Roland EG-101

The EG-101 has several analog style features in a cool intuitive design. You can get it running right away and, with time and patiente, you will get many sophisticated results. Lack of capacity to hold settings could be an issue.

Many features that can be used in multiple applications. I use the EG-101 it in the studio, via direct line, for rythm, bass, sampler, filtering, ambience, keyboard/synth, etc. A creative machine.

Very good quality of sounds, filters, reverbs, effects, arpeggios, plus a D-beam controller to have fun with it. All in an well designed "manual" controlled environment.

This machine belongs to the best period of the industrial age, when products where made to perform for a lifetime.

There is the web site and the manual.

Good sounds. Cool design. Easy to use. Very fun to play with...A reliable creative tool.

The EG-101 comes (in my case) with an almost childish dutch owners manual.. the manual goes very deep into the funny but not very useful (for playing in a band) sequencer functions, with which you can create house, techo, DnB etc. tracks just with this machine..

the control panel is very clear, all the functions are nicely grouped.. some functions thought can only be acessed by pressing 2 or 3 buttons at once, which is not quite handy when using it for live performance..

the many, many presets are nice and easily tweakble with the cut off and resonance knobs.. but I must admit that a lot of sounds aren't that inspiring..

But it has some great synth basses, (distorted) organs (!!!) and synth leads..

effects:
Arpeggio (never used is with my band, tempo issues :D)
Filter Cut-off and Resonance: lovely to alter all presets
Portamento: very nice, very controllable
D-BEAM controller: infra-red laser beam to have more (or less :D) control over serveral functions.. can control about 15 different functions, from start/stop the sequencer via tempo control to altering effects and actually playing notes.. very cool.!!!!

Midi.. I'm using it with a Roland TR-505 drum computer.. the TR-505 has quite crappy sounds itself, but triggering the TR-808 and TR-909 sounds of the EG-101 is great.. so hurray for the neat drum sounds in this machine.. It should come with a Midi Handbook, which i'm still searching for, anyone.??

the sequencer is there, but i'm not using it, so i can't tell a lot about it.. i'm feeling like it is not very flexible, but it is easy to use if you just use it for fun..

On-Board Sampler: that's nice, i've just bought a sythesizer, and suddenly i have a sampler too :D:D:D the sampler has some effects (filter, ring modulation, time stretch, pitch), and the first two can also be used for your voice, just plug in a microphone and you can use the sampler-effects live on stage..
easy to use, but very limited in memory.. choose between HI-FI/LO-FI and stereo/mono.. I'm using Lo-Fi Mono samples, so I can store like 20 times more..

No realistic sounds.. bet hey, if you want a realistic piano sound, you should go and buy some recent Yamaha thingy.. it has cool, warm and cold sounds, most are not very realistic, but that's even better if you want to use raspy, deep basses and freaky organs..

Use this machine for Pop/Rock music and/or Dance, very suitable for Dance.. It has cool looks so go on and take it with you on your gigs..

I'm not sure, but it doesn't have aftertouch.. keyboard velocity is there, but I feel Yamaha is King when it comes to velocity.. but it can be quite expressive.. A minor is that the bender can't be set to octave (it's set to 2), can't alter it.. a shame.!!

feel very solid, it slipped out of my hands a few times, but its still working very well.. be careful with the knobs though..

I'm using it with all of my gigs.. reliable.. but hey, I have three other synths on stage so if one fails, no problemo..

never used customer support, it is too solid..

buy the classic Roland Expression pedal, its lovelyjovely

150 euros for this machine was not expensive, I feel I should've at least paid 300.. I don't have a lot of money, so I wouldn't be able to replace it..
I'm playing it for like 8 months, and i love it.

my other gear:
Juno-6
Yamaha PSR something something
TR-505
cheezy lesley speaker organ

i love and hate it's shape.. it looks neat, but is not very handy when packing it in cars already crowded with guitars, drum kits and amplifiers..

I totally wish that the bender range was adjustable

There are not to many things to edit on the sound but it is better to have fever good effects then a lot of effects that are hard to manimupate (think of DJX or RM1x). On the other hand I never missed a chord change when I had the DJX. The EG responds immediatly when you want ot change a chord so you have to be precise. The front panel layout is much better then on the DJX and RM1x. You dont have much digging to do throuh menus to find the sound you want.

The combination Knobs+autoaccompainment+sampler is what I like. What It lacks is keyboard splits, layering of sounds and style recording

Organs and electric pianos sound great and are very expressive. Grand piano sounds good but is not that expressive compared to Yamaha's. Grooves seem to come from Clearance Clearwater Revival. Queen, Van Halen, Prodigy, compared to the DJX they are more expresive but not as maybe as clear sounding. Reverb and filter sound excellent.

