Roland JX-305

I have had my JX-305 for about a year now, my first real synth. Overall I am happy with this machine but I do find a few things quite limiting. For me the patch edit is quite easy and makes for the creation of some killer sounds, but the operative word here is some. You do not have complete manipulation of sounds just by using this synth on it's own. Granted there are all kinds of knobs and such and quite tweakable, but not completely changeable. I like the fact that this synth is geared for very electronic music. Some preset sounds are quite good but a lot of them really get on my nerves. I always try to create my own and will be adding some new mudular sound devices to do what I completely want to do.

The manual sucks in my opinion. I admit that I do not have much of a background when it comes to the editing(chapter 9) portion of operations. I still do not even know what a checksum is. I am just now gearing myself up to connect the JX-305 to outside machines. One thing I really want is a KORG Kaos Pad or other Rolands sound modules.

I think the drum sounds are exellent. I mean, one can create a really mean sounding dance record just with the JX-305 by itself, so there is a lot to like about this synth, if you can get past the manual. I have been reading other people's quotes about the manual and can't figure out why the thing was so easy for them. I think the manual is quite vague. It doesn't give you enough refreshers on previous things that it mentioned. I still do not know how to record via M-Scope and have not been used that much looping technology. I need to really sit down and go through the manual again. Everytime I try to, I get so frustrated and just try to figure things out on my own. I feel like I am trying to decipher hyroglyphics. The manual sucks!!! I also am not great when it comes to math. I really need to meet someone that knows more about the technical end of it.

I just added the 4 megabyte card because when you use effects and such, it takes up a lot of the JX-305's availabe user memory. I had up to 7 songs and my memory was all ocuppied. I like to use a lot of effects and that is why I will be getting more mudular machines in the near future.

Oh, I paid $700 for this. Hey, for less than a thousand dollars, it is really quite good. There are some limitations though, like the stupid manual!! I need some patience please. I mean, this thing is geared for trance and Techno and so far I have written mor New Age, some Hip Hop, and Synthpop, but no a lot of loopy stuff, because the manual explains it so poorly. OK, enough

For the price, You still can't go wrong. Although, it may be harder to find it as Roland didn't really push it that much. No sales pitch here, just some honest observation.

It has 64 note polyphony, which is good. Keyboard action is good, aftertouch and all that, keys respond to amount of pressure, also a wide range of effects: Flanger, E-Q, Distortion, Slicer, Gate-Reverb, Enhancer, Limiter, Phono(with lp and ep modes, also built in background noise, kind of corny though), Phaser, and others. The effects have submanipulation capabilities to them as well. For the most part they all sound very good. However, when writing with them they take up a wide range of the memory.

Expansion capabilities are very much there. You can interface with other keyboards, the computer and many other sound modules. You can use another board to control the JX-305. Oh yes, all the midi-capability is there. Someone said that this board was not expandable, I do not know where they are coming from. There is an onboard sequencer and it is pretty good, if you ever are able to figure it out!!!!! It is somewhat complicated. I see that some people say they figured out how to use the JX-305 within hours. I have had the thing a year now and there are still operations I do not know how to do! Someone contact me please

Oh, it reacts. The preset intruments run a range from the very eletronic to orchestral and acoustic sounding instruments. Some instrument sound very realistic, like some of the ethnic ones. Sitar sounds like the real thing. What I like about this synth is that most sounds are not original and also tweakable. I have filled up my entire user memory portion with rewritten patches and such. Now I am creating more of a file on the smart-media card. This helps a lot with the memory. I really do not use too much in the way of the preset sounds, but I do use some from time to time. The patch edit lets you manipulate and create, recreate, but not 100%. I think the groove box gets in the way of the synth part a bit. The Groove box(rhythm portion, drums etc. are awesome!!! I said this before.

Onboard effects are great but do use up a lot of the user memory.

