Roland XP-30

The keyboard provides enough knobs, bottoms, and sliders to traverse the complex menus with relative ease. It comes with a Sounddiver editor so one can connect the xp to a laptop. The unit is not complex, with multiple outputs and inputs and such. The configuration of the unit is simple yet very versatile. So this unit can be played within a few minutes after opening the box. If you have a Akai or Kurzweil, this unit will be very easy in comparison.

Very small, flat and compact !!!!
Not heavy. Strong outer casing.
I got it because I wanted something small and portable.
My other keyboard is a 88 fully weighted keyboard.
It has a 24 bit, 44 kilohertz DAC. The sound is very clean. Even when I put the volume on max on my Yamaha monitors I do not hear any noise. 64 voice polyphony is just enough for most people. It has 4 possible layers for each voice and may patches use 3 or 4 layers. It comes with 3 expansion cards and is expandable with 2 more. Easily tranposable keys. Patch finder is great for quickly finding a patch. One stereo output. MIDI in, out and thru. Backlit screen. Small but good enough for a non sampling, non sequencer synth. Very good sound tweeking possibilities. It can use a 5v smart media card. they ae very limited in capacity and no longer made. Techno, Sessin Orchestra ROms built into the unit have a few good pianos and organs I like very much. The amount of vocals is only 2. So if you want to make something like Titanic soundtrack I recommend the Vocal ROM and Orchestral II ROM.

Hmm....
I own a few synths and this has now become my favorite synth.
It is the least feature rich synth I have, however I just love the large number of sounds and ease of use.
I have a fully expanded xp-30.
I own Keys of the 60 and 70 and World ROM cards.
Thats like over 1700 patches I think.
The ROM cards are great, only if I had 2 more expansion slots, I would love to instal Orchestral II and Vocal.
The XP-30 came after the other XPs and has a 24 bit DAC as opposed to the 16 bits on the JV-1080 and JV-2080 and some other XPs. So the sound will be cleaner and maybe flatter and maybe this is a bad thing for some people who like the vinyl type sounds. I personally love it. The effects on the unit is enough for basics. It has all the features of the 1080. It will not beat the newer synths or a Kurzweil, but the sounds are very established and of high quuality. I love the Orchestral ROMs, Vocal ROM (though I would have liked more different vocals), and Keys of the 60s and 70s.

I got mine used. The unit works great !

I never tried their c s.

This keyboard is small and easy to use, but definately a pro board.
If only it can accept 8 megs of sample sound it would be GRRREEEAATT !
I love the size and weight.
I love the huge sound library this thing has.
Up to 6 ROM cards ! The first 3 though is preinstalled, sigh... I would have preferred to make my own choices.
I am not into techno so one slot was wasted.

Well, I think the manual is OK. This keyboard is very easy-to-use, because it is light to carry around. The patches are well-organized, but I think is very difficult editing patches. I prefer my Korg to do this. There are a lot of menus in the patch edit; I guess you have to be an expert to do whatever you want in your patch.

Well, being a piano-lover, I have to say I hate the keyboard action. The keys are veeeeery light and sometimes I'm afraid I will broke them by just playing. Polyphony is 64 voices, what is good, but when you use patches that use 4 voices, you are dead. If you use the keyboard for MIDI, sometimes you have to choose well your patches so you don't run out of polyphony. The effects are OK, and unlike my KOrg (N1), it doesn't adds to much to the sound, making the keyboard good for MIDI (you don't lose too much quality in the performance mode, putting the same effects for every sound). But, the keyboard is very expandable, and there are very good expansion boards in the market.

I bought mine because of the sounds. The keyboard is veeeeery versatile, and you can play many styles with this baby. I don't think of any style it will be bad for. The ac. guitar of the "Session" is very good, one of favorites sounds. I don't like the ac. pianos, they are not realistic and have a "metalic" sound, but for some styles (country, rock) it is good. Eletric pianos are good, specially the A-009, MIDIed Grand and the a-030, but there are only a few. Basses are very good (the techno board have some great for eletronic music), brasses are very realistic and versatile; you can copy almost everything made for the real brasses. Strings are very good and you have a great variety, thanks for the "Orchestral" board. Drums are good, but I hate the fact you can only use ONE in the performance/MIDI mode. This REALLY sucks. PAds are beautiful; they don't have the FAT of a VA or an ANalog, but you have many kinds of them; there's a big variety. The two kinds of sounds I think just HORRIBLE: GUITARS AND ORGANS. The sounds are very bad. If you want quality in this two kinds of sounds, buy a KORG. The others kinds of sounds are very good. The reaction to velocity and aftertouch are very good, I just hate the Lighted keys.

