Roland XP-30

The good things of this board have already extensively written, so I will tell you my opinion. I bought this board to act as a compliment for my Trinity and I F*CKed myself. I owned an Ensoniq MR-61 and it's another monster from the past. Back to the XP30, the ugly things about this sinth are...

1: The sound quality is good, but the dynamic range is very flat. On a mix, the Trinity's total output (even with the internal eq on flat gain) eats all sounds coming from the XP. Sounds are lifeless, no character at all. Your individual sounds will lost their thin vharacter in multimode. The effects should be able to fix this, but...

2: The effects are a real shame. Master chorus don't add spaciousness to your sound, it simply detunes it. Master reverb sounds passable, but it doesn't even touch the reverbs from the Trinity or Ensoniq units. Both master effects have very few parameters and they are 'magic' settings. In example, the 'Time' parameter for the Reverb (which can be turned into tap delay) ranges from 0-127, in unknown units (no clue of how it translates into seconds or milliseconds). Insert effects are somewhat better, but they lack the detailed parameters I've found on other gear's FX (Ensoniq or Korg). CRAP EFFECTS! Maybe I'm used to the Trinity's advanced FX setup (8 insert, 2 masters, variable routing). At least you can mix the XP's insert FX out with the master effects.

3: DRUMS ARE LIFELESS, FLAT, DULLY and... well, to me, useless. They are boring and you can write only 2 of your own kits to memory, unless you've get one of those expensive SmartMedia cards. I've to admit that I expected better drum programming or samples from Roland.
Because the 99% of the kits' samples are mapped to keyboard with low pass filters, they sound darker than most synths I've heard. Modyfing them (changing the filter to peaking or hi-pass) will take you to use the one of the precious RAM locations for user kits. The Trinity has 12. Mi MR-61 had over 70 ROM kits, built on top of over 700 drum samples. The XP, once again, don't touch them. Some techno and jungle kits are better, but not mind-blowing. One really stupid detail is that there are only 2, yes, only 2 GM drum kits, Standard and Brush. Coming from a manufacturer that created the GM standard, it's simply senseless (but the GM bank is pretty good). If the limited drumkit architecture only allows 2 kits per bank, I would be happy with the Analog and Standard GM kits. I didn't buy it to play GM files, but even cheapo Casio keyboards have the 8 kits...

4: Acoustic pianos sucks. Period. I'll stay with that high criticized Trinity piano.

5: The 'Control Pallete' (AKA realtime control sliders) are effective, but they don't display any value on screen. When used as internal Tone controllers, they are useful, but you can't save the tweaks you've made. If you enter the Edit mode, your tweaks don't are translated into altered tone parameters. Krap. The sliders doesn't have a physical center mark, so you won't ever know if you leaved the sound as it was selected. If you try to use them as MIDI controllers... good luck. Use your imagination to figure out what data was transmitted. At least, you can freely assign any CC number (as well as aftertouch or bend) to the damn sliders. I don't know if the sliders found on XP60 or XP80 suffer from that problem (probably not, they're theoretically pro keyboards)

6: Being a hard fan of Vangelis and Jarre, I expected more from the built-in Techno expansion. But I think is a damn wasted space. As other reviewers said, why didn't roland take that 8 megabytes to put a decent piano sound or at least leave the slot free? Anyway, I'm not going to buy any of those expensive SR-JV80 cards. Why buy top waveforms if the internal DAC converters will make them sound flat and dull?

7: Many preset sounds are actually using up to 4 tones per note. In most cases, that's accomplished to buy more fat sounds (which is a consequence of a very basic filter impleme

my xp-30 is very good.I like it very much.The pre set sounds great except piano sounds.For me I'm a pianist I don't like acoustic piano sound so much.It's kind like a lay back sound compare to my kurzweil
micro piano.So when I play I use piano sounds from kurzweil and other
sounda from xp-30.

Everythings are great.It's very easy to use.I'm a professional musician
in Thailand.I've played many many keyboard (LIVE),and this one is the best to use.

As I said the piano sounds are not my tased.May be other pianist'll agree with me ha ha ha .......It sound unlike real grand piano.Or may be I've to buy a piano card?

No problem man!!!!!!

