Roland Go Keys 5 Review from a Guitar Hobbyist

Review of the Roland Go Keys 5 from the perspective of a lifelong hobbyist guitar player

[@jeffeason3599]

Dude. Do not put out another video with your reverb turned up on your mic. I am interested in your thoughts but I can not listen to your audio.

[@alexchen5811]

thanks for this! does it have built-in sustain?

[@josenaldodesousa4880]

o cara passou o vídeo todinho falando e eu não vir nada sobre o teclado eu heim! só perdendo meu tempo.

[@jazzplayer59]

I agree...I have several keyboards that cost a lot more...but, this little keyboard is fun to jam with...best bang for your buck within the last few years.

[@alexanderwilliams1731]

Yeah this is not for me

[@jjacob25101]

TheGo:Keys 5 is only Zen Core, unlike the FP-E50 which has Zen Core and Supernatural Piano sounds, but the Go:Keys 5 is half the price. Per Roland, key action is slightly stiffer than most actions on semi weighted keys of other keyboards, as it is intended to be halfway between that and weighted keys.

[@TamirOrkobysPiano]

Does it support audio thrue USB? (Audio interface)?

[@BensMusicDojo]

@@TamirOrkobysPiano yes it does

[@agustinbernal2760]

Bla bla bla

[@keithbromley8923]

Did you take it to a Roland service center and ask them to fix the case rattle? What happened?

[@BensMusicDojo]

@@keithbromley8923 I just put batteries in the keyboard and then it stopped rattling. Even if you just keep dead batteries in the board, I think that might be necessary if you get case rattle like I did.

[@denizkaplan4988]

@@BensMusicDojo I experience rattling only on piano and e piano sounds in my go keys 5. Did you experience rattling just on these tones or in all of them?

[@BensMusicDojo]

@@denizkaplan4988 I use the e piano sound almost exclusively, so yeah that was where my issue was found. I didn’t test all of the other sounds though and now can’t recall if I had rattle with other sounds

[@denizkaplan4988]

​@@BensMusicDojothanks for the instant reply!

[@Fezzler61]

Does it keyboard split? You know, one sound on the left and another on the right? So the USB out, does it allow recording of both the MIDI notes and the sound in a DAW? I am a guitar hobbyist also. Years ago a bought a Korg microStation to help me quickly have access to sounds for recording without having to load a sampler like SampleTank or Kontact. It is an amazing keyboard with tons of sound but more complex than I anticipated and I never really integrated it into my recording. This looks more promising.

[@Fezzler61]

Just downloaded manual. It does indeed record MIDI and audio to a computer over PC. HMM.

[@BensMusicDojo]

Hey buddy, yeah it splits and layers, and you can control the volume mix of those fairly easy. It works seamlessly as an audio interface, and as a midi controller. I solved my issue with case rattle too, so I really feel it is easily the best instrument for $500. Sound quality is good enough for live band scenarios, but might not hold up if analyzed under a microscope when comparing to your popular VST libraries. That said, I find VSTs can lead to option paralysis and you have to hassle with starting up your computer. The go keys 5 is immediately plug n play which I find more valuable for me than VST software. I like to keep Pianoteq on my phone and sometimes play with that for an easy to start piano sound.

[@Fezzler61]

@@BensMusicDojo BINGO! When I got into home recording I quickly realized you need to have everything ready to go or the setup time can be a buzz kill. I got the Korg microStation for the EXACT reason you cite - not waiting for computer and VSTi to load. In fact, been getting into DAWless recording lately.

[@keithbromley8923]

@@BensMusicDojo What did you do to solve the case rattle?

[@BensMusicDojo]

@@keithbromley8923 I just put batteries in the keyboard and then it stopped rattling. Even if you just keep dead batteries in the board, I think that might be necessary if you get case rattle like I did.