Roland JV-1010

Had it for 3 days only...
This is probably the easiest module I 've ever used...The version of soundDiver that came with it is a joke (2.3.1) so I ran to www.emagic.de and got the 3.0 version with is amazing.
editing patches became a game, also I use cubase which recognize the module right off so I can edit also within cubase.
Manual...huh..to be honest..never used it. But It looked like it is much better written and simplified than Roland used to.
For edditing I use the standard midi sample dump and not the serial pc connections so it's kinda slow.but htne midi has always been slow anyways.
Editing right from the front panel is quite a mess for those who might choose not to use sounddiver so it gets an 8.

64 voices of polyphony...not a whole lot if you sequence many keyboard parts with loaded chords but for $399 new.. I will not complain.
40 efx..the easiest way to access them again is Sounddiver so forget about realtime fx editing but this is not a synth but a module, so I'm not going to ask it to cook dinner for me.
Midi capabilities are standard like in every other module . nothing exceptionnal here.
Expansion capabilities are limited since only one exp slot is provided and the module is not polyphony expandable.
However, according that this little module is loaded with way too many sounds anyone could ever need,that's absolutely not a handicap.

Ok, this is the reason I bought this puppy: it included all the sounds from JV2080 and the session expansion board. I never owned a Roland JV module before, but I worked with a lot of them especially the xp50 and the JV1080. So I just wanted something that had all these sounds that I got used to and the JV1010 fulfils my needs.
If you're used to the Roland you'll not be impressed here because it's all deja vu but that's exactly what I needed.
I was happy to find the usual LA session piano and all the SA rhodes.
The guitars are very realistic as long as you don't decide to go solo on us. But they are excellent for accompaniement and if run thru a plug in like WARP VST (amp modeler) you could fool a few.
Drum kits: I am not a big fan of most JV kicks and hihats(they actually suck) but I do love the percussion sounds a lot(guiro, triangle,maracas,congas,etc..).
The sounds are for all purposes however you will not be avant-gardist with them unless you give them a special treatment. For example I run the JV1010 thru the audio input of a Korg MS2000r and use filters, resonance, lfo's ..whatever it takes to make it sounds different from the original sound.

Roland's equipment is pretty reliable in general but again I had this one only for three days so...
I do hate that wall wart ac adaptor.

I heard they 're the worst. That's what you get with corporates...

If it was stolen I'll chase down the motherf***er that got it and make him by me 2 more for the trouble.
Ok seriously, I would buy one again no doubt...unless the price of the XV 5050 goes down.
Overall this is an excellent module for those who just want to have the famous roland sounds without spending big.
I use it in conjunction with a Korg MS2000r, Native instrument's FM7, Reaktor, Battery an B4,Steinberg's Halion and TC's Mercury.
As a R'n'B composer this is just the perfect addition I was missing.

Without the soundDiver and a PC you just can't do anything to edit the internal sounds, but although I have installed it I use it just for disable reverb and other effects before recording.
I think that you really have a lot to do with presets before thinking about editing your own!!

It has all you could need, a generous poliphony, good midi implementation and the nice PC host port, quite useful. Obviously the sound diver for PC and Mac is sold in bundle with the JV.

I just love this thing. The piano sound from the expansion board is really nice, I prefer using my P80 piano sound of course but considering that you have more or less 1000 patches in this little box it was impressive anyway.
The soft pad and strings are AMAZING, and I'm just talking about presets! I do not even dare to think what you can obtain working with the sounddiver to create your own patches... the hammonds and electric basses presets in the "session" onboard module are great, and really you can find almost everything you could need for every kind of music. I cannot give 10 just because I miss a really good rhodes sound, the rhodes in the module are too "belly" for me...

It's just a couple of months that I have it, so I cannot say anything. But it's a second-hand one, so it seems quite reliable.

For the reason it's second-hand, I could not get the sounddiver CD: I requested it to roland and they've sent it to me for free...

I owned a JV2080 for six months, and I really have to say that this little box sounds exactly the same, maybe the output level is a LITTLE lower, but for the money you save I think this is a great deal.
So: if you do not think you're gonna edit every second the patches, and you need a clean and good sounding expander to use in different kind of music, this is the thing to buy.

Unlike most people on this list, I decided to forgo the presets on this module and head directly into the sound editing capabilities of the JV1010. Sure the instruments are layed out in a very intuitive manner broken up into sections of 10. The big surprise for me was the use of the Emagic Sound Diver Software (there is a patch on the Emagic site for it). Although the UI for it was extremely unintuitive, once you got around to the functionality, you could do just about any editing you want to the instruments. You simply need to know a little about FM synthesis and applying thise techniques to the digitally sampled instuments of the 1010. The Manual was a godsend. Especially when dealing with the System exclusives needed to do certain "on the fly" fx and patch changes from within Cakewalk. Very useful and friendly.