I live in Chiang Mai, It's quite far from Bangkok.So it's very hard to contact a dealer.

The xp-30 is just great!Thanks to the god.

I bough this thing new for about $800-900.I've been keeping an eye for an used one, but by the time I wanted to buy it,it's already sold. not my luck, I guess.I don't know about the software,but I bought it about 2 months or so, then I guess it's the newer version. the preset sounds great to me. for about 1500 patches available definitely more than enough, well, this is one of the reason I bought this thing anyway. I'm not really a keyboard player, as I guitar for the past 6 years and just learning to play piano for about a year. so I know nothing about programming the patches. I've only been messing around with the preset only,even with that I still discovering new sound that I like (well,1500 patches....hmm) I'm just beginning to explore the editing and stuff recently with the manual, and for me it's fairly easy to navigate trough the menus. the manual itself is adequate. I've read reviews about how bad the translation is, but for me, well I came from Indonesia, and with a 'not so good english' , so I guess that's not a problem too. :)

The polyphony is 64, and really want to know how people can run out of them, maybe some day I will too, but for now it's more than enough. haven't use it for sequencing yet, for live only at the moment. the keys have velocity and aftertouch. It's the first experience with aftertouch,and my,my, what a wonderful thing it is. I don't know about the other keyboards though, maybe all of them made that way, but this one, not only it reacts to pressure, you can also wiggle the keys to get a reaction!! some preset only though, not all of them. It has about 40 effects, but you can't use two or more at a time, that' not a good thing.but the reverb and chorus are independent. expansions? well, it can hold two more of that expansion boards, but for me it can mean more sound to deal with, and I'm already overwhelmed here!!! hehehe, just kidding. seriously, i'm thinking of adding the world expansion board, or the asian board to it, when I can find one cheap, of course. there's a slot for more user memory if you feel like the internal user wasn't enough. I haven't really use the MIDI capabilities, but I've read reviews that among the other XP's this one has the best MIDI capabilities. I'm looking forward to proof that. No on board sequencer, but I own a computer,so I don't really need one. besides, It cuts down the price, or else I couldn't buy this thing. maybe later I'll look for an used external sequencer if I need to play in a gig. It has an updown lever, but no modulation!! it's not fair!! the other XP has one, why can't this one has it too??!!well, i'll just have to rely on that awesome aftertouch then...

Like I said, the patches are a lot, and surprisingly, most off them are great. The sounds that i love are the pads(oohh... so niiiceee...), the strings, the horns and solo trumpets, and (don't kill me for this...)the acoustic guitars!!! unless you want to make guitar strumming,which, with all my respect to keyboard players, are impossible to fake (better play the original thing, besides, who can't learn to strum a guitar?) the guitar sounds are realistic!,well not all of them though,some are cheesy as hell. as for the pianos, well I owned a real one downstairs, so I think the presets are good enough. my favorite piano patch is the compress piano, it has a nice 'old record' feel when you hold the notes. the techno, well, I like the aggresive synth sound there, but I really haven't found the need to use it yet. The basses are good, some of them not fat enough. the rhytm are good too, but for my taste, there's not a single snare sound satisfying to me. overall, this synth is an all arounder with more ambient and more of a new music style in it. for a guy who seems to like something from any kind of music, this is the ticket. on board sound is adequate. the reverb and delays are top, but the distorsion lack that analog feel. just not my taste.

To my knowledge, roland products are built like a tank and are made to be abused. and judging by the what it's made of (really guys, don't fight anymore, let me tell you the truth,IT'S MADE FROM METAL!!except for the sides)

I never had any problems with it, nor that I'm looking forward for it.

For me,being the first synth I ever had, It's a dream!! worth every cent. This thing is the best buy. This thing has the same sound generating capability as the other XP,including the XP80,plus this one is newer,has two expansion boards, and better interface with the computer. I don't play keyboard very well, and usually I play on the middle, so I don't really need XP80's 76 keys. Compared to the N5eX, the closest competitor from korg, XP30 has more sound, expandable, and easier to use. compared to the X5D,well,this one don't have an aftertouch, that alone makes the XP30 a winner to me. IMHO this thing has it all,and more. the best in its class, the best among the XP's,THE BEST,PERIOD.

