Roland XP-30

Just a follow-up to my Roland XP-30 review.

An XP-30 reviewer (BW) was concerned that I did not actually own this keyboard and thus mistakenly thought that my review was based on a one hour trip to my local music store. To clarify: I auditioned the XP-30 on three different occasions. In total, I probably played and extensively programmed this synthesizer for fifteen hours. After my three auditions, I decided not to buy the XP-30 for the reasons given in my review. (You can read this review a few reviews down.)

With regard to BW's comments:

I was informed by the salesperson that the XP-30 used lower quality components than some of Roland's other JV/XP synthesizers. Upon comparing the XP-30 to a JV-2080 and an XP-60 (using high quality studio monitors), I could hear little difference in sound quality.

As for "munchkinization" in the upper and lower registers - what do I expect from a wave based synth... I expect better sampling quality than used in the XP-30. This means a greater number of multi-samples spread across the full 88 note range of the piano keyboard. Many sounds on the XP-30 can only be used within its 61 note keyboard range (and quite a few within less than this range). In addition, I expect the samples to be of sufficient length and looped such that instruments with decay sustain and fade out naturally. Many samples in the XP-30 have audible looping defects.

Concerning the comments "this guy didn?t bother to find out about the included SoundDiver CD" and "the XP-30 is meant to be used with a PC, as a sequencer and patch editor". I was aware of the included patch editing software. And DW is correct - you do need to use this software. Editing patches using only the XP-30's front panel is incredibly painful. The interface is terrible requiring many redundant keystrokes and shifted button presses. This is my point. You can't just use the XP-30 by itself to easily create sounds (not unless you happen to be a sadomasochist). Thus, I gave the XP-30 very low marks for ease of use. (Hauling a computer around just to edit your synthesizer is not very convenient.)

The XP-30 is not well made and has a decidedly cheap feel about it. DW is incorrect in stating that "only the side panels are plastic". Everything (front panel, side panels) except for the bottom is made of plastic. The bottom made of very thin, tin-like metal that bends quite easily if you apply pressure to it with your fingers.

As per my previous review.

As per my previous review.

As per my previous review.

As per my previous review.

As per my previous review.

For anyone used to Roland synths, especially the JV line, this board is simple to navigate. For those who aren't accustomed to Roland gear, it can be a tad daunting at first, but with the Category buttons, it certainly makes it easier. The presets are generally of a high caliber and a good 80% are more than usable. Editing patches is also very straight forward (I was able to create a custom drum kit in no time at all). The 4 sliders are a great addition, especially when they transmit midi info. Sadly, like most Roland manuals, the xp-30 reads as though it were translated for from Japanese without the benefit of someone who really knew english. Better off just mucking around with the board; you'll get farther faster.

The polyphony is 64 voice but a good deal of the patches do use more than a single tone therefore bringing the max polyphony down. However, I've used the xp-30 almost entirely for some compositions and I've never noticed a drop-out of voices. If anyone knows anything about traditional arranging, you should have no problems. If you want to play massive chords on each channel, then you will encounter difficulties.

The effects are all decent although I'm having a tough time using the one insertion effect in the performance mode when I want to have say a distortion effect for a lead guitar on part 2, but don't want it to affect the other parts. Consulting the manual was just frustrating.

The expansion capabilities include to pcm-board slots located on the underside of the board. I've already sunk the Orchestral 2 board in and it sounds great. 3 expansion boards are already built in to the xp-30 and that accounts for its massive library of sounds.

Although the xp-30 doesn't have a sequencer on board, it's well designed for multitimbral use with a software sequencer (I'm using Cubase VST with it). Including a resident sequencer would have only served to up the price tag.

I've read varying opinions on the sounds. Well, they are Roland sounds which, depending on your preference, is either great or marginal. I for one like the sounds quite a bit. Roland was the first company to include a fortissimo french horn patch so they're tops in my book. I've heard the Triton and, other than it's sampling option, I do not think it, or any other Korg board, holds a candle to the xp30 when it comes to acoustic instruments (except for upright bass which my X5Dr has). It's also nice that some of the patches are monophonic depending on their orientation (it really helps when you want to have a trumpet trill for example). The orchestral expansion sounds contain quite a bit of variety and are great for concert sketches or film scoring. The strings on the orch. 2 board are better mind you but there are the 2 open slots. There are also good pop sounds although I agree that the pianos are tinny sounding (my Yamaha p50m kills it) and I wish they included a Wurlitzer instead of the plethora of Rhodes patches. The organs are quite good as are a great deal of the synth patches.

The keyboard itself is geared for non-keyboard type sounds (ironically). Pads or leads are best suited for this board as you can really dig into them. The keyboard seems a bit too mushy for pianos or things of their ilk. I still use my U-20 for things of that nature.

