However, dare I say - it didn't have that primal, old-school quality you might expect from an old modular, but more of a clean, disciplined sound; big and powerful but precise - very Roland, if not a bit clinical. I have a few vintage Rolands I could compare the sound to (SH5, Jupiter 6) but the basic tone just kept reminding me of my Juno 60!!

As far as possibilities go, for all the money and space that would need to be found for a synth like this, I don't feel like I would be gaining anything radically different to what I already have, as the patching seemed a bit limiting. But overall, the System 700 is just sheer class to work with. All those dark, spacious panels are a joy to tweak and the synth is glorious to behold. Even though it's got a slightly clinical edge to the sound and is not as flexible as you might like, it still sounds huge and I wish I had one!!

When I first got it, I wasn't impressed with it's grey body, and some silver buttons. It looks like a kiddie keyboard. But once I turned it on, the sound impressed me a bit. After a few weeks, I can honestly say that I learned all I know about synths and music recording/production from this keyboard. It's manual is very helpful and these synths are simple enough for a newbie, such as myself, to be able to produce songs in minutes.

Despite the fact that the system 700 has only 6-watt speakers , most of its sounds sound better than on a top-of-the-line pro synth. For example, I find that it's piano sounds are rich and full as well as it's strings. The system 700 also has nice bass, although the 6-watt speakers don't really do much as far as bass is concerned.

In conclusion, I think this is the perfect keyboard for anyone new to synths and even good enough for a pro. The 700 features amazing simplicity but just enough power. Without this keyboard, I probably wouldn't still be playing piano.

I've had the Roland system 700 for 4 years now and hope to upgrade to a Moog soon but I'm not rushing :)