Roland JV-1010

In general it's great right out of the box. However I haven't gotten very far with custom setups but again haven't needed to.

More stuff than I have the time to figure out.

Would probably get again.

Tough to use onstage, as many have indicated, but IMHO the sounds make up for it. I wanted a "push a button and play" unit for live use and this is definitely it.

The expansion interface allows many configurations (albeit one at a time) and you can find most any sound atmosphere in the expansion cards. I haven't even loaded the editing software since I can find a very close approximation already for most any sound I'm looking for.

Indian Trail

Hope its as good as my JX-8P, still cranking with original battery for 11 years now.

Reported to be Roland's biggest fault, I haven't had to contact them yet.

Right now its the most used piece of my stage setup and indispensable for writing/recording originals. Would replace it immediately.

The synth itself is pretty straightforward, however, the product is compromised by the SoundDiver software, which is utter trash. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any way to get at all of the features from the front panel, so the buyer is compelled to spend more money on software that works.
Thus far I've tried installing this bug-ridden trash from emagic on three systems -- one NT 4.0, and two Win98 boxes (both listed as supported.) On NT it gets as far as the splash screen and freezes. On '98 it starts downloading data from the synth, and freezes half way. It boggles the mind that a company like Emagic stays in business, and a company like Roland bundles garbage like this with an otherwise excellent unit.

32-voice polyphony, a built-in session card, and room for one additional card add up to a lot of sounds in a small (1/2 rack space) package.

This is what sold me on this unit. I had an Alesis QS6 and a Yamaha MU90R and after side-by-siding them with the Roland, I sold the other two and will be buying a second JV-1010 (one for sequencing, one for my MidiAxe).
As others have observed, this product's strengths are in its orchestral type sounds, rather than techno/dance/industrial. If that's what you're looking for, you'd probably be better off with something like the Yamaha MU90R. The strings and pads are among the best I've heard. The pianos and brass are also excellent.

Haven't had it long enough to say, but judging by my prior experience with other Roland products, I'd guess that it's pretty durable.

I've had occasion to try contacting Roland in the past, and my experience is that you might as well not even bother. Roland Canada seems a lot more concerned with their customers, but rolandUS doesn't even have an email address for support.

I would rate this a solid 9, were it not marred by useless software, an inability to effectively program it without a computer, one of the poorest manuals I've ever seen, and, of course, lack of support by RolandUS. Nevertheless, the sounds are excellent, and I still plan to buy a second one. However, I would advise anyone considering patch-management software not to even consider anything from Emagic.

Depending on what you want this box for it's either moderately easy to use or a real bear. I wanted it primarily for it's Sessions board piano sounds since I had installed that board in a JV-880 and I liked it a lot.
If you edit with the box itself those edits are temporary and cannot be saved. Once you change a patch, edits to the previous patch are lost. You can edit efx levels, panning, tuning etc., things that are done 'outside' the patch itself. Extensive patch editing can be done on a computer and saved to user memory with quite a bit of effort- the manual and patch editor are pretty bad. You can't access Performances at all live unless you have a controller capable of bank select messages.

That having been said, if your needs are relatively modest, you CAN work with this unit live, set up a multiple channel Performance in under a minute and get excellent results. User patches saved via computer can be accessed. Performances can be accessed if you have the right controller.

The nicest features for me are that it's a half rack space module instead of needing 2 rack spaces, it has the 1080 and 2080 sounds, it has the Sessions board, it has a card slot.

I'm pretty critical when it comes to new instrument selection. I wanted a very good piano sound source. This box is much more.
There are more realistic pianos out there if you invest in a hardware or software sampler and the right CDROM collection- for instance East West's Steinway B, which is top notch. The piano card for the Roland XV3080/5080 is probably better too- I haven't heard it yet. These are big investments and the JV-1010 is not. Having owned or tried pretty much every piano module ever produced I like the JV-1010 the best just as a piano sound source. The other sounds are, for me, a bonus and many are outstanding, some just so-so. Some guitars, pads, electric pianos are great. Horns are not, strings don't seem as warm as on my old JV-880. Effects are very good.
For my needs the JV-1010 is absolutely the best all around non-acoustic sound source I've ever used, though it doesn't do everything well- but what does?

The verdict is out here. I returned the first unit I had for what may have been a grounding problem. Every other Roland product I've owned has been very reliable.

I've dealt with Roland tech support twice, first time using a PC-to-phone connection and the connection was poor- the helpfulness may have been less than optimal for that reason. The second instance the tech was a pleasure to deal with and was very helpful.