Roland has always been fairly reliable when it comes to their keyboards. However, I encountered a problem once when I turned on the xp-30 and it just hung on it's opening screen message- it didn't switch to its sounds aeven though I tried prompting it by severa; keystrokes. Weird.

I don't perform live but I would just use this over any other single board for the road.

Roland Canada are fairly decent although I've not had too much dealing with them.

If the xp-30 were lost or stolen, I definitely would buy one again. For a single instrument, it offers a lot. You could compose an entire symphony on the board without having to resort to other gear. Some of the patches aren't perfect, but show me a keyboard that has it all. Fact is, the xp30 gets as close to an all around workstation as you could find save for the lack of sequencer. Since I purchased it, I've used the board for 80% for my compositions. Once you add a couple expansion boards, this thing is almost perfect. The keyboard is generally good for playing most of the on-board patches and, in a pinch, isn't terrible for even the piano-type patches. I wish it had a couple more line out puts for individual mixes but that's not a huge thing. The xp30 makes a superb first keyboard as well as a nice addition to those who have a veritable synth arsenal (like me). It covers almost all of the bases sound-wise and has very few throw-away patches. The 4 sliders make it a great controller and the ability to affect timbre changes in real-time is a wonderful idea. And the price is right too (considering a JV-1080 goes for the same price). Definitely a worth while purchase.

I LOVE this synth. I find the preset sounds usable right out of the box. Editing patches is fairly intutitve as long as you've been down this road before. I think a patch editor would make a HUGE difference, with only two lines of information opposed to what can be done with a graphical interface. I just WISH there was one for the Mac. I have no problem with the manual and like the step by step instructions for various operations.

The polyphony is said to be 64 voices. As with other roland instruments most patches are composed of multiple voices. So, while the 64voice polyphony seem large, if running stand alone in performance mode and Using a computer sequencer, note drops can occur,but are rare. The built in effects are very clean, even if they aren't the easiest to use. The XP-30 has room for 2 more expansion boards. No onboard sequencer (a waste for my setup anyway).

I LOVE the sounds on this deck. I have already used it for dance,darkwave,techno,classical,and ambient. The on board effects sound great they are just hard to program unless you read the manual. The sensitivity of the keys is exactly what you'd expect from roland.

Yes, I would depend on it and as far as gigging goes, I don't play live so it doesn't matter.

Have not needed to deal with the company. I have been playing this synth for a month and had no problems.

If lost or stolen I would purchase again without hesitation. I think this synth is worth more than what I Paid for it.. I've been playing for ten years (self taught). I currently own Alesis QV,QV2,S4; Opcode Studio 128x; Roland D20,CM32L; Akai S2000; Mackie 1404vlz; General Music s3; My PowerMAC running Various softwares. I compared this to several other synths at the same price range and under I just couldn't find a better deal for the money. I like the built in appgtr it alows me to toy around with specific phrases and play lead in real time along with it(performance mode). Hmm a wish list... I would like the patch lists to be included in some sort of txt file or xcel spreadsheet so it would be easily imported to various sequencers. I would also like to have a Graphical based patch/performance editor for the Mac. It would also be cool if the mod lever was metal or a joypad or joystick, it just feels as though I am going to break it. If you are going to do all your sequencing on a computer, I can't recommend a better keyboard for the price range $500-$1500. As far as helping me to make music, I get inspired by certain sounds and there is such a wide selection and some really intresing sounds, I have already started several new songs.

Very easy to switch on and start playing - although I am a professional musician and used to a Korg X3

the polyphony is 64 but so far all the sounds seem to use three or four layers which would trim that back to as little as 16. They sound thin in places without the layers
Midi wise, it has no on board sequencer but relies on an external. About time too, disks are old and dated technology. Finally on the XP30,but not on the XP80,60, someone has had the foresight to put a computer to host port. Korg and Alesis have done this for years now. I like to play GM sequences and the XP30 would have to have one of the worst Gerneral Midi banks I have ever heard. The velocity and attack are poor - the drums sound unbalanced and hard and the midi sequence kind of pushes and pulls its way through a song. The Korg X3 I have is however brilliant in the GM stakes.

Some are great but there is an over abundance of soume sounds and totally lacking in others. I can only find one or two great sounding organ patches so far and I miss the G19 Hammond organ of the X3. It doesn't exist on the XP 30. There is an organ add on board available of course.
Other stuff already covered

Roland generally are very reliable
Yes definitely use it without a backup

The Roland dealers are usually very good to deal with when asked although they made me wait five weeks for the XP 30

No, probably not, I would rather another Korg only I can't afford a Triton, maybe an Alesis Q6.1 next time. Ensoniq are not represented very well in NZ
Roland gear is, I believe overpriced. They are way behind on technology in some aspects.

