New AKAI EWI SOLO Wind Synthesiser

[@Robyn19fnq]

I'd like to see an honest comparison of Akai/Roland/Yamaha for buying recommendations. Thanks.

[@orlaspring363]

same

[@Juksemakeren]

honesty is not compatible with youtube

[@camelCased]

@@Juksemakeren Then it would be nice to have at least a dishonest comparison :)

[@patrickmartin3322]

Yes I would like that, I am looking in to purchasing one, but the only comparison video I can find of these 3 is in Japanese, which I can’t understand

[@miguelalbuquerque86]

Did someone find a good comparison of the three brands/ models? Which one has the best price quality relation?

[@theoparlin8068]

I’ve got a Roland ae 500 for silent practice and it is great!

[@Dublin_N]

6:03 "Let's see what that's sounding like" BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

[@Harrisoo]

This literally made my day

[@jimdugan3850]

At 4:04 what is that thumping/tapping sound?

[@shamsaxonettist]

Had one since the ewi4000s days!

[@GaryR55]

Since the other EWIs are compatible with SWAM sounds, I imagine the Solo is, too?

[@camelCased]

If only these things were more popular to drive them to mass production and cheaper prices... I bought Clarineo a few years ago just to see if I can learn to play an instrument like that. I'm not a professional, but just like to relax after work and to play along. As Clarineo worked pretty good for me, I fancied upgrading to an EWI-like instrument/midi controller. Having an electronic instrument would also have the benefit of being able to shift by half a tone. Essentially, like a "cheat", to be able to play along with more songs without pressing those half-tone keys. Yeah, I'm still not good at that for past-paced songs. When playing without a recording, I shift it in my mind as I please and then I can play it pretty fast, but as soon as I want to actually play together with a recording, it does not work because of the "wrong key". However, EWIs are all so expensive that I just cannot find an excuse to buy it for just a hobby. You can buy a cheap MIDI keyboard or an entire keyboarded synth with lots of pads, keys, and knobs for under 200 EUR but there are no budget choices for EWIs at all.

[@iqi616]

It's the touch keys that point me towards the Roland. Basically I'm looking for a silent sax to get tunes under my fingers and learning a whole new technique is a step away from the real thing.

[@El_Funky_Habibi]

You get used to the touch keys in a day, you're just not giving the EWI a chance by assuming it's not for you.

[@ulafor.6006]

❤❤❤ beautiful

[@TisMeBc]

a bit confused, how is it not wireless?

[@Danimperator]

Thank you for your interesting presentation. Je it possible to change thé volume or thé speaker ? Is it loud enough to play a gig with acousticien musicians ?

[@declanoconnor6594]

it’s not

[@zangsax]

Started yrs ago on an EWI 1000(I was early user). Got. 4000s. Good. Got a 5000- got rid of it in a week, hated sounds. Still have my 4000. Didnt like the usb either. These are good for playing electronic sounds or midi triggering high end samples.

[@gregfagan38]

I use the EWI-5000 for patch 13 muted trumpet, 8 - clarinet, 9 flute, 15 bone, 34 bari sax, and 44 trumpet. Which sounds do you hate the most on the EWI 5000?

[@zangsax]

I dont remember. I only had it for a week. I play most woodwinds so i prefer using my 4000 as synthesizer unless im hooked up to east west sounds or Mirislav quality samples . Its just personal. Ive always hated drum machines or performing with tracks etc. if I play solo . I just play solo. Im a strange purist kind of duck. Its all good for others. Again, just personal.

[@farmpunk_dan]

The 5000 is trash. Mine has been faulty from day one and I’ve been battling unsuccessfully with akai’s joke of a customer service department for four years. AVOID this company, people. They don’t deserve your money.

[@miguelalbuquerque86]

@@farmpunk_dan which company/ alternative do you recommend?

[@fullsunforever8867]

There are 200 programs. Each prograns is for an instrument. And there are a few fingering sets that are EWI, Saxophone, Flute, Oboe, EVI and EVI Reverse. How do we know of which fingering set is for which instrument in those programs? Such as guitar, bas, piano or organ... are for which fingering sets? In addition, EWI, EVI and EVI Reverse fingering sets are for which programs? If you know the answer, please help.

[@dhansel4835]

Does it finger like a B flat clarinet? Does it need a reed?

[@张庭愷-t9z]

Thank you,could this pipe play wind instruments sound?Like clarinet,fiute,basoon?

[@TheGozeraye]

I want one but I don't know it its my thing, anyone know a retailer that rents these out?

[@stevepovey2489]

Does it have midi control so that you can control the patch changes with a foot pedal?

