Akai ProfessionalEWI Solo - Electronic Wind Instrument With Built-in Speaker, Rechargeable Battery, 200 Sounds and USB MIDI Connectivity,Black

I use to play the tenor sax and decided to go back to it after many years, and I'm on the senior side of life. I bought a new Jean Paul Tenor. Then I saw the Yamaha 120 EWI and bought it to practice with. Not a good idea. It simply didn't work for me. Then I came across the Akai EWI PRO Solo a month later and thought this might be something to try, per the reviews. It is much easier to play than the Yamaha. it's not a real sax, but it's lightweight, and the fingering is similar. The best part is I can put on earphones and practice without anyone yelling at me or disturbing the neighborhood. I've only had it for a few days, and the programming is not easy to learn, but it works, and I can, with a little effort play a tune. It is an instrument one has to learn how to play, don't expect it to be like a standard instrument, which in my case is a Tenor Sax. Oh yeah, it has like 200 different instruments one can play on it. So, I shouldn't get bored. I'm going to keep it, For the money it seems like a good investment.

At some point you need to upgrade to newer versions of these types of devices for compatibility, new sound options, etc. Advise - get a good case. These types of instruments are not very road worthy, so I would not consider a gig bag/soft case, especially given the price point for this instrument. Do it right. Plenty of tutorials on YouTube. Built-in sounds are pretty good. Overall, I am happy with my purchase.

Para mí, que no soy músico ni profesional en música sino un simple aficionado, este EWI SOLO es un instrumento casi perfecto. Sus 200 instrumentos son muy variados y bien logrados. Los atajos para programarlo son muy útiles. Lo amo. Lo único malo es la falta de documentación sobre su programación y configuración. Si no se configura bien suena fatal, pero bien configurado es un regalo para el alma.

This is the first instrument of this type I have owned. I'm starting out by just playing scales using the default EWI fingering. It's not difficult and the fingering works well for me. I was initially concerned about the non moving keys. This ended up not being an issue at all. The only problem here I run into is with the rollers. Sometimes my hangs are pretty dry. The rollers seem to be sensitive to this. Give my thumb a lick and all is well.My biggest issue with it is too many of the instrument sounds ( programs ) are terrible. I'm not a musician, I play for my own enjoyment. I not very good but I can tell when scales sound right or not. I also know that I'm playing them properly. What I find on many of the programs is I play a scale and at some point it like the rest of the scale got transposed a bit and I know its not me. I have monitored the notes played via midi and they are correct. On some of the programs, the notes start of smooth and nice sounding, then suddenly get raspy sounding. This always happens in the same place when playing scales. The worse offender is program 34. Play a scale and I get a sound that just doesn't belong at A# 3rd octave.I'm hoping my copy is just broken and I can get it resolved. Unfortunately I'm past the return period so I will have to work through Akai, not that I know that will be an issue or not, just not likely to be as fast as returning it and getting another.I like the idea behind the EWI5000, but for now, I get more disappointed the more I play.Update: dropping from 3 to 1 star.Because I was out of the Amazon 30 day period I had to go through Akai. First tried the support forum, once it looked like it might be a problem with the EWI, Akai stopped responding. I went to the more formal warranty support page and have not heard anything.Guess I'll have to be satisfied with the sounds that sound OK.Update: If I could leave negative stars I would. I saw Akai commented, I used their support contact form twice. Best I got was an email saying I should have been helped by now, please take this survey, ya right. I was on the fence between the EWI and Roland, wish I would have gotten the Roland.

Item arrived on time well packed new and un-opened. I received my ewi solo faster than I would have through any other places estimated delivery time. I found this appealing. I would order from this seller again! Everything works perfectly. I won't review the item as there are 100s from people who's opinions are important.I am a flautist and whistle player. After changing the sensitivity and velocity to something more realistic to my accustomed play style, both needing to be considerably more sensitive, I am quite happy with my purchase!

This instrument can do amazing things, and some of the new features are amazing. Navigation through the programming menus is dead easy, and the four banks of favourites are quite useful.The quality of the onboard sounds are decent enough, more of them than you’ll probably need.The bite and breath sensors are adjustable from 0 to 100. You can save these settings with your favourites. This means you can program individual instruments to respond realistically and appropriately to the instrument. For example, a trumpet typically takes more breath pressure than a flute. When you use this ability correctly, it feels closer to the real instrument and can be played genuinely.The one shortcoming of this design is the onboard speaker. No speaker that runs off a battery like that could possibly be adequate for the volume threshold of a real instrument. Because it is so quiet you will find yourself overblowing in order to be heard. I use the instrument with a 100 watt amplifier which allows me to play everything from a breathy whisper up to a “full blown” howl. It’s easy to fine tune the volume with the knob.As a MIDI controller this has unlimited possibilities.The sensors relay information to the DAW which captures the expressions perfectly and brings plugin instruments to life. The touch keys are incredibly responsive and can be adjusted (though I have not needed to adjust the sensitivity). It is possible to play bagpipe grace notes like the taorluath and throw on D with this instrument, which would be near impossible to do on a saxophone or an instrument with mechanical parts.This is the EWI to get if you are a serious musician, however plan to buy a good portable amplifier if you want to be able to play it properly. It is okay with headphones connected, but even here an in-line amplifier is a good idea.