Knowing what you want to do with this module is an extremely important aspect for this piece of equipment. The ability to add extra expansion cards makes it very powerful. The sounds are extremely configurable to the point where the original sound can no longer be recognized. The 2 FX processors on the machine add an extremely versatile depth to the sounds created with the use of a proper sequencer, the 1010 is an extremely powerful Synth module.

The Sounds themselves are somewhat ho-hum...preset. The expansion cards you can add to it (both A and B) make this a much more interesting piece. Of course it depends on what you're trying to create. The original Synth sounds (which are highly configurable) turn this module into a perfect Techno synthesizer. The organs and woodwind instruments on this piece can have a little more flare to them. They do excel at the electric and distorted guitars. It seems that Roland had a hard time with the plain old uneffected instruments. The module is highly responsive to keyboard and sequencer activation via MIDI, while it is responds to subtle changes from the control very tightly. Very high marks here as well.

Without a doubt this is an EXTREMELY reliable. Especially with the fact that I received a 220V 0.3 Amp power converter and I need a 110V 0.3. I had to replace this plug with an old one I found with slightly less amperage. The module has never failed on me. If I were to tour (being a studio musician that makes it kind of difficult) I would be able to trust this implicitly.

N/A Never needed to call them up.

I would definitely buy this again. With almost all the power of the JV-2020 but at a third the price, this little module has more than paid for itself 2x over. I've been using it for 3 years now, and I'm constantly amazed by its power. It's a perfect addition to my studio. It is my primary pice of equipment.

I'm not using MIDI or the standard software that came with the JV 1010, so it would be unfair for me to judge those aspects of the machine. And the manual also was exteremely vague on how to access the percussion sounds, which was a big downfall. It took me nearly a month before I was able to figure out how to access them. However, using the rest of the instrumentation was easy enough, as was connecting the module to my keyboard.

The midi and expansion capabilies are nice, but you cannot edit any sounds, which is a slight downfall. Features were 'ok.'

The instruments were exceptional excluding the strings/orchestra section. The 20 acoustic/stage piano's were definetly impressive, and the 40 electric pianos I enjoyed as well. However, it lacked some 60's & 70's soulful electric pianos, some of them could have done without the bells to. The keyboard/organ section was very nice, the bells were fantastic! The exotic instruments and steel drums were a bit limited though. The guitar section was the absolute biggest surprise and best part of the jv 1010. The acoustic guitars were decent, but the electric guitars, specifically #22-#49, were just dazzling. The ochestral section featured below average violins (there were only 4) and decent strings, although allmost all of the strings sounded extremely synthetic. The synths were exceptional, great for all types of music. The foriegn instrument section was average, decent harps, but the reverb on them became annoying.

Sometimes my power source couldn't handle the amount required to play all of the synth's, so the module would freeze up when change channels. But that was the only flaw. It never shut down on me, and has been reliable for about 7 months now.

Never had to deal with them.

I loved certain aspects, but hated others. The jv 1010 is definetly NOT a solo module, although thats how I used it anyway. If you'd like to hear what it is capable of, here are two instrumental tracks I recorded with it: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/latente_music.htm.(once you reach the link, click "hi fi" or "lo fi" play to listen) However it was a great buy for the price, and featured quailty sounds.

I thought that this was rather easy to use and I enjoyed how nice most of the presets sounded. The only flaw is that the manual is basically useless; I only keep it to refer to the patches.

Though I haven't used Soundiver yet, I have read that it's pretty hard to use. I consider myself pretty good at learning software so I might check it out if necessary.

After hearing demos of all of the expansion boards available, I really wish this thing had more than 1 slot. I'm looking at either Orchestra I or II since those are pretty much the only sounds I use.

I really enjoyed the orchestral sounds. Everything else seemed too... strange for my tastes.

This thing seems pretty durable, even with it's small size. As for live performances, I pick up my Bach bass trombone and leave the electronics in my room.

Roland's (US) website was pretty hard to navigate and the search function was basically useless. Since I've never had to contact them directly, I don't think I can rate this category.

If this was lost or stolen, I would buy it again in a minute, even on a student's budget. My experience with this has been pretty good. I only have two complaints - 1) I wish it had a second MIDI In port. 2) I wish it had a better display than just the three numbers.

When it comes to making music, I still prefer to pick up the bone and blow, but I've had a lot of fun combining this with my keyboard (a Roland JX-1) and seeing what I can make.

Easy out of the box sounds , some of which are really nice.
A bit too hard too edit with soundiver a waste of time.

okay amount of sounds for the 449 uk pounds i paid but pretty much stick with the presets

mixed bag some are okay

solid

N/A

A useful addittion as a sound source, but I wanted more sounds and editability. I subsqently sold it and brought a 2nd hand 1080 for a little mo cash. I am now rockin with tha best! One day I will learn how to use it to its full capability.