First of all, I?d like to say that I?m writing this because I feel compelled to give my thoughts about the XP-30, after reading the other guy?s review below. I agree with a lot of things he says, but I also disagree with a lot of things he says.

Let me start off by saying that I?m an XP-30 USER, as in I actually have the XP-30 with me, not someone who went to a music store, tried it once for an hour, and left. I actually waited for almost a year before getting the xp-30 to see if it?s all hype. I found out, as in most stuff in our highly commercialized world today, that there is still a bit of meat inside the hype.

Some things I agree with HIM:

Many repetitive sounds: there r a bit too many orch sounds in there, but it depends. Since I?m more into modern music, I find it too much (most usable though). But for classical and soundtrack composers, it will suit them.

Okay sounds: compared to the other xp?s(xp-60 and up), xp-30 uses a lower DAC converter, therefore a slightly inferior sound quality. But it still uses 44 kHz samp rate, which is still CD quality. The other xp?s use 48 kHz. So unless u?ve got 1,000,000 listeners out there with golden ears which can notice that difference ( and u r too poor to afford $2k and up synths), there is really no other way to go. As for munchkinization in the upper and lower registries, what do u expect from a wave-based synth?

Rhythm loops: limited usefulness, esp. since many cannot be MIDI-synced.

Decay sounds: some patches have decay that trail away, though would be hardly audible in a recording.

Tech support: Non-existent, except for website and dealer.

Some Disagree?s:

Interface: Obviously, this guy didn?t bother to find out about the included SoundDiver CD. Bottom line: the XP-30 is meant to be used with a PC, as a sequencer and patch editor.

Construction: I was also worried about its ?plastic? body, but was relieved as soon as I found out most of it is made of metal. Only the side panels r plastic, same as the trinity. The triton has a completely plastic top body.

Final thoughts?

Not every synth is for everybody, mostly due to $$$. U could wait another 1000 years (year 3000) for the ?BEST SYNTH?, but u?d better hope cryogenic technology develops faster than current synth technology. If you?re filthy rich, go buy a Kurzweil K . If you?re filthy rich but feeling a little scroogy (esp. this xmas season), get the Triton. If you?re someone who actually needs to work for a living (or have not inherented that great fortune from your late Aunt) but looking for a very decent synth, the XP-30 would be excellent. If you?re just looking for something pro and don?t have the bank account to afford it, the QS6?s, N5?s, and PSR?s could be worth a look.

For me, the XP-30 has the best price/performance ratio for synths out there. Next would be the Triton (at double the price). It has great sounds, synth engine, features, customizability, plus a good feeling keyboard. It?s great for compositions and song demos. Sure, I can gripe about the bender, onboard patch editing, and one line output, but considering the price... u can?t go wrong.

I have just returned from auditioning the XP-30 at my local music shop. After auditioning the XP-30 (with cash in hand ready to buy), I did not buy it. I thought my reasons for not purchasing it might provide some contrast to the reviews from owners that I've read here.

O.K., for starters, let me say that the XP-30 is not a bad keyboard. In fact, for what you are paying ($1000 U.S.) it is reasonably priced. This keyboard has thousands of patches (1500 some odd to be more exact). It includes the ROM waveforms from Roland's JV-1080, JV-2080, and Session, Orchestral, and Techno expansion boards. This in-and-of itself makes the keyboard a good deal when you compare what you'd have to pay to get these same sounds when buying one of Roland's other JV/XP synths. (Note, to get the same sounds and in any other JV/XP synth you'd have to buy the three expansion boards that are included in the XP-30. These boards are approximately $300 each so it would cost another thousand dollars.)

But now we come to the crux of the matter. The sounds. Are they any good? Well, in a word, yes. Yes, they are O.K. But only O.K. Many of the samples can only be played within the 61 note keyboard range. (Transpose the XP-30 up or down an octave and play on either end of the keyboard and you'll see what I mean. The sounds become un-usably tiny or flat and muddy with no attack.) There is a large number of waveforms, but the samples are relatively short. Because of this, in some cases you can hear the sample loops. (i.e. the sounds go "flat" when they are sustained for any period of time.)

Here I'll answer a question I've seen in various discussion groups. "What is the best piano sample on the JV/XP synthesizers?" The answer is "none". The pianos are awful. The best one is the piano from the Session board. Still, even on the session "Stereo Grand", the samples are short and a little tiny, with an audible "flatness" when any notes are held. (This makes sense of course. The waveform ROMs are only eight megabytes and the whole ROM is not used for just the piano. A good 16 bit, 44.1KHz, stereo piano sample takes anywhere from 12 to 24 Mb.)

