. granted its not plug and play like the MPK series but it can do everything that board can you, you just have to do more programming, and one you have the controller assigned in Reason and on the A-800 Pro, its a fantastic keyboard, much more playable than the MPK which while it integrates well with Reason, the feel of the keyboard was too stiff and velocity not sensitive enough for expressive playing, so the A-800 Pro is solid in this area, I'm glad i purchased it...
Jim Hochstadtfrom Middle Tennessee July 11, 2011Music Background: Pro Musician, audio engineer, recording engineer (Retired) Roland A-800 A very nice keyboard controlerIts been over 20 years that my Yamaha KX76 has served me. I have always liked Roland products so I decided to try the A800. Glad I did. Talk about lots of features and easy set up. Wow! It took less than 10 minutes to connect it to my computer and sync to Sonar X1. Keys are a good feel considering their non weighted.I was also impressed with Sweetwater.
from May 10, 2010Music Background: Keyboardist Excellent BoardI really like a synth-action keyboard and this fits my playing style perfectly. I'm one of those guys that actually likes the Roland style joy-stick thing. It feels very similar to my old D-50 keyboard which I loved. Can't speak to other software but it interfaces with Reason\Record without any hassles. I would have preferred endless encoders instead of 270 degree knobs but that's a minor niggle for me. Excellent!
DACfrom MT June 26, 2012Music Background: Hobbyist WorksThis little unit works right out of the box.. If I have one complaint it would be not programed for Pro Tools. It works with Pro Tools. But not quite as I had hoped for. Have to do my own programing of what does what and I do not have the masterd vary well.
Jimfrom Eustis, FL USA October 11, 2010Music Background: musician student/hobby production Really nice Keyoard, Love controllersVery light keyboard controller, Was exactly what I needed. The keys are nice, possible a little narrow for my larger hands, but not enough to really be a problem. (I'm not a piano player, I can play enough to enter parts into my recordings.) The controller connects with Sonar without any problems. You do have to make sure the controller is on before starting Sonar. And a weird little hickup, if you start Sonar with the keyboard off, the realize it, exit Sonar turn it on, then restart Sonar, you have to go into the Controller/Surface options and reselect the input/output port for the A-800. Thats about the only reason I gave it a 4 instead of a 5. And that is probably more a Sonar problem then the A800-Pro's problem.
Robertfrom Stratford, CT December 23, 2012Music Background: Composer, Producer Gigging Musicians BewareRoland made some executive decisions about where to cut corners to make this unit affordable. It's important to be aware of where these corners were cut before purchasing:First - NO POWER ADAPTER - a non-issue for the computer studio as the unit is comfortably powered via USB. Much more of a pain for a gigging musician, as the PSB1U adapter is both "non-standard" at 9V/2 full amps (the 9V adapters you might have lying around are probably far less than 2amps) AND frustratingly difficult to find! At the time I purchased this keyboard, the adapter was either sold out or not available or possibly no longer being made, etc on a number of websites including sweetwater. I was finally able to find one on some offshoot music website, but MAN! NO love for powering this unit with anything except USB, so beware. Second - the controller 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. For example, you cannot program the buttons to send a bank + patch (MSB + LSB + Control #) message via the keyboard itself. Lots of other types of MIDI messages CANNOT be programmed via the keyboard, but require the software editor. So the overall assumption, and a strong one at that, is that this keyboard will be used with a computer. I purchased this unit to gig with as a MIDI controller for my Motif Rack and have paid a significant penalty for it. The good news is I've been able to compensate. More good news: the keyboard is VERY light and small, but the build quality appears to be top notch. With the exception of the pads, whose velocity sensitivity feels very erratic, the feel of the keys is excellent (despite being noticeably smaller than full size), the sliders and encoders have silky smooth operation. 
Olando McCallfrom chicago February 27, 2012Music Background: hobbyist Reason users stay awaythey keyboard is great to play on and with 12 velocity curves you can really have it fit your playing style. intergration with reason is non exsistant. while you can assign controlls to some basic functions, you can select devices or load patches remotely to the devices like you can with the MPK series. they have reason support or the older pcr-800 and if you use that profile you can get a glimspe of what can be done with support, you can select devices and load patches (it not formated properly but you can tell it can be done) i called Roland and they stated they have no plans for reason support which is a shame becuase this board can do it, only if you know how to program reason's lua codecs...
Roland A-800 PRO61-key MIDI Keyboard Controller with 45 Assignable Controls (Knobs, Sliders, Buttons, Transport), and Software Bundle - Mac/PC 
|
|
Sweetwater Sound Inc.
Toll Free (800) 222-4700 Phone & Retail Store Hours: © 2013 Sweetwater Sound Inc. All rights reserved. Please read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Links | Press Releases |