I'd buy the JV-1010 again in a new york minute. I don't think anything gives you what this box does for the price. It doesn't get in the way of creating, once I set it up I forget about it and sink into the source- with any luck.
I wish I could program it more easily, but I can deal with that.

Yikes. Im new to the world of making music electronically..Im finally getting Cakewalk down really well, so I am a bit of a newbie as far as the computer music making goes..but as I see many others have said, the manual does nothing other than list the patches for you. It only served to confuse me more than help me. The software for editing patches is still leaving me in the dark for the most part. Again, I cant stress the poor quality of the manual enough..Im what one might call a "midiot" and it took me forever just to get this thing routed from my keyboard into Cakewalk..what would normally be an easy task.

It has what it needs at this price. You can edit the sounds via included software..if no computer, no editing. Again the software is not the most user friendly IMO, but its there.

I found this module to have some very usable sounds. I dont do techno/dance stuff and it seems most modules and computer related music products are geared towards that...so for me, I was pleased to find that about 80-85 percent of the sounds on this sucker were suited fine for my style with the rest being electronic dance sounds and just plain garbage. Not a bad ratio I think. Some nice acoustic guitars, good pianos but maybe a bit too bright for some, good strings, not very good drum sounds, but than again this isnt a drum machine.

no problems yet..only owned it for 2 weeks though.

no dealings.

If it were lost or stolen I dont think I'd buy it again...not that its bad or anything, its just that it isnt earth shattering. I would probably save for a Triton Rack or something like that. However at this price range..for a quick fix of new and high quality sounds that you can use well into the future this is one hell of a buy.

This thing is actually really easy to use. I think am one of the 7 people on this planet who dont use a computer in the studio, so i have not checked out the software that came with it. But when i want a piano, i pull one up. If i want drums, i pull them up. Pretty easy to get around in.

It has everything i need in a "workhorse" synth. The 64 voices are more then enough as it is not the only thing i rely on in my studio. The reverb and chorus are nice and dont take away from the sound of the patch. I love the "Session" board. It was nice of them to think of adding it.

I bought the 1010 to "round out" the sound in my studio. I own alot of older digital synths (ie: DX-21, VZ-1, K1r) and got the 1010 for its drums, pianos, guitars, and strings. If you are looking for synth-type sounds, this has a few good ones here and there. I rely on other boards for those sounds. Where the 1010 really shines is in its "basics". The pianos are bright and expressive, the strings and pads are full and lush. Great electric pianos, too.

I have had mine for about 8 months (bought used) and it does what its asked to do when it is asked to do it...hope i dont eat those words.

I have never had to deal with Roland about the 1010, but they had loads of crap online for the D-10 (when i first bought it), and for that i am forever grateful.

If i lost mine (and it IS small enough to lose), i would get another one. It is the one synth i know i can rely on for just about anything. Super simple to use and for the price i paid, the best piece i own for the money.

The basic features of this little thing are easy to use, but the manual is only usefull as toilet paper. But when it comes to tone editing there are some good tutorials on the net, for instance check http://users.netconnect.com.au/~ahair/jvxp/ --> Educational.
I really wouldn't mind paying some extra bucks for a "real" manual!!
Sounddiver isn't very exciting, but it does edit indeed.
The presets sound good.

The features of the JV-1010 are very good, it's very nice they've pre-installed the session expansion board, which containes very good sounds. It's expandable with one extra board.
There's no onboard sequencer.
The onboard effects have lots of parameters which is very nice :)

The sound of the synth is really great. Because it contains so many different patches you can use it for all kinds of music.
Most of the sounds are very realistic, but the piano's are sometimes to "sweet". Of course you can add some extra boost with sounddiver.
The onboard effects are also very great, though you can only use one EFX at a time. The reverb really adds a dimension to the sound.

When this thing crashes it's often bad cables/software so I trust on it. I use it on gigs most of the times.
Of course you always should make a backup of your user memory.

The Roland site could be more informative to users, people who already own the instrument. Maybe a new PDF manual?

I own the thing for over a year now and YES I would buy it again. This is what they call "value for money". My only problem is I play the synth live through a Roland RD-100 stage piano, which has very low velocity output. Therefore, I have to re-program almost all of the sounds I use to get them right. It would be nice if you could change velocity sensitivity with a few button-pushes.

Easy to use preloaded sounds. All editing available only with computer.

Has a lot of different futures.But difficult to understand how to use them properly.

