The most feature rich accordion currently available anywhere in the world on the market today is the Roland FR-8X. The only real concession is the keyboard, if you can get around that, you will have the best digital accordion on the market today, bar none.
I know people that have a Musictech that moved to a FR-8X and are super happy. I have never heard of anyone that moved from an 8X to a Musictech that was happy or kept their Musitech very long.
If you absolutely must have a quality keyboard with a digital accordion, the likely best compromise is the evolution of the Elkavox, the Concerto, which is a true accordion with reeds and with MIDI capabilities and integrated digital sounds. Passable digital electronics (nowhere near an 8X), but an absolutely incredible world class accordion... because it is a real accordion, reeds and all!
However the biggest downside there is price... they are what I would consider borderline nuts-bonkers expensive... it would not be unreasonable to pay double or triple the price of a FR-8x to get a Concerto and the highest optioned ones can exceed the price of an 8X by 5 times! On top of that you still will not have near as many sounds as a standard FR-8X has, nor have the features that are in the 8X.
Why would I not recommend an Evo today... first, the people who made the Evo are no longer making the Evo, deciding to drop the accordion and all future support, this is now a discontinued model with no future. I also would not trust the poeple that made the Evo... amateur business people and self-serving at best, deceptive rip-off artists at worst. They are there for the dollar and nothing else.
If you get an Evo, you will pay 30-50% more than a FR-8X and get a LOVELY keyboard, but it is still loosely based on a FR-8x, meaning that in comparison to the accordion who's electronics it uses, it's functionally is crippled at many levels.
No computer editor, none of the expansions that work on the 8X work on the Evo, no velocity keys... no future changes or support for the Evo... ever. What happens in 5 years when the accordion breaks? I can buy a main board for the 8X... Petosa *might* have a spare, but likely charge you 2-3 times the price of the $1600 FR-8X main board.
If you can live with that, I say go for it. It is a truly beautiful accordion, but IMHO the nicer keyboard and way nicer looks do not make up for it's much higher price, reduced feature set and lower limitations. This accordion is all about compromises... even the wonderful keyboard is only that good because Bugari removed velocity keys, moving that to the master bar switch.
Now if you have never used this feature, you won't miss it, but I can promise you that after playing an 8X 2-3 times, and being to do things like change Organ rotary speed, percussion volume changes and pitch shifts all by pressing harder on the keys... you *will* miss them when you play an accordion that doesn't have those features!
Now, that FR-8X keyboard is bad in comparison to other digital or accordion keyboards, but if you think keyboard is geniuine issue, watch Cory Pesaturo on any 7X or 8X (which share the same keyboards)... if he can play at incredible speeds and accuracy on that keyboard, anyone should anyone else be able to... it just takes getting used to and practice.
This is 100% all my opinion, some may agree, some may not and I respect everyone's opinions.
The most features will be found on a Roland FR-8X. The only real concession is the keyboard, if you can get around that, you will have the best digital accordion on the market today. I know people that have a Musictech that moved to a FR-8X and are super happy. I have never heard of anyone that moved from an 8X to a Musictech that was happy.
If you absolutely must have a quality keyboard with a digital accordion, the likely best compromise is the evolution of the Elkavox, the Concerto, which is a true accordion with reeds and with MIDI capabilities and integrated digital sounds. However the biggest downside there is price... it would not be unreasonable to pay double or triple the price of a FR-8x to get a Concerto, and you still will not have near as many sounds as a standard FR-8X has.
Why would I not recommend an Evo today... first, the people who made the Evo are no longer making the Evo, deciding to drop the accordion and all future support. If you get one, you will pay 35-50% more than a FR-8X and get a LOVELY keyboard, but it is still based on a FR-8x, though it is severely crippled in many of it's the capabilities. No computer editor, none of the expansions that work on the 8X work on the Evo. If you can live with that, I say go for it. It is a truly beautiful accordion, but IMHO the nicer keyboard, way nicer looks do not make up for it's much higher price and lower limitations. This accordion is all about compromises, but in the wrong directions... even the wonderful keyboard is only that good because Bugari removed velocity keys, moving that to the master bar switch.
Now, if you think keyboard is an issue, watch Cory Pesaturo on any 7X or 8X... if he can play at incredible speeds and accuracy on that keyboard, anyone should anyone else be able to... it just takes getting used to and practice.