Roland CDX-1

I was quite disgusted with this product. What were Roland thinking? I think they were trying to do a 'Microsoft'; put out a flawed design accompanied by a great fanfare and hope to sell enough units to cover production costs and screw the customer. I'll never buy Roland again.

Whoever it was who designed the CDX-1 should be summarily executed..er dismissed by Roland and anyone who was foolish enough to believe Roland when they rolled out this time-stealing performance-junking monstrosity should be entitled to a full refund. I personally think that a class-action should be taken out against Roland. Who says crime doesn't pay?

Would be easy to use if it worked

Has a multitude of effects and a number of mastering functions

The onboard effects are very good

No this machine has never worked properly. The disk drive has problems that will cost you time and crash continuly

Customer support recommended trying different brands of media. I've tried them all, the disk drive in this unit is not dependable.

No the drive problems render this product unuseable

EASY SMEASY. I got used to it and nothing else works as it does.

I take some time to add to reviews for this reason. I did try to get support from Roland and it does depend on whom you speak. This is completely unacceptable for a company that is rolling in our money. Even when I found someone who helped with replacing the drive, that was as far as he could go. They have really turned a nasty blind eye to customers burned on this lemon and I will never forgive the company.

I took it to a Roland recommended repair first and they kept if for MONTHS and didn't do a damn thing but charge me. In a major metropolitan area?? Then I called a Roland guy who basically said of course you could replace the drive itself and there wasn't much to it and THERE AINT A three year old could unscrew the screws and repace it. IF the first Roland answer guy would have told me this I would have saved a few months. However, now the unit will not read RW discs so is basically worthless. Does anyone else know what this is? I will try to hold the blood pressure again and take it to another repair.

By the way about Roland. I also have a "vintage" Steinberger with Roland synth controller and called about one of the synth inputs not working up to par and any suggestions. The dumbass told me to just take it off and get another controller. This is a customized installed at factory controller. Glad I didn't take his advice as these are selling for bongo bucks on e bay, especially with the original, irreplacable 24 pin control cable. Another person told me when I found the original synth controller that was "All I needed. You're ready to rock." I was too green on synths to know that this was a conroller only with no synth tone.

I still keep it and use a Korg D3200 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED as a slave. This still is a quick way to set up ryhthms and all the fanstastic stuff it can do.

once learning the vs and mpc fuctions and partially reading the manual you are a pro

its pretty good all the internal funtions are good the only problem i have is, once you bounce something you can raise or lower the combined sounds so with the finished product you have to rerecord something that you bounced over again

every type of music can benefit from the effect funtions and good sounds that roland in known for, but another problem i have is with mastering, the masters come out some what bassy, and its hard to keep a level sound from song to song even if you input the same mastering levels for those songs

now here is my biggest headache, THE DISC DRIVE IS A PAIN IN THE YOU KNOW WHAT!!!! after hours of recording when the era,s start theres no way to stop this cd eater. After trying to format disc you might get 1 out of every 5 to work properly ,and i said might, and the cd drive also works in slow motion once it passes a certain point when creating recording

they were helpful on funtional problems

i already did and that was a BIG mistake because of the disc drive .ROLAND usa IF YOU EVER SEE THIS REVIEW LET ME TELL YOU , YOU REALLY HAD THEM ALL BEAT WITH THIS PRODUCT, IT HAD EVERYTHING , MASTERING, PADS FOR SAMPLING, WAV COMPATIBLE,TRACK RECORDERING MIC INPUTS BURNING CDS,EVERYTHING , I VE OWNED EVERYBODY STUFF , AKAI,KORG,EMU,ETC, EVERYBODIES CRAP AND YOU HAD THEM BEAT ON PRICE CAPABILITIES EASE OF USE EVERTHING ,BUT I THINK IN YOUR HASTE TO BRING IT TO MARKET SO QUICKLY YOU SLIPPED ON THE DISC DRIVE MANUFACTURER. WHOEVER THEY WERE THEY PUT DIRT ON YOUR GOOD ROLAND NAME , PLEASE MAKE ANOTHER PRODUCT JUST LIKE THIS BUT WITH A MORE RELIABLE DRIVE AND YOU GOT A REPEAT CUSTOMER . (maybe the cdx2)