Yes

There are new styles to download, but there is no style converter program and I dont know can you make your own styles from midi files on a computer and load them on the EG?

Wish list:
- quantisation to help you when changing chords in arranger mode
- to be able to make changes to programs (voices)in varios parts of the styles or at least to be able change the drum kit. (YOu can make this changes with external equipmet connected but these changes will not be recorded to user styles.

This machine is fairly easy to use. The presets are pretty cool, and for the ones that aren't, a suitable one can be found in the variations. I took off 2 points because the sampler is a major pain in the ass. The manual is typical roland gibberish, but you could burn it to keep your house warm...

The built in effects are standard, and do thier jobs really well. Not expandable. I like the fact that is has a sampler, and the whole MC303 soundset. note: you can NOT program your own drum patterns. There is no sequecer. All in all it sounds good, you can run an external machine through the sample inputs, and use the effects, which is rad. works well with my computer, it has no midi glitches so far.

This is a dance keyboard. There are some realistic sounds, but they are dance oriented. Sounds are perfect for dance music. I make techno, disco house, and dabble in some abstract, and i am pleased with the variety of sounds. THE VIBRAPHONE ROCKS!

Pretty solid, but i wouldn't gig with it. works every time i turn it on. but the sampler has a tendency to speed up samples so that they sound really fast. like mighty mouse on a three day amphetamine kick.

I just ask the guys at the music store. roland doesn't care about customers.

Good beginner keyboard. sound like a pro in minutes. and it has a D-beam so i give it a 9

Very simple to use. But something others have not mentionned, hard to find to sounds that you want. You can select a beat(style) easely however. The problem is the display is only a led type with numbers. I say that because of I have two other keyboards with nice displays like the Yamaha cs2x and Korg N1R. It hard to remember the where the sounds are. Plus they are arranged by in 2X8 banks of 8. That means you have to use another button to get the "alternate" sound, a real pain. There are no user patches.

But as others said, it's easy to setup a kicking groove and the other features are extremely easy to use.

The manual is the best I have seen yet. I read this book in a bit more than an hour and I remembered almost everything. Very good images, straight to the point.

WOW! Incredible!

This keyboard as everything minus a sequencer. Very basic but useful sampler. Can make perfect samples in less than a minute. It has an automatic start and end for recording. The speakers are very punchy and effective. The case is sturdy, the keyboard is good with velocity. Lots of good sounds. Good but ,imited effects. Effects for the sampler. Lots of styles and beats ready to rock.
The Dbeam is incredible! very useful and impressive.

All sounds are in the good to very good range. Some are bad other impressive. Ex. Good drum kits, sounds are design with dance music in mind. Good pads, very few acoustic sounds nice basses and decent leads. The resonance and cutoff are very effective in this synth. The dbeam can make very unique accent to the sounds. Sounds are rich but not in the same class as a full pledge JV-2080 sound. I think they have only 2 layers or something. However, they are very usuable in a mix where performance sounds (4 layers or more) are usually too intense to blend into a mix. The beats are excellent, but I don't like the riffs too much, they are usually typical. but then you can mute them and tkae the ones you want and put them in your user style.
The keyboard in nice. Combined with the sampler, this keyboard is powerful enough to make some decent songs all by itself. Now add a sound module and a computer and your rocking. The knobs are also very handy.

Solid case, but I noticed some memory glitches on mine sometimes. Having to turn off the keyboard and back on again. But it never crashes on me, just my user styles were slightly different then what they were supposed to be, no big deal. However the keyboard is very heavy for the size because of the speaker setup and sturdiness of the case and I don't think it could resist a drop on a hard surface of any kind without having structural damage. And how long will the speakers last without making vibration noises in the box?? don't know yet only had it for two weeks now

don't know

I would certianly buy one again. Best keyboard for the price.

Quality product.

Manual is clear and to the point, which makes the vast number of options much easier to use.

Loads of effects! After you learn the combination all the different functions then the keyboard is easy to use. Key action is good, with
a slightly stiffer feel than my Yamaha. Unfourtunately, there are no expansion slots in this keyboard.

To me the sounds in my Yamaha are much more realistic, and have much more depth. The effects and changes that you can perform to the sounds
is endless which helps with the limited number of good sounds in the keyboard. There is a velocity setting which helps the piano sound more
realistic. You can seriously put out some dance grooves, and look like a pro in a short time!

This keyboard is built TOUGH, it looks like Roland expected people to drag this board to alot of gigs!

I hope I don't run into any problems.

