[MartinMusicMan]

I got my EWI solo a few days ago but haven't had much time to play with it. First impressions:

Keys. Because it uses the ground contact system, there are no moving keys. This eliminates the key click that some people don't like on the Aerophone. But you have to be very precise with the key touches or you get note glitches. Also the octave rollers are very sensitive and you have to be very careful or you get octave jumps. This is also true on the Aerophone but because those are actual key buttons that you press, they're less likely to activate. I find that I have to practice my scales and arpeggios and play some familiar tunes to get used to playing the EWI with a minimum of note glitches.

No palm keys. There are no upper stack/left hand palm keys to go up through D, D#, E, F. You get to those notes by rolling up an octave. This takes some unlearning on my part because I automatically go up from the notes at the top of the horn up through the palm keys. But they aren't there. This is one thing I like about the AE-10 key layout. It does have keys to simulate those palm keys so you don't have to unlearn the muscle memory in your fingers.

The EWI has a left hand G# side key and one pinky table key. (Because the keys are contact points and don't actually move, the G# key will never stick. Same for the Aerophone. One advantage of wind synths.) There are lower right hand keys for C#, C, B, Bb. The Bb is with both lower right hand keys and the 1 left hand pinky key, as on a sax.

Because the keys don't move and are just contacts, it takes a bit of getting used to "feel" the key contact. Sometimes I thought I touched the side key but I hadn't. Yesterday, I had a small slice in one finger from opening a can and I had a bandage on it. When I tried to play the EWI, I was getting all kinds of odd note glitches, things weren't happening, all kinds of wrong notes until I realized (duh!) I had to take the bandage off because my finger wasn't closing the contact. Note to self: you can't play the EWI with anything on your finger.

Mouthpiece. The EWI mouthpiece is a flexible wide tube. You can do a sort of jaw vibrato by gently biting. The AE-10 has a simulated sax-type mouthpiece with a plastic "reed" but the reed doesn't actually vibrate to produce the sound. Both wind synths allow tonguing and jaw vibrato. The AE-10 feels more like a sax mouthpiece, but it isn't really. I quickly adapted to the EWI tube.

Internal speaker. EWI has one speaker which fires straight down out the bottom end. AE-10 has 2 speakers, one in the middle of the body that fires back at the player and one at the end which fires outwards from the player, not straight down.

Volume. My first impression was that the EWI solo is very low volume. I think this was because it was my first play test. I later realized that the volume is fairly sensitive to breath pressure. In short, if you blow hard, you get loud enough with the EWI by itself. For my first test, I put it through my desktop speakers and I had to crank them fairly high to get decent volume. Then I put it through my QSC K8 powered speaker and I could get enough volume to be at performance level. In contrast, I think the AE-10 is a bit louder using just the onboard speakers, but there are 2 of them and one is firing back at the player so it's not a fair comparison. For playing by itself, the EWI has enough volume especially if you blow hard. (I'm a loud player.) If you're going to play either one of these live, you'll need amplification.

Sounds. The EWI solo has 200 internal sounds, compared to the AE-10's 128. But that number is irrelevant depending on what sounds you want. The EWI has cup mute and Harmon mute trumpets whereas the AE-10 has only a mute trumpet. Which one you prefer is up to your personal taste. I really liked the Aerophone's mute trumpet. The EWI has several guitar sounds but I don't like any of them as much as I like the distortion guitar sound in the AE-10. (This may change as I get more experience with the EWI sounds and editing.) The EWI has several variations on B3-type organ sounds which I like, the AE-10 has only one as I recall. If you want to play bass, the EWI has several variations on bass sounds. Of the EWI's 200 sounds, about 90 of them are synth sounds. If you're looking for lots of synth variations, the EWI is your baby. Oh, if you were wondering about the sax sounds, well - meh. Most sax players are horrified by the sound of synthesized sax. The EWI has more variations on saxes than the AE-10, but I'm not interested in wind controllers for their sax sounds so I don't really listen to them.