There is a large number and variety of sounds in the presets. This is the XP-30's main strength. Almost every possible sound you could ever want is represented in the presets. I don't want people to get the wrong idea. Many of the presets are very good. Extremely rich and warm. You can use the XP-30 right out-of-the box and never have to program it. This is really where I think its strength lies. For players that just want a lot of sounds with "reasonable" quality (i.e. they do not want to program original sounds), the XP-30 is an incredible instrument.

This leads in to my second concern with the XP-30, the interface. The interface is terrible. A two line display is simply not enough to probe the innards of the synthesizer engine in this instrument. In addition, many editing functions are contained on shifted buttons. For example, to turn an oscillator off you have to leave edit mode by "un-shifting" the tone editing buttons, press the tone edit button (which now represents an oscillator switch) of the oscillator you want to turn off, press another button to "re-shift" the tone edit buttons, press the tone edit button (which now represents an edit function) of the envelope you were originally adjusting, and cursor over (more button presses) to the parameter where you left off. Yuck! After spending an hour experimenting I gave up. The interface was just too cumbersome to allow for easy sound creation. This is a shame because the XP-30 has the same powerful synthesizer engine contained in the JV-1080. All the cool features are here (structures, the booster, the ring modulator, cross modulation, etc.). The XP-30 is an incredibly powerful synthesizer, not just a sample player. Unfortunately, its

The XP-30 basically has everything (and more) that you could hope for in a synthesizer in its price range. It's polyphony is 64 voices, but this is misleading. Because each oscillator (tone) in a patch uses one voice of polyphony (and patches can use from one to four oscillators), the typical polyphony available is 21 voices. I arrive at this conclusion because to do anything interesting on the XP-30, a patch typically uses three oscillators. For patches that use all four oscillators, and many do, the polyphony is only 16 voices. Thus I don't really think the XP-30 is a great multitimbral box for sequencing. Nor do I think that any of the JV/XP synthesizers are great stand-alone boxes for sequencing. Try using two four-oscillator patches together and you'll soon run out of voices. (Yes, you can strip patches down by removing oscillators or using patches with fewer oscillators, but now you are losing the rich sound of the XP-30 which is presumably the reason you wanted to sequence with it in the first place.)

Another problem affecting multitimbral use. The XP-30 has only three effects processors: one reverb, one chorus, and one multi-effect. These, in many cases, are used as integral components of a patch. When you switch into Performance mode (the XP-30's multitimbral mode) you still only have three effects processors. Thus, your patches lose their effects.

I have owned other Roland JV/XP gear and personally never used the synthesizers in multitimbral mode because of their limited polyphony and effects. What I did do was lay down a track (to digital "tape") using a patch in single mode. Switch to another track. Lay down another part with a single patch. You get the idea. I don't think recording an entire musical idea to MIDI and trying to play it back on just the XP-30 is realistic (at least not if your musical ideas are of any complexity).

There are two addition expansion slots in the XP-30 that accept cards from Roland's SL-JV80-nn waveform library. With the three waveform libraries already built into the XP-30, and the two additional slots, you have more sounds and expandability than most people would ever need. If there is any problem with this, it is that there are already too many sounds in the XP-30. I found it a bit daunting scrolling through patch, after patch, after patch, after patch when I only really need 20 to 30 sounds for everything I do. (Just how many string, piano, synth, and orchestral sounds does a person need!) I remember this same feeling when I first used a fully expanded Kurzweil. The extra sounds actually took my focus away from what I was trying to do which was to create music. That said, you can probably copy the 30 sounds that you use all the time into the first user bank of the XP-30 and then forget about the rest of the sound banks.

The sounds from the internal (JV 1080/2080) ROMs are extremely versatile. So are the sounds from the Session and Orchestral ROMs. To sum up the Session and Orchestral ROMs: there is a good selection of piano, synth, string, woodwind, horn, and other special effects sounds. There are even a few accordion samples (albeit, they are not very good). The Techno ROM is one hundred percent useless. Ninety percent of the sounds from the Techno ROM could be achieved using waveforms from the internal ROM. The other ten percent are sounds that are really so specialized you might use them once in a lifetime, if that. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing electronic music. People who write electronic music tend to be pretty intelligent folks who are "very up" on their gear. (i.e. they know how to program it.) There is a myriad of saw tooth, sine, pulse, noise, and special effect waves already in the XP-30 internal ROM. These are perfectly suited for creating ambient and techno sounds. So the Techno ROM is wasted space. But, two out of three ain't bad. Especially when you didn't pay for the three to start off with

Hmmm. I think I've pretty much covered this already. The sounds I liked: synthesizer pads, strings, cello, flute, bassoon, choir. The sounds I didn't like: piano. The sounds I thought were useless: sampled orchestra hits, rhythmic drum loops (these chew up memory in the waveform ROM very quickly - to bad Roland didn't use this extra wave memory to create better piano samples). Some of the orchestral sounds are too short and you can hear their sample loops. In other orchestral sounds (fugal horn for example), the attack portion of the sound is truncated. (This is true of some of the other orchestral sounds too. In general the orchestral sounds are useable, but not great.)

