Roland D-10

Never had a manual for my roland D 10 but I think one would come in handy, also I do not know the software version or how to find out. It's whatever came on it. Patching the sounds isn't too hard, takes a while to get used to this synths layout, but you can change the pitch, reverb, split point (for using multi instrument sounds), and a gang of other stuff that I cant remember at the moment. You also are able to control the pitch bend knob (a whammy bar for a synth basically) and what it controls on the synth, IE- pitch, reverb, ect ect. I liked that feature alot.

I love the fact that this synth had midi in and out, and aux in and out, and a headphone port. The midi comes in handy for software such as reason, or nuendo, and there's a ton of software synths that you can plug in to via midi. The keyboard plays great, the sensitivity of the keys is pretty close to a real piano. the harder you press the key, the louder the note. Can expand the soundbank via cards (which are hard to find)and through midi somehow (never found out how to do so) Onboard sequencer is a bit difficult to get familiar with, but once you figure it out you can actually make some crazy stuff with it.

Already noted were the organ sounds, they're aweswome. Also, the piano sounds are not bad at all, most of the isntruments sounds decent, i'd give most a 7 or 8 out of 10 . Could be a little sharper but not bad for how old the equipment is. Onboard effects "sound effects?" It has some sound effects, but I was dissapointed at how limited this soundbank was. My dissapointment was removed when I found out about "software" synths that the roland works great with via midi, on my pc.
Endless sounds and possibilities with these. I use this synth mostly for hip hop, drum n bass, speedcore, and trip hop type music. On it's own I could see it being used for jazz or in a noisy indie rock band definitely. Get an external midi to usb and a laptop, then your possibilities are endless.

This Synth has never failed me or done anything bizzare, one key sticks but I think it's because there's something in there (prob. compliments of my 2 year old) which I need to clean out.
I'd definitely do a show with it. It's built like a tank.

Never had to contact roland for anything, I never had a manual either, this keyboard is made out to be harder than it really is.
No upgrades and never had to have it repaired.
This synth ROCKS.

If I lost my roland I would definitely get another one at some point, though they're quite hard to come by.
I've been playing for a year or so, using this roland for about 7 months in various ways to help me make beats and music.
The only thing I don't like about this synth is that it's so damn heavy... But it's very durable as a result of it's weight, so it evens out. I also wish I had a manual.
I love it's compatability with my soundcard and all software that i've run it through. It's never not worked.
I can't really compare it because this is the 1st synth i've owned, but i've played others and read up on others and for the price, this isn't bad at all. I do wish it had better drum samples, and more of them at that, it's seriously lacking in that department, but that's what SP's are for. haha.
I'd say the Roland D 10 definitely helps with music making, if you can get past the akward interface then you've got yourself a piece of great musical equipment.

I'd love to know how to add patches and such and find out how to access different things in the synth that I might not know about if anyone knows.

The presets on this keyboard aren't to good. Considiring its age they still aren't good. I'm a church musician and I bought this keyboard because I was desperate for a professional style synth. The only thing good up their was the organs and the leads weren't to bad. But you can get a better piano sound out of a $100 dollar radioshack keyboard. Editing isn't to hard. You won't need a manual. I never had a manual and I move around the board pretty easily.

As I said before the sounds suck. Unless you are just buying the synth for an organ sound. The leads are straight but I heard better. If I were to compare this keyboard to another it would have to be a beginner one from radioshack.

I wouldn't use this keyboard in a gig without a backup. I don't think I would use this keyboard at all. When I bought it had something wrong internally but the out side was in good condition. I got it fixed which ran me almost 70 dollars. It really wasn't worth it.

It wasn't hard to get my D-10 fixed. I just brought it in to my local Roland Dealer (MCfayden Music) and they shipped it in to get it fixed.

