The Roland XP-80 was one of the main keyboards that Roland produced when it came out. It has 3 effect processors with over 40 different effects. Most of the main effects that liked were distortion, reverb, and ring modulation. You can use this keyboard as a MIDI controller too. This keyboard is great for electro music, dance, and even some techno. It has a built in arp that you can do wonders with, I loved working with the arp and effects; I was able to get some really cool sounds. There are over 500 presets on the XP-80 right out of the box. UTILIZATION The keys are velocity sensitive on the XP-80; they feel well made and will hold up for a long time. Most of these units that are still being sold online still look great even though they were made over 10 years ago. You can save up to 128 user patches and 2 drumkits on this keyboard. SOUNDS The XP-80 has 64 voices polyphony and 4 oscillators per voice. It has over 100 patterns are loaded that you can use to play along with. All of your sounds are easy to go through and can be manipulated quickly and easily. This keyboard has great sounds that will fit many different styles of music. Using this synth is simple as well, it does not take along to figure it out and start using it like a pro. OVERALL OPINION All of the sounds are pretty realistic, there are a few that make you kind of scratch your head and wonder who really would use it. But with some effects and patience you can pretty much use any sound to your advantage. I have always loved getting vintage keyboards because they still have great potential and you can get them for a great price; a price that people would have loved to get them for when they first came out.
Pretty good features--BUT they only hold 2 expansion cards! That's a negative! Price paid $900.00 UTILIZATION Pretty easy to use but can be complicated for a beginner-def. not a newbie synth. Built ford tough! Never had any problems. SOUNDS Nice sounds! No complaints! OVERALL OPINION Had mine for 7 years---it did the job until I got the JV 2080 rack for only $400.00 on ebay--it holds 9 expansion cards Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: bhardman ( 6-, 2005)
A 16 track midi sequencer is usually adequate for most situations. However the XP is best when used as a soundsource...or even a scratch pad that is sync'ed up to a more capable sequencer...whether that be one of many capable DAW/software program combo out today (Fruity Loops, Reason, Pro-Tools)or a hardware sequencer/sampler (MPC series, MV, even the slept on MC-909) One helpful feature is the RPS function, which allows you to trigger a created phrase on the fly at the touch of a key. With no sampler...this function is essential to creating "hybrid" sounding track...in other words a track that sounds sample...and has many of the "chopped" feature of one ...but is actually a 100% original $1,300.00 (back in the day) UTILIZATION Its a miracle I still have my eyes after 8 years of peeing a the tiny orange rectangular screen. To access many of other more complex features of the XP such as patch(sound)editing, track edit..etc involves many searches through various screens. The manual is your best friend....however it is a Roland manual......be advised it is a tank....can go above ground, underground, on the road...wherever. users who have either been longtime users like myself or others who are picking up one from somewhere else need to keep a careful eye on the ancient floppy disk drive for perfornamce however. SOUNDS The XP-50 has many good stock sounds right out the box for professional/aspiring composers, media scorers, and techno/ambiant/rave sound designers.. ah yes well that's nice. BUT, what about the aspiring beatmaker..or the grizzled pro?? If you be patient with the somehat unforgiving learning curve...you can craft out stunning compositions without having to reach to any other piece of gear(and thanks to current situation..I know that as well as anybody, these days. EFX processors, diffrent sets of filters and amplifiers allow you to customize your own sound. OVERALL OPINION I started from the instrumental side of music first then graduated to beatmaking. So I have yet to purchase those celebrated pieces of gear your 'favorite' producer has..(MPC, ASR-10,Motif....or my favorite..Fantom X7)this is my brainchild. Even when it is replaced...it will be kept for sentiment for a long time Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: cloudism ( 7-, 2005)
It's Black and fairly sturdy. I've played Guitar for since 1966 and have always tinkered with the Keys. I've been playing keys pretty steady for about 6 years. I also use a Yamaha P70, Yamaha DX-21 and a Korg Poly 800. I'm using a Kawai MX 8r stereo Mixer, a Marshall Valvestate 80/80 stereo power amp and Marshall AVT bottom with heavier speakers Converted to stereo. I bought it from my other Guitarist so I could back up our Sax Player with B3isms. We are a Beach. Boogie and Blues Band. I Paid $200 and it included a SKB case. My other Guitarist doesn't play, but bought it cheap at a garage sale. I've down loaded all of my manuals and it is above my pay grade so it works for me. and it sounds great for Steel drums, Hammond, electric piano, and most synth sounds. <a href="https://www.reverbnation.com/catfishstew">https://www.reverbnation.com/catfishstew</a> For what I need it's easy to use and a great beginner tool for those interested in using a good board for recording or playing. I'm 59 and won't be writing programs so for me, that is not an issue. The 'readout screen' is adequate. The Guy Playing it. He'll get better but he has a long way to go. Fairly study. I try to baby my equipment, but I do play out and take all of my crap with me. If It broke down or I lost it, I would consider another, but I'm not totally reliant on it. Rolands are cool, Any one that I found, I'm sure I'd like! I Like the Unit. I'd buy it again or upgrade. I'm giving it a '4', only because it is the bottom of the 'XP' Line. It is what it is! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
I am very satisfied with the features it has. 16 track sequencer (MRC Pro), 16-part multitimbral, 64 voice polyphony,onboard effects, groove quantize, RPS, four wave expansion slots for JV series expansion boards (mine has Hip Hop SR-JV80-12 & Techno SR-JV80-11), GM general midi, and much more. The only thing that's missing is a sampler, other than that it's a musician's workstation. Price paid $300 and retails for $1000 UTILIZATION It's gonna take some time to figure out how everything works on the XP-60. I got familiar with the sounds before I got into the sequencing part of the keyboard, with this keyboard like many others you just have take the learning process one step at a time. The manual is somewhat of a task in it's self i found it easier to look up the functions you want to do rather than read from page one. SOUNDS The sounds are great. I would say that it has basically the same sounds as the JV-1080 with the same amount of expansion slots. The sounds are basic until you load your expansion slots with sounds, my personal choice to expand your XP-60 with SR-JV80-12 HIp Hop, SR-JV80-04 Vintage Synth, SR-JV80-18 Latin, & SR-JV80-11 if your into Hip Hop, R&B, & Top 40 production, like myself. OVERALL OPINION The Roland XP-60 is the musician's workstation for the studio musician as well as the live musician. A well built and tough keyboard the way Roland makes them. I really am attached to my Roland XP-60 this will be my main keyboard for all my midi gear. I wont be getting rid of it any time soon.... Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Unknown (January 1-, 2002)