I didn't spend a lot of time playing around with the effects processors. What I can say is this: the reverb sounded very good, even at long reverberation times. There was no noticeable "breathing" the way there is in many cheap effects processors.

What kind of music can the XP-30 be used for? Anything. The XP-30 is an all-around general purpose synthesizer.

What was the velocity and keyboard response like? It seemed to me that the velocity response curve on many of the patches was exponential. Playing softly yielded a very soft sound, but playing just a little harder caused the sound to become extremely loud "all of a sudden". I could not tell if this was simply the way the patches are programmed or if this was the physical keyboard itself. For my preference (if I had bought the XP-30), I would be looking to try and program a more even response to keyboard velocity.

In general, the sounds of the XP-30 are good, but not great. I agree with the salesman at the store where I tested the XP-30: "you do get what you pay for". In the JV/XP synthesizers Roland has elected to give the user a great variety of sounds at the expense of the quality of each individual sound. What I'm really saying here is "would you rather have hundreds of good sounds or ten really great sounds?". If your answer is "yes" to the previous question, then the XP-30 is for you. The quality of the sounds in the XP-30 is mixed. Therefore I give the XP-30 a 5 in this category.

I can't say for the XP-30, but... In general, I have found Roland equipment to be extremely reliable. It is some of the most reliable equipment in the business.

As for construction... This was one area where I was a little disappointed. Yes, the XP-30 is only a thousand dollars, but a thousand dollars *is* a thousand dollars. The XP-30 is constructed of plastic. (The bottom is metal, but the top and sides are plastic.) And the "big" buttons that everyone seems to like also feel very plastic and light. In addition, all the jacks on the back panel look as though they are soldered directly to the PC board (as they are on most Roland gear). In other words, don't trip on a patch cable or you'll crack the PC board.

I would gig with this keyboard, but I would be very careful with it. I don't think it would handle much of a bump very well. My guess is that the XP-30 is very reliable if treated well. It would have got an 8, but because of the plastic case it gets a 5.

For customer support, forget Roland U.S.A. They have been awful every time I have contacted them. "Customer? You're a customer? How dare you waste our time!" Roland Canada is a different story. (And I'm not saying this just because I am a Canadian.) I have found Roland Canada extremely helpful. People call you back when they say they will. Their service technicians have helped me debug problems over the phone. Their sales people have helped me track down hard-to-find, out-of-production items. Roland Canada gets the thumbs up as far as I am concerned. So if you need support, don't call Roland U.S.A., call Roland Canada!

Another plus for Roland is that they have been in business for a long time. And it looks as though they are in no near sign of going out of business (something that you *do* have to be concerned about with keyboard vendors). Roland also has support and their own service centers all over the world. This is yet another plus. I found out how important support is when I bought a Yamaha P200. I almost bought the Kawai MP 9000 instead, but Kawai had no local support. Soon after I bought the Yamaha, I did have a small problem with it. (For those of you that don't know what a P200 is, it is a digital piano that weights mucho pounds!) Yamaha sent someone to my house to fix it. No kidding! They gave me absolutely superb customer support. Kawai could not have provided this kind of support.

For customer support (despite Roland U.S.A.) Roland gets an 8.

If it were lost or stolen, would I buy it again? No. I didn't buy it to begin with! I was prepared to buy the XP-30. But after letting the hype die down, auditioning it, and letting my sensibilities kick in, I think there are better ways I can spend my musical money.

The XP-30 does have a lot of sounds. More than any synthesizer in its price range. Heck... More than any synthesizer (out-of-the-box) in twice its price range! If this is what you want, then I'd say the XP-30 is a deal. I'd give it a 10. But if you are as concerned with the quality of the sounds, ease of programming, and the quality of construction (which I am), I'd give the XP-30 a 5. Thus, 5 is my overall rating for the XP-30.

I tried to compare the XP-30 with other products. Really, in its price range, there is nothing to compare it with. It is good value for the money. The real question is, "is this enough quality or should you save a little more money and buy an instrument of higher quality?". The answer to this question (of course) depends on the buyer. For me, the answer was "save my money". (Because like I said before, how many synth, string, and oboe sounds can one person really use anyway? I'd rather have fewer and higher quality sounds, and a higher quality interface.)