Overall this keyboard doesn't meet any of today's standards. I would pay someone to steal mine. I really wouldn't recommend this keyboard to anyone

Just got mine off ebay and its my first.Need rewiring instruction so I can set up for 220. Came with plug end missing. I will fix this one myself, just need some tech advice on wire color code"( which is the pos and which nuetral)". The schematic for the transformer prongs
are not clear and I need exact connect point for the switch from 240 over to 220. Does anybody know what I'm talking about or where I could get the support I need? Your help would be much appreciated.

Other than the end plug missing this board looks to be in near mint condition. This was purchased to form a home school of rock for my teenage daughters and friends. They are chomping at the bit ton get this project underway. Looking for as much free links to tech side of
repair and set up of an entire recording studio and band set up. Help a Dad out!!!

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Tried rolands site but only got usual new product links. No personal suport to used and older instruments.

Maybe or something simular to it. Under $200. is the limit set. There
is plenty for sell at that price used.

The D-10 is obviously a cheap D-50 with about half the punch. Most of the presets are unusable by today's standards with the exception of some of the organs perhaps. The rest of the sounds are too thin unless used with another synth filling them out. Pretty easy to find your way around this puppy. Manual? HA ha! Throw it away. I was given this keyboard bec the owner just did not want it anymore - what does that tell ya? I will rate it as easy to use though.

The polyphony on this machine is ok - I think it is 32 notes. Effects arnt bad if you like chorus or reverb. Nothing else. It accepts the standard D series cards like you have read before. Sorry, it wont read your D-50 cards. It has a nifty little drum machine built in to it and this is about the only redeeming feature of this keyboard. The drum sounds are cheesy but can be used in some recordings if over laid with samples or something. It is EASY!!! to program.

Even for its time, this keyboard is lame. I'm not joking here. It has some interesting pads and weird loops and noises. Still just too thin to hold their own. The keyboard is quite light and plastic and does not have a patch on the D-50. However, the D-50 is not multitimbral like this keyboard so go figure.

I have found that sometimes sections of keys on the keyboard just wont work as well as some problems with the machine booting up. It just freezes and you have to try two or three times to start it. I would not gig with this machine - Just use it as a door stop in the studio.

Ha! Its Roland man!

Hey, seriously? If you were new to the scene and found one of these real cheap, buy it because it would be a good first synth type thing. If it was stolen or lost, I dont think I would care really although I still pull it out now and then and jam on it with the drum machine going to remind me of the good ole times. This machine is very average and is possibly the weakest link in my arsnel. Dont be fooled because if you put this side by side with a D-50 you will be amazed at how junky it sounds.

Originally, I play the piano and guitar, and am a complete novice on the field of synthesisers, so it took me a couple of weeks to figure out the basic principles. Compared to what I see at musical equipment of friends though it is a pretty simple machine.

The sounds I like best are the organ sounds, and there are quite a few of them, but it features also a lot of sounds which are too peculiar to use. I like the split keybard very much, as I do the rithm section.

It is pretty sensitive, and the action is way too light for me. The sound is a bit thin, but I use a Twin Reverb or a Pignose for amplification, so I get surprisingly close to the desired Jimmy Smith/Barfly sountrack sound.

Although it is a pretty old machine, and you have to push some buttons real hard, it never broke down.

Never had any problems.

It is a nice sounding, relatively cheap machine that, properly amplified, gives a fat, bluesy organ sound. The action is way to light for any real honkytonk pianoplaying though. The money I spent on it is not wasted.

Generally speaking, the D-10 is fairly easy to use for those who don't venture far from the factory presets. The MIDI implementation is pretty well thought out, and the sound set includes a good meat-and-potatoes selection, as well as a some more "out-there" ones.

For those of you who are programmers, the instrument becomes a little more complex (as any synth would), but it is still manageable. Editing is hindered slightly by the cramped LCD, but this is offset some by the use of the front panel controls.

Let's take a trip back in time to 1987. Roland introduced the D-50. It was revolutionary in the sense that it did something that very few other synths at that time did: it merged sampled attack transients with subtractive analog waveforms to produce more realistic acoustical sounds as well as a whole new generation of synthetic timbres. Roland called it Linear Arithmetic (or L/A) Synthesis. It reigned for a year as the king of the hill, and its signature sound flooded the market.

