The mighty Roland VA-7 synth-keyboard-sampler-arranger. Wow.

[@nygelmiller5293]

I've just bought one, and find this video invaluable. It's like a music lesson!

[@gearfacts]

Oh thanks 😊

[@rafiqtagizade.87]

​@@gearfactsSALAM DOSTUM. BU ROLAND VA7 SATMAQ FİKRİN OLSA, MƏNƏ NEÇƏ DOLLARA SATARSAN ?

[@ilovekeyboards7830]

I can't wait to hear the sounds on the Roland VA 7

[@bestrickie2]

An EXCELLENT synth. I had a VA-3 that’s also excellent. Well done on getting the stunning VA-7.

[@emiel333]

Cool! I also had a Roland VA-3. Bought it in December 2000. Great arranger for an affordable price.

[@sander8928]

I still have a VA-7 standing in the corner. But... it's beaten, done. I played it a lot and back then it was one of the best around in my opinion. Arrangers didn't go quickly enough in development for me so I finally switched to a synth and now the Nord Stage 4 is my main. I still miss the arranger feature though! :) Thank you for sharing this video!

[@gearfacts]

I love comments like this, I enjoy the history :)

[@rafiqtagizade.87]

İndiyə qədər istehsal olunan ən möhtəşəm dizayna malik olan sintezatordur 👉va7 Roland✍️.

[@kimthompson5871]

Love the sounds on that one !

[@gearfacts]

Yeah it comes from a era where people were really experimenting deeply with synths

[@outsidersband1614]

Love my Va76! Great keyboard, great sound touch screen easy sequencing what else.. Still working with these great machine made by Roland Italy. The big issue of this keyboard is the internal power supply and the zip drive. Congratulations for the video 🎹

[@gearfacts]

Absolutely. The sound set is nonstop fun, so many good tones 👍

[@glenesis]

What a beast! It sounds gorgeous!

[@Timborob]

Hi Glynne, Thanks very much for all the reviews you do on here 👍 I just recently purchased one of these on ebay on the off chance on a low bid and surprised I won. The specification of 128 voice poly, aftertouch with ribbon controller and all those tones to choose over too. Will update you on it 😎

[@gearfacts]

Yeah it's a bit of a favorite of mine. Great sounds. May I ask what you paid for it? The one in this review was $AU500

[@Timborob]

@@gearfacts 😁 Thanks for reply 👍 I paid £212 for it of which £35 is the postage cost. Hoping it arrives on Saturday

[@gearfacts]

@@Timborob Solid deal there :)

[@Timborob]

@@gearfacts A further update for you. I did get last week but was damaged in transit to casing due to trying to deliver two days before set to be ! thankfully is all working 👍 I contacted the seller Lewis and thanks to him fully insuring and so claimed back from them so got for free 😎 There's unfortunately no disks with it and so have ordered new floppies and Zip disks too to see if they work along with an external floppy to transfer some extra styles , user programs found online

[@gearfacts]

@@Timborob It's going to be awesome fun :)

[@Ochentoso111]

Great Review!!! Now You need to get a Roland KF-7 88 keys arranger!!

[@gearfacts]

Glad you liked the video :)

[@sgriffett541]

wow is right... awesome great! I want one

[@gearfacts]

Well, this one will be up for sale soon :)

[@DarminDeflern]

I purchased this brand new still have it to this day along with the roland ga7 and korg kronos. Although the interface is clunky its very easy to get around and simple to put multiple layers together to make very nice layered sounds like piano and strings combo. Of note there was one major upgrade during its lifecycle i have an orange sticker on mine saying version 2 (with music assistant)!

[@DarminDeflern]

I would also like to add that I did gig with my VA7. I played two keyboards the technik kn5000 I used for my left hand for bass notes and the VA7 for my lead or rhythm notes. I still got some of the parts saved on the keyboard.

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

That touch effect on the left sounds like a EQ bend, I get that exact same sound effect by making a peak in the EQ and assign it to a knob. I use it alot. EDIT I use Reason.

[@vito_keys]

The music conservatory where I'm studying at still have one of these in its practice studio and indeed it sounds incredible, one of the most powerful keyboards at the time. It even sound better than the more common RD-600 (also from the same era)

[@gearfacts]

Yes, if the operating system was improved it'd be one of the classics.

[@fishersrow]

Hi, Great review, I just bought a Roland VA7 but it has no zip disc included. Is it important to have this disc and what's on it?

[@toplespecah666]

When roland get impress by korg Trinity design

[@procta2343]

i am toying with the idea of getting one of these

[@gearfacts]

Definitely interesting, sometimes frustrating.

[@jonaspedersen5990]

Just bought one, but I cannot seem to get any sound from it when i play. Do I need to do anything in orden for it to make sounds?

[@gearfacts]

Should work right away. Check that there’s nothing stuck in the headphones socket. Also have a look online for how to factory reset it.

[@jonaspedersen5990]

@@gearfacts im all new to Electric keyboards. There are no speakers in the instruments, am I right? I will have to connection either headphones or speakers.

[@gearfacts]

@@jonaspedersen5990 Many have speakers. They generally referred to as 'home keyboards'. The ones without speakers are generally referred to as synthesizers. As for actual capabilities though, there's a thick blurry line in the middle!

[@ilovekeyboards7830]

I really like keyboards a lot

[@gearfacts]

Me too, and I can't even play all that well :)

[@izzzzzz6]

Just got one of these for €150. I love that it has a floppy drive. lol V beam is cool but then I just found a Juno Stage for €250 and that one blew my mind. Amazing keyboard! Oh no. The one I got was the VA-3 the 7 looks a bit better. Probably doesn't have a floppy drive. oh it does, and this Zip drive? lol I love the fact it has a touch screen. A device with a floppy drive and a touch screen! I think that's a rare thing in itself.

