contemplating a midi monster

[pentaprism]

I personally don't like proprietary battery pack. But I wouldn't worry too much about the problem of "battery not available."

I don't have the Roland FR7x/FR8x, but from what I read, the battery pack is just a 24v battery pack, consisting of 20 battery cells. If Roland ever stops selling the battery, you can always make one, or have one made, and use an external charger.

The battery pack should last a long time. NiMh batteries can last 500 - 1000 charge cycles. At 500 cycles and if you charge it twice a week, it can last almost 5 years.

My other hobby is photography. I have 2 battery packs, manufactured in 1976, to supply high voltage to flash guns. Each of them originally uses 9 sub-C NiCad cells. I re-celled them three times with NiMh batteries now, and am still using them.

 

[lasvegascolonel]

Pentaprism: That certainly is good to know. Jim mentioned that you don't need the battery pack installed to run off of house current. So, with that, and the fact that you can always get another battery pack made or re-celled, it likely isn't a problem. I guess a lot of people are enjoying the low-cost convenience of the other models that run off of commercially available AA rechargeables. I don't know if the FR7X/8X battery pack is something easily found; perhaps it's only available through Roland. Roland says the provided battery should last up to 300 charges. Anyway, thanks for all the info.