Then 1988 came, and with it came the Korg M1. The M1 took Roland's L/A Synthesis, renamed it Advanced Integrated (AI) and added multi-timbral capability and a sequencer to make a powerhouse synth that took the hill away from the D-50. The M1's only weaknesses were its lack of polyphony (16-voices) and the lack of a floppy drive to store sequencer files.

Roland introduced the D-20 to compete with the M1. They were forced by the economics of the proposition to make some tradeoffs. The D-20 added the disk drive and double the polyphony of the M1, but they made some sacrifices in terms of sound architecture to bring the D-20 down to the price point Roland was aiming at.

Then Roland stripped the disk drive and the sequencer out of the D-20 to introduce the D-10, attempting to make the D-series sound more accessible to entry-level players.

For a synth that was introduced circa 1990, the D-10 was rather nondescript. It had no expansion capabilities, save a memory card slot. It has velocity, but no aftertouch.

The D-20 was developed with a purpose - to compete with the M1 - which it didn't do all that well at. The D-10 was more of a tagalong with no real market emphasis. The only player it would seriously appeal to was someone who already had some some sort of sequencer.

The effects on board are simple - a reverb and a delay, which is one reason why it never got up the hill to take down the M1, which sported distortion, exciters, and many other effects.

If you have other synths and are looking for a basic multi-timbral unit to flesh out your arrangements some, the D-10 might be for you. If you want to use it by itself, don't do it. It doesn't have the guts to fly solo.

As I stated earlier, when Roland tried to send the D-series out to rumble with the M1, they had to make some tradeoffs. On of the sacrifices they made was trimming some fat from the sound architechture, which proved to be the fatal flaw. What made the M1 such a killer synth in spite of its lack of polyphony was the fact that it sounded awesome. Roland added the polyphony back into the equation, but skimped on the sound quality. The effects help some, but the raw materials to be had just don't cut it very well.

I own this model of synth, and I have used it to a good deal of success, but only because I have several other synths that camouflage the thin sound of the D-10.

The one strong point of the D-10 is that it is more or less a tank. I have had mine for nine years, and in that time it has had a guitar amp fall on the keys, and it has survived a six-foot drop off a stage. It has its share of road wear, as it has seen about 1000 hours of live stage performance, and 4000 hours of studio time and rehearsals. I have never had to have it in the shop, and aside from a few surface scratches and one button that requires a special touch to operate, it is in fine working order.

I would not use it by itself at a gig only because of the sound quality.

Never had to have it in the shop.

If I had to replace the D-10, I would not buy another one. I say this only because for the price to replace it there are so many other synths that do twenty times more (such as the Alesis QS6.1, and the Korg N5ex).

I wish it had better sounds, but I'm processing it through a Lexicon Reflex effects unit which I have MIDI mapped to the D-10's program changes, which thickens it up a bit.

As far as the D-20/D-10 original mission (to compete with the M1), they did not succeed well. What Roland ended up with (at least in my estimation) was a jack of all trades and master of none.

Performanace and multi-timbral functions are fairly straight forward, but programming patches is a little clumsy (though pretty typical of such interfaces).

The polyphony is pretty useable (typically 12-16 notes), even in multi-timbral mode. Start using some of the lush pads that hog voices, however, and notes will start dropping from your sequenced rhythm section.

The keyboard is typical non-weighted plastic, which works fine for me. The velocity sensistivity also seems to be pretty even (no big jumps in volume when striking gradually harder).

The reverbs and delays are pretty clean and have only a few parameters, so there easy to use, although only one effect is active at a time.

There are a slew of ROM cards out there (and free SysEx files on the Web, including Roland's site), so sounds abound. The ROM card sounds are not selectable via MIDI, so using the D-10 for sequencing (which I do), requires the sounds you want to be loaded into internal memory. I have banks of SysEx that I load via Cakewalk for my projects.

