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Roland XP-50
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Roland XP-50

Digital Synth from Roland belonging to the XP series

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«  Always interesting opportunity (for those who love the hardware). »

Published on 10/09/12 at 05:51
The touch is very light and relatively noisy if you type fast on the keys (little resistance).

One EFX (applicable to only one sound), unlike reverb and chorus / delay (applicable to 16 parts multitimbral Assayable)
you really need to get organized to make a complete song with the sequencer or computer: I remember that it was the main criticism that the machines did this time because for some presets, EFX done more to the end result that the waveforms selected and their programming.

The build quality is good.

Converters are excellent (much better than the XP-30 for example)

UTILIZATION

XP 50 is not very convenient to use at editing sounds (but much more than a DX7 or D50) and sequencer, especially compared to the current offer but still a good ergonomics thinking if we want to have the patience to read a minimum the manual and to train.

For those who had problems slowing the sequencer (see the first two notices), it was actually use the data reduction "THIN" (p 76 of the manual).

In fact, with the XP-50 I can make models, cast musical ideas through the sequencer, quickly, without wasting time to choose from thousands of sounds and especially without me putting pressure on the resulting sound (home, Korg Kronos is for!): the instrument outside talent, if my song is the road, you can hear it immediately: the sounds and effects that can not serve as a "fig leaf" to level compo ...

SOUNDS

It is on at the moment, it is mainly synthesized sounds that are interesting with a typical grain Roland (after all, the JV-1080 was a landmark in the studios during the 90s), but do not push too hard resonnance the filter because it could hurt your eardrums and your HP.

imitations acoustic sounds excellent for the time are overwhelmed in 2012, but some are really good quick game (in 1995 it was short loop to fit all waveforms) and difficult to reproduce on another machine sometimes the same brand! In short with original ROM 8MB he is doing well.

Note question sounds are sometimes difficult to mix them perform mode (multitimbral) because:

- The presets that too puff frequency ranges and which may make recovery (so you have to edit with filters to correct this problem because XP does not have a stereo output and not integrated EQ for each part) .

- The difference in volume between origin sometimes very important each of the presets surely gain setting or booster.

Regarding expansion cards SRJV I know well, the most interesting to buy (secondhand) are in my opinion the "World" and especially "vintage synth", but it two, they are the price of XP-50 secondhand! ... to be seen according to your budget and needs.

I think sounds much better (at the "grain") on the Juno-G I had and yet is much more recent: it is probably due to the difference in quality converters.

OVERALL OPINION

In fact I bought it used at the time, around 1997, two years after its release, to replace my JV1080 because I wanted the "integrated whole" (the XP workstation was my first after a synth Roland JV -35 replaced by the Roland JV-1080 rack + Akai S2000 Sampler + mac controlled with a keyboard Fatar heavy).

I bought recement by nostalgia, but also because I got it for really cheap and in excellent condition.

Despite the profusion of music software cheap or free that are more powerful, this machine is interesting for those who prefer the feel of hardware because I found him some advantages:

- The XP-50 keeps a grain of his own, especially for synthetic sounds.

- There is almost no boot time (time of ignition) unlike modern workstations (Kronos and Designs) and computers: If you inspiration in your head, you will not lose it!

- It was not too many features while remaining powerful, a limited number of preset compared to the thousands of machines and software lately: this is an advantage allows easy not to disperse, to get to the point because according me fewer opportunities = more productivity music.
(Yes sometimes have less can do more!).

- The value used is excellent in 2012.

After all, a JV 1080 with a keyboard and a sequencer for € 180, it is still worth a shot to complement other synths, if you to place home, of course.