For most legacy XV owners who don’t care about sampling or RAMBUS connectivity, the Integra-7 is nearly a no-brainer of an upgrade. The huge variety of sounds, the independent effects settings, the generous analog and digital inputs and outputs and overall the ease of operation will ease the pain of putting your XV-5080 and SRX cards on Ebay to fund its $2000 price tag. For other musicians who are tired of lugging several keyboards to a gig, the Integra-7 offers an excellent, lighter-weight alternative that will meet the needs of all but the most demanding performers. No, it’s not perfect, for reasons that have already been discussed. But its strengths outweigh its (hopefully software-correctable) flaws by such a wide margin that, in this time when ROMPLER-based synths seem to going the way of the dodo bird, the Integra-7 may be the parting shot for those of us who still prefer our sounds in a box.
Integra-7 Review Part 7: Final Thoughts
For most legacy XV owners who don’t care about sampling or RAMBUS connectivity, the Integra-7 is nearly a no-brainer of an upgrade. The huge variety of sounds, the independent effects settings, the generous analog and digital inputs and outputs and overall the ease of operation will ease the pain of putting your XV-5080 and SRX cards on Ebay to fund its $2000 price tag. For other musicians who are tired of lugging several keyboards to a gig, the Integra-7 offers an excellent, lighter-weight alternative that will meet the needs of all but the most demanding performers. No, it’s not perfect, for reasons that have already been discussed. But its strengths outweigh its (hopefully software-correctable) flaws by such a wide margin that, in this time when ROMPLER-based synths seem to going the way of the dodo bird, the Integra-7 may be the parting shot for those of us who still prefer our sounds in a box.
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Thanks for publishing your review. I'm contemplating purchasing one but I am alarmed at some of the performance aspects (not quite addressed in your review) about note stealing as I have read about with just 2 layers (PNO+STR)... Yikes! It says you can edit from the unit itself but no editing of all the card sounds? Not even basic ADSR?? And no scanner chorus for the organ sounds? I'm a live player and this greatly concerns me. Here's the deal; is there room inside to add/update some of these shortcomings or will this turn into another 2 thumbs sideways due to restrictions, omissions and lack of solid updates which Roland seems to often be at the leaders of? For me it's about portability, power, and performance. I know it has the fire power but did you find the restrictions hampering your live performance?
ReplyDeleteThe whole "note stealing" issue has been way overblown. Unless you're using complex multi-timbral studio sets compositions with orchestrations you shouldn't have a problem running out of polyphony. I've created 10-part compositions combining piano, bass, drums, guitars, percussion and brass, often playing in unison, and have never had dropped notes. As for editing, I believe that the only PCM sounds that can't be edited are the "Expanded PCM/GM" expansion bank sounds. You should be able to edit all of "legacy XV" PCM sounds and the legacy the SRX sounds, although I don't believe you can't mix SRX or PCM partials into a SN "part."
DeleteHi I have a question .
ReplyDeleteIs the rotary encoder on your integra also a bit loose I mean mine is not like 100´% on -axis
It does wobble a bit when I turn it .
The sad thing is , that in some areas i even skips a value , or increments instead of decrements.
I don't use an editor , cause I like editing and creating from the front panel .
Do you have an idead what type of encoder is used ?
thanks in advance