The LA-synthesis engine produces tones similar to the old Yamaha DX series FM synthsizers. No real good fat analog sounds with the D-10.

The amount of pitch bend delivered by the bender lever is patch-specific. This has been a bit of a frustration for me while composing. I record a track where I bend a note an octave, later switch the patch for the track, and the controller amount only bends the note a fifth on the new patch. This may be true of every synth ever made, I don't know. Too bad MIDI doesn't record the note values for pitch wheel rather than amount of wheel "travel".

I bought mine used, and have had it about 11 years now. It is my only synth. A few years back it would often lock up on power-up, but an inexpensive CPU upgrade at an authorized service center cleared that up.

Construction is pretty sturdy.

Haven't dealt with Roland US directly. No opinion there. The authorized service center (Paul Morte Technical Services in Orange, CA) did great work at a resonable price.

I've only owned two other synths: A Sequential Circuits Pro-One and a Roland Juno 106, so take my review with a pound of salt.

If I were to replace my D-10, I'd probably get something else, mostly because I've been using it for so long, and I'm due for something newer and different.

I got the D-10 for composing via sequencing. At the time I got it, it offered the best multi-timbral features for my budget. 11+ years I'm still using it, and haven't been obsessed with replacing it.

The D-10 is limited to 8 parts (plus a rhythm track) multi-timbral, but that's about all the polyphony will handle anyway.

All-in-all I'd say the D-10 is a great for composing simple arrangements (don't plan on composing any symphonies with this -- unless the D-10 will cover only 4 or 5 of the instruments in your orchestra). These days, I probably wouldn't pay more than $500 for it, just because there is newer, better, used gear to be had out there for $800+.

It has the standard late-eighties 'one slider and two rows of eight buttons' interface, but it's not all that hard to use with practise and you can get editors for it quite easily. The manual is fairly nice, with an excellent section on the MIDI specification.

It's an LA synth, so it combines a simple synth section (square and sawtooth waves only, resonant filter, neat keyboard scaling effect so you can play it 'left handed'), with a then-revolutionary set of samples. It has 32 partial polyphony, although in use this can range from 4 notes (for a big whoosy sound in performance mode) to, more typically, 12-16 in multi-timbral mode. The effects section is limited (some nice, crisp reverbs and delays, easy to use), but then again it was one of the first keyboards to have built-in effects. The keyboard action is very light, not piano-like at all, and it doesn't have aftertouch (the velocity sensitivity is quite good, though, and responds well to light touches). There are lots and lots of expansion cards for it, and the sounds are compatible with the D-5, the D-20, and the MT-32. Full MIDI implementation, nice and fast, no problems with a slow CPU. It has a nice drum sequencer as well - it's easy enough to use and fairly unexceptional. By far the best thing about the synth is the way that the panel lights flash whenever they recieve MIDI input. In the dark it looks wonderful.

The presets are very 'D-50 LA synthesis' - lots of ethereal-sounding chimes, excellent 'chiffy' flutes, and some spectral loops which you can't do with other synthesizers very well. Unlike other synthesizers this has both a sample-playback section and a simple subtractive sequencer (in other words, it isn't just a sample playback/filter device), although you can't filter the samples, tragically enough. With some effort you can make some nice synthy noises, but it's not brilliant for acidy analogue-type sounds. That said, the organs are utterly excellent, some of the samples are great (despite being mono, 12-bit companded PCM), and it can do things with square waves that other synths can't.

It's quite relable, solidly-made out of metal, it feels cold, and it's very heavy. According to some reports the keyboard can play up, but I haven't experienced that myself.

Roland customer support is notoriously superlative, although nothing has gone wrong for me to call them yet.

Although it doesn't sound great on paper (a stupid way to listen to a synthesizer anyway), I like mine. It's simple and fun to play with, the keyboard is nice, and it's quite cheap too (although you might as well save up a bit more and buy an M1 or something like that). Some of the presets are peculiar to this family of instruments and you don't hear them elsewhere (the classic 'digital native dance', for example).