[@rjones1357]

I was able to do patch changes on my EWI Solo using my EWI 4000 so I suspect at a minimum a setup can be created where a foot pedal can do patch changes on the Solo. Probably it would be more useful to do patch changes within the Favorites banks. While I suspect that can be done, I have not done it myself.

[@stevepovey2489]

How do you do it on the 4000?

[@rjones1357]

I just recreated using a MIDIPlus USB MIDI Host device. I used MIDI cables to connect the 4000 to the device’s DIN-5 ports and a USB cable to connect the Solo to the USB port. Using the side switches on the 4000 when I changed the 4000 patch the patch also changed on the Solo. The current bank can be selected on the Solo and the Program Changes will match the Patch number selected on the 4000. I think Initially I used my MacBook Pro instead of the USB MIDI Host device. I used a MIDI interface cable to connect the 4000 and the USB cable to connect the Solo. I used a program called MidiFire to define the connections between the 2 instruments. The Solo will receive in MIDI messages but it may not react as expected. If you can get a foot pedal to generate a MIDI Program/Patch change stream I believe the Solo will execute the messages.

[@incelstate2466]

What are differences from EWI5000 other than speaker? Is sound engine better? Can you load custom samples?

[@mcstench8913]

yes you can load custom samples and its much more comfortable than the 5000

[@natec1490]

Does the solo have the option to upload another sound bank, like the 4000s?

[@dannyrusso8279]

As far as I know, no, but I believe all the sounds are editable, with the dedicated editor.

[@farmpunk_dan]

NO because AKAI makes gimicky toys now instead of serious wind controllers.

[@flutethyagu]

Thanks for the nice video. Portamento is only upto 2 semitones up/down? Or more gliss is possible

[@michaelalexander3927]

The 4000S is still the best!

[@ColeHenriques]

Agreed. Unless Patchman Music will someday release a cool soundbank for the Solo, the 4000s will be the best EWI.

[@farmpunk_dan]

Not to mention the 5000 turns itself into a brick if you so much as give it a funny look. Bad battery fault is common and AKAI does not give a shit.

[@marcbandin4363]

Le type de souffle est-il plus proche du souffle de la flute traversière ou plus proche du saxo ou de la trompette ? Merci

[@matri6m807]

Are you able to get a growl sound from the EWI Solo without using software?

[@farmpunk_dan]

Nope

[@maniestacio9245]

Robo-Clarinet!

[@finross3330]

Robo-oboe

[@pmwizard48]

Are the patches better than the 5000? Are they more realistic?

[@ColeHenriques]

Nope. Both the patches on the 5000 and Solo are absolute garbage; only a few of them are cheesy enough to not sound like knock-off instruments.

[@ColeHenriques]

You’re much better off getting the Patchman Music soundbank for the 4000s.

[@pmwizard48]

I have the patch man soundbanks on the 4000s and the Yamaha vl70. The soundbank on the vl70 are very good. I was hoping that the ewisolo would be just as good .

[@ColeHenriques]

@@pmwizard48 Sadly, it’s not. It is more user-friendly but the sound quality is just extremely lacking

[@pmwizard48]

Thanks Cole, I guess I won’t be upgrading my Ewing then.

[@Jordie0001]

please please please can we have some more ? last year i spent a fair amount of cash on a wind synth device that has not fulfilled my expectations. the new AKAI EWI SOLO might be the one for me

[@SoSoGoodc]

I bought the Roland Aerophone and I do not like the sound. Can't blow too hard or it will distort.

[@ColeHenriques]

Do not buy the Solo. Get the 4000s but also buy the Patchman Music soundbank that’s specifically designed for that (extra $90). Sounds are way better

[@comradecat3629]

@@ColeHenriques i mean that’s definitely what I’ve heard from a lot of the community but 4000s with shipping and the sound bank would cost around $1000CAD which is a little much for something that is just a hobby and off timetable class so I’ll gladly save a couple hundred for something with slightly worse sound

[@ColeHenriques]

@@comradecat3629 You can literally get the 4000s for $500-600 USD on Ebay...and if you want the Patchman Music soundbank, that's $90. And the sound of the Solo isn't "slightly worse"...watch insaneintherain's review on it and he explains why he hates it.

[@ColeHenriques]

I have no need for one since I have an actual keyboard synth (which costs $1000 lol) but for people who only play woodwinds, the EWI is a nice addition.

[@pryce4267]

I had a ewi 5000 but found breathing difficult. Is the mouthpiece freer to play on this one.

[@farmpunk_dan]

Try blowing past the mouthpiece. Not all of your air is required to go INTO the instrument. I struggled for a while too but even as an oboist the back pressure is a nuisance.

[@ashleyhall1384]

Does this have the evi option too?