It took a few weeks to get the hang of the interface, but I'm expecting to be able to . Once gripe: I wish I could specify key ranges using the keys themselves! I do feel that the keyboard can do a lot more than I have the time/patience to set up on it.

It's my first keyboard, but it feels very nice. I compared it to the Yamaha. You've probably heard about the 2 extra expansion ports. It will be a long time before I actually need them, but if I did I would add the piano expansion.

There's just a HUGE number of onboard sounds out of the box, both acoustic instruments and electronic stuff. I've found great bass and a variety of good organs. The keys are quite responsive, the aftertouch is funky.

This keyboard is sturdy. I've gone places with it twice a week all winter and it comes right up. The construction and controls just feel sturdy too. The only thing that could be improved is the sliders and pitch shifter. But I haven't actually had problems with these. They just feel less robust.

Never needed customer support.

This keyboard is my first -- but has turned out to be versatile and fun. If you're looking for a keyboard to do a mix of acoustic and electronic stuff, this handles quite well. It's well worth the money.

Roland definitely has their own distinct style when creating their interface. I've worked with Korg O1/W, X3, and N364's and there was definitely a little reading required to figure out why Roland does thinks like it does. The keyboard has all of its patches seperated into presets A-E, holding about 128 sounds each, plus 150-250 sounds for each of the expansion cards. Then, some of the sounds are doubled in the user area, where owners can overwrite the patches with their favorites. If you play live, it is absolutely necessary to move the patches you plan on using in this user area. Trust me, I tried gigging while switching through the preset banks and then jumping to the expansion cards. I was sweating buckets and looked like a fool! Just imagine, every time you want to switch sounds required a bank switch, the entering the patch number (3 digit), then hitting the enter button!! That's a lot of button pressing for a short period of time. HOWEVER, if you take the time to move the patches you plan on using into the user area, you've eliminated half the work - you can spin the dial, use the increase decrease keys, or again, punch the numbers in followed by the enter key.
The manual gets the job done for explaining patches and how they can be manipulated on the keyboard, and Soundiver is a fantastic computer editor if you are so inclined. BUT, if you plan on sequencing using the performance patches, get ready to find some outside help. Funk and Wagnalls couldn't understand this manual in regards to working with MIDI! Seems to be a common consensus.

I've read the complaints about the polyphony, but as I only play live (no sequencing) and have only ten fingers, I haven't run into any problems. Users new to Roland should be aware of the solo button, which while useful with various orchestral sounds, is incorrectly (not necessarily) activated on many sounds. A lot of bass/synth patches for example. The FX are great, although the drums seem to have a flange that doesn't go away even with the effects turned off? Can someone enlighten me? Expansion? Um, yeah, lots of room! I've installed the country card and wow, a great keyboard gets even better. That has got to be the greatest asset of this keyboard - tired of your sounds? Go get some new ones! In regards to MIDI, there is no on-board sequencer, but that is what your computer is for right? The aftertouch needs to be more sensitive, and the modulation bar only works for some patches. I'm sure it is editable, but it was implemented poorly overall. You can't push the bar forward, but rather just lean on it.

The aftertouch needs to be more sensitive, and the modulation bar only works for some patches. I'm sure it is editable, but it was implemented poorly overall. You can't push the bar forward, but rather just lean on it. The sounds all receive high marks from me - they were a breath of fresh air after playing Korg's all my life. The stereo concert piano in a quiet environment could fool lots of people, I guarantee! Nylon acoustic, squealing organs, strings, synths, clavs, and from my country card - fiddles! The techno sounds are good, but they won't be your bread and butter that's for sure. I do have a complaint with the drums though, like I stated previously their appears to be a flange that won't go away. The dynamic range is considerable, and the FX are nice and thick. But there are some negatives.... The output overall appears to be lower than my Korg X3, which is causing some problems while gigging. And, the synth lead pads are not anywhere as thick as the X3. Brass patches also suffer from this. And while the stereo concert piano sounds fantastic, good luck getting it to cut through the mix while gigging. I had to switch to the 64VoicePiano (which is good in its own right) to get the high-mid/treble cut.