MIDI. The EWI is also MIDI so you can connect it to your computer and play other sound banks that way. The Aerophone is also MIDI but I'm not into MIDI anymore so I can't compare either of these instruments on that score. To me, the whole point of both the EWI and the AE-10 is the internal sounds and not having to connect to a computer to play them. They both go direct to amp, powered speaker, PA, whatever. Just plug and play, kids.

Glide plate. Next to the octave rollers, it creates a very controllable and satisfying swoop. Technically, it's portamento. But over several octaves, it's another thing altogether. I can't wait to do this in the middle of a screaming solo.

Pitch bend plate. Underneath the right hand thumb plate is another plate that sticks out at an angle. When you move your thumb onto it, it bends whatever note you're playing up or down depending on how you have it set.

Onboard FX and editing sounds. The back panel of the EWI has several buttons. The FX button allows you to adjust reverb, chorus, delay. The Edit button lets you adjust pitch tuning, filter, LFO. You can save edited sounds. There is also editor software.

2 notes at once. There are 2 switches on the side of the EWI, the Hold Button and the Interval Button. One lets you hold a tone so you can play other notes over it (like a drone) and the other lets you play intervals (harmony). You set the interval to whatever you want - octaves, thirds, fifths, minor second (that last one's a joke about 2 soprano saxes playing in unison). The Aerophone also has a note hold feature but I haven't really explored it much. I don't think it has an interval feature, but again I haven't really looked into that.

Transpose. Yes, there is a transpose button. It's easy to use.

Battery. EWI has a rechargeable battery. The AE-10 takes a bunch of AA batteries and I use rechargeables, but it's nice to not have to take a bunch of batteries out, charge them, then put them back in. You just connect the EWI to the computer with USB cable provided and it recharges the built-in battery. Nice.

Looks. The EWI looks like a too-long, too-wide, too-big clarinet. One musician friend prefers this to the look of the AE-10 which to some people looks too "Star Wars." My favorite drummer called my AE-10 the thing or whatsit or thingamajig or whatchamacallit. I don't know what he will call the EWI. The AE-10 is shorter, wider, lighter. The EWI is heavier, in part I'm guessing because of the internal rechargeable battery.

New toys are always fun. :mrgreen:

 

[Sarge707]

How would you rate the sounds with the 2 speakers vs One? If the Solo sounds as Good or Better speaker wise I will most likely buy one. When your 71 you can't have enough stuff to play along with all my BIAB midi files!!! Can you save your favorite sounds by key touch like the Aerophone?

 

[MartinMusicMan]

How would you rate the sounds with the 2 speakers vs One? If the Solo sounds as Good or Better speaker wise I will most likely buy one. When your 71 you can't have enough stuff to play along with all my BIAB midi files!!! Can you save your favorite sounds by key touch like the Aerophone?

I'd have to say the Aerophone sounds better speaker-wise. It also sounds louder, I think partly because there's a speaker firing back at you. But if you play them through headphones or put them through desktop or other speakers, the difference disappears. On both you can save your favorite sounds to presets. They have different configurations for doing that, but the result is the same.

 

[Sarge707]

I'd have to say the Aerophone sounds better speaker-wise. It also sounds louder, I think partly because there's a speaker firing back at you. But if you play them through headphones or put them through desktop or other speakers, the difference disappears. On both you can save your favorite sounds to presets. They have different configurations for doing that, but the result is the same.

Wish they would have used the 2 speakers because I never run the Aerophone through my Roland mini cube and I play along with my Logitech 5-1 computer speakers with the subwoofer . Hopefully there will be video's with the stock speaker sounds. Thanks for review and I will find the manual.

 

[BrianMitchellBrody]

Not a bad deal at $499. I'm not in the market until next year but trying to decide between this one or 5000.

 

[3dogie]

Did a quick test with with speaker to a PL35 Electrovo-Voice Dynamic Supercardiod mic into my Peavy Modeling amp. I was very pleased. I am sure it will be even better with a suitable mic to a clean PA. Felt vibration in my fingers and I could amp the sound very loud so that my wife would yell at me. I was on the fence about the speaker due to the poorly recorded youtube videos. And then there was the marketing hype from AKAI which was very misleading, to me. Yes the speaker is not very loud by itself but there is an easy work around at a jam session. Use a wind screen on a mic like the above as you have to get really close to it. I guess you could velcro a wireless bell mic somehow. I was after a solution that didn't require anything but the EWI Solo and using the house mic and sound system. Found it as there are some very nice internal sounds that even sound better when they are amped via mic to proper sound equipment!!! I would not call my little test proper equipment so it has got to get even better. That gets a big WOW from me.

