Roland CDX-1

Pretty intuitive to use. Editing patches is easy. The manual is a good reference.

The built-in effects are pretty good. It can accept more memory. I haven't used the MIDI.

I don't have much experience, so to me it sounds pretty good after using a 4 track cassette recorder.

The unit worked fine for a about a year, with frustrating intermittent medium errors. It is indeed very picky about which CD-RWs you use. The problems got worse until now where all it says is "Reading Disc Information" upon inserting ANY or NO disc at all. This message continues forever. The unit does not work any more. I have seen many other reviews cite similar problems. I wish I had thought to buy something with a hard drive.

I called Roland once about the above problem, but the guy didn't know much about the unit and only suggested that I send it to them.

Would never buy another one of these. I want something with a real hard drive. I do like my other Roland products (drum machine, BOSS effects pedals).

I BOUGHT THE CDX-1 CHEAP(I GUESS BECAUSE IT'S A DISCONTINUED ROLAND ITEM) AND IT'S A GOOD THING(I BOUGHT IT CHEAP). I WOULD HAVE NEVER PAYED EVEN 700 BUCKS FOR THIS THING. CAN'T FIND MEMORY THAT WORKS. THE TAG ON THE BOTTOM SAID IT WAS A FACTORY REFURBISHED UNIT AND ROLAND COULDN'T EXPLAIN THAT.(I THOUHGT I WAS GETTING SOMETHING NEW HOWEVER, I DO HAVE THE UPGRADED SOFEWARE VERSION AND THE MIGHT EXPLAIN THAT). ROLAND WILL ONLY TELL ME THAT "HIGH SPEED" CD RW'S ARE NECESSARY(MAXELL SONY MEMORX ETC.) FOR TRACKING. RICOH AND MITUBISHI DON'T EVEN SELL IN THIS COUNTRY(USA). THE MANUAL IS TYPICAL OF ALL MANUALS BUT DOES EXPLAIN,IF READ CAREFULLY, HOW TO USE THIS UNIT. WHAT'S WITH VIDEO'S ANYWAY? CAN'T READ? THE PRESET GUITAR AND BASS SOUNDS ARE OK BUT DON'T THROW AWAY THE EFFECTS PEDEL(S). THIS UNIT WILL BE MORE THAN ENOUGH IF YOU DON'T HAVE ONE OR ANY. I RUN THROUGH A MIXER FIRST ANYWAY AND CAN ADD MORE EFFECTS IF I CHOOSE TOO.

AS I SAY BEFORE, DON'T GET RID OF YOUR PEDALS. HARD TO FIND MEMORY THAT WORKS AND HAVE TRIED TWO DIFFERANT CARDS NOW. MAYBE SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH MY BABY BUT ROLAND CAN'T EXPLAIN. THE FACT THAT YOU CAN EDIT WAV FILES ON THE UNIT SHOULD MAKE IT A BREEZE TO PLAY WITH. I WILL AGREE THAT THE 128MB OF MEMORY SHOULD HAVE BEEN ENGINEERED INTO THIS UNIT FROM THE GET GO, OR SHOULD HAVE BEEN OFFERED AT A GOOD RATE FROM ROLAND. ROLAND DID RECOMMEND A MANUFACT. FOR MENORY BUT THAT WAS AFTER THE FACT AND I MAY HAVE TO GO TO THEM (OEMPCWORLD.COM).
THEY(ROLAND) ALSO SUPPLIED THE SPECS FOR THE CARD WHICH WERE DIFFERANT FROM THE ONES ENCLOSED WITH THE CDX-1. NO COMMENT ON MIDI, I HAVEN'T TRY TO USE IT YET.

THIS IS GOOD ENTRY LEVEL WORKSTATION FOR ANY MUSICIAN IF IT HOLDS UP TO USE. BUT WAS PROBABLY DESIGNED WITH THE DANCE DJ'S IN MIND. THIS THING WILL SAMPLE, BUT ANY MIXER/RECORDER WITH CD BURNING CAPABLITIES THAT ONLY HAS TWO RECORDABLE INPUTS AT A TIME SPEAKS FOR LIMITATIONS. IF YOU HAVE A BAND, OP FOR A UNIT THAT WILL LET YOU GO AS HIGH AS 8 SIMLE INPUTS AT A TIME. USE ANOTHER MIXER IF YOU HAVE TO BUT THIS UNIT IS FOR THE SINGLE MUSICIAN. THE EFFECTS ARE "GOOD".

I HAVEN'T USED IT ENOUGH TO HAVE BREAK DOWNS BUT REVIEWS ARE NOT GOOD. I WOULD NOT USE THIS UNIT AS A RELIABLE RECORDER OUT ON A LIVE GIG. THERE ARE TOO MANY THINGS THAT APPEAR THAT CAN GO WRONG WITH IT.

