Roland GO:Keys 5
Roland GO:Keys 5

This is my review on the Roland GO:KEYS 5 arranger keyboard. Note that this review also applies to the GO:Keys 3, which is exactly the same as the 5, except: the 5 has bigger speakers, LR line out ports a mic input with effects, and an extra USB port. Now if you follow my channel, you probably know I’m usually a “Yamaha” guy, but I have to say – these new GO:Keys keyboards are absolutely AMAZING – Roland has really set a new standard for features here; enough so that I immediately ordered my own GO:Keys 5, and it is likely to become my new super portable keyboard option, beating out my Yamaha PSR-EW425. While the prior GO:Keys & GO:Piano keyboards were . . . decent products, they didn’t impress me anywhere near as much as these new models, which are FAR more advanced.

Feature Summary

Given the huge feature list, I thought it would quickly summarize it:

  • 61 piano shaped (& TRUE full-size) synth action keys, with 9 levels of touch response
  • 1154 sounds (ZEN-Core – same sound engine as in the Roland Fantom; expandable!) with 93 multi and 15 global effects, 4 types of reverb & 256 notes of polyphony
  • 203 arranger styles (expandable) with mutable parts & 4 variations
  • four fingering options for chord detection, including 2 full keyboard detection options, and some other unique features
  • Chord Sequencer with 304 built in chord patterns and you can enter your OWN chord chart and play it back using ANY of the arranger styles!
  • 256 user “scenes” (these are your registrations)
  • onboard MIDI recorder (up to 99 songs), record audio (.wav) to USB flash
  • good user interface with context sensitive screen, dedicated buttons for common features like transpose, octave shift, split & layer, and a well thought out workflow
  • pitch bend wheel
  • Connectivity is decent on the GO:Keys 3 and borderline spectacular on the GO:Keys 5 which adds some gigging extras like mic inputs with effects & gain, as well as proper left and right line out ports
  • Super portable at only 11 lbs, and can run on 8 x AA batteries
  • Speakers (the wattage on both models is a “big secret” though lol):
    • GO:Keys 3 has two 12 x 6cm speakers
    • GO:Keys 5 has two 5cm speakers with a speaker box and 2 radiators

Check For Updates!

Unlike alot of the competition in this range, Roland actually DOES provide regular updates so before I get started on the review, here is how you can check your version and update it if necessary.

  • Press the “Menu” button, and use the right arrow to scroll to “Information” and then press the “Enter” key and the version will be displayed (when I checked mine it was Version 1.03, Build 64)
  • Look on Roland’s site for the most current version you can download; if it is newer than yours then:
    • Grab a flash drive (it’s a good idea to format it using the keyboard):
      • Insert it into the “Memory USB” port
      • Press “Menu” and use the right arrow button to navigate to “Utility” and press “Enter”
      • Use the right arrow to navigate to “Format” and press “Enter” and then “OK” (use the arrow to select “OK” and then press “Enter”)
    • Move the flash drive to your pc and download the update file from Roland’s site; this will be a compressed .ZIP file
      • extract the contents of that file on your pc; it will create a folder something like “gokeys_sys_v104” with a .BIN file inside
      • copy the .BIN file to the root folder of your flash drive
  • Put the flash drive back into your keyboard
    • GO:KEYS 5
      • hold down the [mic] button and turn on the power to the unit.
    • GO:KEYS 3
      • hold down the [Bluetooth] button and turn on the power to the unit.
    • The message ” ===update=== ” appears on the display, and the update operation starts.
    • Continue to hold down the [mic] or [Bluetooth] button until ” ===update=== ” appears on the display (then you can let go 🙂
      When the message ” =update finished.= ” appears, the update operation has finished.
    • The update operation takes about 5 minutes; once complete turn off the power and disconnect the flash drive
  • Turn the keyboard back on, and follow the initial steps here to check the current version to confirm that the update worked; I updated mine from 1.03 Build 64 to 1.04 Build 71)

Key Action

OK so I thought I’d start by talking about the one thing none of us can just “go look up on the internet” – the key action; when I ordered my GO:Keys 5, I already knew about most of the super cool features this keyboard has, but the one thing I DIDN’T know about (because no stores in my area had any in stock that I could test) was the key action. From my online research before I bought, I knew that it wasn’t a fully weighted and graded hammer action, and I also knew that it had box shaped piano style keys. And since prior Roland GO’s actually had TRUE full size keys as opposed to the narrower keys you’ll find on synth action keyboards from Yamaha & Casio, I was hopeful that would be the case with these new models as well.