No problems. Roland are very good at this. I just think the keyboard would crash in a eventual fall.

No problems, never needed anyway...

If it were lost or stolen I would have to buy another one or a Fanton X. I bought mine new, have for 5 years. I love the keyboard, but I have a Korg (N1) and a Alesis QS plus piano to complete my setup. I love the great variety and quantity of sounds, and hate the keyboard action (but I like the piano-keys, so...). I use my XP-30 together with a MC-50mkII, and it is the perfect keyboard for MIDI. I play some sequences in the XP and plays together with my N1 Korg and QuadraSynth plus piano, and I think I have everything I need. Just wanted a VA and a Hammond simulator...=)

I am into classical and jazz. I own a few other synths.

Pay $400 for it used. More if it comes with expansion cards installed.
This is a old and somewhat basic instrument comapred to todays standard.
Easy to use once the patches are set to the way you like them.
Setting the patch on a little tiny screen without a alpha numeric keyboard and mouse is of course VERY difficult. Otherwise following the logic of the menus is not terribly difficult.
I highly recommend a patch library software for manipulating and storing custom patches. Hook it up to the PC only when modifying the patches then the XP can be liberated from the what I feel is a cumbersome laptop or PC.
The keyboard itself has a fair amount of sliders and such.
It isnt a Roland A90 with tons of bottons and sliders. And those huge monsters will no longer be made considering most people use PCs now and it is very expensive to make controllers like the A90. Besides how many people need 4 pedas and a MIDI wind instrument port.I give it a 10 because for a sample synth it has a lot of adjustable parameters. It isnt a Kuzweil with a ton of programable stuff. But then I think only professionals with strick demands need to tweak a sound that much.

Basic stuff.
The lists are all over the reviews from previous writers.
For today's standard it lacks USB, sample RAM, and digital output.
I believe it uses the old 8 meg ROMs.
Which is not bad at all.
I cannt tell the difference between this and the 64 meg ROMs of today.

I give it a 10 because it was good for its time.
And it is great for the price it can be purchased for now.

Great.
It is amazing how great these little 8 meg ROMS sound.
Nothing can beat the ease and packaging of sound ROMs.
CDs are nice but not as convenient.
These units can be used in live concerts or studios.
With the proper expansion board installed and a little tweeking this unit is very versatile.
I give it a 10 because of the sheer quantity of sounds and those few that may be useful to the individual is of good quality.

Its a Roland.
10.

I have no idea.

I got this unit loaded.
Brand new, with the original box.
This is a bargain.
Only if the the XP-30 came with a digital out !!!!!
It would be great, we wouldnt have to use the on board DA converter.
The keyboard touch is tight, which is what I prefer.
The sound is fat, which I prefer.
The unit is solid.
The feel of the keys and sound is a preference, most muscians prefer the feel and sound of what they are used to.
This unit can be tweeked to acommadate most muscians.
yeah yeah ... onboard effects is not the most powerful.
but this unit's effects does the job.
I have a nice external effects module for live performances or I can simply add effects via software.
For the price, this is the best unit one can buy if one's need is not specialized.
Some keyboards become classics in their field.
Kurzweil for they VAST programming. The A90 as a controller keyboard. The Triton for its versatility. The XP-30 probably will never be remembered for any particular feature but it is one powerful unit for the price.

This unit is rather easy to use out of the box but you really need to consult the manual for some parameters. I've read people complain about the manual and I agree that it isn't the most user-friendly nor well translated one around. However, I've found it quite adequate as quick reference so no complaints there. This was my first Roland unit and I really had no difficulties editing the patches. It tends to get a bit tedious with 2x40 screen and plenty of menus to go through. The bundled software (Sounddiver) is ok but I've never really fancied using it much. Good for storing patches, however.