I'd probably get something is with expandability and a sequencer.
Its definitely worth the money if you take this thing to clubs and/or
live DJ...you can really impress people by using the D beam!

This synth will have anyone, regardless of experience, sounding like a genius in a short amount of time. Definetely an entry level keyboard.. but even a pro can easily find a way to integrate the EG-101 into their next set. The manual is very comprehensive, and walks you through the functions (step by step) in a way that isn't insulting or confusing.

Good MIDI support, a plethora of options, but no sequencer. You won't care, though.. because, for it's price, the EG-101 comes equipped with an arsenal of FX. You'll be wanting an extra pair of hands after you get a taste of what this bad ass can do. The D-Beam, though limited in programming options, brings your performance to an interactive level that the audience will eat up (i.e: wave your hand over it and the cutoff engages). The sampler, though compromised, is easy and fun as hell. Only six knobs, but they seem to hold up to raging twists and turns. Cut-Off + Resonance, Filter, Panning, and Reverb are all here. The only bad stone in the lot is the arpeggiator. Programming is extremely limited, and it's impossible to smoothly change the pattern in the heat of live performance.

Mixed reactions here on the sounds. You'll find yourself using about 1/4 of the onboard noises, and not really caring about the rest. The EG-101 is definetely a groove machine. No guitars to be found. Don't expect too much that isn't groove oriented.. the pads are great, but the strings sound like they're pumpin' out of a Casio. No weighted keys, but it's got the next best thing: velocity sensitivity.

I've never gigged at all.. but if I did, the EG-101 seems reliable enough. Pretty solid construction.. heavier than it looks. I've knocked it into walls here and there while carrying it around, whacked it so hard I feared for it's functionality.. but it still keeps jamming like it just came out the box.

If this says anything for the ease of use: I've never had to phone Roland at all. This thing practically explains itself. So.. sorry. Don't know anything regarding the customer support.

In all.. for the price, the EG-101 does not disapoint (unless you were expecting too much). If mine broke down or got ganked, I'd probably find a way to get it back. I've been dinking around with mine for months now, and I'm still in love. So many options, not enough hands. The only regrettable thing about the EG-101 (and this may be simply because I just ain't that good yet) is that it's tough to switch some of settings while jamming in real time. Unless you have all the tones and styles memorized, it's tricky to switch sounds and beats on the fly. You'll end up pushing a series of buttons just to get that one sound you want.. and there's no real way around it. But I must say.. for all you aspiring gear heads.. and for all of you who think electronic groove is what you want to dive into: The EG-101 is a bad ass unit for the price. Highly recommended.

Pretty easy to use. Manual goes into good detail. It's real easy to sound good in a small amount of time. The presets are very clear sounding and are plenty in number. Sometimes it is hard to do a lot of live mixing though because of all the options.

Features are pretty good & easy to use. The arranger & the RPS modes will have you jamming in no time. I felt the Arpeggiator was lacking in what it could do. There is no on-board sequencer which can be a pain, but the EG-101 is a good start for beginners & a nice additive to veterns of club, techno, jungle & ambient space music.

The sounds are almost endless in number. Sweeps, strings, bass, & drums sound great & are very clear. The brass & wind instrument sounds are a little on the phony side. It's real easy to change the cut off, resonance, pan etc... of the sounds by just a twist of a knob.

I don't take the EG-101 on the road, but I think it would hold up good. It's pretty heavy in the body & the keys & knobs are sturdy.

Never dealt with the guys at Roland.

If this keyboard was lost or stolen, I'd be upset. I don't think it was the perfect machine for me, but I would miss it & want to replace it if I could find a good deal like the first time

Very good display of knobs and buttons. Everything is readily accesible and U can get going without a manual! Too much control is given such that I find I dun have enough hands!ha!

Its all there! All that a remixer or music maker wannabe, U can find it all onboard, sampler, arpegiator, RPS, Arranger everything. My only gribe is there is no onboard sequencer.

Roland gives the best! The sounds are all top end.Warmth and PHATT!!!!Wide variety of sounds too!

Just got it so I guess I gotta say it has been good so far.

NO experience

Simply put the EG-101 is on of the most easy to use keybords in it's line, In the store I'd already written and recorded songs that would put eurasure to shame.

A wonedfull aray of FX and once you read the manual you realize how much the EG-101 can do, live sampling, realtime recording, damn!

The clarity of the sounds is very good, you can become an 80's one hit wonder in minutes.

No doubt, dependable.

Never tried, sorry.

I am extatic to own such a peice of equiptment, it adds so much to any standered rock band, and brings you to another level out of the ordanary. All I can say is damn.