Octave Width

Well, when I unboxed it I could immediately see that like the prior models, the GO:Keys 5 DOES have true full size keys; the octave width IS a proper 164mm, so great job there Roland! And I also noticed that the keys have a matte finish to them as opposed to the glossy keys you find on Yamahas. Well I have to admit, when I first tried the key action? I wasn’t super impressed; I actually found the keys to be SUPER slippery; when trying to do quick scale runs my fingers would slip off. I also found the black keys aren’t as high as normal which was a bit strange and might have also contributed to my fingers slipping. BUT . . . I also have to say that after playing it for a day or two? I got used to it quickly, and my opinion has totally changed; I now really like the action, it just took a bit to get used to. I don’t know if it is actually semi-weighted or not, but it definitely feels semi-weighted to me. I play mostly on a true semi-weighted action on my Hammond SK Pro, and sometimes on the fully weighted piano action on my Yamaha DGX-670, and the weight on this Roland does feel semi-weighted. And while the action is REALLY quiet when you play normally which is great; if you do a piano glissando or an organ smear; the keys snapping back into place are really loud, so keep that in mind.

So overall, how would I rate the action on the GO:Keys 5 and 3? I love the fact that the keys are true full size and have an almost semi-weighted feel to them – they are a good compromise for being able to play piano pieces expressively as well as playing non piano sounds like organ etc. And keep in mind there are NINE levels of touch sensitivity available, so you can really dial in to a setting that fits your playing style. The only real negative about the action is the snapping noise during glissandos.

For playing piano pieces, I would rank the GO:Keys action as far better than the super light synth action on Yamaha PSR-E series keyboards, and also a bit better than the action on Casiotone keyboards (mostly since the Casiotones aren’t true full size keys). The only non fully weighted keyboard close to this price range that … might have a more realistic piano action to me would be the Korg Liano.

Sounds (& ZEN-Core)

Ok so the sounds on the GO:Keys 5 and 3 are courtesy of Roland’s ZEN-Core sound engine. What is ZEN-Core? To be honest, I’m just learning about it myself, but the basic idea is that ZEN-Core is a massive repository of sounds that can be used by both compatible software (so sound engines, DAWs etc) AND compatible hardware (so Roland keyboards like the famous Roland Fantom synthesizers, the Roland FP-E50 digital piano, and others like the new GO series). And the most attractive feature (at least for some)? You can download new sounds (and new styles as well), which I will get to in a bit.

The GO:Keys 5 and 3 come with a staggering 1154 sounds already built in and another staggering feature for a keyboard in this price range: 256 notes of polyphony! So how do you possibly FIND the voices you want? Well I’ll go over that in the user interface section, but there are multiple ways to zero in on your sounds; Roland did a pretty good job with that. One thing to note is that there are some symbols associated for each sound that you’ll notice in the menu:

  • PR = GO:Keys Presets
  • CM = Common
  • CD = Common Drum
  • U = User
  • UD = User Drum
  • EX = Wave Expansion Tones
  • ED = Wave Expansion Drums

The voices can be layered or split, with an assignable split point (and all of this is done quite easily with dedicated buttons and a great menu workflow). And you can do a TON of customization for each tone as well; for each tone you can set:

  • Volume level
  • Panning
  • Default octave range +/- 3 octaves
  • Portamento & Mono/Poly options
  • Cutoff, Resonance, Attack, Decay & Release levels
  • Pitch Bend on/off
  • Modulation on/off
  • Hold on/off (this is basically whether to use the sustain pedal)
  • Expression on/off (this is whether to adjust the effects level using an expression pedal)
  • Effects Type: you can choose between 93 available effects (and for you organ players, there are multiple rotary speaker options that allow you to control the speed with an expression pedal)

On the topic of effects, keep in mind that in addition to the 93 tone specific effects, there are also 15 GLOBAL effects at your disposal that include things like flangers, phaser, chorus, panning and more.

So for the built in tones, all of these “Tone Settings” have already been done for you right out of the box, with appropriate levels, settings and effects already set up. And if you want to customize voices further to your own liking, you can do that and save your changes within one of the 256 available scenes (which I’ll talk about a bit later).