Premetto che sono un clarinettista professionista, nonché un cantautore...Ho acquistato EWI Solo Akai una ventina di giorni fa, incuriosito dallo strumento e dalle sue possibilità sonore, infatti avevo bisogno di uno strumento versatile e con timbri di sintetizzatore per potermi sbizzarrire nei soli strumentali delle mie canzoni.Che dire? Ho trovato tutto quello che cercavo, timbri di sintetizzatore accattivanti, ben 7 ottave di estensione, possibilità di suonare in cuffia collegandolo tramite jack al mio multitraccia digitale, batteria ricaricabile che dura 12 ore, tasti metallici fissi e quindi senza rumore quando vengono toccati, effetti FX come riverbero, chorus, delay incorporati, possibilità di salvare in 4 banchi di memoria i timbri preferiti o che si vogliono avere a portata di mano...in più aggiungete il fatto che fa dei glissati di grande effetto e ha ben 200 timbri sonori.Queste sono le note positive e le caratteristiche che me lo hanno fatto amare... è bellissimo suonarlo la notte in cuffia, magari sopra una base che posso fare entrare nello strumento stesso dall' ingresso Aux in.Dimenticavo di dirvi che Ewi Solo ha anche una cassa inserita all' interno della campana... potrebbe essere comoda se si vuole suonare subito senza cuffie e senza collegarlo all' amplificazione...peccato però che il volume sia molto basso e i timbri non vengono esaltati...di conseguenza io personalmente preferisco suonare in cuffia o collegandolo ad un altoparlante.Ho letto recensioni su questo strumento che criticano i timbri degli strumenti tradizionali e acustici, come il sassofono... certamente questi timbri non sono molto fedeli agli strumenti reali, proprio perché Ewi solo non è un sax digitale e non nasce per sostituirlo... è al contrario uno strumento a se stante, che ha una propria diteggiatura e una propria espressività musicale! Se hai chiaro questo concetto allora apprezzerai questo strumento e sicuramente ne farai un uso giusto.Concludo informandovi che potete installare nel PC il programma che permette all' Ewi Solo di interfacciarsi con il computer per avere il controllo di tutti i parametri su schermo...potete inoltre cambiare tipo di diteggiatura fra sax, flauto, oboe ed Ewi.Se ascoltate il mio brano intitolato OCCHI SENZA LUCE (testo e musica di Marco Venneri) su YouTube, vi renderete conto nei soli strumentali di quello che può fare questo strumento!

Suena increíble. Tiene un montón de efectos y es supercomodo. Lo recomiendo aunque la sensación es rara al principio pero funciona increíble y suena mejor aún.

No entiendo por qué es el EWI de menor precio de AKAI si es de los mejores, su librería de 200 sonidos no está mal aunque el 4000s tiene mejores, pero al conectarlo a un módulo MIDI o un ordenador explotas su potencial, la bocina interna casi no se escucha nada, pero es ideal para ensayar en las noches; si eres saxofonista te costará adaptarte un poco a la dinámica de este nuevo instrumento pero después de unos meses lo vas a dominar y lo mejor es que puedes editar los sonidos a tu gusto, la sensibilidad y dinámica del viento es fenomenal, aunque no tiene mucha velocidad al hacer stacatto.

El otro comprador probablemente no leyó el manual, ya que ahí se detalla la secuencia de botones a presionar para encender la unidad. No descarto que la pila podría venir mal programada, ya he sabido de gente que reporta problemas similares pero por fortuna existen tutoriales en línea que te ayudan a reiniciar el cíclo de la batería. También hay que considerar que existen otros modelos de EWI y que si la opción con batería recargable no es lo que buscas, puedes buscar una version con baterías regulares... eso sin mencionar que puedes usar el EWI con bus power si lo conectas con el cable USB. El EWI ha sufrido pocas alteraciones en su diseño a lo largo de su vida como producto (existe desde los 80) y es que la verdad es muy durable. Está hecho de aluminio y plástico rígido, sin partes móviles y con refacciones fáciles de encontrar y remplazar (ya sea la batería, la boquilla o etc).