Shawn Eary « Amazing!!! »
Published on 09/15/20 at 17:30
Best value:
Excellent
Audience:
Anyone
I'm a novice and I can barely play the piano but the Roland EP-85 is one of the most realistic sounding pianos I have ever heard. It comes with two head phone jacks and integrated speakers. If you get a chance to test this piano in person, plug some decent headphones in like the Audio-Technica ATH-M40fs (or better) and give a listen to the demos from the world class pianist Roland hired to do the recordings.
This piano lasted my family 20+ years before I sent it to my oldest daughter. Now, I'm thinking about replacing it with a Roland Juno 88 DS. Seems the Roland Juno 88 DS is actually better than the EP-85 with hammer weighted keys and an arsenal of on board sounds, but if you can find a used EP-85 for under $300 that is still working (with stand) you might want to give it a look. The tone of EP-85 and Juno DS models just seem much more inspiring than even some more pricier competitors...
BTW: Through the MIDI interface, you can actually gain access to more than the 8 user facing "control panel" sounds; however, the other sounds aren't particularly special by today's standards. The EP-85 piano and vibraphone sounds are still amazing in my opinion. though.
WARNING: No warranty whatsoever comes with this post. I can be a reckless kind of guy at times and sometimes go "off the cuff". You need to evaluate the EP-85 and Juno models yourself. I've been listening to even some more expensive pianos though and few models inspire me like the EP-85 and Judo DS models.
This piano lasted my family 20+ years before I sent it to my oldest daughter. Now, I'm thinking about replacing it with a Roland Juno 88 DS. Seems the Roland Juno 88 DS is actually better than the EP-85 with hammer weighted keys and an arsenal of on board sounds, but if you can find a used EP-85 for under $300 that is still working (with stand) you might want to give it a look. The tone of EP-85 and Juno DS models just seem much more inspiring than even some more pricier competitors...
BTW: Through the MIDI interface, you can actually gain access to more than the 8 user facing "control panel" sounds; however, the other sounds aren't particularly special by today's standards. The EP-85 piano and vibraphone sounds are still amazing in my opinion. though.
WARNING: No warranty whatsoever comes with this post. I can be a reckless kind of guy at times and sometimes go "off the cuff". You need to evaluate the EP-85 and Juno models yourself. I've been listening to even some more expensive pianos though and few models inspire me like the EP-85 and Judo DS models.