There are a lot of different sounds,but seems internal patches has small sample rate. There are extremely poor high frequnces in spectrum of sounds,so instruments sounds not bright enough (like recorded onto chip cassette recorder).Especially it concerns to all Drums/hi-hats e.t.c.

I Hope so.

I'd like to be able to get more documentation from Roland's Web Site.
Especially, examples of sound editing.

This module is packed with features, but they are difficult to use. As has already meen mentioned the manual sucks and doesn't explain anything, and you have to use a computer. For me this is not a problem, but it is really hard to use the provided software to edit a patch. If someone would explain the abbreviations and what they do it would help. I've only had this box about 3 weeks and really like the wide variety of presets it has and the depth you can achieve by editing, but I have no idea what most of the parameters do.

64 voice polyphony (4 voices for each of 16 channels). Each patch supports 4 sounds in various structures + LFO + envelope + filter + effects. Only 1 effect per patch + chorus and reverb. Can be expanded with one expansion board. Nice sounding presets. only 4 voices per channel can be limiting. A lot of patches are SOLO and only 1 voice per channel. You'll need the manual to look up how many voices per channel for each patch.

Supports most MIDI messages and controllers. Doesn't include sequencer.

Very nice sounding patches. Even with the difficulty in editing this is a good unit because you may not even need to edit to get a good patch (especially with your choice of expansion boards).

Effects are very good. Patches are very dynamic. I don't like the percussion as much as my Korg X5D. For example, the base drum hits are not hits, they are the sound you get from a drum set kick, and sound muffled. This is bad for classical and march or anything that needs a good resonant base drum hit.

This unit will boost my compositions up a notch, the depth it has is amazing.

Haven't had any problems with it yet.

I have no idea.

I will be a lot happier with this unit when I finally learn how to program it. Other than that, I am really glad that I got it. I will really help in my multimedia authoring. The only thing that I regret is that I won't have the time or skills to get the full potential out of it.

Not the easiest synth to use. The people at Rolad who wrote the manual should be publicly crucified. Its not hard to play presets, but editing is difficult, and setting up performances is rough as well.

This module has space for 1 expansion board, and has the Session board pre-installed. Cheesy three digit LED. Only 1 stereo pair of outs on this synth. Hmmm... How am I going to process and eq 16 different channels of sound over 1 output? Answer: I'm not. 1 output is very limiting on a multi-timbral synth like this. Over 1000 sounds on the JV-1010 make it well stocked, but how good are the sounds?

I like the strings, basses, and pads. Nice for little backround bleepy things, but the synth leads suck. It's good for the more mundane sounds that all songs have, but weak on the evolving textured stuff and the huge hard leads that make industrial music so dark and evil (or maybe just misunderstood). If you are into electronic music, you must understand that this little half rack is an all purpose unit. Therefore, 85% of the sounds will be wasted on you. I play Industrial/EBM/Synthpop (goth stuff), and I don't get inspired on the JV. Sure, the occasional patch is good (VNV Nation use one of the presets on Praise the Fallen), but most synthy sounds are a let down. As an all purpose unit, this module could be (at least somewhat) useful in any type of music, rock, folk, electro, triphop/hiphop, etc...
I find many of the sounds to feel flat when I play them. Not flat as in off pitch, but flat as in lifeless.

This thing crashes on me every week or two. Least dependable of all my synths. I don't gig right now, but if I did and I needed this thing's sounds, I'd get an XP-30 or a JV-1080 instead. I wouldn't gig with it at all.

They send me nice magazines...

I wouldn't replace the JV-1010 if it were lost or stolen. I think a multi-timbral synth with only 1 stereo pair is a waste. For the money, it is very useful, but I can't imagine using all 16 channels at once. I can't even get one track of drums to sound right, since the bass drums tend to be much weaker sounding than the cymbals. Of course some external eq would fix that, but there's ONLY 1 OUTPUT!!!! ARG!!! If I add bass to the drums, that pretty string patch on midi channel 3 will become a garbled ugly mess.
Having said that, the Techno board has a great Industrial drum kit. How I long for seperate outs...
I have a Korg Prophecy, Roland, XP-10, Alesis NanoBass, and a MOTU MicroExpress. The JV-1010 provides most drums for my songs, as well as pads, arpeggios, basses, strings, and assorted other sounds. I'm tempted to upgrade to a JV-1080, but I don't think I like enough of the sounds to spend the cash.
Overall, the JV-1010 helps me make music, but it doesn't inspire me to make music.