So, lots of sounds, lots of customization and effects available, and you can even add new sounds but . . . how do they sound? Well, with this many sounds, I’ve only just started testing them out myself. I’ve spent most of my time (of course) on the pianos, electric pianos, organs, strings & pads; but my overall thoughts? The sounds I’ve been testing so far are great and totally usable live or on recordings. There are 36 acoustic pianos, 6 “pop” pianos, & 4 electric grands! So, as you would expect with 1154 voices – LOTS to choose from. The main acoustic grand piano does sound very much like “Roland” to me; it sounds very full and a bit on the “bassier” side when compared to the typically brighter piano samples you’ll hear from Yamaha. While it is not as detailed as the main piano sound you’ll get with Roland digital pianos that use their SuperNatural piano sound engine, it still sounds really really good. Here is a quick demo of just a handful of some of the sounds I’ve found so far.

Roland GO:Keys 5(3) Sound Demo

Roland Cloud – Downloading New Content

If 1154 tones and 203 styles just aren’t enough for you (LOL) you can download new ZEN-Core tones and styles from the Roland cloud. You can do that in 2 ways:

  • Roland Cloud Manager: you install this app on your pc, and then download new content & store that data to a USB flash drive, then use that drive to import new content into your keyboard, OR
  • Roland Cloud Connect: this is an actual device you purchase & connect to a port on the keyboard (the Roland WC-1 Wireless Adapter; costs about $100USD and includes a 1 year Roland Cloud Pro membership); this allows you to import new content directly into the keyboard without needing a pc
Roland Cloud
Roland Cloud

What does all this cost? Well, you have some options here; the best choice for you is going to depend on whether or not you might just OCCASIONALLY want a certain new sound or style, or whether you are a hard core “I’m always looking for new sounds” type of person. If you’re the former (which would describe me), you can just get by with a free account, and then buy expansion packs “a la carte” as you like, from about $5 per pack, and you get a lifetime “key” for those. Or if you’re a bit more “hard core” you can buy various licenses on a monthly or yearly basis that include various levels of content access (currently there are “Core”, “Pro” and “Ultimate” options).

Roland WC-1 Wireless Adapter
Roland WC-1 Wireless Adapter

If you think you might be interested in an ongoing membership, you might as well buy the WC-1 Wireless Adapter, because the adapter includes a one year “Pro” membership, and sells for about the same price as the membership itself does; so this not only makes sense from a cost standpoint, but I’m ASSUMING that this adapter would make it much easier to add content to your GO:Keys. I probably won’t be buying one of these myself, but if I do I will definitely post a review.

User Interface & General Functions

Ok so the user interface on the GO:Keys 5 is REALLY well done. And I have to admit; I was kind of surprised; and why is that? Well I knew when I ordered the GO:Keys that it had a TON of functionality, even more than my Yamaha PSR-EW425 has, but in previewing it online, I only saw a small display screen and nowhere near as many physical controls, so I was expecting to end up having to deep dive through menu after menu. So, what has made me like it now that I’ve had it for a couple of weeks? Two things: 1) Roland included physical buttons to quickly and easily access ALL the most commonly needed functions; and 2) Roland obviously put a LOT of thought and effort into designing the workflow, and what context sensitive information gets displayed on the screen in every situation.

So I’ll quickly go over the physical buttons first, and then I’ll show you some examples on how this workflow functions and why I like it so much. I won’t be going into TOO much detail here though, I will save that kind of deep diving for some future video deep dives, but I will try to give you a general sense of how this user interface works.

On the left side, we have the power switch, and a nice overall volume slider, then on the top row we have dedicated buttons for working with: built in songs, recordings, the chord sequencer, styles, muting style parts, effects & the arpeggiator. The row below gives us quick and easy direct access buttons for transposing, octave shifting, arranger options, starting and stopping playback, and adjusting the tempo. Now in the centre we have the screen which while it IS small, is super clear and easy to read (HUGE improvement over the prior GO:Keys models by the way), and just always seems to be displaying exactly what you want. These 4 buttons below the screen are actually a big part of the user interface; they provide the ability to make quick menu choices on all of these screens as you drill down into various menus; you can see under “Concert Piano” labels on screen for “Lower, Upper, List & Settings”; the 4 buttons on the panel below those labels will trigger them.

