Roland DEP-5

Takes time to learn. Must have the manual in order to get into business. Like most modules, easiness of usage wouldn't be its strongest side,

This is a digital unit - but a *Roland* digital unit !

What I mean to say is that Roland digital effects are almost never bad,
and this one is no exception. The digital delay is warm and clean, and can do 2 seconds !! There's a high cut function using which you will achieve great "analog" delays.

The Reverb is very nice and warm, great for pianos and other keyboard sounds like church organs, synths, etc. As long as you're using it for instruments rather than a central effect unit on your PA system, it will do the job very well. Chorus/Flanger is clean and warm, but nothing like the Boss CE series.

I got mine a while ago and the only problem so far was the empty backup battery which was dead. Looks quite reliable and very strongly built ! Beware as this unit is DAMN heavy, and gets very warm during its operation. If you want to let it into your portable rack panel, get something else. There are hundreds of 1U digital effect units which are light weighted. This beast is for studio use.

Overall, as I said, the DEP5 is a great addition for any keyboard player, and will widen up any keyboard sound module. It won't fit PA applications well though. Most important - the unit is stereophonic,
so again, let your stereo sound module in and you get yourself a great sounding Roland effect unit for 100$-200$ !

If you have other multieffects, it is easy to use.
To write a preset you must push in write and the arrows button.
The rest is easy.

Well, this stuff more than 25 years, and was one the best racks of Roland in its time.
Better than SDE-3000 or SDE-2500? Perhaps.
This is stereo. Ping pong delay. The SDE's are mono.
The trick is, like with every multiefects, set well the input signal. If you set well the input signal, you will have a sound without noise.
The effects:
Chorus: Decent.
Delays: Incredible!!! Analog sound.
Reverb: The reverb for guitars is here. I have several lexicon reverbs. Of course, the Lexicon are diferent, and better quality (i have PCM's), but if you need a reverb for guitars, this reverb (Roland) is made for guitars, and works better with guitars.
The reverbs are very good, and too for voices, drums, etc. But for guitars are incredible.
Flangers are decent.

More than 25 yerars old.
Well, try this with a line6. ;)

Roland has the best support in this world.
They have in his web, all manuals of all produtcs of all eras.
And they have pieces and boards, and switches, and all for everything.
I have need sometimes pieces of old racks, and pedals. No problem with Roland.

I have in my studio Eventide, Lexicon and Roland.
I have several Roland Racks. Fantastic!!!!

This unit is best learned by hands on experience. Turn the knobs, press the buttons then go back to read the manual. It will make more sense this way since the manual kind of sucks unless you are already
experienced with this type of unit.

I use this unit on PA. It does have some hiss and this varies with attenuations on your unit and mixer. The sound of the delay is great and the chorus on guitar is excellent. The reverbs are good but seem to need more tweaking. This is a great unit to use on digital tracks since it seems to add the roland sound to them.

I have had one for many years since they first came out and have had no problems

This is a great unit if you learn to use it correctly. if it is to hard for you then look for a used Yamaha SPX-90

Like most Alg. f/x processors - you really need the manual to get to know the machine. The realtime/editing knobs are nice to have...you don't see much of that anymore. The display is your basic LED patch number type.

It's 32k sampling, so don't expect the shimmer of Lexicon, con, con, con. It works well as a processor for non-metalic drum sounds.

Purchased it circa 1987. It's ben turned on and off at least everyday for the past 14 years. It's pretty heady too.

Like I always say about Roland - once you get them on the phone...they're excellent...once you get them.

My first multi-effects processor- now one of many. I don't think I'd replace it, but I would recommend it for gigging because I believe it's an incredibly solid unit. Also, circa 1987 I saw a Roland rep put on a demo presentation of roland gear at Ace Music in Miami. He was driving the hell out of a DEP 5 and it was taking it all in stride.