This keyboard works well for all types of electronic genres. I am convinced that a lot of the rap and hip hop being produced out there comes from this synth or other Roland related synths, groove boxes etc. The groovebox is awesome and also allows for the patch edit to manipulate the drum sounds and such. RPS is great but the manual is hard to understand in this section. Appregiator is wonderfull. Somewhat hit it right on when they said Phat!!!

The reactions to aftertouch and velocity are good but sometimes they annoy me. Well, atleast you can go back and specify how much of an amount of these effects you want

Yes, overall I think it is quite dependable and I would use it in a gig all by itself. It is that comprehensive. I would rather have a backup because I think it is just smart to use one, but by itself It should fare quite well.

Never dealt with them before, but plan on doing so now as I intend to unlock all the capabilities

If it were lost or stolen, I would probably buy another Roland synth, one somewhat like this one. I have been playing music all my life and have had some other starter synths but this one is my first actuall professional synth. I chose this one because it was rather economical. I wanted to be able to do a wide range of things with one keyboard and the JX-305 certainly lets you do that. Sometimes it helps me make music and other times it gets in the way. Overall I am quite happy with it and it will be used in the studio. Now I feel compelled to buy some other gear as well

This is a fairly easy keyboard once you get going. I only had the
keyboard for about two hours and I was already able to record songs on
it. I've never owned a keyboard before, so this is all new to me.
Editing patches is harder for me so far, I haven't tryed doing this a
whole lot, but when I have tryed editing patches it's seemed pretty easy.
The Realtime controls are GREAT for editing patches! The presets sound
superb anyways. The manual isn't as bad as people say.

My only complaint is that it is not expandable. But, it is 64 voice
polyphony, which I've found has been really good. The keys aren't
weighted either, but if that means more to you than get a different
keyboard. The built in effects have been really good. Easy to use and
edit. It has onboard distortion, it's not really super, but how many
keyboards have onboard distortion. The sequencer is great, I've written
about 10 different genres of music with this keyboard and it excels in
each one.

In my opinion, the sounds aren't completely realistic, with a bit of
tweaking that can be fixed, but they are good enough as is. Piano
sounds are good, but the RD series by Roland are better for that.
Organs kind of suck, but that's alright. I never use brass. Cello is
so SO cool. The keyboard's best patches are by far the pad's and strings.
They are very, very good for every style. Like I said before, it is
great for every kind of music, and I mean everything.

I would use it at a gig with no backup no problem. No problem's so far.

I don't know, I haven't had to deal with them yet.

If I lost it or something I probably wouldn't have the money to buy
another one, but if I did, I would definitely buy it again. It is well
worth what I paid! I have been playing piano since I was five, so 12
years (I'm 17) and this is a dream come true to own one of these things.
I have never written music the way I have since I bought this keyboard.
I highly recommend this instrument. I did not compare it to any other
keyboards, but I didn't have to after I heard what it could do. I don't
own any other keyboard gear, but I do own an Epiphone guitar, a custom
bass guitar, a digitech RP-6 Fx rack, an E-bow, a piece of crap amp,
and my baby (the keyboard). If you have any second thoughts on if you
should buy it or not, feel free to email me. If you really want, I can
send you a demo of music I've written on it and you can make your own
opinion of the machine. No major complaints.

With Cakewalk Pro Audio8 you load and save your files on the disk.
It's very easy to use.It was my first Synth.
Editing patches is so easy: With one turn of a knob you can change your preset sound into master pieces of your own.

The only thing that irritates me on the JX305 that there isn't analoge modeling.The rest is pretty much OK.

The Preset Sounds Sucks for making house and dance.
The effects are very good.

You should watch out for the saving, because it always jumps back to the preset bank number.

No comment

System is great but the sounds are terrible. Therefor I prefere a mixture between a JP8080 and JX305.So my next thing I'm gonna buy is a JP8080.

