NEW roland AX-synth....aestiticly....ugly

i started playing keyboard 2 years ago after watching the most melodic solo ive ever heard, played on an AX-7. that really turned me on to keyboards. it was kinda a dispointment that roland discontinued the last keytar in production. i had enough sence to know that they were going to make a new one, because i think about 1 out of 5 active, live preforming keyboardist own one. I recently saw a "AX-synth" floating around the web....... it took me about 3 seconds to decide that either Roland has lost their mind, or that they releace VERY early concept models. this thing is HUGE, and looks down-right ugly. i thought the point of a keytar was to rock out with the guitarist, not to get laughed at...
just wanted to voice my opinion

I kinda like the shape, looks like a Great White Shark....lolz

When it actually comes out I am going to get one. I like that it will have it's own synth engine. Also, the old Ax7's are going to come down in price on the e-bay if your looking on getting one

I was looking at the new AX synth but im uncertain of the sounds it holds ,im not in too guitars sounds,if i wanted guitar sounds then why not purchase a real guitar lol...
although i like the features ,as for the older models like the AX 1 & 7 then yes the prices will have to drop on ebay for sure ,as sellers are asking for about £900 + for these models

if anyone want to trade for the ax1 or 7 let me know .

I actually think it looks really good, and I love that the keytars has returned! This is definitely second on my to-buy list, just want to get the M50 first. I've always wanted a keytar, and got quite sad when I realized they were all discontinued

Let's just hope they keep up the production of this one until I can afford it ^^

Hahaha...cause I'm not a guitar player

Of course before even considering a purchase I will try it out first

I kinda like the look of it myself. It's not as pretty as the AX-7, but it's still nice. It is actually slightly bigger I think than even the old Roland AXIS, Casio AZ-1 and Korg RK-100 but it makes up for this by having 49 keys- hellovalot for a keytar. Only those Lync things match that. That's a big plus in my books.

That said, I have 2 concerns- 1 is the added synthesizer.. it's only going to be a sorta small one- not like a fantom or something. I question just how necessary it was to have it, what with the added weight and size... seems a tad pointless when many people can afford proper flagship synths... which sorta brings me to concern- 2: I had a look at the stats, and they say SIX hours of battery life! Not entirely practical! The AX-7 is supposed to have 20! Even my 20+ year old Casio AZ-1 has more battery life than this!

.... that said though it does come with rechargable batteries apparently (as well as a charger for them I assume )

No, I don't like those specs

Does it have Dbeam like on the AX7?

Yes. I loved having that was one of the biggest show-off features of the AX-7, especially when you programmed a chord to it. Wave your hand = Arpeggio!

I know what you mean about how it looks - personally I prefer the more 80's looking ones.
On the other hand I don't think it really matters how it looks; I'm just so pumped that someone's making keytars again! hopefully, if it's popular, other companies will follow suit.

Plus I think if they just made it look all 80's-y It'd be considered, like, a novelty - I think as much as keytars are entertaining and stuff, they still have a very practical application. I think roland want the new ones to be considered proper instruments and want to steer away from it being like, a stage prop.

adamGBB: you mentioned battery life; I was thinking, isn't the AX-7 just a MIDI controller? If so, maybe the AX-synth's demand for power comes mainly from, like, the built in synth and stuff - maybe if you used it just as a MIDI controller the batteries would last as long as the AX-7 ?

also, I was watching one of the demo's on youtube - I think it said the synth circuitry is just exactly the same as one from one of their normal keyboard models? -> I'm not sure which one, but that might give you an idea how it sounds...