ROLAND CUSTOMER SUPPORT IS SO SO. I THINK IT DEPENDS ON THE REP YOU TALK WITH.

IT'S A GOOD THING THIS A DISCONTINUED PRODUCT. I'M A LITTLE UPSET THAT I BOUGHT IT BUT I GOT IT ON THE CHEAP AND IF THE DRIVE CRAPS OUT AFTER WARRANTY IT GOES ON THE TRASH PILE. ROLAND MADE A BIG MISTAKE BY NOT INCLUDING THE 128MB IN THE UNIT OR BY NOT BEING ABLE TO OFFER IT TO THE PEOPLE THAT BOUGHT THESE(CDX-1). HAVING TO GO TO A DIFFERANT VENDOR FOR MEMORY IS, AS I'M FINDING OUT, AN INCONVIENANT NIGHTMARE. NEXT TIME I WILL BUY A DIFFERANT BRAND. ROLAND HAS LET THE PEOPLE DOWN WITH THIS STINKER.

never seeing a digital recorder before i was lost instantly, so i bought the 5 pack video which helped but the guys voice will put you to sleep. i still never fully watched all the videos but they where good

i couldnt get the midi to work which pissed me off, everyone i asked didnt know either.

i bought a dr-20 mic with it becuase it was suggested and me not knowing shit about this type of stuff paid 100$ for that mic and my vocals where shitty. i just paid 500$ for a audio-technica mic and when i plugged it in it sounded the same. i dont know if im doing something wrong but payin 1,200$ for a recorder and 500$ for a mic youd think youd get a more studio sound. ive heard a 2$ computer mic and song sound better.

always save everything. ive had medium errors on disks here and there. sometimes u get into a rhythm and when your recording your vocals and the disk will be searching for the spot your at and it takes a long time and u get frusterated. i dont have to many errors but it being a brand new machine i was pissed that i did have some. oh and the discs are expensive as hell, almost 10$ for a 5 pack usually

i looked online but no one knows nothing

im not satisfied with this product at all for the price i paid. it is a good product just not worth the price. if i had to again i would only pay 200$ for this thing

Totally easy, if you know how to work a four-track it will be a breeze!COSM effects are awesome for VOX or guitar. Get the 5 video manuals, it'll be twice as fast to learn. Look on ebay if Roland is out! :)GET THE 128MB DIMM!! you will get almost endless sample time!
they sell for $49. on ebay

COSM rocks and there are alot of use locations for your own EFX settings.sequencer is as easy as a groovebox (MC-505,SP-505,etc.)
Midi can control external midi units like drum machines,synths-
can also record midi from other synths!AND PLAY THEM BACK WELL!!

pads are cool, resampling w/effects is great,too
this is a well rounded unit, can be used with any style, I do
electronic/techno/EBM/synthpop so I record my synths-n-beats
then my VOX, a little sound effects, master, burn,done!! :)

I have heard alot about this unit crashing, but mine has not.FOR THOSE NOT INFORMED ABOUT DISCS FOR THIS UNIT, CHECK EBAY OR RADIOSHACK
I FOUND THE CORRECT KIND THERE FOR CHEAP! LOST SAMPLES??? MTC ERROR??
DUH!!!!!!!SAVE YOUR STUFF EVERRRRRRYYYYYY TIME YOU CHANGE DISCS!! EVEN
IF IT IS JUST TO CHECK DATA!! YOU WILL LOSE IT IF YOU DON'T!!!!!!!!!!

Roland rocks if you take the steps to call them,plus they have support
for all of those people who say their CDX-1 crashes. I am shocked that people are dissing this unit for missing/lost data. JUST BACK IT UP EVERY TIME and you will be happy. To save important samples just record them on a track and save it to your CD-RW, it wont lose that!

I have recorded my album for my band SEVERA. I have remixed my songs,
remixed other bands, sampled vintage analog synths, resampled them with effects, all on this unit!!!god it can do soooo much! CD burner inside is the best! Yeah, I would by another if this unit was stolen,etc. I have a ton of recordings on CD-RW's that would be collecting dust! Buy it for cheap and be successful!!!!!!!!!!

Unit is fairly easy to operate for basic operations. Layout pretty well thought. I don't want to get into this too much because it is overshadowed by the lack of reliability of the unit and/or media.

Should have come with 128 DIMM. Stupid to have to go buy it separately.

FX are pretty nice. Sound quality is probably fine although there is detectable digital sterility. Tube preamps etc. But again, don't want to get to far into this because a great sound won't do you much good when the unit craps out on you.

Completely unreliable. Disc errors. Medium errors. "Not CDRW" errors when it IS the correct CDRW and worked the day before just fine. LCD screen fragments into jumbles. Insanely picky about which discs work. Recommended discs are impossible to find in my whole state and can even be difficult to find on the internet (ie 2 bucks for one cd. 13 dollars for shipping. Yes you, Amazon.con.) Can't find the "recommended" discs anywhere. Does Mitsubishi even manufacture these?
Every time I sit down at this machine I feel like it is probably the last because I think it will die any minute. It's bad when you are actually surprised when it works properly.

