Roland EM-25

Manual is excellent very intuitive, but needs more midi info and also Roland should consider PDF version of there manuals, as for mines now looks like it went through war.
Editing is just a tad tricky I'm used to the ease of the Yamaha DGX500.
Preset sounds are damn excellent, even with the built in amp and speakers this is a plus, Roland also offered the TR-808 drum machine sounds built in and I just get a kick out of that!

Velocity, touch sensitive, I mean that rules big time, and Roland does it again!
Effects are too simple to use, thats what makes the keyboard great.
expansion wise, the FDD was enough, or I would have bought a workstation.
Onboard sequencer is great.

Some Instruments are breath taking, pianos for example, and also the sound effects. The trumpet is greatly reproduced well, even the yamaha dgx500 can't touch that.
onboard effects are great.

I lug it around with no case (I know I should't but I drive a civic), so far so good.

Never called them. Manual was good enough.

It is worth exactly what I paid for it. If stolen, I would go with a higher end model (cause I have more money now also).
Playing for who knows how long. I hate the fact you can't record 6 tracks, rather a 2 track, the lower end yamahas also offer 6 tracks.
Wish it had an expansion port, for modules and mem, wait I'm thinking of a Korg Triton, never mind.
It's helps making music, it is a very good piece of equipment.

This is my second Roland , the previous one being an E-15 which had wonderful piano and string patches. The EM-25 doesn't sound as good
overall but it's still way beyond comparable Yamahas or Casios.
Editing the patches takes some getting used to and could have been
made a lot easier.
The manual is reasonably good but lacks details, particularly
about midi.

The manual doesn't actually mention the polyphony, probably 24.
THe built in effects are fine, 8 reverbs, 8 others - chorus, delay etc.
The floppy drive is a real boon, not only for the obvious (midifiles)
but for the Roland Arranger Style Files that can be loaded free off the net (I'm not talking piracy here. There are many web-pages that allow downloading of the internal styles from top of the line Rolands , as well as styles converted from other synths)
The on-board sequencer is only 2 tracks but using it with the floppy
is a quick and easy way to jot down ideas.

The pianos are very good although I detected a slight ring on a couple of notes which don't occur through an external PA so it's most probably the onboard amp, speaking of which puts out quite a bit of volume.
The organs are great, guitars are very good, as are basses and drums.
The feel of the keys is exceptional for a touch sensitive keynoard ,
much more natural than say , a Casio CTK-671 that I played recently.
No aftertouch but no matter.

I've only had it for a couple of months but if it's anything like my previous Roland, that I often gigged with , it's a trustworthy instrument.
I'll definately be gigging with this one...as soon as I become more familiar with the editing facilities,

I went back to the music store to ask about a couple of weeks ago
to ask about some midi questions because Roland web support is confusing and sparse. The store gave me a direct number to ring.

When I first bought it, I was reasonably pleased but when I started looking for net-info , I kept coming across rave reviews for the Casio CTK-671 (which sells for $100 less here) and wondered if I'd bought the wrong keyboard..
But two months later, having played the over-rated CTK-671 which, to be fair, it's a different sort of keyboard, the Roland is far more conservative. I'm very pleased with the EM-25.
I love the feel of it, the arranger styles, the FDD.
The editing couldv'e been better.
Would I buy it again? Maybe, but I'd more than likely go for a more expensive Roland.

The EM-25 is easy to use when you use it as stand-alone keyboard. When you read the manual, you can access most of the settings. It's intuitive and you can easily find what your looking for. Getting the presets is easy also. When using it for Midi, it is great also. I use Cakewalk and it works perfect: all the ease you really want to have.

The presets sound great, especially piano's, strings, syn lead and syn pad. Hard to pick your choice! You cannot edit them, which might be a pity at some tones.

The manual is pretty well, could be better. Almost everything you want to know you can find it. I miss the part about Sysex dumps but it seems to me this is standard for Roland (and you don't really need them).

Although Roland doesn't give specs for it's polyphony, I can see it's okay. The keyboard is 16 part multitimbral which is sufficient, I think.

The built-in effects are chorus (8 effects) and reverb (8 effects) but they are more difficult to set them, you have got to get across the whole function-set.

The only expansion capability is using its diskdrive, where you can load saved user programs and music styles. That's all but to me that works fine.

MIDI capabilities are really good. It's (of course) GM and GS Midi capable and things like keyboard sensitivity and more parameters can be sent to and from the keyboard. It lacks key-aftertouch...

The on-board sequencer isn't that well: only 2 tracks you can record. I think it isn't easy to use (didn't use it yet) to record your own stuff. You'd better use a Midi sequencer for it!

The most realistic instruments are the piano's (never heard them better), but the strings, the brass, the syn lead and the syn brass are really good. I think instruments like organ and guitar could get better and the flutes are bad, compared to my old Roland E-5!

You can use it for any type of music, whether it's rock, pop it doens't matter. It really depends on your capabilities!

The unboard effects? Behalve the rhythm section there aren't any. The effects like fill-in, intro and ending are good. Really awesome is mixing music styles!

The keyboard is pretty sensitive for velocity, it surprises me sometimes. But no aftertouch, that's a pity...

The EM-25 is very, very reliable. I never had a moment it didn't react or work as I would like to. I'm stuck using floppy disks, of which I have backups at home (hey, these damned things aren't that reliable, you know!) but I can take the keyboard wherever I go!

I called Roland in Belgium a couple of times because I needed some extra information. The people are very friendly, help you as fast as they can and if they cannot help you in a short time, they call you back when they have what you need to know. That's what I call customer support!

My EM-25 is just a few weeks old, so there are no upgrades, if it is possbile. But I know I can get upgrades for synths like EM-8000 and others from the website.

If it should be stolen, I would get the same one back again! It's the price worth.

I play keyboards 16 years, in the beginning with Yamaha PSR-range. Nowadays I own a Roland E-5 (pretty old, but still good) and the EM-25

I love most of the sounds, it's rhythm-section, it's easy to use, the look (pearl grey). Nothing I hate...

I compared it to the EM-15 (the same wiithout diskdrive), Yamaha's PSR-range, the Roland EM-50 and VA-7, but I kept returning to this one. It felt good when playing it, it sounds good, what else do I want more?

The only thing I miss from it is the aftertouch. More effects would be welcome, but it's okay this way.

I have to say my playing went better when I bought the EM-25. I don't know how, but believe me. I'm even looking for a good music-group I can play in, and that's new to me!