Roland E-20

The new venture was a strategic move by Roland to enter the lucrative high-end home keyboard market which had hitherto been dominated by Yamaha and Technics.

Featuring auto accompaniment, and built in speakers the E-20 used the advanced Linear Arithmetic or "LA" synthesis system as used on the Roland MT-32 sound module.

The E-20 set a new standard for the amateur keyboardist, with high-quality sounds, innovative drum patterns and backings which were widely recognised as being significantly more advanced than both Yamaha's PSR and Technics's KN instruments.

In 1989 the German company Quasimidi produced a popular retrofit upgrade kit that significantly expanded the capabilities of the E-20 stock keyboard.

It also doubled the number of user programs that could be stored and enabled the layering of two sounds in the right hand section.