GO:Keys UI Left
GO:Keys UI Left

Then on the right side, we have a wheel and buttons to navigate through menus (the wheel moves through choices, then there is an EXIT and ENTER button and Left/Right navigation buttons). Then the top row of buttons on the right side are for accessing a global menu, working with scenes (which are your registrations), toggling between single/split/dual modes (dual=layer), mic effects & turning the mic on or off. The bottom row on the right side includes a “Home” button to help you get out of a nested menu quickly, and then category buttons to help you navigate through the crazy number of voices on this keyboard.

GO:Keys UI Right
GO:Keys UI Right

So let’s go back to the menu screen and dig in a bit. It’s showing my current voice in the centre and you can see it says “single” for single mode; the top right shows the current metronome speed and time signature, the top left shows your power source (I’m connected to AC power so it shows a plug as opposed to battery level), and I have BlueTooth turned on so you see that icon to the right of the plug. So if you look at the 4 buttons at the bottom, it shows what those will do on the current screen; it’s highlighted on the upper voice which is a Concert Piano; so I ccould quickly check the lower voice (used for splits or layers), deep dive into the “List” menu to navigate to other voice selections, or access the tone settings for this voice to modify it to my liking. Now, take note of the keyboard visual on the left for a second – now I’ll press the “Split/Dual” button; you’ll see it now says “Split” by my Upper voice but also notice that only the right side of that keyboard is visible. If I press the lower voice, you’d see the voice that’s currently selected for the left side of the split etc.

OK so far so good, but what about all these dedicated buttons? Some of them like octave shifting and transposing don’t need a submenu; for example if I press the “Octave “/-” buttons, the octave will shift (and you’d see that displayed on the top of the screen); if I hold “Transpose” I can use those +/- buttons to transpose as well (and that is also displayed at the top of the menu screen). There are a lot of keyboards out there that actually have a lot of dedicated buttons that still don’t have them for octave shifting or transposing, so great job here Roland.

Then for most of the other physical buttons, when you press them, the screen will change to appropriate settings, choices and menus for whatever you’ve chosen; and navigating that centre menu is super simple because of those 4 buttons under the screen that make quick choices super easy – it makes the workflow for navigating menus on a feature rich keyboard MUCH easier than endless scrolling through menus looking for a specific item or setting.

One more thing to mention is that many of the dedicated buttons will behave differently if you press them or LONG press them. For example, if I press “Arranger” the basic arranger screen appears (where I can choose variations, etc), but if I long press “Arranger” I’ll land in the Arranger Settings where I can choose chord detection modes etc. And a few other buttons will allow me to quickly turn something on or off by long pressing a button, or drill down into the appropriate sub menu by short pressing that button (examples here would include the “Chord Sequencer”, “Mic Effects” and “Mic” buttons).

So selecting voices? There are actually lots of ways to do this, but I’ll just quickly go over the basics here. When the main screen is displaying the current voice, and I press any of the main category buttons, the out of the box behaviour is for the first voice in that category to be displayed. So for example, I press the “E. Piano” button it takes me to a 70’s Suitcase electric piano; if I keep pressing this button, nothing happens. But, I can scroll through voices one by one using the wheel; or if I press “List” I can scroll through and select voices this way, OR ONCE THE LIST IS DISPLAYED I can continually press one of those category buttons over and over to bounce between SUB categories within the main category, which is SUPER helpful. So if I press the “Other” button repeatedly while in this list view, I’ll jump from sub category to sub category. This is the best way (in my opinion) to find those “extra” sounds easily that don’t fit into one of the “main” categories. So I mentioned this is the “out of the box” behaviour for these main voice category buttons; you can also use these for a type of “favorites” functionality. You can actually assign what voice you want each button to jump to – this is interesting and might be useful, but I’m going to leave this the way it is until I get much more familiar with my GO:Keys.

And one last thing I did want to mention about the user interface is just the “Menu” button; this is where you can access some global options and settings. When I press this, options will appear, and as usual, my 4 quick access buttons will help me navigate them. One option within this menu I wanted to show is the Mixer which is one you will likely be using alot where you can quickly and easily manage relative volumes between the tones, style, external audio etc. I really like this because it allows you to do this quickly and easily in one place as opposed to other keyboards that allow you to modify relative volumes, but make you drill down into a menu, and then find and adjust each item’s volume one by one.

So my opinion on the user interface on the Roland GO:Keys 3 & 5? It’s awesome, I really like it – great job Roland!

