Roland A-88MKII £879

Finding the right controller keyboard is very personal, but Roland’s latest is both feature-packed and potentially future proof…

Roland’s full size piano action MIDI keyboard controller, the A-88, has many fans and rightly so as the action is excellent and the ivory touch key finish feels great. Nevertheless, time marches on and with almost 10 years on the clock a refresh was clearly on the cards. The result is the A-88MKII.

First impressions

88 key controllers are by nature long and if you throw in a weighted piano action, they’re heavy too. However, much like its predecessor the A-88MKII is shallow front to back (274mm), has a reasonably low profile (119mm) and has a modest controls section to the left. So, the overall footprint is reasonably compact, which is good news if you’re trying to accommodate it in a studio environment or transport it to a gig. At just over 16kg it’s also not unreasonably heavy.

The MKII’s control section to the left of the keyboard has been completely overhauled. This is quite obvious when you power it up (USB bus powering is supported) as the new backlit pads and knobs (eight of each) spring into action. Gone are its predecessor’s Roland-specific features such as support for Roland’s Supernatural modules and D-Beam, and the overall feel is far more universal.