Edirol PCR-M80

Manual supplied.
Never used half of the features. Just basic usage for notation on Finale.
The features probably work fine. But I can't get past the fact that 3 keys won't sound evenly, and 2 others are on their way to disfunctioning as well.

Has all of the features a controller should have.

No sequencer.

Controller. No sounds.
Does have velocity curves.

Absolutely not!

Dealt with Roland in the past. Very knowledgeable. I just have not contacted them on this particular instrument.
Have not tried to get it repaired. Over a year old, no warranty.

Did extensive research on this. It appeared in the beginning to be the best purchase for the features and price. Discovered after a year that that was not the case. I have 3 keys that won't sound without striking extrememly hard on them.

Just an adendum to my earlier review:
Modulation Wheel and Pithc bend lost their calibration. Potentiometers had their dead zone shifted and the keyboard now sends wrong midi messages from these controls all the time. No calibration setup or internal trimmers are supplied. The only way i found to fix it was rotate the potentiometers in the wheel assembly, but the new calibration was lost again in two months. Have your own conclusions about this product.

Some keys do not react after ~6 month of use. So I disassembled the keyboard and wiped with ethyl alcohol metal contacts under the rubber padding. After that all keys become workable, but not for long period of time. I think that dust which penetrates into keyboard creates this problem. So I advise to cover up with some cloth your PCR-M30/50/80 when you not use it :)
Also the keyboard have non-weighted keys. Take it into account if you going to buy this product.

Very easy to use. Despite its lot of functions and options, the manual is very detailed and didactic.

It's "a non-professional touch" MIDI controller with 5 octaves.
Has 16 knob contols (8 rotary and 8 sliders) and 9 push buttons fully programmable.
The user can store 16 scenaries (buttons assignments).
Has Pitch Bend and Modulation controls.
Has velocity sensitivity (with various velocity curves), but don't have after-touch sensivity on the keys.
One expression pedal and one switch (hold) pedal can be connected.
Can be interfaced with MIDI and/or USB interface.

No sound is produced at all. It's only a keyboard interface.

Various problems found:
* LEDs in the panel are loosing bright (have only for 8 months).
* knobs are weakly fixed in potentiometer pins (sliders) (be careful to not loose it in the stage).
* VERY BAD: the USB connector is not weak, allowing the usb port contacts to open the circuit by an instant. But that's enough to the computer to loose permanently the link with the PCR. Must restart the software to recognize again the keyboard controller. I tried to avoid this problem fixing the USB cable in the body of the keyboard with stripes.
* VERY BAD: after some months of use, some keys are becoming unsensible to velocity, always sending low velocity value messages, no matter how hard you play.

GOOD THINGS:
* Very light (only ~3kg).
* Plenty of knobs to assing contror changes "on the fly".
* USB link makes less latency than older controllers tha have only "MIDI port".
* Has two buttons to up/down program number, allowing to the user to send program change message with only one touch (essential in live performances).
* Can be power supplied by the USB port. No AC adapter required (but you can use it, if you want to use only the MIDI port).
BAD THINGS:
* The rotation axis of the keys are very near the top of each key, so, the touch is very light in the bottom of the keys, and very hard at the top. The touch is very non-professional due to this mechanical issue.
* It could be better if the user could jump between more distant program numbers instead of the dec/inc buttons. Say, i?d prefer 16 banks with 8 buttons for sending program change messages with one touch.
* Don't have AFTER TOUCH mechanism. The user can send after touch messages only through potentiometer knobs.

(I bought a PCR-M50) but same specs I believe for all PCR-M keys. Used driver provided on CD, installed correctly, rebooted computer and everything worked fine. Installed "PCR Editor" software to transfer control maps to keyboard and worked straight away. (I use Sonar 4 Studio). Fader moved on mixer, great! Loaded GM softsynth into Sonar and used memory 0 of PCR (General Midi) and everything worked ! I couldn't believe it, it's that simple.

Edirol claims the keyboard action is better than the previous ones, (I didn't get to try the older ones), and it does feel great. I'm a classical trained pianist and this is great compared to the cheaper controllers I have tried. I love being able to adjust the velocity curves depending on the VSTi played (I use The Grand, EVP-73, great for drums too) to get the right response. I like having many memory sets too cause I use a lot of VSTis. Built in MIDI interface is great (I've connected my digital piano to it and saved 30 quids)

No sounds inbuilt so N/A. Expresiveness see above.

I've had it for 3 months, and I love it to bits. I've always missed the "instrument" feel, and the lack of control when using a VSTi and this has done it for me. I've never had a problem with it so top marks here. (I've used it one live with laptop and that was great too. I didn't think I was using a computer)

Haven't had to use it so N/A

I feel sorry for the previous reviewers, this has been a great buy for me, and I know it's always raging to buy something that doesn't work etc... Maybe you've been unlucky, because mine is working great, and I couldn't live without it now. I was never keen on using the bloody mouse all the time!

Im writing about the PCR M30 (small version)
I got Driver Version 1.1. within the package.
The Manual is easy to understand.
Everything seemed to be fine. BUT:
But after a short time (1 week!) some keys stopped to work.
I sent it back (to the Music-Store, Edirol Support is really not very quick even with answering a email). I got (Thomann is great) a new
Keyboard after a short time. It worked fine.
BUT HERE THE KEYS ALSO HANG UP AFTER A WEEK.
Edirol, your Produkt should work at least for the period of garantie *g.
There is another review-entry of a person, who has the same problem with the PCR-M50.

8 knobs, 8 sliders, 8 potis free defineable. Fine Pitch-Bender. Really great. BUT, like mentioned above, some keys don't react just a week after gettin it. I give a bad note cause' i need EVERY key.

see above: Some keys don't reakt.

Bad. You know: Some keys do not reakt (2 new Keyboards tried)!

Late answer on the email. Just standard words like "read the manual", "try a Factory-Reset" -> Hey, i'm not so brainless it looks like *g.

Im sorry: Not very good.

I'm only commenting on the keyboard action in this review. (See the PCR-80 for other reviews that might be applicable).

I bought this as a controller to play Scarbee's VST Rhodes, but it suffers from a fatal flaw for serious keyboard playing: because of the way the keys are hinged, you cannot depress them at the back of the key. This means you're pretty limited in the chords you can voice. E.g. when voicing a Ab chord with the right hand with Eb octaves (Eb-Ab-C-Eb), the Ab won't sound because the index finger is at the back of the key which won't depress.

Also, the velocity response has very little dynamic range; you reach maximum velocity with a relatively light touch. The PCR-M80 has velocity curves which can help a bit, but they can't extend the dynamic range -- when you hit the max velocity, that's it. You'll have to adapt to playing softly which can be a drag if you're playing high-energy stuff live.

It's a shame Edirol didn't go the distance because this is a great, well-built controller in all other respects. Edirol claims that it has a "high-quality mechanism for the serious player", but they obviously don't mean a keyboard player. If you don't play in keys with sharps or flats, you might like this keyboard, but if you are a serious keyboard player, stay away from it.