Rhythms & Accompaniment (Arranger & Chord Sequencer “Modes”)

Ok so on to Rhythms & Accompaniment, or “Styles”. There are 203 styles built into the GO:Keys, and as I mentioned earlier you can add styles from the Roland Cloud if you want to. Now while I’ve owned multiple arranger keyboards and I am reasonably familiar with what some of the different brands may do well (or not so well), I’m definitely not an expert on what styles are considered “old fashioned” vs. “cool & modern”. But, Roland has been marketing the GO:Keys style selection as being much more “modern” than what you find on most arrangers, and even I was able to notice that pretty quickly as I browsed through many of the styles, in particular ones that I would be likely to use which would be rock, blues & ballad styles. I didn’t see the typical “8 beat swing” etc kind of “generic blues” styles – instead I’m seeing alot of styles that sound . . . for lack of a better general description? Funkier and groovier? Now just a heads up, there are a ton of features I want to talk about here, so I will be focusing on the features themselves as opposed to just demoing a bunch of styles (I’ll try to find time to make a video on that down the road).

Roland GO:Keys 5 (&3) Styles & Chord Sequencer Demo

So if you want to, you can create a chord chart for an entire song, complete with an intro, ending and you can choose when to have the variations switch to control the intensity, and then you can play this same chord progression with any of the built in styles! This is an absolutely fantastic feature, I’m really looking forward to creating a full backing track and demoing this in a deep dive video – so stay tuned for that! And one other thing I hope to include in that video? You can export chord patterns to a .CSV file and edit them in a spreadsheet like Excel or Numbers, and you can also IMPORT .CSV files back into the keyboard!!!!

Connectivity

So for connectivity, the GO:Keys 5 pretty much knocks it out of the park, it has pretty much everything you could possibly ask for, and then some. Connectivity IS one of the biggest differences between the GO:Keys 5 and the GO:Keys 3, so I will go over the connectivity for the GO:Keys 3 first, then I’ll explain the differences and what the GO:Keys 5 adds.

Roland GO Connectivity
Roland GO Connectivity
  • GO:Keys 3 Connectivity
    • BlueTooth audio in: this allows you to stream audio from an external device into the keyboard
    • BlueTooth MIDI out: this allows you to use the keyboard as a MIDI controller with MIDI compatible apps (NOTE: This connection does NOT work as you or I would expect; I was sure this was NOT a feature at first; I’ll go into that in a minute)
    • 1/8″ stereo headphone out
      • So for the GO:Keys 3, this doubles as your audio out for connecting to external audio equipment like amps, PAs, mixers, etc
    • 1/4″ “hold” pedal port (for a sustain pedal)
    • USB to host port (USB-C) to connect to external devices; transmits MIDI as well as AUDIO in BOTH directions – as I’ve mentioned in many other reviews, this is a FANTASTIC feature; it allows you to:
      • make a piano video with high quality DIRECT audio with just a USB cable and your phone
      • stream digital audio direct to a DAW app on a device to record audio
      • use your keyboard as a MIDI controller and hear the audio generated by your MIDI sound bank back through the piano WITHOUT ANY LAG
      • all of this can be done WITHOUT needing an external audio interface!
      • NOTE: Something I learned that might be useful: not all USB-C cables transmit DATA; many of them are “charge only” so those will NOT work; make sure you get a USB-C to USB-A cable that is “charge AND synch”
    • USB A port for connecting a USB flash drive for backing up or loading data, or for using the Roland Cloud Connect transmitter (WC-1)
  • GO:Keys 5 Adds:
    • L and R 1/4″ line outs for proper connections to external audio equipment (and the left can be used by itself for a blended L&R mono signal if needed)
    • 1/4″ expression pedal port, than can be customized for each tone, usually used for controlling whatever effect is assigned to a tone (I use it for controlling the rotary speaker speed on organ voices)
    • 1/8″ stereo audio input port for streaming in external audio from a device if you’d rather use that than the BlueTooth
    • a second USB A port (so one is used for accessing data on a flash drive, the second is for the Roland Cloud Connector transmitter)
    • Mic input with reverb, compressor, 9 types of auto harmony AND a voice transformer; you can set the volume of the mic relative to the voices, styles and audio in, AND there is also a gain control within the menu system
      • NOTE: You can also use a headset mic that is connected to the headphone port as a mic, AND this mic input has it’s OWN SEPARATE gain control in the menu – super cool! And all the effects will work on this mic as well
      • Now I will be doing a separate deep dive video on using the mic features, but guess what? This entire review is being recorded with this mic connected to the GO:Keys mic input, and the GO:Keys is connected directly to my iPhone which is recording the video; and all this works super easily because of that built in USB audio interface!
      • So just to quickly show what we have here, I can turn the mic off by long pressing the “Mic” button; if I short press the “Mic” button I can set volume and reverb levels. Then for effects, same thing, I can short press the “Mic Effects” button to configure a bunch of options for either different vocal harmonies or voice transformer; so if I long press the “Mic Effects” button, you’ll hear the current harmony settings kick in, so . . . super cool.

