I bought this as a gift for a friend and was really impressed with it. I don't know how to play it, but I can say it sounded great when my friend played it for me.

A fun instrument

I am not a pro musician, and I want to play a wind instrument as a hobby without disturbing others. I have chosen EWI Solo, after considering EWI 5000 and Roland models. The build quality is much better than expected, despite many negative reviews in the internet. I like the touch-sensitive keys and the octave rollers.It does require some serious practice to be able to play comfortably, and I have already found many minor quirks that are not necessarily deal breakers. I think built-in sounds are mostly acceptable, but not great.I exchanged the initial unit after the B&H customer service noted that the flashing charging light should become solid when charging is done. It turned out that the second unit behaves the same as the first one.

Akai Ewi Solo

Dear Musicstore, the first impression of the product is good. Probably takes a while to get used to a digital instrument, sensitivity of keys, breath control etc - as I am only used to play "normal" saxophones.interesting instrument though - I am not sure if I will use it on a live gig. let's see !Kind wishes, Juha Murto - Brussels

EWI SOLO a tremendous improvement over the 5000

AKAI made wonderful improvements over the 5000 which I owned prior to this one. 100 more on-board sounds and better quality as well. The redesigned thumb rest eliminates the need for a neckstrap. On-board speaker makes practicing easy. Display lets you see what you're playing and quickly adjust the fx and parameters. 4 banks of favorites allow you to save and quickly access favorite sounds.

Great Instrument - Would buy another again!!!

I have played Clarinet and over the past year I started playing Saxophone (Alto, Tenor and Soprano). I love this instrument so much. The sound is great once you get it set up. It takes a few days to find your settings but once you do it is great. I mainly wanted it for practicing quietly. FANTASTIC INSTRUMENT!! I can be playing much quicker than I can on Saxophone (no reeds to deal with and cleanup is so easy/simple) and can play longer very easily. This was the perfect instrument for me. Other EWI's to me were simply practice horns. The Solo is an instrument I could see playing in church or anywhere I want. The sounds are wonderful and connecting to headphone or my amp is so easy. The built in speaker is not extremely loud but is great for quiet practice. If you ... MoreI have played Clarinet and over the past year I started playing Saxophone (Alto, Tenor and Soprano). I love this instrument so much. The sound is great once you get it set up. It takes a few days to find your settings but once you do it is great. I mainly wanted it for practicing quietly. FANTASTIC INSTRUMENT!! I can be playing much quicker than I can on Saxophone (no reeds to deal with and cleanup is so easy/simple) and can play longer very easily. This was the perfect instrument for me. Other EWI's to me were simply practice horns. The Solo is an instrument I could see playing in church or anywhere I want. The sounds are wonderful and connecting to headphone or my amp is so easy. The built in speaker is not extremely loud but is great for quiet practice. If you want it louder, hook it up to an amplifier or to a mixer. The sound through an amp is exceptional!!! There are several very helpful video's on the web to give you suggestions and help on set up. It is really simple connected to a computer using the app on the Akai web site. I have been looking for an EWI for at least 6-8 months and I could not be more pleased that I bought the Solo.

Great Instrument - Would buy another anytime!!!

Great instrument. Love the sound and ease of playing. It is easy to set up using different videos and web articles. It takes a few days of trial and error to find settings that are comfortable to you. It is so versatile and easy to make your sound. It is very well made. I played saxophone and clarinet and it is a great way to practice quietly and to have an instrument that sounds great all by itself. The built in sounds really sound great.

Review of Akai Professional EWI SOLO

As a former user of the Yamaha WX5 been a bit thrown by this Akai Solo. Sure I will come to grips with it in the end. It's too quiet for anything other than practice with the speaker but fine through headphones or pa kit etc. The jury is still out on this one for me at the moment as really not a fan of most of the onboard sounds. But still early days.

my first wind instrument.

I play guitar, bass, drums, and keys, harmonica, and I was surprised at how EZ this instrument was to learn. I just learned to play in the key of C and I use the transpose function to play in other keys. Its got its own speaker or you can use headphones. the keys do not actually move at all, they are activated by the electrical conductivity of your fingers or something like that. The instrument produces no sound to play whatsoever. You could get some headphones and practice anywhere without disturbing anyone. I think the octave rollers in the back make the ewi the most versitile electronic wind controller. hear is a link to a video of someone great playing the Ewi 500 to show you what the instrument can do.