You MUST use the Sound Diver software to really do anything with this unit, but that is a good thing to in my view. I hate trying to program Roland synths using their own menu-driven control panels and tiny lcd screens anyway. The Sound Diver editing software is not the easiest, but it does the job. The sound pallet is vast and sounds great. Manual is useless (a Roland trademark).

64 voice polyphony. Effects sound AWESOME. Can accept one expansion card, and has the Session card already built-in. I have the 60's and 70's Keyboard card. Editing via Midi, but can also be hooked up directly to a PC or Mac serial port.

This little unit sounds AWESOME . Very very versatile with tons of sounds on demand.

Should be reliable. I've never had a problem with Roland stuff.

Roland support is pretty good. Never really had to call them much.

I would buy it again. This unit offers great versatility and a small footprint.

For a bread and butter synth you can't go wrong...the patches are sweet for the price....you can't go wrong...
This synth is really designed to be integrated into a digital environment--if you don't use it with a computer and/or software sequencer it's kind of a pain to really take advantage of new sounds--basically you can't create new user presets without the use of soundiver....but that isn't a bad thing is it?....

manual sucks my big ass toenail...if you want to become more confused, read the manual, and try to understand how to use it with LOGIC....

editing patches with soundiver is good...

polyphony ok...
built in effects...probably better to use external effects anyways...
expansion slot is nice....

Midi horns always suck....the rest is ok....but its still midi...

ya...its a sweet little stable thing...except the power knob seems a little sketchy....

does roland have custmore support?....

I'd buy it again for my first synth...its definitely worth the price for the sounds, the overall amount of manipulation of sounds through editing....

If you don't have a computer (unlikely if you are reading this review, heh), don't buy it. The manual is a pointless (though nicely laid out) waste of time -- unless you've never seen a MIDI cable before. The included Soundiver editor/librarian is a bit of a beast, but I suppose I'll figure it out in time.

Holy moly -- this thing has a LOT of sounds. I got a brain cramp just looking at some of the patch layouts in Soundiver. It's got the goods.

I disagree about the piano sounds -- they sound "samply" compared to my aging Kawai K-11. The strings rule, as do many of the synthy sounds. The default patches do cool things with aftertouch, and the box just flat sounds great. The builtin FX even sound good.

Looks rugged enough ... we shall see.

Hope never to use it.

This is a great bargain if you have the patience to get to know the unit and a computer to make the introduction. It simply has no competition that I know of in its price class.

You need a computer to play this thing. The sounds are 10. It is difficult to just choose a reverb or chorus or effect and turn it up or down. You have to go deep into the thing. That is kind of bad.

I wish it had more simultaneous effects.

Great sounds

I'd buy it again.

The manual, as everybody says, is extremely bad. Also, as many point out, there is no documentation of the SoundDiver software (used for editing patches and performances). The help in SoundDiver is good though.

It is extremely difficoult to find out how the effects, parts and patches work in the SoundDiver.

The polyphony os OK. It can be insufficient when working with strings and sustained pianopatches, but otherwise it's usually enough.

The effect implementation is bad. I can't understand why others like it (email me and tell me!). The effects might be good, but only one effect can be used at once. Reverb and chorus can be used for all parts.

The expansion cards avaliable are too expensive. I wouldn't buy one of these, I would rather buy a new synth.

There are both good and bad instruments. None of the piano sounds are very great, at lower velocities they just sound mixed up and too un-sharp. The regarded 64-piano session-sound, that many likes, has a kind of "bug", it has a metallic sound in the attack at higher velocities. If you want good piano sounds, buy a digital piano.

The string sounds are good, but there is not many variations of them (I bet they are all built on the same waveform, or at least very few).

Some orchestral sounds like flutes and oboes are good.

When it comes to the synths there are not very many that are good. It has hudreds of pads, it would be sufficient with 10 of them. But it has only a couple of synth sounds that work well with low-pass cutoff-filter.

The distortion guitars are good, but still, not very much variation. I guesse all of them are built of few waveforms.

It is OK. There is a bug in the OS that makes it hang sometimes, but this can be fixed with software updates via SysEx.

I've only been in contact with the Swedish customer-support. The e-mail support is rather good, answering time is average two days, but they seem to be done too quickly and are not very qualitative. There are phone-support too, but it is almost impossible to reach them (line occupied).

I don't like it very much, it is not enough for me. But maybe it is a good module for that price. Forget it if you are making electronic music. Then better buy that new Korg for example, you just need to add $350.