Poly 64, 16 part multitimbral, velocity and channel aftertouch. Pretty good for a synth in this price range. The keys feel very solid and are extremely responsive. Effects are generally ok for the price with chorus being especially good, imo. No Sequencer, sampler or any other fancy stuff. On the other hand, why not just have a dedicated unit for them. At least I don't want to pay for the stuff I won't be using anyway. Good decision from Roland. 128 User presets won't probably be enough for most of you so you're going to need those fancy 5V sm cards (which are pretty rare at least in Europe as I speak). Luckily you can still sysex them into your computer so it's not _that_ big deal.

XP-30 comes with Session, Orchestral and Techno expansion cards hardwired into the board. At least 2/3 of those are useful for pretty much anybody so I'm not complaining. I've expanded mine with keys of the 60s/70s to round out the selection.

As for the gripes, I'd really have wanted XP-30 to save slider data. The pitch/bend joystick also sucks for modulation since it's basically an on/off -switch. Luckily XP-30 got both sustain and control pedal jacks so it's not a problem (the pedal is handy for controlling rotary effect speed, too). XP-30 got only a single pair of outputs! I'm starting to think this isn't just a way to cut costs. Maybe they're prodding people to invest in their new XV-xxxx series units.

The presets are generally very good even though there are plenty of (in my perspective) useless dance sounds/robo voices/loops.
As far as I'm concerned, Roland has the best instrument patches out of all the "budget" synths. The Orchestral expansion sounds just fabulous even though it's starting to get a tad bit dated. Only brasses seem to be a little weak. Session stereo grands are also rather usable in a mix even though I wouldn't play them solo. Standard electric pianos are so-so but the 60s/70s expansion got some nice Rhodes waveforms. Another patches worthy of note are the acoustic guitars, which sound good and are very usable. Synth stuff, however, is not Roland's forte, imo. There _are_ some good JP8 saws, squares etc but I still had to order Nord Lead 2 for the synth stuff as. In other words, it's possible but don't expect any 'blow my socks off' -sounds from XP-30.

Most patches utilize velocity and aftertouch to a good extent without really going overboard. Effects are also generally adjusted rather carefully even though Roland engineers seemingly tend to go overboard with Reverb and Delay at times. All in all, very good sounds for the price - and you get plenty of them.

XP-30 got a steel cover with plastic ends which _could_ give in if you're unlucky. Other than that, the buttons and keys have taken over two years of beating, coffee baths etc without a failure. The profile is also very slim leaving for few parts to break off. The faders and the pitch/bend stick seem to be the weakest parts as far as I'm concerned. I wouldn't punish them too hard. Other than that, I'd certainly gig with this thing without a backup and have done so, too. Just remember to get a flightcase for this thing as with any other instrument and it won't fail you. Also, the OS is _very_ stable. Haven't crashed on me even once not even when dealing with MIDI.

Haven't had the pleasure to deal with them as of yet. No comment.

If lost or stolen I'd certainly consider getting one used. I might also get XP-80 with the appropriate expansion cards but I certainly consider this synth worth every penny, and more. I compared this synth to Alesis QS6.1 and Korg Triton at the time. I went it XP-30 since it offered most features and sounds for the cash at the time, and still does. Certainly recommended as a beginner synth or if you happen to need some good acoustic/orchestral stuff at a very low price. Even if you happen to outgrow the synth engine you can always use it as a controller. I've been playing for about 15 years or so and this is was my second real synth (I was grown up with piano and had Roland FP-x stage pianos before moving on to synths).

I think this is a very intuitive machine. I've seen some folks complain about patch editing, navigation and the manual but come on, even beginners should understand basic concepts: Filters, Envelopes, LFO's, VCA's, Tones/Waves, Mod sources, etc. If you don't know these things, just get a book, or get on the internet. Every synth does the same things, you just have to understand their individual logic of going about it. The function buttons, palette edit and the little mode matrix above the function buttons all make sense. The category feature for patches is also lovely. My only issue is that this thing is so robust but it's hard to get at all the parameters quickly due to the small display area. The workstations and synths on the market these days crush the xp-30 in this respect, with their huge and richly detailed touch screens. No big deal though because the xp-30 holds its own when one takes into account how long it's been out. The only reason I don't rate it higher in Ease of Use is because I haven't been able to get the MIDI implementation going as seamlessly as I would like. I have to refer to the manual a lot as the nitty-gritty MIDI seems to be buried down in several menu levels.