I play with a Crate Electra. This amp puts out the power! I combined it with a Crate 20watt amp and put both up to half volume. The effect was enough to ring my ears for a few hours. I hooked up my PSK wah pedal and it lost some power and produced a little noise. I don't really care to much for the built in digital effects (2 delays, a chorus, and a flanger) but the distortion rocks.

This is a loud 35W RMS put through 4-5 1/2 in (or 5 in.?) speakers. Has a jack for anything you want and some nice built in digital effects. The only thing is that you can only use your distortion plus any other effect at a time, no more than that. Adjusting the effects is pretty lousy, but for the price, you can't beat this amp.

I haven't had it long but it is very reliable so far. It still has the original speakers and I've abused it without any damage so far. It has solid plastic controls that are much better than any other amp I've seen...usually they fall off and stuff, but not with this one.

I will keep this amp for two reasons: 1 - It is the best practice amp I've seen because all you have to have is your guitar and the amp and your set since you have the effects built in.
2 - In the case that my effects pedal goes out during a show/gig then I'll just hook this baby up and run my cabs with this.

Without a manual (I don't have one) this thing is a bit hard to figure out but luckily the algorithms are listed on the top of the unit. Editing and saving patches is fairly easy once you figure out how to do it, but once again having the manual would save you a lot of time.
A nice feature is the fact that it has knobs to turn rather than having to navigate through menus.

Sounds good for live PA use as well as in an amp's fx loop. Mine isn't noisy at all, but it does take a bit of work to get the levels set right. The unit has true bypass when switched off and doesn't destroy your tone even when it's on. That's a really nice feature compared to some other fx processors. I've rated the individual effects below: Reverb: 5 - Decent, but the tail of the reverb has a really metallic quality to it. It works for live stuff or for a guitar amp but I can't imagine using it for recording unless that's the sound you're going for. It has plate, spring, hall, and room algorithms. All sound good, though not great. Delay: 8 - It shines here. The delays sound very good and don't have the usual "digititis" that many digital delays have. Chorus: 2 - Yuck! While I've always loved Roland chorus they really were on drugs when they came up with this one. It's decent if you keep both rate and depth real low (lower than 10:00) but still far from great. With anything higher it can get really weird and metallic sounding. Parametric EQ: 7 - Handy to have in a rack unit; I've used it in a pinch to help kill some feedback.

Mine's old and is still ticking.

Not really applicable since it's so far out of warranty.

Overall this is a decent basic processor, particularly if you're looking for a delay unit. While it does have some problems (like the metallic decay on the reverbs and the nasty chorus), it works pretty well in an fx loop and as I said, for a delay it's really great...

Fairly easy to use, it has knobs. Algorithms are a little weird, but you get used to them. Patch editing is quick & fast. No parameter list looking up, but you do have to know what each knob controls (pre-delay, damping, chorus depth, etc..) The manual gets a little weird since it's translated from japanese, but most is understandable.

Sometimes noisy with guitar preamps, otherwise very clean as a mixing board or 4-track effects unit. Effects sound really clear. No algorithm combining delay / reverb. Has a very cool ping pong delay, and reverse non-linear reverb. Also, a lot of room sizes for reverb setting. Also, it's true stereo - 2 in and 2 out. Parametric eq is also a part of this unit. Sweepable mids with Q control. Programmable and Storable value for level of effected signal.

Yes. A very dependable unit. It was the top of the line for Roland years ago when they had the SDE delays and the SRV-2000 reverb. Only had one problem with the balance knob freezing up. Fixed easily with a little tv-tuner lube spray (electronics store).

Never really had to get any support or repair. I was able to fix the knob problem myself. I don't know of any upgrades for it.

Yeah, I'd but it again. The ping pong delay and chorusing algorithm, Long spacey reverbs, plus if you crank the feedback on the delay, you can do cool Frippertronic type stuff. It looks cool too. Colored knobs, and a cool lcd display. Does not have Midi continuous control or sysex patch dump. Only basic midi program change and omni mode stuff. I wish it had an algorithm with ping pong delay, reverb, and chorus. It definitely helps me make music.