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Roland XP-30
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Roland XP-30

Digital Synth from Roland belonging to the XP series

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MGR/Charles Pye MGR/Charles Pye

« Roland XP-30 Expandable Synthesizer »

Published on 05/06/02 at 15:00
I bought this keyboard at a music store in Colorado a year ago. At the time, I didn't know much about keyboards and wanted one that wasn't too expensive and was fairly easy to use, but was also good enough to perform with eventually. I paid about $1000 for it.

What I like most about it is the speed with which I can use it. The layout of patches is very intuitive, and I can very quickly get to the one I need. Also, most of the preset patches on it are very good, and with the two expansion cards that mine came with installed, it has over 1400 patches.

I find it very difficult to program a good lead sound on it- the classical patches are much better than the synth ones on it. Getting used to the system of editing them is a little tricky, but not too hard. However, I do wish it had more flexibility with regards to editing sounds. The 61 non-weighted keys are a bit annoying for someone like me who is more used to a piano, but are fine for most keyboard parts.

It is very solid and I have not had any physical problems with it so far. The interface is fairly simple to use, and it is very lightweight.

This is one of the best possible keyboards for a begginner to use. It gives you enough flexibility and power that you can experiment with it quite a bit, and perform with it if you want to, but it is also simple enough that you can learn how to use it very quickly. I would not recommend it for someone who wants a top of the line keyboard, but it would be fine for a beginner.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com