If someone who is more knowledgeable about mics could make a suggestion, that would be very helpful. Then we could know what to ask for.

I tried the same with my AE10g and the results were not satisfying but I do like the sounds of the AE10 better in headphones. I also have VG edits loaded and that makes a big difference.

Sound is so subjective and it depends on the type of music you play and who you play it with. The sounds I like on the Solo would not work with the bands I use to play with pre covid. I mainly use Mac software for gigs. I might be able to use a few on the Solo like the flute sounds.

I now have the longest wind controller(Solo), the widest (AE 10) and the smallest (WARBL).

Right before I got the Solo I had a Vindor ES2 but had to return due to an issue with the usb audio out. It had a MicroSD sample reader onboard. It was the only windcontroller that had clarinet-like fingerings and you could program your own fingering, not just modify theirs. The price, build and size were impressive. No lip pitch bend. I was able to port wave files from software that I had and got good results. Working with the ES2 I came to the conclusion that the big guys don't get it. The Vindor had audio and midi via usb and also audio via cable. There were other problems and I spent days finding work arounds.

The conclusion I came to is the big guys need to stop with on-board synths and offer on-board MicroSD sample capabilities and offer commercially available sounds so we can select what we want. I don't need or want 100 asian instruments. Get the cost down to the Vindor's range. Offer usb midi and audio out. Allow us to program fingerings with a web based application like Vindor. The Vindor did not have the option to add effects to the samples so I had to build them into the samples, which was very time consuming. I also was able to build in vibrato to compensate for not having lip bending. Maybe they will stick with it and update their web site and offer the ES3 and blow the competition out of the water. The Vindor was marketed to children. I want to adopt the kid that could figure the ES2 out. It looks like a toy but couldn't be farther from a toy. The physical modeling synth sounds were, "why bother".

 

[MartinMusicMan]

Did a quick test with with speaker to a PL35 Electrovo-Voice Dynamic Supercardiod mic into my Peavy Modeling amp. I was very pleased. I am sure it will be even better with a suitable mic to a clean PA. Felt vibration in my fingers and I could amp the sound very loud so that my wife would yell at me. I was on the fence about the speaker due to the poorly recorded youtube videos. And then there was the marketing hype from AKAI which was very misleading, to me. Yes the speaker is not very loud by itself but there is an easy work around at a jam session. Use a wind screen on a mic like the above as you have to get really close to it. I guess you could velcro a wireless bell mic somehow. I was after a solution that didn't require anything but the EWI Solo and using the house mic and sound system. Found it as there are some very nice internal sounds that even sound better when they are amped via mic to proper sound equipment!!! I would not call my little test proper equipment so it has got to get even better. That gets a big WOW from me.

If someone who is more knowledgeable about mics could make a suggestion, that would be very helpful. Then we could know what to ask for.

To each his own, but I wouldn't play into a mic, I go direct to my QSC powered speaker. You could go direct to your Peavey amp. If you want to be in the PA, you can go direct to the PA. I guess I don't understand why you want to use a mic and why you want that extra complication in your signal path. But I can accept you have your reasons.

I tried the same with my AE10g and the results were not satisfying but I do like the sounds of the AE10 better in headphones. I also have VG edits loaded and that makes a big difference.

Sound is so subjective and it depends on the type of music you play and who you play it with. The sounds I like on the Solo would not work with the bands I use to play with pre covid. I mainly use Mac software for gigs. I might be able to use a few on the Solo like the flute sounds.

