Other than that: Fun. Effective. Durable. It's a Roland for chrissakes! This thing, if you want a key-tar, will be everything you hope for. I'd say about a 10 hour learning curve though, which is a little much for someone experienced in MIDI.

But then again I do think its a lot more fun to play live when people know your jumping around like a goon with it. Me and 2 friends produce stuff close to U-ziq/ Aphex Twin and so it's cool to let them handle effects/sequencing and keyboards while I jump around and feel like I was in Duran Duran with my red keyboard. Nice Roland, good Roland, make me a gold ax-1 please.

One tip on batteries. I find using the Duracell ProCell 9V (PP3) batteries is far more reliable than using the AA ones. You just disconnect the battery pack and the connector is there. On top of that you can then store two spares in the battery compartment as well in case the unthinkable happens mid gig. Much prefer that to the possibility of using a power supply.

On stage, my gear consists of 2 XP-50's, an XP-80, JV-80, D-50, U-110, several older analog synths, and a B-3. I have all the Roland gear connected with your basic midi cables, and have each assigned to receive on a different channel. (AX hooks to the XP-80, thru to XP-50, thru to XP-50, thru to JV, etc, etc).

Unlike Bazz (see other post), most performers enjoy, and want to interact with the other member of the show and with the audience. The AX with the wireless setup allows me to leave the stage and work the crowd for interaction, making them feel as if they are part of the show, and they leave at the end of the night with the feeling that they have been well entertained.

Forget the book. In order to save the rest of you the frustration, here is how you change the preset patches on the AX-1 to have the sounds you want.

Press PATCH to turn off the patch mode Press PROGRAM CHANGE Enter the number of the sound you want (i.e. 63 check the documentation of synth your using to control the AX-1 to determine the Program Change number of the sound you want) Press ENTER The AX-1 will now be playing this sound. To put it into a preset patch number, Press and hold the WRITE button and press the Patch number you want this sound in. If you wnt/don't want Reverb and/or Chorus after you have done this turn them on or off and then press WRITE adn the Patch number again.

These are the basics. The Roland EX-10 that I am using to control my AX-1 has many variations of each preset sound. I haven't figured out how to get those variations into the AX-1 yet. But when I do I'll update this review.