I suppose I should add a little background to give my comments some legitimacy. I've been playing different kinds music (Jazz, Blues, Afro-Cuban, Pop, Celtic, Folk, Bluegrass, and Country & Western) for twenty years. My experience with synthesizers dates back from analog keyboards (like the Profit 5, Profit T8, Yamaha CS-80, Oberheim 4 voice, Oberheim Xpander, Rhodes Chroma), to FM stuff (like the DX-7), to early samplers (CMI Fairlite, Emulator I, II, and III, various Akai and Ensonique models), to modern-day keyboards (Korg Z1, Korg Triton, Kurzweil K2500, digital pianos, Clavia Nord Lead II). I've owned most of these and played many others. And I've been through everything from pitch instability, to the advent of touch sensitivity, to good, bad, and impossible single-slider user interfaces, to buggy internal software (most notably Yamaha's horribly buggy EX series - I love Yamaha stuff, but they sure pulled a blooper when they released the EX).

So I guess I'll leave my review here and sum up with this... These days, it takes a lot more than a few hundred samples and some filter sweeps to impress me. Most important, whether I am playing in the studio or playing live, is that a keyboard allow me to translate my musical ideas from vision to reality with as much expression and as little impedance as possible. For this, Korg's Trinity and Triton series gets my highest marks. These keyboards are not the most flexible sample players/samplers available. And they do not have as many sounds as Roland keyboards. But the Trinity/Triton provide superb sounds (again, except for the piano), powerful and flexible synthesis, and a touch-screen interface that nobody seems to be able to beat - both a joy to play and to program.

I bought this synth because I knew the presets were excellent. I want to make music not program sounds. For most tweaking I can use the pallette controls. As a veteran of Roland JV/XP synths I find the user interface is very straightforward. The programming I do is for setting up Performances for multitimbral sequencing. I've only had to crack the manual once but I haven't been fond of Roland manuals in the past and this one doesn't look much better. The included Sound Diver program can make it easier for a newbie to grasp the JV/XP architecture.

Polyphony is 64 but this can be reduced drastically by using patches with multiple tones. I love the way the patch EFX settings can follow the patch into performance mode on one channel. That way I can run a multitimbral sequence and easily audition patches w/EFX. The XP-30 has space for 2 SRJV expansion boards and a memory card if you feel the need for more then the gazillion patches it starts with. I'm subtracting 2 for mod/pitch stick. The throw in the Y axis is pathetic. Everything else I love.

IMHO Roland XP/JV series has the best overall sounds of any PCM type synths except for maybe Kurzweil. And this was $1K not $4K. For the most part the sounds still stand up when you turn the FX off unlike many other synths. If your primary app is sequencing with a computer then don't go out and buy another PCM machine until you hear this one. I could have got this and another JV2080 for what I paid for my Triton and been more satisfied.

I've had a half dozen pieces of Roland gear over the years and I have not had a problem ever.

Never had a need for support. N/A

I would probably have preferred an XP-60 but then I would have paid more for a sequencer I didn't need and I would have to ante up for the Session, Orchestral, and Techno boards - all for a decent joystick. But what I REALLY want is for Roland to put a keybord on a JV2080 or put more EFX in the XP series. This board sets the standard for value. I've take many side trips but have always come back to Roland.

The board hasnt even been out for 6 months yet, so there isnt any OS updtaes...i dont even see a need to update it..

I've either owned or extensively used every synth in the Legendary XP/JV lineup..so i basically know all the presets by heart..most are so-so, but with the Xp30 you get the session, orchestral, and techno already built in...very sweet..i've previously owned the techno board, so i knew what i was in for in that one, so the orchestral and session boards would be new territory for me. the Session sounds great, Roland told the truth when they said they put quality into this expansion..check the out "9 ft. Grand" patches..i love em to death, very realistic sounding to me!..for the orchestral..yeah, its decent, but hell, i make Dance-oriented music, so unless im making a n ambient track, i wont pull strings out for anything...

Editing patches for me is a snap..i been doin it ever since i got a Jv1080 a while back.i can program Xp/JV's in my sleep..it does come with a sound-diver editing CD rom..but mines kinda funky..it thinks that my Xp30 is a JV1010...hmmph...

Manual actually wasnt that bad this time around, i actually got my head around it quickly.. yay!.