This is my 2nd review, and I chose to do another one cuss my last
one was really lame!
(cheak out my new tracks at http://www.mp3.com/miek)
Anywayz... Ease of Use. I managed to learn how to use all the
features in short 3 months time.(Yes, everysingle little detail from
patch edit to MIDI Checksum) I look at every single page in the manual
and used all the features mentioned in the manual. Vary vary helpful
infomation!
Sequencing: Whin first got the unit patch editing and the sequencer was a
total nightmare!(It's my first synth, excuse me.), but I ajucted
accordingly. If you already have sequencing background then its all
good, if you dont' the JX wont be your cup of tea. If you are capable
of figuring things out, then the sequencer will become relitivly easy
and fun to use. I figured out a way to manuly copy conplex musical
arangements into the sequencer, and also give it the human touch.


Patches: Presets-not good, User-not bad, Editor-vary ugly!!!
Once youget used to the patch edit facilaties, you must have a mental
set of numbers in your head. Numbers representing what affects what.
You can mutate a piano type sound to a pad sound by properly using
AMP ADSR, and LFO parimaters appropriately. etc...
So how easy is it to use? It's up to you. How much common sence
do you have? How good are you in math? I do admit, it is hard to use
at first whin your sober.

Now you can get this thing for about $650! Let's do some math...
For $650 you get:
8 channel sequencer (96ppq), 8 realtime knobs, 8(+8) chanel Mixer
8(+8rps) part multitimeral, 1 stereo deley unit, 1 reverb unit(6 types),
1 stereo(or mono) MFX unit(26 types), 8 meg ROM based Sampler (+4 megs),
phat arpeggiator, plastic velocity AND aftertoutch 61 note keyboard, midi
controlor, drum machine, advanced sound and patch editing, syncronizer,
64 voices, and (my favrote) a sleek blue coat finish.

If you have thousands of dollars, and you'd perfer a 16-96 track
sequencer for $600 and plate reverb units for $2000, distortion
efx pedals/units for $2000, a 48 chanel digital mixer($4000), a couple
TB-303's or whatever x0x boxes you can get your hands on ($100,000),
couple akai samplers ($10,000), 88 hammer master keyboard ($2,000),
and a ADAT, then I encourange you to get that instead, forget about
the JX305. But if you are a poor little peasant boy (like myself) who
works hard for his money and pays bills, I think that your $650
investment will turn into a $100,000 contract with Virgin Records,
(It happens all the time, no?)

The unit has all the features you need to make some industrial,
trance tracks in your bedroom. Your imagination and creativaty are
the only things that will hold you back. You will discover that
the JX limitations will only make you stronger!

Nothing on this synth sounds realistic, that's why I love this
thing! The piano's are nice and usable. You can get it to sound
realistic, if you study the dynamics played by real piano players
and implement it to midi, you will find that there are random
fixedures toward the vilosity and the tone of it.
If you know what Im talking about, you will be able to fool
people into beleiveing that they are hearing live piano part using
only the jx305 sounds. I'm not that good at seuencing yet...
Same goes for dynamics for guitar players. Look at some guitar
tabliture of your favrote songs and manuly copy 4,8 or 16 bars of
your favrote song and transpose the patch at vary low key and play
a TB-303 dist sound with overdrive effect switch on. Sweetness!!!
If you work with the patches hard enough you will be able to make
your patches talk, yes I mean talk, liek in japanise. use 2 lfos.
Assign lfo1 to random and 16th note speed modify the pitch and filter
and lfo 2 on chaos modifing the pitch and amplifir, assign aftertoutch
to lfo2a and lfo2p. play they keyboard accordingly and mess with the
pitch bend leaver and whin you get the hang of things you can teach
your JX how to skeak like a bigman! my JX saz things
liek "stank hoe" after a random note recoding and a litte tweeking,
then I saved it!(bad,miek,bad) It's all up to your mestakes and your
imagination...

Just make sure you have copies of your work, liek on a 4 meg card.
I love to gig with this thing. Really phat.

I think it depends on the mood of the technician you call/contact.
I see roland users get really pissed, and others just feel really
blessed over their customer survice! What the hell is going on here?

