Hi guys,
This story has a happy ending. When I arrived at Roland they compared my X7 to one of theirs and after some testing they admitted that there was a difference in how it sounded. The guy started talking about 'may be within specs' but he didn't dismiss the fact that it was not very pleasing so they opened up my X7.
Inside there was nothing obvious to see that might cause this problem, but with the bottom plate removed the sound was gone. So they simply used some (thin) insulating tape and then screwed it back together again. No difference. Opened it again, some more tape at strategic places (where different plates are pressed together by screws) but no difference again.
I then suggested that perhaps the problem was in my chassis bottom plate itself, rather than in the chassis/damping mechanism. It turned out that their X7 did not have the plastic cover plate in place that covers the RAM/SRX expansion slots.
So we removed this cover from my X7 and presto, the offending sound was gone. We then applied some of this insulating tape on the inside of this plastic cover where it contacts the metal of the X7 bottom plate and this completely eliminated the problem.
I'm probably a bit more picky about sounds than some of their other customers. The different size of the X6/X7 may very well change the resonance frequencies in such a way that the problem does not exist on the X6.
Anyway, I'm completely happy now with my X7. In the end I think it was worth the drive to Roland because if I had just sent it back it's likely that I would have received it without any changes, the problem was just a little too subtle for most.
Thanks everybody for your feedback.
22 oktober ToyZ & Kayak LIVE in Speakers, Delft
Listen to
http://www.toyz-web.com/mp3/Remember_verse.mp3
if it were me, I would send it back and have them replace the X7. If it turns out that the new X7 exhibits the same sounds from the keys, than I'd keep the new X7 and not bother with returning it again. But at least I would have given the return a try before resigning myself to accepting the defect.
I will be going back to the dealer (he's only 1 minute walking from here) to discuss my options and perhaps try to get a Roland tech on the phone again. Both the dealer and Roland Benelux are usually very reasonable so perhaps we can find an arrangement that will be satisfactory.