Might be good as a first all-round module. I would definitely buy another module if it was stolen.

Welcome to email me if you have any questions (tw@linkoping.mail.telia.com)

Easiest piece of gear to use I've ever seen.

(See the other "expert" reviews)

Sounds as good as my JV-1080 (Maybe better..)

Never had a problem with Roland gear.

Never needed it...

My review is considering this unit as a portable PC sequencer driven device, which is what Roland DESIGNED it to be? I'm frankly shocked at the lack of understanding displayed in the reviews I've read expecting it to be some great sounding easy to use (without PC control) live performance unit. Why in hell would anyone want THIS unit for live keyboard playing? IF I was a keyboard player, I would have a synth (like my no longer used JV-1080) with all the performances programmed, not a mess of cables and wall-warts interconnecting a Midi controller and synth module(s). You guys remind me of the Dinosaur guitar guys who have to take 3 40lb guitars, 2 amps and 10 effect pedals to a Gig to get the same sounds I get with my Line-6 and Fly guitar (TRUST me, the audience won't notice if every sound isn't exactly perfect, but they WILL notice if you spend 5 minutes between songs fumbling with your gear..) I think this module is an incredible bargain if you use it as intended. If you're expecting the same features as a rack-mount unit that costs $1,000 more you'll be disappointed (DUH????) Even I know this and I'm a just a dumb GUITAR player.

Very easy to use as an instrument but I havn't really explored the software editing yet. I imagine this will be fairly straight forward. Ive just downloaded a copy of jvedit to experiemt with. Getting it to work with Cubase 3.7 might be a different matter.
The manual looks professionally produced but is less than useless !

All the features you'd expect for the price. I know its asking alot but I'd really like a digital output so that I can connect it to my sound card for clean hard drive recordings.

These range from good to excellent. I was not entirely convinced about the Grand piano that everybody raves about but I really do like the tenor sax. The synths are great.

Looks well made. I only use a PC for sequencing music but would use it live for one specific sound only.

Had no contact yet.

If it was stolen I might but it again. I would consider comparing it with a SW1000XG sound card which is only slightly cheaper.
My doubt about buying it again is really base entirely on the fact that I like to have my music creation & mastering entirely within the digital domain.

The manual sucks. But wait! Don't throw it away! You'll need it to refer to every time you need to choose a patch. Onboard editing is impossible, and the software is difficult.
Presets are OK.

Polyphony is good but gets used up quickly by complex 3- and 4-voice patches.
I still haven't gotten effects to work, but the ones used in presets are all right.
I'm glad it has that expansion slot, but the cards are a bit expensive.

Great sounds! Read other reviews about the volume problem. I agree.

feels good

I'm returning it and getting a SoundCanvas.

I have to mention that the JV-1010 is my very first synth, so my opinions are based on a very limited experience with other synths. However, in my opinion the 1010 is eee-asy to use! For patch navigation the dials on the front give quick and easy access, and the category banks make patch navigation much easier...the display is pretty crappy, it would be nice to be able to see the name of the patch, but it's on a minor detail...
The sounddiver program is excellent, I strongly recommend people to check it out. I've never edited patches before in my life, but sounddiver gives a great visual representation on the signal flow of the patches, and when I got over the interface I was tweaking patches qith ease. Being able to experiment and tweak on 2 computer monitors has got to be better than pressing tiny buttons on a pissy lcd screen.
The manual really does suck, but as it's been said, can't really make too many complaints for the price.

I just use it for the great presets and the ability to tweak patches...I have a home studio set up and I don't use it live so I don't need massive polyphony or anything like that...the onboard effects are great.
Since I'm on such a tight budget I don't need 20 expansion slots.
So basically, for what I'm doing (desktop music production) it's got everything I need.

One word...Great!
As I mentioned, this is my first synth and I can see now why this module (1080 and 2080) is revered so much. The session patch is awesome, and I can't really see any major weaknesses in any particular sound category (all synth horns aren't that good I guess).
I definitely agree with the volume problem, the lineouts are very weak. In fact I've got the outputs routed to the mic inputs of my ax44 for my DSP Factory.
Aside from that quibble, the sounds are fantastic

Very sturdy, as I said I don't use it live. Looks like it's gonna live longer than me

Have no idea, I try not to get involved with any form of tech support, it' just too frustrating for anyone involved.
Besides, I don't see myself having any problems with this module

I really want to bring up the ratings for this module, I think more and more people are buying it for home studios and the ratings it has been given don't do it justice for this situation (in my opinion). It's got everything you'd need for a home studio and it's small and robust. The sounds are top-quality, and gives small time aspiring producers (like me) a real opportunity to kick it with the big guns for a budget price. To me, the only flaws are the small screen and the volume problem, but these are only minor. In the end, the value for money and the excellent sounds make it an unbeatable bargain.