I give it an 8 cuss I just feel like giving it an 8. If it
got lost or stolen or broken or if m memory got erased, i'd just
just raise hell and make some more songs on another workstation
out of frusteration. (I didnt evin back up yet!) But, if I had backup
I wouldn't be too woried, just as long as I got my patches/patterns
on a card or on disk.
You muct cheak out my work so far with the JX.
I only had it for about 4 months - http://www.mp3.com/miek -
I' do enjoy making ambient/hard-trance tracks. I know how to
use the JX 305 successivly. I know how to get the sweltchyness
and analogish sounds. Whin you lern how to do these things, your set!

do yourself a favor and get yourself a Akai S1000, JX305,
4 channel mixer, and some efx processig, and you will be able to
make some really, really phat trance tracks! For under $2,000!!!

Once you get the hang of it, it's not all to hard to work with. Of course, the manual didn't help too much... Editing preset patches is still somewhat fuzzy to me, but it probably just takes some time. All other functions are relatively simple.

I'd say it's a pretty normal synth as far as features go. There's the typical aftertouch, pitch bend, modulation, plus it also has some nice effects...reverb, delay, and multi-fx including chorus, flanger, slicer, 4-band EQ, and about 20 more, though you can't sue them all separately. The control knobs are one of the best things about it.
An 8-track sequencer is nice, but not really necessary. The one thing that completely ruined me on this synth is the fact that it only has 8-part multitimbrality! I'd expect it to be much more professional than that. I use a PC Midi setup, and only 2 months after I bought it did I realize that one can only use MIDI channels 1-7 and 10 for a drum kit. Very disappointing.

The preset patches are alright... nothing spectacular... but once you get the hang of editing them, you can make some wicked techno/trance sounds. I found a lot of use in them. The rhythym sets are really comrehensive, and all editable.

I wouldn't know...I used it strictly as a studio synth... seems reliable enough for performance though...

I wouldn't know, I never got through!!! I left a message with my small, simple problem two or three times at Roland and I got no response...

I'd love it if it weren't for the pathetic 8-part multitimbrality. Very unprofessional, in my opinion

This is a nice machine, easy enough to use, but you do need to read the manual for the more involved settings. The manual is reasonably easy to understand if you have some background in synthesis. You can tweak the sounds easily just by messing with the knobs though.
Presets are a mixed bunch, some of them are great, others kinda boring. But they are easy to improve upon. I haven't used an editor with it yet, there's one for the 505 that should work reasonably well...

Polyphony is 64 notes, but that's with patches using only one sound out of a possible 4 at a time, so realistically its probably around 32 or less using pads and such. The keyboard itself is somewhat plasticky feeling, not too great but gets the job done. The effects are both very much fun and easy to use. There's 3 of them and you can use just one, 2 or all three on each track. You can use 2 or 4 meg smartmedia cards for patch and pattern storage which is handy.
The keyboard is pressure sensitive. The "joystick" has a rather large dead area at center which makes it less than ideal for pitch control. The onboard sequencer is good enough for making cool patterns but the song feature is very limited, I would advise using an external sequencer for anything serious.
The RPS (realtime phrase system(?)) is great fun and very useful live, the arpeggiator is full featured and programmable.

Most instruments are not realistic, as far as acoustical instruments go, with the few exceptions of some guitars and organs.
But this instrument is decidedly an electronic sounding synth, so this is to be expected. It works very well for techno, dance, electronica etc.
It seems that it was also aimed at hip-hop but I don't believe it would be too good for that. The standard reverb and delay effects are workable, not spectacular though. But one neat feature is that everything can be synced together, like delay, arpeggio, RPS can be all synced to the tempo of the sequencer which makes things a lot easier.
The insert effects are very cool and can add a lot to the originality of the patches. Velocity and aftertouch react the way one would expect, not a lot of feeling but that's because most of the presets don't even react to aftertouch! Which is a shame. The filters are versatile but not as cutting as one would hope. You can increase the resonance limit in the setup though to make it rougher.