I've just been playing my EWI with headphones and I'm surprised to say that the sax sounds are actually playable and don't make me cringe. I might change my mind the more I play with them, and especially when I put them through a powered speaker. But I like that the EWI has several different sounds for SATB, as well as onboard editing. I might play with the sax sounds some more, when I get further down the road. Right now, I don't think I'd use the sax sounds in a live band situation but that could change. It does depend on the type of music you're playing and how you want your part to sound.

I now have the longest wind controller(Solo), the widest (AE 10) and the smallest (WARBL).

Right before I got the Solo I had a Vindor ES2 but had to return due to an issue with the usb audio out. It had a MicroSD sample reader onboard. It was the only windcontroller that had clarinet-like fingerings and you could program your own fingering, not just modify theirs. The price, build and size were impressive. No lip pitch bend. I was able to port wave files from software that I had and got good results. Working with the ES2 I came to the conclusion that the big guys don't get it. The Vindor had audio and midi via usb and also audio via cable. There were other problems and I spent days finding work arounds.

The conclusion I came to is the big guys need to stop with on-board synths and offer on-board MicroSD sample capabilities and offer commercially available sounds so we can select what we want. I don't need or want 100 asian instruments. Get the cost down to the Vindor's range. Offer usb midi and audio out. Allow us to program fingerings with a web based application like Vindor. The Vindor did not have the option to add effects to the samples so I had to build them into the samples, which was very time consuming. I also was able to build in vibrato to compensate for not having lip bending. Maybe they will stick with it and update their web site and offer the ES3 and blow the competition out of the water. The Vindor was marketed to children. I want to adopt the kid that could figure the ES2 out. It looks like a toy but couldn't be farther from a toy. The physical modeling synth sounds were, "why bother".

I didn't know about either the WARBL or the Vindor ES2 until your post. Thank you. But I have enough to do with getting proficient on the EWI solo.

 

[Sarge707]

Very Good out of the box video. This is stock speaker in video! Mine is coming from Patchman music Monday! Matt says the Solo speaker is better than the Aerophone 10G.
I'm ready for the challenge of having both and the New sounds!

 

[MartinMusicMan]

Very Good out of the box video.

And here's another review video.

That out of the box video is odd in that before he even play tests it, he takes a screwdriver to a couple of the right hand pinky keys and swaps their positions. He clearly has experience with other EWIs and knows exactly how he wants his set up. It would never occur to me to unscrew a couple of keys and swap them around, especially before even turning the dang thing on. He must have learned this trick some time ago.

The other video that I linked to is unusual in that he's constantly comparing the Solo to the 4000 and other EWI's. Some of things he notices I wouldn't even be aware of. He notes that on the Solo, Akai has added what he calls an F# key for the right hand - what I think of as the Eb key. But what I figured out from the out-of-the-box video is that actually it's a half step down key, so no matter if you're playing A or B or G, if you touch that side key it flats whatever note you're playing. That 2nd video also has a couple other tips and tricks. He says to use the software editor to turn on legato mode - I thought that was the default, but maybe I'm confused about what he said or what the default setting is. But I haven't played with the software editor yet and will do that soon. Also, after watching this video, I played with the onboard global settings for the first time, mainly the breath sensor just to see how I might want to set it after I get more playing time on it.

I'm still struggling with the octave rollers, which the guy in the second video acknowledges that some people don't like. Indeed, it was these rollers that put me off the EWI when I first tried one many years ago. I'm learning to avoid unwanted octave jumps but it takes practice and I'm still struggling with it. I've already learned to keep my thumb way over to the left to avoid touching the glide plate and getting unwanted glissandos. But I'm still getting note glitches and I'm telling myself to approach it as a new instrument, not a variation on something else. One thing I will say is that there is no limit on speed except in how fast you can move your fingers. Because the keys don't move, you don't have to press anything down and there's nothing to slow you down except your own finger muscles and reaction times. It's kinda fun to speed up and down the range of 7 octaves at just under the speed of sound. But after you've done that for a while, you go back to playing music.

