Product: Roland E-36
Price Paid: US $1295 list, $700 on sale
Submitted
02/13/1996
at
08:51am
by
Anonymous
Ease of Use
:
8
Presets sound excellent. Editing the patches took me some time to get the hang of, but using a patch editor helped. I'm running this using a pentium with Cakewalk Pro Audio. There were 3 manuals included, the synth manual (in 4 languages), a GM manual (also in many languages), and a midi manual specific to this synth... _very_ informative.
Features
:
9
The E-36 has full polyphoinc capabilities with loads of built in effects. If you want more SFX, drum kit patches, better/different horn patches, etc. they are all available as plug-in extention modules. I haven't found the need for any extention cards. The MIDI capabilities include touch sensitive attack and sustain.
Expressiveness/Sounds
:
8
The E-36 is a sampled synth, therefore the strings sound like strings and the brass sounds like brass. The only sound that isn't so great is the single reeds (sax, clarinet, etc.), which are fine for back-up sections to pop a few horn lines, but are noticable when used as a solo. We've used this set-up to play rock, jazz, classical, and pop music with excellent responsiveness to each style and sound. I haven't really explored the full range of SFX yet.
Reliability
:
10
I can comment on the dependability in a gig situation. I've never had a problem, but I'm using it in a studio environment. Currently, I wouldn't have a problem taking it out on a gig by itself. I've gigged all around the world and I've always been careful with my equipment, so I've never had a catastrophe'.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Haven't need to call, so no comment.
Overall Rating
:
10
I would definitely buy the same thing again, especially for the price. I love the sound and the feel. I don't particularly care for the sax sound, but I could buy an add-on card if it were that important to me. I compared this to Yamaha, Ensoniq, and other Roland products. Even though I saw other synths that were nicer, none of them were in this price range. Price wasn't the deciding factor, I could have purchased the Ensoniq TS-12 for much, much more; but the price/value ratio was the highest here. I've had a great time with the synth, but I would recommend using a PC with Cakewalk for sequencing, that has been fantastic.