BlueTooth MIDI

OK so what’s the deal with the BlueTooth MIDI? When I got my GO:Keys, the Roland website “implies” it has BlueTooth MIDI, but the manual doesn’t even mention BlueTooth MIDI or tell you how to connect it. I tried with my iPhone, iPad and MacBook to connect, but all that any of those devices could see was the BlueTooth audio. I looked online, listened to and even asked other reviewers, and was told “no BlueTooth MIDI” – so I tried contacting Roland, and got a response:

I was skeptical, but went into GarageBand on my iPad; went to Settings (the gear icon in the top right), then Advanced Settings, then BlueTooth MIDI devices and . . . there it was, and it works as expected once you connect!

GO:Keys BlueTooth MIDI
GO:Keys BlueTooth MIDI

All that being said, I never use BlueTooth MIDI anyways, because I always find it too laggy to be of much benefit, so I always use a cable connection for MIDI. But, if this is a feature you want? It IS there in the Roland GO:Keys . . . Roland just kind of . . . hid it (not sure why).

So overall the connectivity on the GO:Keys 3 is . . . ok, but the connectivity on the GO:Keys 5? FANTASTIC!

Recording

You can record either MIDI or audio with the GO:Keys keyboards; MIDI recordings are stored on the keyboard’s internal memory; for audio recordings you need to connect a USB flash drive. Since MIDI recordings are data only, they WON’T include your mic or any external audio being streamed in, but the audio recordings WILL include EVERYTHING you hear; your playing, the accompaniment, the mic and any audio being streamed into the keyboard. You can replay the MIDI recordings, but you can’t edit them at all. However, with the audio recordings, Roland has included a super cool and simple overdub function which allows you to add additional audio to an existing audio track, but it saves this as a NEW audio file so it retains your original one. This is awesome.

If you press the “Record” button it starts to flash; if you have a flash drive connected, you can switch between MIDI or AUDIO with the left and right arrow buttons. So if you choose MIDI, the recording will start either when you press “Record” again, if you start playing, or if you start the accompaniment. Hit “Record” again when you’re done, and you will see a list of all the MIDI songs you’ve saved; from here you can replay, open a sub menu for pause, FF etc or delete the file. Remember you won’t hear any vocals or streamed in audio in these recordings.

If you choose audio this time, you WILL hear any streamed in audio and vocals if you have a mic set up. Once you save it, you will see a list of your audio recordings – you can choose one and hit “Overdub”; the “Record” button will start flashing again so you can hit “Record” again to get it started, and record additional audio ON TOP of the original recording. When you’re done, you’ll see a NEW recording in the list (thanks for not overwriting the original one Roland 😉 When you replay the overdub, you’ll hear the combined recording. So this is awesome, and Roland did a great job here; it’s SUPER easy to use, and super easy to overdub additional audio.

So the recording feature on the GO:Keys (especially on the GO:Keys 5 with the mic input) is fantastic, especially the audio version with the easy ability to overdub. Something to note here that’s also super cool; let’s say you’ve used the chord sequencer to input a complete song – you can turn on the chord sequencer, load your song, choose your style, press “Record” and generate an AUDIO backing track on the flash drive that you can then move to other devices – THAT is AWESOME!

Scenes (Registrations)

OK so now onto the “Scenes”, which are basically Roland’s word for registrations to save your current setup.  That will include your selected tones & any customized settings or effects, your style and style settings, your mic and mic effects settings, etc. There are 256 scenes you can save which is awesome, and it’s SUPER easy to do. 

Something important to note here, is that the GO:Keys 3/5 actually work like stage pianos; you are ALWAYS using a “scene”. When you turn on the GO:Keys, you will actually have loaded the first scene which is “U-001 Electro Pop”. This scene happens to have a style which is (“Electro Pop”), the tempo is 189, a Concert Piano as the upper voice, Character Strings as the lower voice, and a specific chord pattern in the chord sequencer. If you press scene and load other scenes from the list, that will load the voices, styles, mic settings, and chord pattern from THAT scene.

