FR-8xb questions

[petch]

Hi all, I've got a few questions if an owner of an FR-8xb would be so kind as to answer them for me. I could answer these myself by trying one but the nearest one available to be is in Liverpool

1. I'm not sure how to word this question as I'm unfamiliar with the proper terminology, but on my acoustic button accordion if I'm playing legato and repeating a note I can lift the button a little bit but not fully release it, so the sound never stops but there are 2 distinct notes played. Is this possible on the Roland button accordions?
2. Similar question for the bass side, on an acoustic accordion I can half-press the buttons for a softer(?) sound. I know Roland advertise their buttons as velocity sensitive, but in my mind that's how hard/quickly the button is pressed (for use with orchestral sounds), not detecting if the button is only half-pressed
3. Can it be played without the battery, directly off mains? If so, does the cable for this get in the way?
4. Bit of a technical one - when using headphones, can the L/R be balanced? I don't mean the bass and treble halves of the accordion, but the actual L/R for stereo headphones. I've lost most of my hearing in my left ear, so for a 'balanced' sound when using headphones with my computer or phone I use accessibility options to change the L/R balance so the left driver is double the volume of the right

Thanks!

 

[Dingo40]

Petch,
Welcome!
I'd love to help, but I know nothing about electronic instruments, sorry.
The go to guy in that department around here tends to be JerryPH: perhaps he'll chip in

 

[JerryPH]

1. I'm not sure how to word this question as I'm unfamiliar with the proper terminology, but on my acoustic button accordion if I'm playing legato and repeating a note I can lift the button a little bit but not fully release it, so the sound never stops but there are 2 distinct notes played. Is this possible on the Roland button accordions?

I think you are referring to a disjoint between the reeds due to improper amount of air coming in.
Nope, there are no reeds in an 8X. Now, I may not be understanding what you are really saying. Care to make a video demonstrating what you are talking of?

1. Similar question for the bass side, on an acoustic accordion I can half-press the buttons for a softer(?) sound. I know Roland advertise their buttons as velocity sensitive, but in my mind that's how hard/quickly the button is pressed (for use with orchestral sounds), not detecting if the button is only half-pressed

No. You control bass volume with the bellow pressure. Velocity sensitivity comes in for percussive instruments (piano, guitar, drums).

1. Can it be played without the battery, directly off mains? If so, does the cable for this get in the way?

Yes, it can be played without the battery. If you read the manual, you will find an integrated way to kind of hide the cable for the most part. That said, all cables kind of interfere and all cables drop and fall down to the group, thats the nature of gravity... how much that bothers someone, well a lot depends on the player.

1. Bit of a technical one - when using headphones, can the L/R be balanced? I don't mean the bass and treble halves of the accordion, but the actual L/R for stereo headphones. I've lost most of my hearing in my left ear, so for a 'balanced' sound when using headphones with my computer or phone I use accessibility options to change the L/R balance so the left driver is double the volume of the right

No (well, not easily). That said I'd recommend sending the sound in to a traditional stereo amp where you have control over balance, tone and volume. The "not easily" comment means that you can control the L/F balance of the outputs in the programming, but that would affect it both with and without headphones, unplugged and unplugged.

Hope that helps.

 

[petch]

Thanks Jerry, very helpful. I guess if the bass buttons can't be half-pressed then your answer to my first question would be correct. I'll try record a video regardless.

The amp output is a good idea!

 

[Pipemajor]

With regard to he headphone query, would not headphone with separate volume controls for left and right channels help.
I have, somewhere, a set of ancient Koss headphones which would alter the balance from 0 to 100%.
I'm sure there are more modern, lighter equivalents