There are 64 voices of polyphony, but each sound can be made up of 4 "tones"..think of it as 4 Oscillators.each oscillator uses up 1 voice of poly. Keyboard action is nice and semi-weighted....fun to play

There is an EFX processor inside with 40 EFX, and pretty nice ones too.. i like em and use em frequently..delay is pretty nice

expansions...yes...probably the most expandable lineup ever in synthesizer history..in the case of the XP30, 2 more expansion cards can be inserted, D + E....a Vintage Synth card currently occupies space "D"...theres also a smartmedia storage slot on the back, in case your a programming hound and happen to outgrow the 128 user patch/performance memory internally

Keys respond to Velocity + Aftertouch, and VERY nicely i might add.Theres an Arpeggiator on-board, but most of the styles suck anyway..oh well, back to step programming in the sequencer for that one..

One of my faves about this synth is the realtime control capabilities..it has 4 sliders for filter and envelope, tone control and midi controller...the filter actually sounds quite nice...kinda like my Jp8000 did...

Also has big luminous buttons for jamming or programming in the dark, if that applies to you somehow...

No on board sequencer, but if you connect to any sequencer, the power of this synth is VERY apparent

The Realistic sounds are pretty realistic...best steel guitar ive heard is on the XP/JV stuff, also has some nice stereo grand samples...for Analogue-emulation its also great as well...like i said, i have a Vintage synth card in there too, so even better for me..i have WAY more sounds than i'll ever need, and theyre all great too...Hell, this board works for any music genre guarenteed..if it doesnt, then the user must be mentally insufficient..Considering the Xp30 is the heart of my setup, it better react to my playing, which it successfuly does. Like i said before..both Velo. and A.T

its VERY sleek, its METAL..and id definatly gig w/o backup..as a matter of fact, i always gig my XP/V stuff w/o backup..

If it were lost or stolen id definatly buy ALLLL over again..id beat the hell outta the person who stole it if i ever found that bastard too..I been playin piano for quite some time, and i been programmin synths ever since i was 13/14 years old..i used to have a ton of gear floatin around, but i downsized..ive got my trusty Vintage expanded XP30, and an An1x for those REALLY convincing analogue sounds...all sequenced into an MC50...I love everythin about this synth, except for the ARP...its got the basic 1/4 1/6 1/8 1/12 1/16 1/32 up/down/updown/random stuff...but the other patterns suck!! mambo patterns? Bossa Nova Patterns?? what the hell?? i hope they write another OS that adds cooler ARP patterns..is that possible?? I had no need to compare..for under $1000 where do you get almost 2700 sounds and like 12 drumkits? thats right...nowhere else..Since this my main piece of gear, it definatly helps me make music..

The sequencing software that I am using is Master Tracks Pro. The presets sound wonderful and I couldn't be happier with the sound banks. The XP-30 has the Orchestral, Techno and Sessions Cards already installed. In addition, I have the World Card installed. the only problem that I have is "ease of use" and the manual which is unbelievable BAD, BAD, BAD, BAD! Who do they have write these things, accordion players in mental institutions? Absolutely NOTHING makes sense in this manual. They might pull a term out of mid-air and you check the reference section, and the term isn't even there! Whoever wrote the manual presumes that users already know and understand the instrument. The XP-30 does not have an on-board sequencer and my guess is that the majority of users would NOT be able to figure out how to sequence by using the manual! With the Proteus for example, one simply assigns the patch that they want to a track on both the proteus and the computer. With the XP-30, it is necessary to get into a "performance," and somehow assign patches to tracks and channels within the performance. I would really appreciate it if someone would give me a simple set of instructions, 1....2....3......4.... steps to set up a multitimbral operation.

64 voices polyphony. I like the keyboard action, but I grew up playing an accordion...... It plays like an accordion. Does that help or scare you away? It is nice and soft and mushy. It definitely does not have a piano action, but the keys are pressure sensitive. There is no on board sequencer. As stated before, the manual SUCKS and it is not a very intuitive instrument.

I love the patches and the additional cards. There is an exceptional assorment of sound banks. I'm into space and ambient music and could care less if I have realistic sounds. I don't think that the strings compare to those in the Proteus, but they're OK. I was disappointed in the depth of the French Horns, Trombones, etc. It has good velocity and aftertouch. Too bad the manual SUCKS! OOPs! I've said that before!

I've only had it a couple of weeks, but it appears to be reliable. If only I could have someone interpret the manual, I'd be a happy camper.
Also, a video manual exists for the XP60 and 80, but there is no video training manual for the XP-30, because it does not have an onboard sequencer

I spent almost an hour with customer support, only to learn that I need to be in a Performance in order to do multi-timbral things. The person with whom I spoke couldn't translate things into "blond," and had difficulty breaking things down into Step 1, 2, etc.

If it were lost or stolen, I would by a KORG Trinity or Triton or Proteus 2000 or ANYTHING else! Why? The sounds are great, but if I can't figure out how to sequence with it, I think it is TOTALLY WORTHLESS! I would buy something with easier to understand documentation and a more intuitive interface similar to a Korg or a Proteus!