So there are 65 scenes that come built into the GO:Keys, and these are just stored IN the first 65 user scene slots. So if you want to create your own scene, you can either start by editing an existing scene and then either overwriting it in its current slot, or you can write it to a new slot. If you wanted to create your own scene from scratch; you can either scroll to an “empty” scene (which will be named “Initial Scene”), or if you want you can “initialize” one of the built in scenes. Either way, you will be starting with a default Concert Piano as the upper voice, and a CharacterStrings as the lower voice, the first style in the list which is PR001 “Sparkle Pop”, and the default chord sequence which is that 1-5-6-4 sequence. Then you can make changes as you see fit, and save your scene in the same way.

So the scenes are pretty simple and easy to use, and work really well. One thing I wish Roland had done though (and maybe they could add this in an update one day) is to include the currently selected song in the scene. Then, you’d be able to select a scene specific to a certain song, and have that song’s backing track loaded and ready to go without having to select it. But still, 256 registrations is awesome to see!

Other Things To Mention

Speakers

Speaker

For speakers, the GO:Keys 3 has two 12 x 6cm speakers, and the GO:Keys 5 has two 5 cm speakers with a speaker box and 2 radiators. It looks like Roland is being “all secretive” about the wattage of these speakers – it’s not indicated on the specs of their websites, and I haven’t been able to find any detailed info online. Kind of a silly thing to do, but whatever – I haven’t heard the speakers of the GO:Keys 3 so I can’t comment on those, but the speakers on the 5 sound pretty good. I like the fact that they face the player and not down or backwards, and the fact that the GO:Keys 5 includes a speaker box is going to help the speakers have a nice full sound. As far as how many watts? I have no idea, but they sound decent enough to me – the following video is recording the speakers at 50% volume, just as picked up by the internal mic on my iPhone.

Roland GO:Keys 5 Speaker Demo

Portability

The GO:Keys keyboards are SUPER portable! The GO:Keys 3 is a slim and narrow 37.5″ x 11.5″, and is SUPER thin at only 3.5″ high, and weighs just under 10 lbs. The GO:Keys 5 has the identical dimensions, and only weighs a tiny bit more at just under 11 lbs, so this is awesome.

What’s Missing?

The only notable thing that’s missing on either the GO:Keys 3 or 5 is? An included music rest! Many people nowadays (like me) never use printed sheet music anymore, but even those people could really use a music rest to hold a tablet or phone. There is a music rest sold separately, but it is only about $35 USD, so . . . why not include it and just charge a bit more?

GO:Keys 3/5 Music Rest
GO:Keys 3/5 Music Rest

Other than that, not really much that’s missing on the GO:Keys 5 (most of what is missing on the GO:Keys 3 is connectivity which IS included on the GO:Keys 5)

The Competition

The most direct competitor for the GO:Keys that I’m familiar with would be the Yamaha PSR-E473 (I own the 76 key version, the EW425). The PSR-E473 sells for less at about $370USD, with the GO:Keys 5 selling for about $500USD.

Yamaha PSR-E473
Yamaha PSR-E473

I was (and still am) SUPER impressed with the PSR-E473/EW425 and said in my review on those keyboards that they are the best value budget gigging keyboards available (as long as you aren’t looking for a fully weighted key action). But I have to say, I think the GO:Keys 5 is my NEW favorite! The sounds on both are great, so I’m not going to bother comparing that here, I’m more focused on functionality (I will include sound comparisons when I do a direct video shootout between these two great keyboards)

  • GO:Keys 5 Pro’s:
    • Much better key action for piano players & organists; the keys feel semi-weighted, and are TRUE full size keys (keys on the Yamaha are slightly narrower super light synth action keys; if you’re a synth player)
    • More portable (less bulky and lighter)
    • Far better chord detection options (4 options, including full keyboard detection, with options to hear or mute your left hand; Yamaha only has 2 with no full keyboard options)
    • Chord sequencer
    • Super easy to overdub audio recordings
    • User interface has less direct access buttons, but overall the workflow is much better (the PSR-E does have a lot more scrolling through menus)
    • 256 registrations (scenes) vs 32 on the Yamaha
    • Expression pedal input
    • BlueTooth audio in
    • Headset mic is an additional mic input option
    • Ability to easily add more styles and sounds (you can do this on the Yamaha, but it is much more limited)
  • PSR-E473 Pro’s:
    • 2 live control knobs for controlling effects
    • More options for muting style parts
    • Can revoice style parts
    • Better MIDI recording functionality (can punch in, edit etc)
    • It is about $100 USD cheaper
  • PSR-EW425 Pro’s (sells for the same as the GO:Keys 5)
    • 76 keys vs. 61
    • Huge speakers: 24 watts (the Roland speaker wattage isn’t documented, but I don’t think they’re 24 watts)