Seems to be sturdy - Heavy, yet small - no problem at all fitting this in a SKB case. Backup? Yeah, my Korg X3 sitting on the top rack of my ultimate stand.

They should be shot for their poor explanation of working with performances and including Soundiver without a detailed manual.

I play in a Shania Twain tribute band that does top 40 as well. I have been using two X3's for 4 years, I know my patches, and I know what I need in regards to sound quality and ease of use. the XP-30 has delivered. It fills in the gaps of the X3, while the X3 does the same. Definitely worth the money - in fact that is the main selling point. How are you gonna compete with this many sounds with this level of quality for $1000! And then, it is expandable with cards to suit your style of music. It CAN be used for gigging regardless of what you may read, it just requires a little pre-planning and using the user bank. It was either this board or the JV-1010 module, but why spend that much money when for a little more you get the JV-1010, and a set of keys, plus more sounds and expandability. If you are thinking about this board, here are some things to consider.
- Is it your one and only keyboard, or used with another? I believe it is the perfect partner board. No sequencer, and lacks a little in some sound areas (but fills the gaps of your other boards too!)
- Is expandablity important to you? My country expansion card brought the keyboard to a whole new level.
- Can you deal with a little patch work - not even editing, but just saving to different bank areas on the keyboard? This thing is NOT ready for use live straight out of the box.
- Do you have more money to spend? Of course, there are more expensive boards, but last time I checked, bands are still making the same range of money they made ten-fifteen years ago.

Please feel free to send questions and comments...

It is kind of a pain at first, but after a lot of exploring, you will get the hang of it.

Plenty of polyphony - 64 notes. Everyone bitches- "I don't have enough notes to run my grand sequencer thingy....blah blah...bullshit." I am a keyboard PLAYER, and I don't ever use a sequencer. I only wish it had more knobs and sliders, and I wish the sliders on the front would actually change the patch (you can't save the slider changes.)

Does great strings; the orchestral sounds are great. It is VERY important you run this board in STEREO through two identical, clean amps. It sounds funny, but in my house I use two Peavey Rage 158 guitar amps with 8" speakers, and they sound awesome. The effects are good, and they can make or break the sounds. The touch is great, and the action is fast, great for crazy lines and trills.

Yea, I guess...as long as I take care of it. I have a big ass Grundorf case for it. Damn, I could run that case over with a truck and it would be fine! It doesn't really mess up or anything, so I would use it without a backup, because I don't have any money to get another one!

I have no idea.

I would get this again, because I need the sounds and patches for my music. I play in a sort of progressive rock meets rap-rock 4 peice. We are very keyboard led. I don't know if I would buy another roland keyboard, because my next would be either an analog for lead sounds or something like that, and the jp-8000 is not QUITE what I need. But this is a perfect all around, comprehensive synth...and if anything, this beast inspires your music making. If you have any questions, you can ask me. I may not know the answer, but we can talk about the synth. I think that the best way to learn synths is to pool knowledge of them from all over, from many people. That is how I learned what I know today.

Roland OS's always seems to confuse me a little. Of course their manuals confuse me a lot more. Why can't Roland figure this out????!!!!

64 voice polyphony, great keyboard action, nice effects. 2 Expansion card slots and a smart card (?) slot for holding extra program data.

Here's why we all buy synths. The sounds on this machine range from good to excellent. I absolutely love the Orchestra I card that comes with it. Beautiful warm strings, great brass. I also own the Orchestral II card and prefer the Orch I card for strings. The Session card is beautiful as well. Nice pianos, drums, guitars, basses. Maybe a little heavy on the synth side (Would have liked to see more vocal, guitar, drums, etc.) I don't like the techno card at all. I don't play this type of music so maybe that's why but I can't stand the fact that Roland uses up precious memory on loops. (They did the same with the Bass and drums card which I also own.) Overall this synth has a ton of sounds and offers plenty of bang for your buck. I actually already own an Xp-80 with 3 expansion cards and added the XP-30 to my set up because it offered so many beautiful sounds for such a reasonable price. (OK I could't afford the Triton!)

Never had a problem with Roland gear over the years.