Seems very reliable, never failed me in 3 weeks. It seems bulletproof although mine had several plastic support parts on the inside broken when I got it. It was a b-stock item and Roland did not do a great job in refurbishing it... So watch out. But now it's glued back together, better than new :-)

Never contacted them. But they have very little info on their website, so I don't think they're doing a good job.

I would definitely get another one if it was stolen. For the price it is unbeatable, and just plain a lot of fun.
Maybe I'd get an RM1X instead but I'm not sure. The best would be to have both. The reason I bought this synth was mainly to use it as a drum machine, and it is worth the price for that alone. I have a sampler and a QS7 plus a pc and other stuff so this was just to make the setup a bit more colorful.
The only drawback is that it's so easy and fun to play with it, you have to be really disciplined to get any real work done. It is positively crammed with features. One little annoyance is that when you put it in "part mute" mode, it hisses ever so quietly. You'll never hear it if the music is going, but nevertheless...

Without a manual, all the pretty buttons are kind of confusing. It's actually very easy to just find a patch and play it. The patch editor is a little difficult to use with the small display, it just takes some getting-used-to. FX are brainlessly easy, the big knobs help.

64-voice multi-timbral bla bla bla. Go to www.rolandus.com if you want the details. There is NO expansion on this machine... but with the massive amounts of patches and damn-near unlimited FX, you probably won't need to. The onboard memory is pretty good (about 8 song's worth).. get an SM2 or SM4 card for extra memory ASAP. Outside of Techno/industrial, this machine does not have much to offer, but I still use it for classical performances with a dirty kick (I guess that's still industrial, huh?).

It's basically an MC-505 ($1000), and an XP-30 ($1500) all in one. So you get $2500 worth of equipment for about $600... sounds like a bargain at twice the price.

I have yet to hear a Synth realistically reproduce a brass sound, so the JX-305s lame brass doesn't suprise me. The strings are excellent, as are the pads. (TIP: Try the Piano/Str stack tuned down two octaves with reverb... oh so evil!). I do find that it overloads at times, giving off some really bad background humming... but you have to TRY (like hitting 60 keys with your hold pedal down). The arepeggiator is rad, with tons of options.

I'm not hesitant to gig without backup. I have heard of these things locking up in extreme circumstances... but you really shouldn't be playing it in extreme circumstances! GET A CASE FOR IT. The knobs pop off when it get's banged around a bit.

Just say 'Operator'! Don't bother trying to navigate the automated telephone system. The manual (an epic) does a pretty good job of telling you what you need to know, but if you need help, Roland techs are acutally pretty helpful.

If lost/stolen, I would cry on the way over to my music shop and buy another one. It is definately worth every penny I paid for it. Toss in a sampler and *BAM* you have a home dance studio. Get your buddy to man another keyboard live, and *BAM* you have a live band. This is definately a great place to start for anybody who wants to get serious about techno/industrial music.

Presets are great! Gives you an example of just about every song style out there. Patchs are easy to modify. Filters are kinda weak.
Manual is not as everybody was saying it was.

I actually like the effects okay. Check out the Flanger. I don't know if you can assign different effects to different parts though.
I can accept 2 and 4 meg expansion memory cards... Haven't tried that though...nothing to put on them...hehe.
Midi is IOT. Connected to my FZ-10M sampler without much problem. Can't use filters through midi though.

Good for all electronica (i hate using that word). Check out some of the mp3s by Bert on mp3.com. All he has is a JX-305 and a Yamaha rm1x and the sounds he's producing are phenominal!
Brass SUX! Pads are beautiful. Check out the rise pad!!!!

No problems thus far.

I called about the impedence of the out jacks and they were very helpful in helping me connect it to my FZ.

