A-Pro Firmware Update?

Is it possible to somehow convince Roland that it would be a good idea to release a firmware update to try to make the aftertouch more sensitive on the A-Pro series? The overwhelming consensus, here and elsewhere, is that it is too stiff and insensitive, to the point of even being described as "unusable" by a member of this forum.


I would start something at PetitionOnline, but I don't know if it would attract enough numbers to make Roland think twice. 

I don't know if it would be possible to get a firmware update that makes the keyboard trigger aftertouch with less pressure (as the key is likely not touching the aftertouch strip at all until you start to hear a slight difference or read a number on your MIDI monitor, so there's no data to register), but maybe some progress would be made by, say, doubling the existent values when they ARE read. I don't know how this would sound in practical reality (it may indeed allow for even less expressivity), or if there's even a way to effectively get around what is at its core a hardware issue.

Maybe some trustworthy, reliable third party (as in a savvy member of this board) could have a crack at it, if that's even possible. I am unaware how risky this might be, though it does seem so.

I doubt Roland will listen to an anonymous newbie, but if enough people care about their hard-earned purchases and are saddened or frustrated by this long-standing fault in otherwise high quality keyboards, we can make our voices heard.

Since I have had this issue with all the Roland keyboards I have owned ( Fantom X, V-Synth GT, A800-Pro ) I think that if they could 'fix' it they would have by now.

AFAIK modifying the strip at the hardware level is the only thing that can change the responsiveness.

My A-800 'Pro' will soon be appearing on ebay!

As everyone seems to agree, the aftertouch on the Ax00-PRO controllers is pretty much unusable, in that way too much force is required.  I'm surprised the Roland hasn't responded to questions about this.
 
Looking inside my A300, the aftertouch strip under the keybed is a standard 2-conductor/pressure sensitive plastic strip, as used in most other keyboards these days. The plastic strip connects to a small PWB at the bottom left, where the controller / power connector inputs are located. There's a trimpot, VR1, just behind the expression input jack, that seems to adjust the aftertouch, but it didn't make much difference in the response: with VR1 fully clockwise, the force required is maybe a little less, and fully counterclockwise there's not any response. Probably a resistor value change somewhere in the aftertouch circuitry would solve the problem - anyone have a schematic?
 
Another approach would be to remove the aftertouch strip and use a thinner felt strip on the top where the keys press (or reduce the thickness of the existing one) and then put a strip of thin plastic under the strip to raise it back to its original level.
 
I noticed that the aftertouch circuit uses half of IC8, an 358-type dual op amp (next to VR1) as a unity-gain buffer: the + input is connected to the VR1 trimpot, the - input and the output are connected, and the output is presumably connected to the analog-to-digital-converter input. So I increased the gain of the buffer to 2, buy lifting pin 6 (the - input) and connecting it to both pin 7 (the output) and pin 4 (ground) through 2.2K ohm resistors. It works fine, and I now have usable aftertouch - only half the pressure is required. But of course you shouldn't have to make this kind of modification in the first place.
 
df

After using my modified A300PRO for a couple of weeks, I decided that the aftertouch still wasn't sensitive enough, so I removed the keys and raised the aftertouch sensor strip by adding a thin strip of plastic (.010 or so) underneath, and that improves things even more...I didn't cut down the padding on the top of the strip, since it might be needed for protection from key pressure, and if you raise the strip more than that, the fronts of the white keys don't bottom out and they feel unstable (and all of the key pressure is on the aftertouch strip)...I wonder if some of the key and/or aftertouch sensor strip padding is just the wrong thickness?...anyway, bvc is right, the owner shouldn't have to make these kind of mods...and why doesn't Roland respond to any of the complaints about this problem - don't they read their own forums?

df