I've owned kurzweil, and am plenty familiar with korg, yamaha etc, ..have used them in bands.....in respects to this board, I think if you have this keyboard, it should satisfy you musically for a while because it has all the bread and butter sounds that a live performance musician needs, ...more importantly, all those sounds are of high quality. So if you got this board, ...you won't need another one for a long time, ...it's simple, and musical, ..what more do you need, ...it does the job

Sound
I love the sounds on this board.: Pianos- excellent, and good variety ie electric pianos etc ....bass- really good.... strings- very very good, except the plucked strings, ....organs- excellent, ...accordions/reed organ- very good, ...pads- very good, wish there were more, .... brass- excellent, .... flutes- average to little above average.....guitars (electric, acoustic, etc)- the guitar sounds on this board are pretty good compared to other boards, ..but i've never played any keyboard which can sound like a authentic guitar, ...but nonetheless, the guitar sounds on this board are decent, ..usable So as you can see, all of the sounds are above average. I especially love the pianos..very musical, organs (d-50 organ, ..ahh..so nice), and accordion sounds, ...these sound I probably use the most. Reacts very well to playing, ..some of the sounds are programmed to change timbre according to how hard you press the notes (ie rhodes, wurli, and many others)… read more I like the sounds on this board better than korg n5ex and most other keyboards in this price range, ...this is a great board for bread and butter sounds, ..covers all the bases very well, ..a proffessional sound

Features
came with with adaptor only, ...i love the pitch bender/mod wheel

Quality
This keyboard looks solid....silver metal frame on the outside. ...the only worrisome aspect is the power supply. It's one of those darn wall warts. I used to own alot of casios in the past that had this sort of setup, ..and i know what can go wrong with it, ..ie if someone accidentaly trips over the power cord, the power input on the keyboard can easily snap/break. So that sucks, ...i have to be extra careful. I wish it had an internal power supply like my kurzweil. It would have been the proffessional design, ..and more reliable....but considering the price...i guess this is what u get ....otherwise,..this keyboard looks as solid as any other, if not more. ...but of course, always have backup :)

Value
this keyboard is worth the regular going price, ..that is if you are looking for a decent live performance synth.... ..great sounds for pianos, ..or strings, ..or pads, .organs, ..or whatever, ..good value, .because you're getting a good product..

Manufacturer Support
i don't know much about roland service,..this is the first roland keyboard i've ever bought ...but i've been doing my best to get a copy of a rs-50 manual, ..and i tried, .but couldn't get one!, ...and the copy of the manual they had on a foreign roland site (brittish?) wouldn't allow me to print,..the u.s. site didn't have anything on it at all ... they should do a better job in this area, ...i remember with my kurzweil, ...service was excellent in terms of online support.

The Wow Factor
i love those knobs, ...especially i like to dial up one of those nice pad sounds and then twist the knobs, ..and hear it evolve, ...really nice ...lot of potential there. he he., ... also, i like the general way it looks as far as the silver metal outer covering, ...it looks decent. .....and i love the way the keyboard feels, ..has a nice feel, ..i'm always going back to this board because it's so comfortable to play

Musical Background:
active musician

Musical Style:
christian read less