Roland E-96 | RELIABLE | PLAYBOOK |

Unlike the cheap spring-loaded wheels on modern controllers, the E-96 has a massive, horizontal pitch bend lever. It feels like the joystick on an arcade fighter jet. It allows for incredibly expressive dive bombs that you just can’t get on a plastic MIDI controller. It’s heavy, smooth, and satisfying.

Let’s be realistic. A modern Yamaha Genos costs $6,000 and has 2GB of flash memory, touch screens, and audio over USB. The Roland E-96 cannot compete on sound realism. roland e-96

A 64 x 240 dot matrix backlit LCD. It looks prehistoric compared to today’s color touchscreens, but in 1995, this was high-tech. It displayed chord names, style elements, and patch names clearly. Unlike the cheap spring-loaded wheels on modern controllers,