If you know how to get the most out of a keyboard... and want to make dance type music... it's great. Don't listen to the people who rip on it for being a "groove" gear.
In one review of something I read, the person said, "it's not the equipment that counts, but the person using it."
My girlfriend can vouch for me on that...hehe!
Try it out for yourself... Yes there is probably something better out their for the cost. But funk it, it you like it, wanna try it... buy it.

The presets are excellent, and the editing process may be a little confusing at first, but the editing process shows that you can manipulate any sound(s)to your bidding!

The 64voices are more than enough to get any gig going. If you are talanted enough, you can use this as a standalone unit to make sophistocated hits! I am a little disappointed that pattern switch all the mute/patch settings are reterned to pattern default, problem can be corrected by makeing your own patterns to start the way you want them to. I was fond to find that I am running out ofstorage memory durring the first month of haveing this baby, it is wise to upgrade to a 4MG Smart Media card as soon as you can. The internal sequencer can be a bit confusing at time's, make sure your sober whin playing with it. ALWAYS SAVE YOUR WORK AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, sometimes out of pure stupidity, i tend to switch patterns from the temp and play back to temp where my work has vanqwished! Damn kids, their all the same.

If you not the techno/industrial or experimental oriented person, you will find this module vary dissapointing. The EFX settings are koo, but I find most of them useless, and another thing is that you can only have one EFX parimater pet pattern, and that they wont be assign to the RPS. You will find velocoty and aftertouch vary useful for recording/live performance.

This unit is vary dependable but I do recomend gatting a suitable case for it. The manuals was more than helpful, and the only backup you would need is the 4mg Start Media Card, or another seuencer(or both). You wont regret giging with this gear...

I have read from other Roland users that their customer support just sux ass, althogh i never had to deal with them.

If this thing was lost or stolen I wouldnt care, I'd find more techno toys and make my music again in no time. (It's all in my head)
I've ben Dj'ing and playing with techno toys since 1995 and I feel as if it made the genious out of me. All I have for myself s a puter and 305 and a crappy gemini mixer and big phukken PA system in my room and I have 2 mics and sometimes I barrow terntables sometimes i borrow guitars sometimes i barrow efx processors and sometimes I do small gigs. If you are geared tward live act The 305 is for you, if you want to live dj the MC505 is for you, nuff sed.

The "real instrument" presets actually aren't as bad as I thought they would be, with a little customization they work great. If your a techno artist this instrument is a gift from god himself. Although the brass patches suck. The patch editor is a bit confusing at first, since everything is horridly abrieviated to on or 2 characters. But it's capabilities are pretty extensive. As usual, the Roland manual was great until you actually applied it next to the instrument itself, then it makes you feel like an idiot for not understanding what it's directing you to do.

The keyboard has great playability. The touch sensory is amazing. It has more effects than the average person needs. Different types of reverb, flange, delay, distortion, slicers, phasers, compressors, chorus, etc. It's endless. This instrument has NO expansion capabilities! The sequencer is good but it overloads easily, resulting in lags and random dry cuts of the instruments that have lots of decay. Then again, I've never had a sequencer that I didn't overload. One thing that intrigued me was that you can step program in 64th notes! Wow! I had fun with that!

Like I mention above, the live instruments are pretty realistic, they just need to be edited to suit the atmoshpere. I hear a lot of people bitching about how the string instruments aren't the least bit impressive on the 305, but they have real sampled strings instead of synthesised combos. If you like the actual sound of a cello or violin, this is about a close as your going to get, but like I said, customise it to your needs. The distortion effect is a bit cheesy, but how many keyboards have onboard distortion? The velocity and aftertouch is nice, I find myself practicing classical and jazz piano pieces a lot on this machine. The techno sounds are the best I've seen, but then again, keep in mind every techno artist that has a 305 is going to be using them. Before I used this board in any tracks I made a couple hundred of my own patches. For some reason the drums don't do it for me, but they have a lot of impressive sounds that most people would enjoy.