[@gearfacts]

150 squid, bargain :)

[@robertforster6749]

theres a VA7 in my local charity shop for 60 pounds. should i buy it ?

[@gearfacts]

Holy moly yes

[@ilovekeyboards7830]

What keyboard are you going to do next

[@gearfacts]

A big Casio WK with 76 keys

[@ilovekeyboards7830]

Gearfacts can i please pick the casio wk keyboard for you

[@gearfacts]

Ahh I've already made the video, sorry! It's the WK500

[@ilovekeyboards7830]

The casio wk 200 the casio wk 210 the casio wk 500 the same but colors not the same The casio wk 210 and wk 500 have blue screens the casio wk 200 wk 500 made in 2008

[@transforminggravity15626]

Cool 🔥🔥🔥💯💯💯💯👏👏👏

[@Frozirra]

Is this the same engine as the v-synth?

[@gearfacts]

I don't think so, but I'm open to be corrected on that by anyone out there with deeper Roland knowledge :)

[@tony64t]

I picked mine up at my local pawn shop for $100 stand included! The best hundred bucks 👌 I ever spent. The only feature missing on mine is the finger slider thingy on the far bottom left of the keyboard. Otherwise everything else is identical. I'm currently looking for a floppy 💾 with more sounds and styles.

[@gearfacts]

Wow, bargain right there. Shame about the slider, it's good fun. But still ...$100 :D

[@tonygroenewoud-powell53]

I have three zip discs with mine. The main demo sample disc and Solo Intruments Vol 1 - Sax and Vol 2 - Trumpet & Trombone. I could upload the files if you like?

[@snr73]

Hey, I’m also looking for the factory extra styles and sound on Zip disk. Would appreciate if you could share with me. Thanks

[@Timborob]

@@tonygroenewoud-powell53 Hi Tony, I've just purchased one and not sure if any discs are coming with it as yet or if the drives are working ( fingers are crossed!) would be great if you could upload anything if I have it missing 👍 I have found a dutch forum that does have some rhythms you can download too 😎

[@freedomring128]

Does it have weighted keys?

[@gearfacts]

No

[@bestrickie2]

There’s also CA-5 and VA-76 which are ALSO EXCELLENT!

[@gearfacts]

Ahhh yes Im remembering the VA-76 ...can't remember what it's little extra feature was, I'll have to look that up.

[@pianokeyjoe]

I almost had the chance to buy this one for cheap, I think it was around $150 or something like that.. It sold fast

[@gearfacts]

Woah, good price indeed. This one was $AU500 so that's about $US375.

[@pianokeyjoe]

@@gearfacts Yeah it was being sold by a church music ministry dept. I missed out but $375 is a far better price than what I see lesser keyboards sold for so..

[@ilovekeyboards7830]

Gearfacts can i please ask you a question

[@gearfacts]

Anytime :)

[@paulussantosociwidjaja4781]

Well, actually 4096 or 4k, I mean about the sound selection.

[@martijnvanzanen4075]

Can buy 1 for 250.. what u think>?

[@gearfacts]

It’s a pretty good deal I think

[@ilovekeyboards7830]

Gearfacts i find 2 Roland E 20 on Ebay

[@gearfacts]

Nice one :)

[@ilovekeyboards7830]

My casio wk 220 is 9 years old

[@ilovekeyboards7830]

Don't forget to do organ sounds too

[@gearfacts]

Yeah I think I did a couple of them in this video. I'll be releasing two more videos about it because there is a lot to discover in this keyboard.

[@ilovekeyboards7830]

The Roland VA-7 came out in 2000

[@gearfacts]

Wow was it that early? Time flies.

[@ilovekeyboards7830]

Gearfacts how can you tell if a keyboard is showing its age

[@gearfacts]

This is a good question. There are a few things, like whether or not it has USB (anything good after about 2010 should have USB), whether the sounds and demo tunes appear to be based on popular songs (those keyboards age very quickly) and it's physical appearance - Keyboards that are designed to look fashionable rather than functional will start to look old very quickly.

[@ilovekeyboards7830]

I thought the roland va 7 was made in the year 2000

[@gearfacts]

Not sure to be honest, I'm just guessing really. It's from that era though :)

[@lukeimontv7086]

Maybe the release differs by region?

[@Timborob]

Looking back at forums shows it was released in the US summer 2000 👍

[@elcinhasanl9752]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@johnfarley4201]

FUN

[@gearfacts]

Absolutely 👍

[@rafiqtagizade.87]

2024 BU GÜNƏ QƏDƏR BELƏ MÖHTƏŞƏM, İNSANA ZÖVQ VERƏN SƏSLƏRİ RİTİMLƏRİ OLAN SİNTEZATOR İSTEHSAL OLUNMAYIB✍️.

[@robertforster6749]

bit too much use of the slider function.

[@gearfacts]

Yeah I am oft pulled up on that :/

[@pianovideos8851]

Yamaha e463 super than roland va-7

[@gearfacts]

If I really had t choose, I'd take the Roland VA-7 because it just has more possibilities

[@liljons6753]

Roland drums stink

[@gearfacts]

Hmm, and this is one of their best....

[@liljons6753]

@@gearfacts never heard this one but roland ..has used the same drums for 30 years......with few additions....

[@DarminDeflern]

apart from the tr808 and the tr909 of course :P.