Well, not easy to use at first. The manual, as others said, total joke! At least it didn't tell me how to program the patches I wanted in Cakewalk or other sequencing program. It took me 5 hours to figure out how to set things. The whole controller 0 thing just drove me crazy. Glad that I found some user patches for cakewalk that made my life much much easier!

If you ever tried to read the manual, you're wasting your time! I believe Roland should have done a better job with their user manuals for all their products.

The Soundiver software that came with the unit, I have NO idea what is it for!!! The manual says nothing about it!

Well, 64 polyphony sometimes still not enough for my string ensemble arrangment. Eventhou 4 parts with 4 notes playing at once, but each part and note has 4 voices (for higher quality sound), it turns out to be 16 voices used for only 4 notes playing simultaneously. That's already 1/4 of the max. polyphony. I'm not complaining about 64 voices not enough, for this price, I can't expect too much. However, for the higher model 2080 is still 64 voices?! Definitely not enough!

I'm quite happy that they include the session board in this little box, 1000+ patches to use, that's more than enough for most people already! I also bought the Orchestral board, extremely powerful! So, I should say the expansion slot is really useful, but if Roland can make it 2 rather than 1 expansion would be much much better. But again, at this price, just can't expect too much.

I bought this unit mainly for the session board's St. Concert Piano sound. It's totally unbeatable! Amazing sound it has, and it sounds just like a Yamaha to me. Great for any types of music especially pop and newage. Just the 2nd register above middle C sounds too bright to me. Also not enough velocity layers, can't totally express the whole dynamic range of a piano...but it's way better than other piano sounds I've heard already (include Triton, Pro Piano, Yamaha, Ensoniq, and Kurzweil). Other patches are really cool too...like those synth sounds and strings. Percussion sets are great too especially the house drum set! If you just wanna spend some money for a great piano module, this is the best choice eventhough it's not solely a piano module!

I had it for 2 months so far...no problem at all...however, I might only use this unit on a gig for just the piano sound...polyphony is still a problem.

Don't know who to call and so on if I need help.

I first bought this only for the piano sound, but then I realized how good other sounds are. If this unit were stolen or so, I'll replace it with a JV1080 or JV2080, so I can have more expansion capability. At this price, I can't ask for anything more than what it has now. One thing I really need to say about the orchestral board is that everything on it sounds incredible espeically the Oboe and strings. It really worths the money!

Just one more thing about the jv1010, the line-out is not loud enough, even everything on my Cakewalk shows at top volume and velocity, when I record it from the JV, on my Soundforge, it only shows maximum to about -5dB even my line-in on my soundcard already crank up to 100%. Too low of volume output plus not so good DA converter, really has some hiss in the sound. Hope this is not the case with 1080 or 2080. But I'm very very happy with this unit. The more I use it, the more I love it. If Roland could change some of the stuff I mention above, that would be very awesome!

Like everyone else, I agree that this is a very frustrating unit to get around on (lining up the lines on the dials, especially difficult on stage!), much less editing &/or moving favorite patches into the user bank. Hate having to use a computer to do all that....I use it live w/WX5 wind controller, and have to keep a cheat-sheet next to me w/patches & banks; also agree w/others bout the volume variances. I find that there are even fluctuations within the same patches, one octive is way louder, or softer than the next! I have to use a volume pedal constantly to control that.........

again, not happy that most features require using your computer...

Like many of the sounds.....Really happy with guitars (as a sax player, it's nice to be Carlos Santana or Jimi Hendrix for a change), neat lead/dreamy synths, vibes,steel drums,.... Not very wild about organs, too thin sounding, not enuf lezlie; also not happy w/blues harp. Again, the volume inconsistancies a drag.

seems to be........

n/a

not sure I'd buy it again, like the fact it's got alot of good sounds in a small, inexpensive pkge. I did have Korg's X5DR,N1R, and would have bought a Trinity Rack, but for half the price and space got the 1010. Have a Triton, O1W, & JD990 at home; would use the 990 on gigs, but is much bigger (4x), and has less (but great) sounds. REALLY wish you could at least move patches w/o a computer, and editing them would be nice, too. I guess I will have to figure out how to edit and assign patches, so that I'm happy with all the sounds I want, and can put them all in the user bank, cuz trying to see where the lines match up while on stage is too challenging, and not having patch names, only numbers lit makes it too easy to have the wrong patch cued up; not good when going for a screaming guitar solo and some weird techno synth patch starts playing instead!