The tech guys at Roland are too busy to really get a good response. I've had moments where they've been very helpful and others when I might as well been talking to a wall. Plus their manuals really really suck. ROLAND FIGURE THIS OUT!!!!!!!! (Hire the dude from Emu)

If I had the $975 and could do it all over again I probably would buy it again. I should have maybe saved up for the triton but when you get approval from the wife to by a new synth you can't sit around!!!! There isn't much else out there with all these sounds for so little money.

I like most of the presets. I use this keyboard mostly for background synth and orchestral sounds. Editing patches is easy (especially if you've ever used a JV, JD or XP before. The manual is fairly easy to understand.

Polyphony is sort-of 64 note... some sounds can use up to 4 voices per note so it drops considerably. The effects are good and easy to use. It accepts 2 srjv boards (to adsd to the 3 that are built in to it).

The ORCHESTRAL sounds and acoustic instruments are very convincing. The electric guitars are OK... most other sounds go from very good to excellent. I use it for ELP - PINK FLOYD style stuff. It has good aftertouch and velocity sensativity.

I use this keyboard to do most of my song-writing (although I use a 76 note controller with it). I use it everywhere, all the time.

Roland support is usually pretty good... if you can ever get through the "PHONE-MAZE" and actually get to the right person.

If it was stolen I'd replace it as-soon-as the insurance check cleared. I've been playing since 1972. I use this synth along with: a JP-8080 which I use in conjunction with an MC-505, an XP-10 (with a PHATBOY), a JD-990 (with a KNOBBY controller), a JX-305, (2) A-33 76 note controllers, and a Yamaha TG-33. I've expanded it with the ORCHESTRAL II & VINTAGE SYNTH boards. In 2 weeks it will be joined by an XV-88 as well. I love to yank this one out of my rig and sit on the couch and play it with the headphones on.

To check the software version turn off the synth.Hold down the CONTROLLER, -OCT, SESSION buttons and turn the power on.To check the XP-30 version Hold Down the SHIFT and the UNDO/COMPARE buttons together. Thanks to David Green - www.Lilchips.com.

The best!

I love it.

It seems good.

A bit strange in Hungary.

Try it out!

Software v: Don't know. I guess they don't have updates for it, so that's irrelevant.

Ease of use : well, since those greedy engineers there think one can save himself with a 2x40 char display screen, ease of use is brought back to zero. You'll have to overcome way to much submenu's to keep it still funny. A lot of parameters can only be found by just testing (LOCAL OFF - uhm, where was that? - 20 menu's later : oh, THERE :)

This is a so-called preset synth. Roland doesn't want you to meddle with the patches (except for the elements on/off/level and cutoff, reso, attack and decay). Decay's a neat word for 'the other half of the envelope'. Sliding the decay will make the difference between a staccato sound and an extremely long release time (hey, I thought it said DECAY, not RELEASE). A patch editor could do miracles, but the e-magic sounddiver supplied with the XP just... Ehm. Well. It lets my computer crash - over and over again. Roland should write something native for this thing.

The manual? Come on! 'R-O-L-A-N-D'. The clearness and ease of use with their synths and their manuals stopped when they started releasing the digital machines. I didn't read it. I'm familiar with the type (sample + synthesis) plus the 4-element build and the rest is just rock-bottom trial and error. Shift keys come in handy too.

Polyphony : 64. But wait, this is a trick. One patch consists of 1 up to 4 elements, and of course, one element needs one polyphony unit. Means if you want fat orchestral layers, you're in deep problems.

Keyboard action : Plastic Roland synth keys. Still durable, they don't seem to break with loads of aftertouch *hah* but not as sturdy as a Juno's keys. No weighted action, but perfect for quick arpy lines and flashy techno chords.

Built in effects : 2 master (rev + chorus) for all the 16 channels and 1 insert for 1 channel. You can share, however, thus causing the insert (for instance, the distortion) to be put on 2 channels if you have 2 e-guitars.

Concerning the insert effects: I had a Korg N5ex before this one. I loved the Rhodes on that thing (XP default Rhodes is BAD :( but there were only 2 master effects. No insert fx. Meaning if you set one on distortion (for a guitar) you'd have only one effect left for the rest. Luckily, the XP does this better. Effects are about 35 types, only for the insert. The reverb and chorus types have some models (hall, room & stuff) and you can tweak a bit with the delay and detune.