 

[3dogie]

EWI Solo Lyre
Had a steering wheel holder so I velroed and zip tied it to the solo. https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Ph...235&sprefix=iphone+stearing+wh,aps,188&sr=8-4

Audio out is running to aux in on SOLO and PUC+ BTLE midi from SOLO to iPhone 6s +. I can get better vol for backing tracks out of the speaker using Anytune Pro+ in AUM. Also you can feel the bass in your fingers.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MEQ9WDnXGTKqgzYbA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1xtq9Fk4J2ViMf8A8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/niEESgKJUahxs3oCA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WpFH4T95Ps8R52Dn9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zZspCnKBiBVTG1jm6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/DadC8CMMc3oZSUgA7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/h7ZQsxA8FrUQE2Vf7

Found that I needed more distance when I used the ipad so I used another mount right above the strap ring for the ipad mini. Also had to use a transparent thread running from the MP area to keep the ipad leaning towards me. Also wanted to use some ipad only apps. Took apart a Pyle CD car phone mount that will expand to fit a ipad mini. New car doesn't have a CD player.

 

[Sarge707]

Great Live stream All about the Solo and the settings of the unit. Coming from 2 casio horns and my Aerophone ae-10 which I have had 2 years I didn't care for the Solo at first- But every day I play it I like it More and More. Getting used to the rollers and touch takes time But day after day I see improvement and I Now Love it as much as the ae-10. In many cases the rollers are Better than the keys once you get used to them and going back and forth between the ae-10 and Solo has improved my playing and my main thing is sight reading BIAB and midi files from the internet. Dual speakers would have taken it over the top in my opinion!

 

[3dogie]

Great Live stream All about the Solo and the settings of the unit. !

I had problems with speaker vol as when I first got it I turned the breath sensitivity down to 0. I though it was going to be like my AE10 which I set at the lowest sensitivity. It was so hard to blow the noise of the air coming out the sides of my mouth drowned out the speaker. Also I drooled so much it dripped on my shirt. Changing to Bernie's suggested settings made all the difference and I actually had to turn the vol down in my headphones after I made the changes. The drool stopped and I don't notice the sound of air out the sides of my mouth. The speaker vol also increased to an acceptable level for a small room. Loud enough to get may wife, the music major/nazi, to complain.

Bernie explained how to use throat tremolo like I do with the harmonica. I didn't think to use it on the EWI before I saw the video. When practicing I use a battery powered Bose Soundlink speaker and the internal Solo speaker. The Bose brings out the bass. Just tried it through the Peavey Vyper1 guitar modeling amp and put a little tremolo to the Solo guitar sound and also use throat tremolo. Sounds great to me. While experimenting with different throat techniques I found that the Solo responded to sax growl. I have to learn to which sounds to use it with. I couldn't hear any effect from the speaker but when I put on headphones or plugged it into an amp, I could. So far I think it will work with the vibe sound to get the fast mallet effect in conjunction to the grace notes that Bernie referred to.

I have the WI wireless audio like he mentioned and you can plug that into the headphone jack for stereo wireless out. Maybe on a PA that may be good but to a guitar amp mono is all you need.

Had the EWI 5000, which I sold to get the AE10. I like the vibrato on the 5000, using Bernie's settings. With Bernie's settings on teh Solo I got the vibrato I like again. Too many settings on the AE10 but I got close. I really like the Solo settings screen and function. I can use about 5 out of 200 sounds. On the 5000 I only could use the organ sound. I can't use the violin or strings on the Solo as they sound to me like they were recorded off of a 78 rpm record or wax cylinder. I do use the AE10's violin and I am using the thumb controller for double stops. I have the SWAM violin but I still like the AE10 violin. I am looking for more of a fiddle sound and I can get closer with the AE.

 

[Sarge707]

"When practicing I use a battery powered Bose Soundlink speaker and the internal Solo speaker. The Bose brings out the bass." Quote ABOVE!

