VP-550

Back in 2006, this keyboard dropped a game-changer with Roland's vocal-modeling tech, letting anyone conjure full choirs or solo vocals just by plugging in a mic and playing—no perfect pitch required.

Its 49 full-size keys with velocity sensitivity respond nicely for expressive playing, paired with a super intuitive front panel full of dedicated sliders, buttons, and wheels for pitch bend and modulation. Dive into Vocal Designer for six tones like Classic choir, soulful Gospel, Pop voices, or vintage Vocoder, while the Ensemble section adds six more including lush Strings, Jazz Scat, or Boys Choir—you can layer them together over 128-voice polyphony. An XLR mic input handles your voice as the carrier, with an external 1/4-inch jack for other audio, plus a D-Beam infrared controller for real-time filter, pitch, or expression sweeps. Three ambience reverbs (Hall 1/2, Studio) and a Sound Check recorder make tweaking onstage a breeze, all stored in four registration memories.

Players still geek out over its vocal magic holding up two decades later, especially for live solo acts or church gigs needing instant backing harmonies, though some wish for aftertouch on the unweighted action.