Pretty easy to use on its own but learning how to use Sounddiver editing software takes time. Once you've got that down you have a lot more programming capability. The pianos, guitars, strings aren't bad. It's the synth presets that pretty much suck. The manual sucks too. The lack of a display is probably one reason why this is so cheap but you get what you pay for.

Getting an expansion card really does make a huge difference in # sounds and options. But you can find this thing on Ebay for under $300 and expansion cards are like $200! I think the cards are way overpriced. If I'm gonna spend over $500 I'm going to get a much more powerful synth module.

Well, for the price it's hard to complain about the utility of this module. Just know that editing with out a computer is pretty much non-existent and the acoustic sounds are good while the analog/synth sounds are weak. Basses are decent though. The biggest complaint I have with the JV-1010 is the WEAK VOLUME coming out of the box. When I played this along with analog synths and other digitals it was soooo quiet. I had to crank it to 10 or run it through a heavily preamped mixer to get any strength out of it. I think this is a major shortfall.

Very dependable and sturdy. It made it on the road several times, has been dropped, banged, and moved around a lot and I have never had a problem with it.

Never used.

I've had it for 2 years and now that my budget has expanded and I've upgraded to more powerful synths, I will probably be selling it soon.
I think it would be good for a non-synth player if they just want an all-around inexpensive module around to tinker with for acoustic sounds. The weak volume, editing limitations, generally thin sound are reasons why I wouldn't buy it again. If you get this look for a used one in the $200-$250 range. Definitely not worth $400 considering you can get a Korg MS2000R or Nord Micromodular for just a few hundred more!

The presets are amazing. It's easy to edit patches with the software, but that's the only way you can edit them. You can do a lot with the editor if you know how to use it. The manual isn't all that great, though. Could use a display with the actual patch/program name on it instead of a 3 digit LED, but for this deal, who cares? It is kind of a hassle reading the patch listings off of a seperate piece of paper, though. Sounds make up for lack of convenience.

I think it has 64 voice polyphony. One expansion slot, which is enough for me. 2 built-in multi-effects engines, which are superb. It has MIDI in, out, and thru, which is a standard among sound modules of this sort. It's really meant to be used with a computer, so it does not have an on-board sequencer. Easy to use live and for recording, especially if you sample (i.e. hip-hop, R&B, Rhythm& Praise) Overall pretty impressive for the price.

This is really why I bought it. QUALITY acoustic sounds. I love the guitars, organs, and pianos, especially on the Session card. The woodwinds and strings are amazing. The techno/dance/hip-hop sounds are OFF THE HOOK!! The 303 is just the way I like it. Nice sub basses. Nice pads. Excellents clavs and organs (they even click!)Excellent effects section. Wahs and phasers and all that other stuff just adds to the quality of sound. You have to try it for yourself though. I'm moving up from a Casio CTK-611, so I'm intrigued with the module.

It's not broken yet

Never dealt with them.

Hotnees! Pure hotness!. I've been playing for ten years and writing music for five, and this along with my Korg X5D inspire me every time.

It needs to be edited using the included software. Manual is useless. Presets are ok (see below)

Sounddiver software takes time to learn but is powerful.

Like the the guitars on the session board, horns, violins etc are weak.

Really made for studio use only (has a wall wart). I bought it when they first came out, and it still works.

They are friendly, but not incredibly knowledgable.

The line-out volume is ridiculously low. You have to crank it all the way just for it to be heard. Given that the jv-2080 can be had for about $800, and the TR-Rack is about the same or less, spend the extra bucks for one of those. The TR-Rack's sounds are far superior.

As mentioned by practically everyone, the 1010 is very very easy to get running out-of-the-box with the presets. Minor patch editing is possible from the front panel, but I wouldn't like to try this.

I was not impressed with the supplied Sound Diver software - I found it unintuitive, clunky, slow, and ended up giving up on it in the end. However, as I currently compose for acoustic instruments, I didn't feel a pressing need to edit the presets.

My initial impressions as a newcomer to the Roland JV engine though was that the editing model was rather inflexible and didn't really "click" for me.

It's a bare-bones stripped-down unit. Compared to the 1080/2080 it feels quite restricted - only 2 outputs, and editing feels inaccessible. Unlike other modules, it doesn't really scream out "edit me!". But you get what you pay for.

The 64 note polyphony is fine, depending on how you use the module. I use it in a multitrack environment, so lead instruments are recorded separately, and I can layer pads onto other tracks. However if you wanted to play an entire multitrack sequenced piece through this module you may run into problems, especially using some of the nicer layered stereo patches. But that's common to all 64-note polyphony modules.