I have recently done a Midi sysEX operating system upgrade to version 1.5 for my Roland CDX-1 disc lab.
I have been recording audio since my school days back in the early days of MIDI(1984) and i have grown up learning how to use Analogue 4,8,16 and 24 track reel to reel tape machines with old fashioned sync'ing , tape hiss, dolby noise reduction, and whatever else made tape a blast.
THese days i have used ProTools, LogicAudioPlatinum4.6, as well as a Roland VS-880 which i sold off when i got a new MAC a few years ago, So in 2002 i found one of these at my local Long and McQuade music store in the second hand area, even though it was basically brand new, even at that time. So i bought it for $800 Canadian, and i feel that it is definitly a unit where the sum of all its parts adds up to more value than the unit itself, or something like that.
I also scored a 128MB dimm card for $35 canadian, so the unit works amazing for sampling and especially for using the Mastering Effects processor while mixing down.

mono X 8/ stereo X 4
Built in Effects, YES it does!!!! killer 24 bit effects, the insert effects resemble the algorithmns from the Boss VF-1 half rack multiFX processor(Orange Box) with 200 patches in the CDX-1, loads of COSM modelled amps, speakers, and tone warping vocal multi fx, stereo patches, instruments, bass guitar modelling, acoustic modelling, I am totally pleased with the quality of effects onboard, i use the POD XT, and the Korg Kaoss Pad 2, as well as the Line6 Filter Pro as my outboard effects processors, so when i am praising the Roland effects processing, i am comparing them to my above mentioned units.
Midi extensive!!!Velocity sample pads,
Onboard 4 track phrase sequencer

the Multi track part is suitable for any kind of music,
the sampler section is useable for music, radio and video production

I have owned it since 2002, so far so good, I do take care of it, updating the operating system whenever updates are available, and all that jazz.

Roland was pretty good about taking my calls about Ram upgrades, OS updates and a few other questions that i sent their way.

It is was lost or stolen i would be sad, since it is part 8 track digital recorder, part audio sampler(and derived from the sp808 sampler) plus there is the Amazing effects processors which i find it hard to live without these days, even though i have an assortment of top grade FX units.
I love packing it up and taking it with me someplace, practically a portable studio, with midi sampling(128MB worth of sampling!!!!)

I compared it to the Roland SP-808ex E

Ok bought this product new. Fresh out of the box. Never had trouble in the first year of use. I do not use the PAD funtion and probably could not if i wanted to , the manual is not much help. I have recorded 3 full CD's using this machine. Each one came out with awesome sound. I had a 4 track analog recorder and it was a piece. Overall this machine is pretty simple to use.

The effect are great, i mostly like the vocal effects. You can do some crazy stuff.

I dont know about others but i have done some really nice acuostic stuff with the Roland. As for my electic guitar stuff it never seemed to give me the depth i wanted in the music. I changed guitars, amps, pedals I even got my hands on a Gidson Les PAul 1972. Still the depth was not their. I edited my brains out. I tweeked the EQ and still was not satisfied.

Ok this is where I have something to say. DO NOT BUY THIS PIECE OF CRAP. I have had media erros all ove rthe place, I have formated CDs and reformated. i have lost countless hours of work due to ERRORS. Its not so much when i change disk, but in the middle of a project. Forget saving crap when that happens. ITS ALWAYS FATAL. I have used it for 3 years now and am almost ready to burn it. I might try swapping drives with a pc drive if I can find on compatiable. IF anyone Knows if this can be done Please let me know.

I never calle them, guess I should. but from what i have read its almost worthless.

Overall this unit can do some great things when it works. But who wants to put a lot of work into something only to have it lost in a seconds time. THis Unit is crap, and the makers should be sued for selling a defective product. I dont believe that they never had problems before they sold it. I think they wanted to get the first chunk of money outa the consumer. This was almost the first stand alone unit with a built in CD drive. SO they got us all........never again ROLAND.....never again

I've had this thing a year and still haven't once been able to multitrack. However, when I had it functioning better, I loved being able to record direct to cd in realtime from the pads and inputs. I've gotten some great recordings out of it and I do love it, but yeah, I too am having the disc drive headache.

I love this compact, all in one design. I don't think we'll see another like for a long time to come... I just hope the next one is better functioning. It may be time to go the MPC route. However, now I got a Fantom X7, so I can wait. This thing is a DIY'er's dream come true when it actually BEHAVES. If they make a better model of this I'd buy it.

This was my first instrument with real effects and that alone is one reason I'll always keep it. The sound quality is above par. I've had this as a live instrument for a year and I love tweaking effects live.

This machine has FUCKED me on some GOOD recordings. The disc drive SUCKS and mine is making these awful crunching, grinding noises. Time to send it in. I'm not happy. But if it can give me another year, I'll be happy.