The synched delays are TOP. Though my Yamaha W5 can do 'm better - instantly synched and stupid values down to the millisecond, without making a choice between 420 or 440 ms because there wasn't a 430 or 425. I like the multi-taps - the odd things the pitchshifters can do are worth a small applause too. Take the "Pure Tibet" patch. It's just downright weird...

Expansions : Yup. 2 left for me. I'm thinking of getting the 60's expansion somewhere because of the excellent Rhodes sounds there. The vintage synth sounds also interesting, but I encountered it already in rack form (MVS-1) and that was dreadful enough.

MIDI : the 4 sliders pass data fluently. They seem to be assignable, but I'm to lazy to figure that out.

On-board seq : No. Good thing. Everyone uses Cubase/Logic. Why need an onboard? And you'd need a big screen plus more insert effects..

What comes close to it is the arpeggiator. Too bad it has totally no imagination (up + down, no matter what pattern you choose unless it's "note order". Still better than the AN1X arp - because they call something like Up+Down 1 oct, Up+Down 2 oct, Up+Down 3 oct three separate patterns. I mean, that's nonsense. Octave range should be a parameter.

Instead of what I always thought of digital S&S Roland synths, the quality of the instruments is frightening good. The pads aren't that lush and deep like the Korg N5ex's, but they compensate in clarity and a very good use of effects. The humming voices are stunning, strings are very nice, piano's sound plastic (except for the concert grand).

Since the XP-30 has some expansion boards, I may say the Session is an extremely good allrounder, the Orchestral board with its brass is just beautiful and the Techno board is, well. Obsolete would be the right word.

All sounds come from the mid nineties! Basses imitate Snap's "Rhythm is a dancer"! Gabberhouse is not that alive anymore! And for the rest, they should let the Underworld engineers or Aphex Twin go loose with the samples.

After all, the Techno is still applied big times in a JV-1080 or a 2080 - and sounds of that board get used frequently when the virtual analogs don't provide inspiration anymore.

It works good for a lot of types of music, a good allrounder. However, I can't stop seeing it as a JV-1080 keyboard version.

The sliders do the small miracles. When you hook up a traditional digital synth (no RT controllers) to the XP it'll do subtle things with the sound and the texture. I don't use them that frequently on the XP sounds, most of 'm already contain enough modulation.

The XP doesn't have a real OS. It also lacks bugs - unless you count the overrated resonance (speaker destroying) you get with putting that slider to full. That's just insane. They could've done it with 85%/90% of the reso power. That's also safer for your ears.

For the rest - the XP is not that heavy to carry, provides a lot of easy-searchable instruments as well as a complete recall of what patch you had on last time. I took it on a gig and loved the quick build up, plus the decent power supply.

Never dealt with Roland in person, but from what I hear, they're not that great with it. If there'd be something to repair, I think it'd be the keys.

If it were lost or stolen, I think I'd be pissed off. This is a producer synth. Has good sounds, always something neat to fill up with and a bagload of presets. It hasn't dropped in price seriously, but that could also be because of the stream of not-new products Roland's doing. This was a budget synth, and those insane XV things where you pay way too much for zero innovation, double polyphony and other things you don't need are not worth the costs IMHO.

Other gear: W5, MicroQ, Drumstation, ESI 4000. The XP's doing fine with the W5, the controls do mysterious things with the MicroQ (really really weird things - everytime something different) and for the rest the arpeggiator comes in handy for some drum loops.

Love : easy. switch it on and get lost in the presets
Hate : the d(*#&@ submenu's. Also done in a very illogical way.

Comparison : Korg N5ex. Some of the sounds aren't that great on the XP, but they don't sag when you remove the effecs. And it's got resonance instead of a separate insert effect. I switched from the N5ex to the XP because of the better and more techno sounds, plus it was... I don't know exactly. Less dull could be the correct word. Nicer to tweak with.

Wish : more insert effects. Some ROM upgrade, but that'll never happen.

Helps making music. Yup. See, inspiration gets "triggered" by a certain sound. If you have lots of sounds, you'll have a lot of triggers.

Anything else : this is (as said before) a producer synth. If you want make a lot of music and need something digital in your setup, go ahead.