So as impressed as I was with the Yamaha PSR-E473 & EW425 when they were released, I think the Roland GO:Keys 5 has outdone the Yamahas. Keep in mind though, that these Yamahas are a couple of years old now, so maybe Yamaha has new versions up their sleeves that will match up better with the Roland.

Roland GO:Keys 5 & 3 – The Verdict

Roland GO:Keys 5
Roland GO:Keys 5

The GO:Keys 5 is a FANTASTIC keyboard & I HIGHLY Recommend It!

  • Tons of great sounds (and you can add more if 1154 aren’t enough for you!)
  • True full size piano shaped keys with a semi-weighted feel
  • Great user interface with dedicated buttons for the most commonly needed tasks, and a nice screen with context sensitive buttons and a very well thought out workflow
  • Really good chord detection modes and options
  • Chord sequencer is an absolutely AMAZING feature especially for people like me that like playing along with backing tracks
  • EVERY type of connectivity you could possibly want, including a really well done mic input with impressive gain and some cool effects
  • Super easy to use audio recording feature that includes overdubbing
  • Audio interface built into the USB to host port
  • Super portable

The GO:Keys 5 is now my favorite budget gigging option (especially for smaller shows like cafes or busking where backing track options and portability are vital); I’m super happy with my purchase.

There are links below if you want to check out current prices in YOUR area on the Roland GO:Keys or any of the other products I mentioned in this review, and I’ve also left some links to some online piano training that I recommend.

Thanks so much, and happy piano playing! (and piano shopping 😉 )

Links To Check Out Current Pricing:

(please note that as an affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases)

Roland GO:Keys 5

Roland GO:Keys 3

Roland WC-1 Transmitter

Roland GO:Keys 3/5 Music Rest

USB-C to USB-A Charge AND Sync Cable

Roland DP-10 Pedal

M-Audio Pedal

Yamaha PSR-EW473


Piano Training I Recommend

I’ve taken a number of online piano courses; the ones I’m listing here are my favorites and I can highly recommend any of these if you are looking for some online training to get started on learning piano, or to take your current skills to the next level.

Piano Man Approach

The Piano Man Approach:

This course is an amazing option for learning piano from beginner up to being able to perform; it teaches multiple genres of music and focuses on how to be a “one person band” on the piano. This course is taught by pro pianist Steve Lungrin – Steve has been teaching and performing his whole adult life and is a fantastic instructor and performer.

I took this course from 2020 to 2021 and it elevated my playing from a very basic level to being able to play songs in multiple genres.

Beginner Blues Piano & Improv

Bird’s Piano Academy (Beginner Blues):

If you like the blues, and (or) want to ramp up your improv/soloing abilities on the piano, this is a GREAT course. It’s taught by Arthur Bird, who has a number of courses available on blues, jazz, as well as just getting started on piano. I found his beginner blues & improv course in 2022 when I “hit a wall” in my soloing abilities, and it really helped my improv and soloing in a big way.

Pianoforall

Pianoforall:

If you’re looking for the least expensive way to get started on piano, Pianoforall is a great option. It’s a unique course created by Robin Hall that uses downloadable eBooks with embedded videos and audio instead of a website.

OnlineRockLessons.Com

OnlineRockLessons.com:

This is a fantastic option if you are mostly interested in rock music (and if you’re interested in Hammond organ!) This course was created and is taught by Marine Lacoste, who is not only a fantastic instructor & pianist, but she is also a very accomplished hammond organ player – she performs regularly with her own band, as well as playing keys regularly for multiple recording artists on tour. I started this course in 2023 when I joined a band, and it is helping me greatly in taking my playing to a new level!

If you sign up for Online Rock Lessons yearly subscription, use code PIANOTONE at checkout to let Marine know I referred you, and she will give you some free bonuses

Video Version Of This Review

Roland GO:Keys 5 (&3) Review