I think that, taking this into consideration, the need for more than one expansion port is slightly negated in some cases - if you're using up all your polyphony on a string section on the Orchestral 2 card, there's not much you can do with an Orchestral 1 card that's installed simultaneously. This is even more the case as there's only a single stereo-pair output. I've not found it particularly limiting anyway. If I want different sounds I swap the cards (since it's not a rackmount module). It's a bit of a pain but I saved 50% on the cost of a 1080.

It does have an external PSU though, which is not uncommon, but still a bit of an annoyance. Not so much in a studio, but for live use I can imagine it could be a liability.

It has the regular MIDI in/out/thru DIN sockets, but also a serial interface which can be connected directly to a PC's serial port with a supplied cable. I've not used this interface, but I know from experience with other synths that have serial interfaces (Yamaha MU10, anyone?) that the timing tends to suffer amongst other things. It's more of a last-resort in my book. Whether this is an issue with the JV-1010 remains to be seen, but it wouldn't surprise me if the serial linespeed is slower than the ~33kbps-ish MIDI offers, which inherently implies that the timing will be poorer than MIDI. This is just speculation though.

Ohhh, what a mixed bag this is. The 1010 (like the other members of the JV series) are very much generic workhorse devices, designed to provide something for everyone.

Without the session/second expansion board it would be quite a mediocre module for authentic sounding instruments. The best of the on-board sounds (not including the Session set) is the synth stuff - the acoustic instruments are pretty crappy (in my opinion). The synth/dance patches are quite 80s-sounding, but the core sound-set can be tweaked to give more cutting-edge results. This is very much a film-soundtracker's tool, with some wonderful ambient and sweeping sounds.

The Session set has some fantastic patches - it's the first synthesized sax which I've been able to fool professional/trained musicians with. The pianos aren't too hot - the first three (Stereo Concert Grand, and 2 9ft grands) sound a bit feeble for my liking, although quite authentic. The fourth acoustic piano ("Euro Classic") is much much better in terms of timbre, scale, and responsiveness. Unfortunately this patch has some nasty top-end artifacts which make it sound almost like a 12-bit sample. I need to investigate the structure of this patch to determine whether it's a sample issue or just a poorly constructed patch.

Sadly, there are no string instruments or ensembles on-board or on the Session board which are any good. However, the "Orchestral 2" board has some really beautiful and usable ensembles, especially when you pair it with a sampler loaded with a Siedlaczek CD or something like that. This is what I use my 1010 most for.

Sound-to-Noise ratio though....I knew I was in trouble when there is a volume control on the front which adjusts the level of the primary (only) outputs on the back. Stick a noise gate behind it, and bury the 1010 in a mix and it's usable, but don't expect to get any usable solos out of it if you want a clean recording. I haven't been able to get a decent recording of a solo Piano out of it because of the noise level. This was extremely disappointing.

The effects processor is very nice. The reverbs aren't up to Lexicon standards, but they're definitely quite usable and warm. I haven't experimented much with the on-board effects though so I'm not really qualified to comment on the rest of the effects.

Beware when sequencing large multitimbral parts with the 1010, as it seems to lose timing accuracy when you feed it too much to do. This is most significant on the rhythm parts which die a horrible death when you throw too many MIDI notes at the unit.

And on the subject of the Rhythm parts, don't expect to get turned on by any of the percussion sets that come out of the box. I suppose with some creative EQ and effects the samples are usable in some context or another, but sadly not if you're trying to create a percussion part that sounds real/live.

Using the 1010 in a studio, and leaving it switched on 24/7, I find it's never actually crashed. In fact, the only time I had to reboot it in 4 months of uptime was when I screwed up the editing and had to restore the factory defaults. No problems here.

I've never tried to get support out of Roland for the 1010. I suppose that's a good thing. Based on the quality of Roland's website, and support I've had for another piece of Roland kit (a VSR-880), I'd have to say it's mediocre at best. But I can't say I have an opinion on this - I'd take the majority of other peoples' comments on this subject though as a good hint.

I think that, for the context in which I'm using the module, if I had to replace it I would spend the extra money and get a JV-1080.

To be honest, while the JV-1010 is by no means a dud, there are many things about it which I find an annoyance, and they all add up. S/N ratio, frustrating editing, lack of expansion, lack of outputs, external PSU...

But it IS a budget module. It would make an good addition to a JV-1080, as it is portable (so it's good for gigs), cheaper, and has an identical soundset and programming model. A 1080/2080 sequence would play identically on a 1010, albeit through a single pair of outputs, and as long as it didn't use more than two expansion boards, and one of them was "Session".

In retrospect, I WOULD have gone for the 1080 or 2080 instead, but that's because my requirements are more high-end, and the 1010 is designed to appeal to the low-end of the market. You just need to look at the marketing/box graphics for it which practically tries to sell it as a games/computer sound source. And if this is what it's designed to be, it really outstrips expectations.