I have owned the 1010 for a little over a week. Here are my initial reactions.

I have no idea what software version my 1010 has. I have no idea how to find out.

The presets are many, varied and mosty, quite usable. very little filler. some truly classic sounds on board here, especially the vocal patches and techno/dance patches.

I use the included sound diver to tweak the onboard sounds. Pretty straight forward.

The manual is a total joke. Trial and error is the only way around this box.

Choosing patches is as simple as twisting one or two knobs as needed. The three decimal numeric display is not the most helpful, but for $440 American, for what the box does and what it is capable of doing, I won't complain.

Polyphony 64. As long as I get 16 note polyphony with a good patch that is all I will need out of the box at one time. Effects are decent. Lush Roland Chorus can do wonders. It can accept one more expansion card. My rating takes into account, the JV's price.

Realistic? not necessarily. does the JV produce sounds that are satisfying? Yes!!! As I said before lots of useable variety. Very musical. Inspiring. And "hey I have heard that cool sound before on a song/movie/ad! The Session expansion board is wonderful. I notice that I mostly use that bank.

I am using an Alesis QS6 to drive it and notice that the JV, IMO, reacts too noticeably to aftertouch. I have to change my playing in relation to this. Anybody else notice this?

Sonic strengths: basses, vocals, pads, synth sounds, acoustic piano (relative to its price), bells and bell pads. Ulike some earlier posters, I like the JV's woodwinds. they aren't the most realistic, but I dont have wind controller. If I did and wanted excellent woodwinds and horns I would go for the Yamaha virtual acoustic module.

Sonic weaknesses: electric piano sounds, organs

I also play guitar so I have little use for guitar sounds. The guitar sounds in the JV are better than most I have heard.

I have had it a week. It hasn't crashed or died yet.

No contact.

The 1010 is definetly worth what I paid for it. It has a complementary sonic palate to my Alesis and Korg gear.

It's easy to use initially. The sounds are quite easy to call up, and the demo (pushing the volume button in) is wonderful. It'll play a sample so you can hear the patch. The biggest problem I have is the lack of documentation for the Soundiver application. I would not recommend this unit to anyone who doesn't have a computer. And if you do have a computer you need to get the original Soundiver manual, which is currently (4/18/00) $29 from Emagic.

All I can say here is that it kicks booty. The effects sound very good, there is a very wide variety of patches, and the Soundiver app makes it very easy to sort ALL the patches by category and sound 'em out. There are also knobs to do this on the unit.

sounds good. 'enuff said. It covers just about everything. The brass and woodwind instruments are definintely synthy. There's lots of classic synth sounds and B3's and organs. Bass sounds are varied, but again, I think if you want realism here either get a bass player or a sampler. But if you are making backing tracks for your live guitar riffs this is the unit for you.

Very reliable.

Haven't needed support yet. I'm very dissapointed with the lack of documentation for the Soundiver OEM app they packaged with the unit. The Roland manual, however, is quite good in my opinion. It just doesn't cover the "good stuff" which is what Soundiver is supposed to do.

I would buy it again. I've been using it for about 2 months now. I own a drum set, a Johnson JM150 amp, Layla Unit and a Presonus preamp that feeds the Layla, cause I do all my stuff on computer. I love the organ sounds and the fat synth sounds. I hate the lousy brass sounds, but they sound just as good as anyone elses I suppose. I didn't compare it with other products, except maybe pricewise with the Proteus. No comparison. I wish it had the Soundiver manual, and not just chapter 3 that was included with the unit. It would help me make music if I could figure out some of the software that came with it.
I highly recommend this unit. Just plan on shelling out $29 for the manual in addition to the unit. Me, I'm going to sign on to the Logic user groups and try to get someone to send me the file. A salesman from Logic explained that their Soundiver app is a heavily pirated piece of software, so they don't make the manual publically available. I believe I paid for the software, so I believe I should have the manual and not have to pay a ridiculous price for it. :-) If you are looking for a synth module to complement a home project studio, this is an excellent one to get.

Very easy to use. Knobs on the front, what more is there to say? Manual is par for Roland (read "Crappy"). Patch editing is best done with the included software and a computer.