[@a-dragon-hoarding-teacups]

Their manual mentions it has both EVI and "reversed EVI" (octave rollers are reversed)

[@rajnigandhalive1]

Nice

[@victorflute]

Thanks for the review, I will stick to my 4000s

[@farmpunk_dan]

Treasure that, it was the best EWI and everything after it was inferior. AKAI is a terrible company.

[@clausjerke]

Porque você não tocou com o som de sax? Seria medo de mostrar que ele tem um bom som de sax?

[@PaulBoos]

nice overview... this is a really nice sounding instrument. Does it have a MIDI out?

[@cosmblus]

That would defeat the purpose of control. It would only be able to send signals...

[@rjones1357]

The EWI Solo will do MIDI over USB. I have been able to control my EWI 4000 using the EWI Solo.

[@sooperheep]

No shit, that’s what midi is

[@PaulBoos]

@@sooperheep Yeah, I am sorry to see it is over USB, sort of won't work with my legacy gear... But I also get that is where the new gear is going. (Anyway, it does seem someone didn't understand why you'd want a MIDI out. I didn't see any mention of what the interface was in the vid.)

[@konsey1889]

How much is it?

[@patbass8282]

449 £

[@konsey1889]

@@patbass8282 thanks

[@khosrotohidi6979]

having 10 excellent sound is much better than 300 good sound and 3 - 4 octave is enough .

[@chaplainmattsanders4884]

For sure. Why 200 ridiculous sound effects?

[@gregfagan38]

Don't forget to mention the right hand F# key which niether the 4000 nor the 5000 have. ;)

[@ColeHenriques]

The F# key is more convenient, but the sounds are so much better on the 4000s with the Patchman Music soundbank.

[@dennis8927]

@@ColeHenriques does the patch man music sound bank work on the 5000?

[@timothyking3759]

It has that same 'thwap' sound as the 5000 when you quickly tongue a note closed to start the next one. (I believe this is sample dependent and may be due to a DC offset in the samples themselves--at least that's why my 5000 makes that 'thwap' sound--really annoying in my opinion).

[@zenarobinson3851]

from memory - i have the 5000 & had that thwap (ha!) sound & other problems. i later realised that it was my left thumb hitting something (the strip thing?) it was fine when i managed to stop the mis-hit! (haven't played it for a while!)

[@farmpunk_dan]

Yeah I have a 5000 (now a useless brick because of the battery fault) and it also did that all the time. SUPER annoying. I loathe AKAI for their half-baked EWI 5000. Waste of money.

[@liammcquade7491]

nice

[@rjburger27]

Jazz please

[@thomasmartin7524]

realy? a demo with accordion? you have a sick kind of humour, dude…

[@Danimperator]

Thank you for your demo! Ewi solo is not yet a real instrument! You need outside sounds to be satisfied. Several users have said that the speaker is too weak to make a gig with other musicians. No wireless output... Good musicians have kept their EWI 4000 to play good sounds with their expanders or computers. I regret my sold 4000 and stay with my 5000 (played with Dynasample XpressO for his real good sounds and his handiness.)

[@piotrnowik]

It is a toy for children, not a musical instrument. I bought EWI SOLO but I prefer to play the Yamaha WX-5 with a dedicated WL-70m module.

[@karayuschij]

200 onboard sounds, but none is really nice…

[@ldever3]

I guess like most, the saxophone sound is poor.

[@gregfagan38]

thank gawd! gotta play the real sax once in a while? lol

[@ldever3]

greg fagan Yes, and it sounds like knowing how to play one does not help much with the other anyway.

[@blueeyedsoulman]

Really bad design for sax players. I find the Roland to be much better. I plug it in to a good sound system or use it as a controller with SWAM software. Light years ahead of this.

[@khosrotohidi7575]

Some crappy keyboards have hundreds of sounds , I think ten quality sound is better than thusand low quality sound

[@chimichurri2612]

JUST PLAY FF]SSS!!!!

[@ukaszpoleski3744]

Hopeless sounds (in the age of physical color modeling, wading into sampling makes less and less sense). The built-in loudspeaker is only suitable for fun. The 6.5mm jack output is mono instead of stereo. Fingering is only a decima (and only an octave for flute fingering), which limits the music and forces unnecessary and irritating excessive use of octave rolls. Approx. 30 years ago YAMAHA released the WX-5 wind driver, which with a dedicated VL-70m sound module (with physical sound modeling) is for me an example of how wind instruments should be made to this day. Someone who does not compare to the above-mentioned Yamaha model, will not understand that AKAI EWI SOLO is just crap for a child's play.

[@sergios9664]

Este tipo no sabe tocar

[@fnonaka]

Too much talking! WTF