Haven't done so yet, but I'll update here once I do

I think I'm gonna get an MPC next. Akai is the company to beat. I still love ROLAND, however. Ever since getting my first dinky Roland MS-1 in 1996, I have loved this company's instruments.

I wouldn't recommend this machine. I spent hours on a project, then had quite a few disc errors, and lost much of the work. (I read this forum too late)

In addressing some other problems seen posted, when recording over tracks, you may get a "disk full" message. Make sure that you optimize the disk if you re record often. Refer to the manual for instructions.

I now need to figure out how to mix to a CD-R, the 'checking disc" message has been on for about 15 minutes.

Wouldn't replace it.

The CDX-1 is fairly easy to use but I read through the entire manual once before I attempted anything other than trying out the demo disc. They level controls are good and simple. IT's very easy to tell what tracks are active via the red and green lights. I like the ease with which you can apply effects. I'm a little put out that you CAN apply effects to the master (good) but I have not figured how to monitor those effects (bad). If there is a way to do it - I haven't found it.

Presets are good in my miniscule experience except that I have to apply noise reduction to quite a bit of input just to get rid of the machine hum. It's very easy to modify a patch for this work. Patches in general are easy to edit.

The manual is great until you want details on the mastering tools. It looks like the writers were up against a deadline and started summarizing. The index was very sparse. It was hard to find anything other than major functions.

Fantastic features. You can start recording and create and actual CDR from this machine. Recording is very clean. Rythym selections are beyond what I could ever ask for. Patches are plentiful. I love the automatic punch in functions. I can make a 5 minute solo seem flawless with that feature. It's to the point that I don't even put up with an iffy tone. All of features are easy to use after a quick trip to the manual.

I have been using this system to successfully record traditional Celtic music but with it's flexibility I have been able apply Rock and Jazz feels at a whim. The pad effects are chiefly responsible for that.

As I said once the machine records very cleanly but there is still a small machine humm involved. It's quite easy to create a noise reduction patch that eliminates the noise with a minimal impact to the performances.

Here is area where the CDX-1 gets blown out of the water. Disk errors. That's it in a nutshell. You must backup your discs! To me it's not a gamble about getting a show stopping media error. You WILL get it. I've lost many hours of great performances due to the CDX drive. I almost wonder why they didn't use the same drives that PC's use. The technology has been there forever and it is tried and true. This CDX-1 drive technology is hideous. On top of that there are no defragment commands available. That would be nice. IT would also be nice if the machine could isolate what it deems to be disc errors and allow the user to work around.

A disc error is almost always fatal. Very low marks for dependability.

Customer support is amazingly quiet about the major and well known errors with this system. They claim that I need to take the machine to an authorized repair center to have the drive looked at. Fine, I can do that. It's reasonable enough. What was particularly frustrating was that would not accept any responsibility for the horrible drives they installed on an otherwise great machine. Business is business. I don't suppose I should beat them up for speaking the company line as politely as possible.

If someone were to steal this machine I would say thank you, collect insurance then get some piece of equipment with functional disc memory. Since this was my first digital home studio, I'd say the experience soured me. I can't get the media errors out of my nightmares. DO NOT BUY THIS MACHINE! save the heartache. If you insist on throwing away your money I'll sell you mine. Works as good as the day I bought it. As for all the wonderful features, they mean nothing if I can't record. My overall rating reflects that.

By the way, I found that the TDK high speed discs fare better than every other brand I have tried. Not guaranteed to work but better.

I have it for about a month- If you used that type of hardware before,you should not have any trouble- exept trying to find right CDRW type and if you did trying to format that CDRW- I gave up and bought 2 formated discs on EBay, not cheap at $10 a pop-but it's all i need since it writes CDR's flawlessly-That would be the biggest problem with this unit still love the other things it has :)

must say exelent Cosm effects - sampling time is great-i have 128 RAM just took it to PC place and they tried several untill right one was found -128 mb is a must have !

I ran all kinds of groove boxes through it's cosm effects- good potential , once again you would pay good amount of money for that type of sampling capabilities...Multitrack is easy to work with

I gave it all 9 s for the lack of hard drive and painfull CDRW formating process- but it's a good thing - if it was flawless i could not afford it at $1,400 :(

Never had to deal with them exept trying to get manual- they suck at that, trying to sell you manual on the product that was sold once already - every one else has free PDF out there -shame on you Roland

If it were lost or stolen- Yes i would buy it again :)