Roland GoKeys 61 First impressions DON'T DO IT!

[MIDI Life Crisis]

THIS

Here

Arrived yesterday (ordered in April). Was it worth the wait? I'm not sure yet. The much touted "feel" of ivory... meh. The keys feel smooth and soft (they're hard plastic). The case feels solid. Most of the sounds (95%) just plain old suck. There are a few gems but it won't be replacing my other pianos at any gigs. But that's not why I bought it. I've yet to try it as a Bluetooth MIDI controller for the iPad and iPhone. I'll get back to you on that later.

The speakers are small & weak and don't really amplify past the player. The controls are annoying (membrane type all around). I won't ever use the looping features. No patch editing but you can save banks or so 8 as the default when the instrument starts up so you don't have to search for this 6 or 7 useful sounds. lol That's at least something! But otherwise this is as plain Jane and boring as hell on its own.

If it works as a BT controller for the iPad it's worth $300 and change for me, especially with the Korg WS and M1 VIs for the iPad. Battery operation is a big plus for those occasional weird (bring a keyboard just in case) situations. It also records multitrack (8 channels, I think). These can be saved as SMFs and transferred to a DAW or notation program, so on the road in a hotel room or gig, etc., (assuming we ever get to leave the house again) it might be a decent sketch pad for ideas.

Super lightweight is another plus, and the color is superb. It looks as much like a toy as it really is, but a toy that can, nevertheless, but uniquely useful for some gigs, especially where all I want to bring is an iPad, a BT speaker, and this BT controller. I wouldn't quit my day job based on the sounds it spits out. Oh wait, do I even have a day job? lol

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I finally got to hook up the BT MIDI and.... 1/4 second (or slightly more) latency, rendering the unit useless to me. I'd even condor keeping it if the sounds were a little better but given that it sounds like poop, the keys fell wired, and the BT MIDI think isn't functional for anyone but a kid playing with it as a toy (at best) the verdict is in. Guilty of latency n the 1st degree. Bummer.

Back to square one (in this case Sweetwater). But I give them a lot of business, so I'm not feeling too bad about it.

OK, my work here is done.

[stubbsonic]

Thanks for the report.

I find it odd that manufacturers and end-users are letting such latency slide. Should be a deal-breaker.

If wires reduce latency, I'll take wires.

How is Roland still releasing keyboards with crappy sounds?

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Thanks for the report.

I find it odd that manufacturers and end-users are letting such latency slide. Should be a deal-breaker.

If wires reduce latency, I'll take wires.

How is Roland still releasing keyboards with crappy sounds?

The videos all sounded fine and there are about 6 decent synth sounds, but everything else is terrible. As far as latency, it's a mystery why it hasn't come up before since the ax has been out for a while. But then again, at just over 3 bills, what do you expect? It's targeted toward non-pros who are happy to have a shiny, cheap set of keys to play with. Lesson learned.

I never buy any synth or other physical music making thing unless I can have a hands on trial at a brick and mortar store. The pandemic has set that to one side for a while and I guess this is the result.

[mhschmieder]

Did they outsource that to Fischer-Price?

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Did they outsource that to Fischer-Price?

Apparently.