I'm probably going to get an expansion card soon, the 60's and 70's one. Once I get it, I'll feel even more comfortable with the prime position this machine has in my work. I've had it for 2 years and haven't really exploited its full potential. I think for what I do it's hard to outgrow. As for MIDI capabilities, like I said above it has taken some effort to get it going how I want it but with the aftertouch and the sliders, I'm pretty much satisfied (a few knobs that send MIDI data wouldn't hurt but I'm cool). And like others have said, who needs a sequencer for this type of machine? Not me. I haven't fiddled too much with the effects, other than to take something out that I didn't need. That's easy enough to do. I'm not a live player in any respect so the keyboard action is not a factor for me.

I am not a keyboardist like a lot of you. I don't play out. I don't even have any formal training. I'm a sample based composer/producer working mostly in hip-hop, nu-soul and electronic dance music. I have an Ensoniq ASR-X that I use in conjunction with the XP-30. I do all my sequencing, drums and samples on the ASR. I slave the XP-30 to it and use it as a MIDI controller to play bass lines and melodic parts, send MIDI messages to the ASR filters/LFO's/etc. and flesh out my tunes with all the patches I have available in its ROM. It's a good creative idea starter as I'll get a groove going on the ASR and then jam around while flipping through XP-30 patches until I find something that works with the vibe. In this respect, any preset is fair game. I've dug into some of the more esoteric patches (particularly on the techno card) and often found exactly the right pad, bleep, blip or comping element to complete my track. I usually have to do minimal editing to get it to fit right sonically. I know that if I go deeper into the editing of these "weird" sounds I can come up with my own useful and infinite variations. I've had some success recently with getting just a drum track going on the ASR-X and layering all the rest of the parts from XP-30 presets, without even starting with a sample based groove. It helps to use sounds outside of their intended context. The only thing I'm disappointed with are the electric piano sounds. They're so important to my style in fleshing out basic melody parts but if they sound cheesy they don't inspire ideas. Hopefully getting this 60's/70's card will fix that. The brass and woodwinds aren't that hot either. Every time I'm working on something and get a horn craving, I give the XP a shot but always end up sampling. I'd also ask the sound designers at Roland to really get a clue when it comes to "urban" sounds. They're pretty out of touch with the types of timbres used in todays hip-hop/R&B based styles. Oh, and all the loops are stupid and useless (and corny). I don't use the on-board drum sounds either, too clean and stale. I could use the percussion bits to fill in spaces in my beats, but not as primary elements. My score here is based upon the areas that I find lacking that are important to what I do. If I used orchestral stuff more the score would be different. Maybe I will try those since they're so good.

I don't really take mine out of the house but it feels solid and Roland has a good rep for this sort of thing. Still, I'll decline to post a rating based on my lack of personal experience.

Haven't had to call them yet.

I won this from a big music dealer in a contest but around the time I got it, it was retailing for just under $1K. I was about to purchase either the XP-30 or the QS6.1. If I hadn't lucked up, I was leaning towards the Roland anyway and would have paid the market price. Several years after it's release, buying a used one is a steal now because you get so much for a low price. I recommend them often but in my world (hip-hop and the like) only a few people are XP devotees. We're happy devotees though. The expansion options were probably what had me leaning towards the XP. And just the sheer number of patches. I think I can do much more with this thing than I already am. The easy learning curve might have facilitated laziness. This is my first REAL synth (not counting toy yamaha/casio keyboards) and I don't know if and when I'll need another one. If anything, I'd probably increase my available palette of sounds by going with software like Reason. I don't see myself having an entire room of keyboards and modules though. My XP-30/ASR-X team makes a lot happen on their own. If there were anything I wish it could do, that would be sending MIDI messages from the function buttons. It would really help with jamming as I could solo and mute sequencer tracks from the face of the XP-30. Maybe it can do that already but I haven't found that part in the manual yet. Small complaint.