Thanks- I bought a Soundlink 2 and it works great at about 15% volumn with the solo speaker also on. The bass is Soooo clear on the bose even in the lowest octave. I play along to a logitec 5.1 computer speaker system with sub woofer and the soundlink works super with it. Also works great with the aerophone although it really doesn't need it. I run it wired with a 3.5 mm to 1/4 inch adapter.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

I just got done playing my EWI Solo with my band + extra guest, 6 of us all together. We were going to be in my back yard but with the smokey air and the heat, we decided to set up in my garage. I played my EWI through my QSC K8 powered speaker. I got to try out a bunch of sounds in a band context. The other players dug it. And so did I. The more I play it, the more I like it. I'm still getting used to the octave rollers and the glide plate right next to them. I have to keep my thumb over to the left to keep from accidentally hitting the glide plate. But I'm getting better at it. I think I like the EWI more than my Aerophone AE-10. There's some fun sounds on this thing. And I used Bernie's breath settings (from the video that Sarge707 linked to). That really increased the volume when played without an amp. I found that when I put it through the powered speaker, I really had to back off the volume on the speaker. It was loud even playing with 2 guitars, bass, harp, and cajon drums.

I've ordered a guitar wireless kit. Not a real high end one, so I'll see how much sound quality suffers with wireless vs. wired. But I love the idea of just sitting on my deck with the speaker back in the living room and playing away with just the EWI. A fellow sax player stopped by while we were jamming and I briefly showed him the EWI. He thought it was cool. I'm glad I got to play it with other musicians. I look forward to doing that again soon. And next time, I'll be wireless.

 

[Sarge707]

Loving the Solo but trying to weed out a couple of earlier saved sounds? Can you delete a saved sound within a bank to narrow down your choices in each of the 4 Groups? Not covered in the manual?

 

[MartinMusicMan]

Loving the Solo but trying to weed out a couple of earlier saved sounds? Can you delete a saved sound within a bank to narrow down your choices in each of the 4 Groups? Not covered in the manual?

Good question. I don't know the answer.

 

[Sarge707]

Good question. I don't know the answer.

All I could think of is factory reset but then you have to input Bernie's Global settings all over again and All your favorites again. Maybe a EWI expert has a clue?

 

[MartinMusicMan]

All I could think of is factory reset but then you have to input Bernie's Global settings all over again and All your favorites again. Maybe a EWI expert has a clue?

I think the Solo is the only EWI with favorites banks, but I could be wrong. I sent a technical support question to Akai through their web site. I'll report back if I get an answer. Interestingly, for tech support inquiries you are supposed to select the product you're asking about from a drop down list. The EWI Solo must be too new because it's not in the long list, as far as I could see.

But this question is part of the reason I haven't saved any sounds to my favorites banks. I'm still auditioning sounds and trying to decide which ones I want to save in which bank in which order. Once I save them, if I can't delete or move sounds, I'm very hesitant to lock myself into a set of sounds in a specific order in a bank.

 

[Sarge707]

I think the Solo is the only EWI with favorites banks, but I could be wrong. I sent a technical support question to Akai through their web site. I'll report back if I get an answer. Interestingly, for tech support inquiries you are supposed to select the product you're asking about from a drop down list. The EWI Solo must be too new because it's not in the long list, as far as I could see.

But this question is part of the reason I haven't saved any sounds to my favorites banks. I'm still auditioning sounds and trying to decide which ones I want to save in which bank in which order. Once I save them, if I can't delete or move sounds, I'm very hesitant to lock myself into a set of sounds in a specific order in a bank.

I have found if I save 12 tones in a bank I can move the top 3 tones to the front by overwriting # 1-3 BUT you end up with 15 tones in that bank. If I save my Best tones in position 1-3 in each bank I can have 12 tones that are fairly easy to change to BUT the 7 tones you can save to keys on the Aerophone seems better if you perform live (Which I don't do).

 

[MartinMusicMan]

BUT the 7 tones you can save to keys on the Aerophone seems better if you perform live (Which I don't do).

I have played live with the Aerophone and used the user slots to set up my favorites. Still, when I wanted to change quickly, I had to take the Aerophone out of my mouth, look down at the little window and push the button to select the next tone (sometimes hard to do if the lighting is not good), then put it back in my mouth to play. I haven't played the EWI Solo live except at a jam in my garage, but I like that if you have the tones set in a favorites bank, you can use the side keys to go up or down in the bank while you're playing. Bernie showed that in his video. The tones change instantly and you can keep on playing. I think that's an improvement over the Aerophone system.