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I love my Seaboard Block so much I bought another one so I could have four octaves to work with. I'd always been enamored with the larger Seaboards, but I was particularly interested with how compact the Blocks are, and it doesn't disappoint. I can toss two of them in a bag with my laptop and make music anywhere with a beautifully playable MIDI keyboard. The MPE (5-D touch) works really well, providing nuance that you just never get with most MIDI instruments. Along with that nuance is a steep learning curve, especially if you want to make the best use of the 5-D touch: for example, the pitch bend built into the horizontal slide is beautiful, but your fingers need to be stable and in the right place to stay in tune. While using the 5-D touch, it's just as sensitive as a violin, both to its benefit and detriment. To play it well, you're gonna have to practice, but it rewards you for your efforts. The bundled software is pretty slick. If you don't get it with the full version of Equator (it was given free to some early adopters, but it may not be bundled with the full version anymore), spend the money and buy it. The hardware and software were clearly made for one another, and Equator makes beautiful use of the sensitive controls. Finally, though the keys are closer together than a real keyboard, it's still pretty playable and intuitive. The texture is really nice, and though I'm a little worried about the rubbery material lasting over time, it's holding up pretty well two months in.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
I love tinkering with electronic keyboards so I was intrigued with this device. After playing it now for several weeks, I am still impressed with its capabilities. First of all, it is very portable due to its small size, internal battery and connects via Bluetooth to your smart phone. Mostly, though I use my Surface Windows 10 laptop with the free Blocks Dashboard and Equator software. I purchased the Full Equator to get additional capabilities. Secondly, the smooth and flexible playing surface allows a lot of freedom in creating music mimicking a wide range of instruments: drums, piano, guitar, violin, horns,electronic synths, etc. On the down side, it takes a bit of discipline to get the fingering to work on such a small playing surface, but with a few days of practice I was able to get very good results. I also proved to myself that the "muscle memory" of learning a new rift on this keyboard transfers when switching to a regular keyboard. In other words, once I learned a certain chord progression on the Seaboard, I was also able to play the same progression on a full scale keyboard with minor adjustments to my hand and finger patterns. All in all, I am very happy that I purchased this device and have since purchased a second unit that easily snaps together to get 4 octaves under my hands. I also purchased a LightPad that I use as an additional controller to increase what I can do as I am playing. Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
The MIDI control capabilities of this product are unique. It allows a very wide range of expressive control over synthesizer parameters and is a lot of fun to play. The supplied software synths are nice and work well to illustrate the control capabilities of the Block. The hardware implementation could stand improvement. The USB connector was located on the left end of the unit, instead of the rear. This is an awkward and inconvenient location. The supplied USB cable is ridiculously short. It won't even reach from the USB ports on the rear of my PC, up to a worksurface immediately above and forward to the Roli. The manual says that you must use this supplied cable, but doesn't explain why. I've contacted support to find out what the situation is. It is either a conforming USB cable which could be replaced with any other USB 3.0 cable or it is a "USB like" cable and not replaceable with standard cables.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Good condition, was able to transfer registration and license with help from Roli tech support. This keyboard is very expressive midi controller and wolrs well with Garage band.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Squishy, Beautiful, and Futuristic. It's like a keyboard from another planet. If you're looking for a midi keyboard that's different from the typical Akai or Sony. Pick this one up!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
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