Not too hard if you read the manual. User interface is logical.

This synth has tons of features. ITs great to have the storage card too however the type of card it uses is an obsolete older type 5v smartmedia card. Regular readily available 3.3v smartmedia will not work at all, so you have to hunt down the 5v cards NOW before they are gone forever. You can still find them on eBay but probably not for too much longer. That is the only place to get them and when they are gone, that's it. the old 5v smartmedia cards have been out of production since 1999. So you might want to get right on it and GET SOME CARDs NOW!!
This board has a lot of features for the price they sell for now, so you really cant go wrong as long with this as long as you can still get some storage cards for it ;-) AND get some ROM expansion boards for it while your at it. Well worth the money!!

Sounds fantastic. With the expansion ROM boards you can really get some variety going. I love the fact that you can add 3 more sound boards. Way cool. The sounds that Roland has are ALL GOOD!

Roland builds solid

they are ok

This keayboard is such a great value that i would give it a 10 but the smartmedia card issue is a problem. They are hard to find anywhere but eBay and that wont last long either probably. Thats too bad cuz that feature is nice, but if you arent able to find a card, well, you are kinda outa luck. My advice is if you own this machine or are contemplating it, GET the 5v CARDS NOW--dont wait or you will be sorry to find them GONE forever!

The round dial helps to adjust a parameter quickly, the Patch Category Selector helps to find your sound quickly, the wide display helps the readability (they left enough space in the edit menus, setup menus, etc.) And about the manual, there's nothing wrong with that. I found it very good, and was able to find what I searched for.

The most useful features on this synth are the presence of so many, many sounds. That is the main reason I bought it. Also, the synthesizer capability is a main reason. I like to have control over sounds, like to adjust them to my needs, and then store them in a user memory. The possibility of connection a pc with the To Host cable is a fantastic function! Many manufacturers seem to be developing this Keyboard-PC interface function, and I would very much encourage their efforts.
The least useful thing would be the Memory Card; if I play live, I make sure I store my sounds in a user memory, and for all other playing situations I use my computer.
There is actually nothing more I can wish for on this synth... It's so complete!

I think the sound has a professional touch with many elements from the JV-1080 and JV-2080 modules. The sound quality is very good. It has a lot of usable sounds that can be used in all sorts of music styles. The sound responds really good when playing. Many sounds are good usable in writing my songs. Because of their large quantity I often use the Patch Category Finder to quickly find a specific sound. Sounds are very well adjustable. It's a synthesizer ! It has a lot of options to adjust sounds that can be achieved by scrolling through the menus. It is a good thing that they have the assignable sliders to immediately adjust a sound while playing live for example, and it is also possible to save your customed sound in a user memory. All these things are so practical. Really a must in today's versatile music instruments.

The product is made of good material, doesn't feel cheap, has a solid look and feel. They have sliders instead of knobs which in my opinion are better because knobs may easily break off while turning them. Rolands always have been very reliable, and are excellent choices for playing live, at home, or in a studio. It seems this baby will surely last a 15 years if properly handled.

I haven't had to deal with Roland's customer support, so no comment about that. I rate them a 6. Not bad, not good.

I expect to be satisfied at least 5 years with it. For now I can discover the many sounds and fiddle with them. It is a great thing that it can be expanded with 2 expansionboards. A thing that will keep it fun for a long time.
It is a fantastic product to own, not only for it's professional look and feel, but mainly for the endless sea of available sounds.

I bought it used without the manual. I used the help documents from Roland's site (which tell you a few basics), but I've managed to figure it out pretty well. So, for a synth with so many features, I'd have to say it has a pretty easy learning curve.

You know what it's got. 64 voice polyphony, semi-weighted keys, arpeggiator. 3 SR JV cards built in and room for 2 more. Tons of effects, tons of sounds, great midi implementation. Need I say more?

No sequencer, but hey, get a computer if you want to write music. I'd never use a sequencer built-in on a synth. That's so primitive.

OK this is where it gets tricky.