I've had my XP-30 for a month now. I took 3 weeks vacation and virtually dedicated this time to go beyond the "surface" of this amazing machine. For ease of use I found nothing comes easy unless you take stabs at the various settings WITHOUT THE MANUAL. That way you find out what you need to know before going into such a sophisticated piece of gear. Once comfortable with the instrument, I found navigating fairly easy. Presets sound excellent (but I expected this from Roland) after being quite surprised with the sounds even on my now traded in XP-10. Patch editing does become a bit easier with the OEM supplied E'Magic's SoundDiver v. 2.06 (the most current) software. I did have trouble with loading SoundDiver at first. It did not like Creative Labs drivers that were set up for the standard AWE64 card. SoundDiver would not boot up due to some of Creative's drivers "blocking" it, so I disabled most of the MIDI drivers that Creative Labs sets up save the AWE64 Wave Table Synthesis driver and all works fine now. (If you have an AWE64 card you can't delete the drivers or you will lose all of them!) You just have to disable them. Patch editing with SoundDiver is quite easy once you get the hang of it and you can copy and pastes performances from one spot to another quite easily. As far as the manual goes...typical Roland (or is it typical Japanese to English translation problems) it is great in some areas poor in others. How about the XP-30 video Roland?

Polyphony of 64 voices and in my use, have not heard any signs of notes dropping...but I'm working on it. Keyboard action is semi-weighted and feels very comfortable. Insertion effects number 40 and I've used the foot controller to trigger Rotary on some of the organs. Sliders 1-4 can be programmed for controllers and work in real time in MIDI sequencing. (Nice!) Easy to set up splilts and having the ability to assign a pedal hold on either side of the split or both!
Unit will handle up to two expansion boards. I installed one already and it took all of 2 minutes. No problems. Purchased a 4 Mb Smart Media Card ....wow $125.00 CDN from Roland agent. What a rip-off. These cards are manufactured generically by Toshiba and I would recommend going out to a discount camera store and see if you can get them any cheaper. But 4 megs on board is plenty to "back-up" your system and store many more performances. When you back up to the Smart Media card, you back up the entire synth each time and either overwrite a file or create a new one. Great for keeping a gigging set on board and when you get home you can load on your "Home" setup (s).
There is no on-board sequencer but this is why I bought it. I use my PC to do this stuff.

Pianos are great. I have the Roland RD-600 stage piano and the Steinway Concert 1 patch is on the Session patch on the XP-30...it's very hard to tell the difference if there is any. Of course there's patches I won't possibly use but I've run through most of the "on-board" patches and I'd say 90% sound great. It lacks ethnic and the common SFX that I had in the XP-10 under the GS structure but some of these can be acquired via the expansion boards. With the 60/70's Keyboards expansion card...I don't think I could ask for very much more, plus the fact you can do some fancy tone editing.
I'm in a 50's/60's R & R band for fun and will find this board very satisfactory. Organs (with the expansion card) are great and the on-board brass and strings will fill in nicely. At home I tinker with classical and contemporary stuff from the 20's 30's 40's & 50's. Again the XP-30 will fit the bill precisely. Keyboard action is pretty good being semi-weighted and is responsive I feel quite "correctly" for the respective patch being used.

After owning an XP-10 for 4 years and lugging it along on boats and in my car and having it withstand a lot of bouncing around, I have complete faith in the reliability of the XP-30 although time will really prove this out. I would use it on a gig without a backup. On gigs I'm considering leaving my RD-600 at home due to the great piano sounds the XP-30 provides though it's a bit short on the number of keys but switching octaves is very easy and all the buttons are large, well lit and laid out for quick access.

Due to the size of our city, and in all fairness, the limited knowledge that a local retailer can offer, I have contacted Roland a number of times. I have had nothing but a "bending over backwards" in help from them. I work in the computer field and it's impossible to know everything on every machine. (Where is that person?) I give Roland Canada (Gary) a thumbs up for his assistance.

If stolen I would acquire this unit again. I am just over 50 and have been playing keys since I was 5. I currently own a Roland PMA-5; Roland RD-600 Piano and now the XP-30. (I don't work for Roland...just like their stuff) I've had short term ownership of a Korg NS5R module but dumped it as soon as I saw the add in Keyboard Mag for the XP-30. I have also complied a patch list for myself and others for the XP-30 and Cakewalk. My own list covers the XP-30 on-board tones plus the 60/70's 70's keyboards, the PMA-5 and RD-600. Anyone interested in the XP-30 + expansion boards ONLY, I would be willing to help.