Never called them because problems started the day after warranty expired, so what do I expect them to tell me.

Never again. Wish I hadn't in the first place. The thing is crap and I do know what I'm doing and I am using "the right cds". It would be cool enough if it worked, although even so, there are limitations of writing to discs such as limited space and not being able to use a track that corresponds with the sequence track you are using. This sucks and is very confusing.

All I want to say is at the end

All I can say is stay away from this machine. I've had mine for a year and it's getting it's third service on the Cd drive. It's just out of warranty so when it goes again there's no way im going to pay to fix it. I will never buy a roland product again . fuck you roland

I repeat STAY AWAY FROM THIS THING AND FUCK YOU ROLAND

Roland is a monster company. Great stuff, easy to use, and affordable. In fact, I love Roland stuff. But ... In December of 2001, I got a Roland CDX-1, a Roland Fantom, and a Roland drum machine. In that sixteen months, I've recorded thirty songs to final master on CD. The CDX-1 was, probably, the first of its kind to offer digital mastering tools, a built-in CD-RW drive, and a sampler. Since it came out, however, others have offered similar products ... Zoom, Korg, Tascam, etc., and they addressed a few problems of the CDX: it should have had a hard drive and more RAM. Also, you can't erase tracks. You can erase sequences and samples, but not tracks. And you can only record a song of about 23 total minutes, divided by the number of tracks you use. So, if you have a five minute song, you can only do four tracks (times five minutes each). And now, just sixteen months after buying it, my CDX-1 is kaput. Won't format or even recognize CD-RW's I previously recorded. Love Roland, but hate this.
Jonathon Burket

Presets are good for recording but a bit low for Master levels.
Since the music I make is traditional, I find very few uses for Patches.

Here is the failure of this device above any other. The disc drive has problems that seem to be chronic. One can never be sure when a medium error will occur - except to say that you don't have to wait too long. The medium error suggests that your discs are corrupted. I have had to many Medium error problems for me to believe this.

If you get a medium error. All the recording you did is lost. Try to use one CD rw per tune to minimize your loss.

I contacted customer support and they told me exactly what I needed to know even if it did not correspond exactly to the manual.

This thing is typical Roland. All of the buttons are function buttons. It helped to have a Boss JamStation JS5- this thing works similar. The manual is set up exactly like the Boss manual. If you understand the typical recording terms, this thing is easy to use.

It is very fully featured. The sampling station has permitted me to take samples from the internet and craft background tracks- and the 4 channel sample system allows more than one channel deep in samples. The COSM modeling is excellent, and the microphone and guitar filters and effects are very good. I do have to use a little pre-amp for the guitar parts to get enough volume, but that is no problem. I have not used any of the MIDI yet.
Recording to CDRW can be a little slow, but unless you are taking this thing on the road, it is not a problem.

I only record Rock, so the sounds that it evokes are perfect for me. The filter set is much larger than I though before purchase- I was pleased. This gives me the ability to apply delay and doubling for individual channels to give a nice fat sound.

So far so good.

I had to call Roland twice for a problem, and they were great. If you buy this unit, make sure that you get the correct CDRW media. Roland recommends Ricoh and Mitsubishi CDRW media- and Ricoh has just stopped making platters. Sony, TDK are the correct replacements, and you cannot use a platter with a length of more than 650MB. If so, then the features will not all work. Do not use Memorex or Imation media! It will not recognize it. When I spoke with support, they were great and I was not on hold at all.

I would suggest it to anyone that is trying to create music at their home.

I'm not an engineer of any sort but I found the CDX-1 easy to use after a few days. The manula has very little depth but walks you through common features. Same as every other Roland manual. Essentially you plug in a microphone, check levels & hit record.

I recorded a band using the CDX-1. I made sure I had enough formatted CDRWs, used 2 tracks per song (4 songs per CDRW) & had no troubles with the CDX-1. There's no need to burn onto CDR as you go.

The sampler's OK, but it's time-stretching sounds awful. The unit needs more inputs too. The audio tracks are linked for any bouncing so you only have 4 tracks to work with. Same deal with the sequencer. This was very frustrating at first. Cool COSM patches. I haven't turned on my guitar amp to record for months.

Best suited for a one-man operation. Good for electro & dance music. Audio comes out as good as it goes in.

Works great so far. I have confidence in Roland. Once after a long session the CD drive was quite warm so I quit, but it had worked perfectly until that point.

Dealt with Roland to learn more about the chip for upgrade. Went through my dealer. They were both great.

Great piece of gear for the price...does everything all in one box. I wouldn't hesitate to buy an upgraded model with more inputs and better bouncing. The current model I would replace if stolen.