At 72 degrees in a clean studio atmosphere it is fool proof. On a really hot/cold stage after being slammed around a bit it tends to lock up or give out weird messages on the display. The knobs fall of with the slightest bump, but they can be snapped back on. To be honest I wouldn't bring this on tour, but for one show I'd use it with proper backup.

I'm pretty much the "fix it yourself" type so I haven't had the wonderful honor of dealing with Roland. The instruction book smells like burnt chocolate-chip cookies when it's set on fire!

If it were stolen, I'd probably buy it again since the price is now a fraction of what I paid for it ($600-). I've been using synth extensively for about 8 years and this is pretty different from anything I've seen before. Go out and buy it if your a techno/rap/jungle/rave artist, but if your doing something more organic or origional just skip by any of Roland's products and buy a Kurzweil or Korg. If your an MC303 or MC505 user this would be a wise investment. I hear it can play the patterns of a 505 through a memory card. It has a lot of different features, but is a tad bit cheesy.

The presets are good but really nothing special. In order to do anything except cheesy rave music you're gonna have to edit them. The patch editor in itself is very easy to use with lotsa effects and the such. THE MANUAL IS AWFUL! And as such I will surely mention it again later in this review. It's all these long winded explanations that, for a musician and not someone who spends there entire life programming, are just a royal pain to plow through. If they'd just be more straightforward about things I wouldn't have a single complaint.

Whole buncha built in effects here. The sequencer is very straight forward and easy to use, that is, if you can comprehend the manual. It has the usual MIDI In Out Through and can handle memory cards for storing sequences, patches, etc. The arpeggiator is useful and the knobs on it for quantizing are a nice feature.

For techno the sounds on this thing are a godsend, for industrial it works, as far as "real" instrument sounds go it sorta sucks. The brass presets are all (in my opinion) fairly unrealistic but I'm sure that if someone were to put there mind to it and take the time to edit them they might come out with something very close to the real thing. The lead synth abilities of the JX surprised me as I wasn't expecting the full sounds that I got out of it after hearing the many rather hollow dance patches that it has.

Haven't had a problem with it yet and I bought it last year. I'd use it live without a backup any day.

Never had a problem that needed solving. Except the manual. Roland simply cannot write manuals.

I've only been using MIDI equipment for a year now and this was the first purchase I made. The only problem I've ever had was with learning how to use it. Without any previous experience in the field of synths I was left hanging since the manual is just a buncha the usual cryptic Roland style stuff. Since then I've taught myself how to use it and now find it to be extremely useful in making music (I do electro- industrial stuff). If it were lost or stolen I'd probably purchase it again though I might think twice about it.

Okay. Presets sound good, sequencer is easy to use especially if you are familiar with other recent "groove gear". Manual is okay, however I have yet to find the correct procedure for finding out its OS version.

64 notes polyphony. Keyboard is good: velo, aftertouch, split, etc. Mondo builtin effects. Sound good, easy to use. Accepts "smart memory" cards to store sequences, patches. MIDI In/Out/Thru, knobs send continuous controllers and/or sysex. Sequencer is almost identical to MC-303/MC-505. Pattern based, 8 part.

Synth patches: good "real instruments": good luck -- nice pianos, really bad woodwinds, okay brass. Use this synth for techno/industrial/hiphop. Effects sound fine. Velo and aftertouch are well implemented.

Too early to say, I just brought it home this afternoon. Haven't managed to lock it up or crash it though. No reason not to use it on a gig as far as I can tell.

Roland customer support is good if you can ever get hold of them. No experience yet with this board, but I *do* want to know why the "bender assign" feature does not seem to work as documented.

If I lost it, sure I'd buy it again. Worth what I paid? Sure. Playing synths about 3 years, piano since I was a kid. Other gear: MC-303, Yamaha QY-70, Alpha Juno 1, mixer, effects, etc. Compares well with MC-505 (has keyboard, whoopee!). Good all-round dance music production machine, plus it's a nice MIDI controller as well. Wish it had serial MIDI port so I could use it with my laptop.