Edirol PCR-800

But they don’t have to be. If you’ve ever heard a synth wizard like Joe Zawinul wail away, you know that the secret to expressive synthesis is realtime sound warping. Modulation, pitch bending, and velocity are a start; aftertouch is better, and having a slew of programmable controls is best.

If you’re in the market for a master controller, you have a zillion options — so we understand if you’re not too excited by yet another one. However, the Edirol PCR-800 brings some interesting twists to the genre, particularly the way it interacts with software. In fact, you could consider the PCR-800 to be a control surface that happens to have a keyboard attached as easily as a keyboard with a control surface. Intrigued? I was. . . .

HARDWARE

The first thing you notice is that there are nine faders, not eight, implying that Edirol has thought about players with software B-3 organs. The knobs and faders feel unusually solid for this type of product, with no “wobble factor.” I have mixed feelings about the horizontal crossfader: On the plus side, it has that light DJ feel with no resistance, so you can flip it wicked fast. However, the fader cap flexes not only up and down but side-to-side, and that makes me think that if your scratching got overzealous, you might launch that cap right off the stem. Then again, maybe it’ll outlive me. . . .

Suitably impressed with the controls, I reached around back to plug in a USB cable. Surprise! All connections hook up to the left end block of the keyboard. Some players don’t dig this, but it has two advantages: In a home studio with limited space, you can butt the back of the keyboard right up against your computer screen(s). Onstage, tiers on your keyboard stand won’t get in the way of any of your connections.

The keyboard action was a surprise as well, especially given the price. It doesn’t have the “springy” feel of some other keyboards I’ve played, and its silky feel is more dignified than many synth-action keyboards. Velocity response is consistent (I’m not a fan of keyboards where hitting with the same apparent velocity outputs different values) and while the aftertouch isn’t the very best I’ve experienced (the Korg M3 gets that nod, but it’s a $3,000 workstation), it is smooth. Frankly, I’m thrilled that Edirol realizes aftertouch is important enough to include on low-cost keyboards.

On the subject of unexpected goodies, there’s a MIDI merge function that can send data from the MIDI in jack to the physical MIDI out or to the USB port. What’s cool about that? If you decide to augment the PCR-800 with even more knobs and faders courtesy of an outboard unit, all you need is one cable to hook it into the PCR-800’s MIDI in, and you’re ready to go.

The PCR-800 uses the standard Roland combo stick where side-to-side motion bends pitch, and pushing upward does modulation. Some people love this, some hate it: The former because it makes it easy to do both pitch and mod with a single gesture, the latter because you can’t leave the mod “wheel” in an “on” position.

SOFTWARE

The problem with having a ton of controllers, of course, is making them control the desired targets. I had visions of poking buttons while watching the 4-digit LED until I went insane, but there’s Editor software included on a CD, with updated versions on Edirol’s web site (see Figure 1 at top right). Sometimes, software like this is an afterthought, causing more problems than it solves, but not here: The PCR Editor is simple to use, letting you click on a picture of the PCR-800 to assign controls, and even do things like program sys-ex messages you can then trigger from, say, the pads.

Speaking of Windows, there are drivers for Windows XP and x64, and 64-bit Vista as well as 32-bit. Yes, they work. As part of the apparent minority of people who like Vista and the even smaller minority that uses 64-bit Vista, I’m always grateful when a company creates 64-bit drivers.

IN USE

Edirol is a division of Roland, who announced at this year’s winter NAMM show that they acquired a majority share of Cakewalk. So I figured I’d try the PCR-800 with Cakewalk Sonar, which includes a feature called ACT (Active Controller Technology) that provides a “unified field theory” for control surfaces: Whatever window in Sonar has the focus — soft synth, audio effect, mixer window, etc. — automatically maps its controls to whatever surface you’re using. Some older Sonar devices (such as TTS-1) don’t support ACT, but just about everything else does. I assumed I’d have plenty to write about, as I would need to describe getting everything to talk to each other and work.

True, setting up ACT isn’t trivial, yet once I got basic settings squared away — choosing the right MIDI I/O for the keyboard, telling Sonar what controller I was using, and loading appropriate presets in the PCR-800 and Sonar — everything worked as advertised. In that respect, the PCR-800 shines: It has a dedicated preset, and fits Sonar like a glove.

When the mixer had the focus, the PCR-800 faders let me tweak levels; and when, say, the Rapture soft synth had the focus, I could tweak a variety of parameters from the knobs and sliders. My only complaints about the process relate more to ACT than the PCR-800: The default assignments are not always what I would choose, but then again, you can tweak these using ACT’s “learn” function.

CONCLUSIONS

Yes, there are 10,454 USB MIDI keyboards out there, but this one justifies its existence. First, there’s the affordable price, which goes down further if you need fewer keys: the 49-key PCR-500 and 32-key PCR-300 list for $349 and $299, respectively. Control-wise, they’re identical to the PCR-800. If you surgically removed the keyboard, the PCR-800 would make a very nice control surface (attention Edirol: new product idea for free).

There are lots of little features, such as being able to send a constant velocity from the keyboard, generate MIDI clock, specify the velocity curve that comes up at power-on, set up a two-part layer or split, use one of ten memory locations to save complete setups, and my favorite, transmitting a snapshot of all control settings. This is great for initializing control values setup at the beginning of a sequence.

Granted, the competition is fierce, and there are many apples-and-oranges comparisons lurking in this product genre. However, there’s no doubt the PCR-800 is well-built, cost-effective, and versatile; and if you happen to use Sonar, the PCR-800 feels like a part of the program rather than something bolted-on. Whatever DAW you use, I think anyone who buys a PCR-series controller will feel that they got their money’s worth — and then some.

CLAIM CHECK

Edirol’s marketing manager Michael Barrett says, “The PCR-800, 500, and 300 controllers are the successors to the popular PCR-M series. We listened to musicians, producers, DJs, and songwriters prior to creating a new controller with a strong yet unique feature set, great keyboard feel with aftertouch, and Roland’s high quality standards. With 50 physical controls, users can express their creativity quickly and easily. The Dynamic Mapping feature means less programming, as it lets the PCR automatically assign its physical controls to important parameters, e.g. those in the current window. It’s currently compatible with Cakewalk Sonar 6.2, 6.2 LE, and 7, as well as Propellerhead Reason 4.01. The crossfader was built with DJs in mind — many satisfied PCR users concur that its light, no-resistance feel is preferred for fast scratching and crossfades.”

GORY DETAILS

PCR EDITOR / DRIVER SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Mac: Intel or G4 processor 867MHz or faster, OS 10.3.9 or later.
PC: 800MHz or faster processor, Windows XP/2000/x64/Vista (32- and 64-bit).