First of all, the painos are bad. The JV pianos are just old by now. The session pianos aren't much better. I may have to spring for the piano expansion unless I can layer some clunky pianos with some flat ones to make a decent patch.

The pianos are either too dull or too clunky and sound like toys. Reminds me of the Korg A1 pianos, but I was able to make a great piano patch out of those so lets hope I can do the same.

You know how awesome the orchestral card is, which is the reason I bought this. I use it for classical compositions mainly.

The techno card isn't as worthless as some say. It has some fun sounds. The sessions card has a lot of junk you'll never use. It should have been called "all the stuff we didn't want to throw on another card" board.

The JV sounds are numerous and pretty good. I don't really use many of them, but they still sound nice even by today's standards.

The keyboard plays good too. I just came off of a QS 6.2 which plays like SHIT. Worst keyboard ever in terms of action. I love the keys on this thing. They're semi-weighted, which basically means it feels like a piano...except not =D

Also, I should point out that the piano soudns on the QS 6.2 blow this away. They're some of the better pianos you'll find on a budget synth.

It's a Roland and it's not gonna break on me.

Haven't had to deal with them, so I have no idea!

I wouldn't pay full price for this synth ($1000). I only paid half, and I'm happy with it because of that.

It DOES sound great. The pianos are the only weakness (as in most synths except Yamahas...go figure). However, everything else is fantastic.

Ease of use? Maybe if you've programmed synths all your life! If you are a beginner, stay away! That is unless all you are concerned about is using presets. Go ahead, beginner. Get the manual and see if you can do a simple thing like split the keyboard into three sections with different sounds with different levels. You better allow an entire afternoon or more. ROLAND - YOU SUCK!!!

Polyphony is overstated at 64 voices. Any good sound uses up too many of them. 32 voices is more realistic.

If you can't find a sound you like among 2,000, you are too picky. Only major limitation is the organ sounds. The best one is nowhere near as good as the one on an old DX-7.

So far, reliable. However, make sure your rig is stable. If the keyboard starts to rock or bounce, it does funny things: like change octaves, change sounds, etc.

Middle finger up

If it were stolen, the insurance money would buy me a new Yamaha or Korg. I chose the XP-30 because I had some experience playing a JV-80 a few years back. But the sounds in the XP are nowhere near as deep or full. If you are a casual or on-again - off again user, don;t go near this keyboard. Otherwise, you'll be posting something like this sometime in the future.

Ease of use is not bad for Roland, it's actually one of their better designed units for editing, but not for a beginner. You need to know something about synth editing or you'll probably be lost. The manual, as usual for Roland, is lousy. Everything is in there, but not in any logical way and you really have to search sometimes to find what you're looking for.

There's many other reviews for polyphony, effects, etc. I'll just say it stacks up well in these areas.

The patches are mostly really good, it has a lot of stock sounds that Roland doesn't usually put in their synths because they want you to have to buy expansion boards. The thing I think is weak are the pianos, the only usable one for playing live is the PR A:002 Bright Piano, and I still had to make it brighter to stand out in a live mix. Really though, this synth is great for it's variety of sounds, I'm replacing my Korg DW8000 with it, which I've never been able to do before because I couldn't get the same analog type sounds out of anything else. With some creative editing, the XP30 does the trick. And I don't even have the Vintage Synth card installed yet. (It's coming). The Techno expansion, which comes in it, is just wasted space for me though, I haven't found anything very usable there. There's some cool sounding stuff, but I can't imagine ever using it for anything.

Only had it for two weeks, so don't know about reliability yet, but it seems good. I bought it used, and it actually came with a dent in the case but it works fine. I will use it live without backup and hope for the best. I am having one weird issue it. I have a Roland A70 controller plugged into the XP30 and when I change patches on the A70, it mutes the XP30 and I have to reset it with the panic button. It's a drag for live playing, and I hope I can resolve it. Anyone who has a solution, please e-mail me.

Hven't dealt with Roland on this product, but I have on others with mixed results. Sometimes good, somtimes not.

I think there's more bang for the buck here than anything else out there, especially with the expansion capabilities, Roland really has their act together there. The boards are too expensive and too specialized, but still the best thing available for the money. I think I would get another one of these if lost or stolen.