Expandable with one JV-series sound card. I currently have the Keyboards of the 60s and 70s card in it. Kick ass organs on that card.

Here's where I have a beef with Roland. I don't know if it's just my unit or what, but some of the sounds differ in volume tremendously. There are times I have to turn up the volume on the JV-1010 to the max, and then the channel the unit is plugged into on my mixer just to match the volume of my other synths. Note, this doesn't happen with all patches, just some. Especially those that are on the expansion card I have installed. Any other users experiencing this problem?

Otherwise, the sounds are top-notch.

Because of the problems with the volumes, I have decided against using this item for gigs. I plan on using it for my home studio for the time being. If it wasn't for the volume problem, I would definitely use it at a gig without backup.

Never had to deal with Roland Support.

If it were stolen, the only thing I'd miss is the installed sound card. As for the unit itself, i'd probably replace it with a JV-1080 or 2080 if I could afford it. I picked up the unit because of the size and price. A great unit, but the volume problem brings the overall rating down to a six, in my eyes.

The key word with this unit is "compromise". For the price you get loads of high quality sounds and plenty of polyphony to do complex arrangements. Before I got married I owned a Roland D-70, and all of the classic sounds from that era are here plus some more modern dance-oriented stuff that doesn't really do anything for me.

Regarding patch editing and the manuals: WARNING!! Do not buy this unit if you are new to the whole synth/PC/MIDI world!! This unit is NOT for newbies! With a few exceptions, ALL editing functions are done through the supplied Emagic Sound Diver software. Both the Emagic and the Roland manual (no surprise) give just the basics. As said in other reviews, it's really up to you to figure out how to get the most from the unit. My primary instrument is guitar, and although I am not new to synthesis (I have owned an OB-8, Emax, TX-81Z and the D70) I am still scratching my head as to how to get the thing to do what I want. For example, I am assuming that while utilizing the 1010 with my sequencer (Cakewalk PA 8.04) I am using the Performance Mode patch's FX, but I can't yet get it to change the Performance patch via MIDI. That means that every song I have played through it for the past two weeks have used the FX from PERF Mode 1 unless I change it manually. Granted, I have only had it for three weeks, but the trial and error learning method is very frustrating. The sad thing is that many people looking to get into synthesis will be attracted to this unit by the price/performance but will have a very frustrating experience.

The 1010 integrates seamlessly into a PC MIDI setup, but it's lack of functions accessible from the front panel patch numbers instead of names make it useless for a live application. Again, think
"compromise". I am using the serial interface, and am using a Fatar Studio 49 via the MIDI port from an SB Live to play the 1010 and enter data. The FX are good, not stunning, but good and I am sure they will prove flexible once I figure out how to program them.

I am using the 1010 as my primary sound generator for my home studio, and the sounds work very well for what I do (jazz, rock, blues, etc.).
The synth sounds stand out for me, as I am a fan of big analog sounds. The acoustic sounds are good, and the drums (especially the Session kits) offer a well-rounded variety of options. You can also add an additional expansion card, but I'll have my hands full with what came with it for some time to come. Most of the other JV/XP series patches are compatible with this synth as well and can be easily downloaded from sites via the Internet.

I did notice the Closed Hi Hat sounded less like the tight "tick tick tick" I was used to and was more of a pedal sound. I'm sure there is a way to remedy that with editing, but it will take me a while to find it. ;-}

As mentioned above, I have owned other Roland gear and found it to be very reliable. I don't expect any problems with this.

They're not the most helpful people in the world, but I did get through to a live human being the two times I called. You will find that the phrase "I don't know" appears all too often in their vocabulary.

The steep learning curve and skimpy manuals will likely tarnish the reputation of this otherwise outstanding value, especially with beginners or those (like me) on a budget. It is unfortunate that beginners or the budget-conscious are the ones who could benefit most from the 1010. I listened to the Alesis Nanosynth and Korg X5R (re: sounded like a GM sound card) and longed for my old D70, so I got the 1010. The D70 was no walk in the park to program, but at least you had buttons to push and a display to read.

I have found some excellent resources for the JV/XP series of synths on the Internet (www.lilchips.com) and there are several sites that offer downloads of some of the other JV/XP series synth's factory patches that are compatible with the 1010 so there is no shortage of support or free sounds. But unless you have a working knowledge of PCs, MIDI, sequencing, and editor/librarians expect a STEEP learning curve before you can just sit down and make music.