Roland XP-30

Latest edition software, I don't even know if Roland ever upgrades their romplers. Editing patches very easy, but the manual sucks.

Polyphony is 64 voice and you can expand with 2 Jv expansion cards. This would bring the total patches to about 2000 patches(give or take). The effects are just ok, nothing to spectacular. O.K. as a controller. No onboard sequencer, but easy to use with computer or akai. T

patches are ok but to do serious electronic arrangements you must edit and use external effects. It would be good for generic pop arrangements, very good. The effects are O.K. but only 1 and its global. Very good with velocity and aftertouch.

Very reliable, no probs here.

Probably no need with this keyboard, except for the patch editor. I don't have to go into that.

If it were lost, and I sold it, would not buy again. However, If your doing straight pop arrangements, or rap, very good buy. I have had an XP-60(better effects & has a sequencer), Nova(better sound and efx), Mpcs, electribes, E-MU sound modules(thinner sound),Triton(I personally don't like the sound), Yamaha's Ex5 and Anx-1(best sound of any romplers period, and Anx is heavenly)

No idea on version.
Presets are surprisingly solid for a board under 1k.
Patch editing is easy, duplo, fun, except their part/parameter split thing gets a little confusing at times.
The manual blows.

Polyphony is dangerous when used as a standalone board programming anything layered. If you want to do techno/trance, and not some weak 1991 BS, you will have problems if this is the only board you are trying to use. Action of keyboard is not weighted, and thats all that matters to me, I use it as a controller. The EFX are pretty crappy, but then again, I'm used to working mostly on the ASR-10. The non-pan delay seems useless, the reverbs are a little tinny, and I found the routing structure to be a little confusing. I have expanded it with drums and bass, w0rd to Marcus Miller. Trying to use this expansion board for actual rock seems dumb, but these patches are fun for tooling around with the sounds like you would on a sampler, ala Koxbox. The DnB card has some decent cymbals to replace the poopy stocks. The fact that it didn't waste developmental cost or retail price on a sequencer was one of the reasons I bought it.

Some are great, some are mad stupid. For instance, the guitars suck, but I guess it takes balls to even put guitars on there since they are probably always gonna suck. But the point is, there are TONS of sounds. You get well over 1 patch per dollar, probably better than any other board. And this is also valuable, if for no other reason than the fact that you can do concentrated composition on one single board (provided you dont hork the polyphony) and then just re-route your tracks (from say Cubase) to another board with more solid sounds. They are definitely compressed, sometimes too much. I was very annoyed by the fact that the drums can't use the filters, without assigning them to another part. I like the bandpass and peaking filters as a whole.

I've dropped it a few times cuz I'm like that and it has fux0red up a little bit here and there...one time it just froze up and had to be rebooted, another time it took a few reboots. W0rd to the panic button, I use that like every 3 seconds. I would most definitely use it on a gig without backup because almost all of my stuff is on DAT. AHSDH jk

I don't even want to know, I have never called them, and their suck is apparently legendary. Suffice to say they dont even have support info in the manual I believe? Or no email address, I cant remember.

I would buy it again because its a great "miscellaneous filler" board. I made the mistake of relying on its sampled basses and synths for a brief experimental period, don't do that, you'll end up sounding dumb. The strings and all that are probably the best I have heard on a board that actually sported decent drums. I have been playing for 20 years. I have an ASR-10, a VirusKB, a Juno 106, an An1x, and too much other aux BS. I love its interface, catalogging, intuitiveness. I hate the polyphony limit. I wish it was USB or digital. It has been very helpful to me. Also, one time I ate an entire box of Cinnamon Altoids in one sitting.

Great for a gig kbd

Great

Great for an all perpouse synth

This is my main point of my review, and also as a reply to the reviewer named N.S. ,in my oppinion i think, with all due respect, you should REALY learn the difference between metal and plastic, the top and lower bodies of the xp-30 ARE made of METAL (aluminium), so if you still dont belive me and that other reviewer that stated the same, i sugest you open yours and look at the inside of the top pannel,or if that doesent convince you pick a key or something metalic and knock on the top panel and listen to the metalic sound,and theh knock on the side panels and listen to the plastic sound, and if you are not convinced yet try putting your hand on top of the top pannel (preferably in a cold day) and then in the side pannels and you will notice that the top panel is alwaays colder than the side panels, thats becouse the top panel IS MADE OF METAL!!!!!!
This synth DOES'T feel cheep to me at all, thind you could use it as a bat to play baseball and still be working!

I would buy it again

Works great with Logic Audio... Go here for the environment patches http://www.lilchips.com/roland/synths/jvxp/patches/30fact.asp. I think the presets sound awesome.... and most everyone who records electronic music uses the JV1080 and it's sounds are included. I haven't tried to edit the sounds and like most everyone else, I couldn't get SoundDriver to work with my Mac... probably and extension conflict though. I thought the manual was okay, but I upgraded to the XP-30 from the XP-10 so I'm not a real good judge... the XP-10 manual is a bad joke.

I haven't heard any drop-outs due to polyphony and I've made some songs with lots of pads and drums, but I don't have the keenest ear. If you use a sequencer, you can get around poly issues by mixing down your different parts to audio files, etc. I love the keyboard action. Much better than the XP-10. I really don't want true piano feel. I write techno music. Love the built in effects. I use the effects as they are... pre-programmed by Roland, although you can edit to your hearts content I believe. You get the Session, Orchestral and Techno and two left for whatever you want. The cards are too pricy though. Aftertouch is pretty cool (never had it before). The sliders for filter's etc are really cool and work great with Logic Audio (your can record your moves to midi). The arp is cool and it also dumps to midi.

I'm not the best judge for audio fidelity, but the instruments sound good to me-- I think the onboard effects really thicken up most sounds-- there are a hell of a lot of sounds to choose from. Some sounds just will never sound like the real instruments I guess. I believe the velocity and aftertouch are adjustable, but I haven't messed with that yet.

I haven't had any problems yet. I'm not a musician so I don't do live shows.

Haven't needed to call them. Hopefully never will.

I'd totally get another one if it were lost or stolen. I think it's worth every penny I paid for it. I don't know that much about other synths, but this one has everything that I need. I have only been playing for about 6 months (I'm not a musician), and don't own much other gear. I will say that if you're thinking about getting a synth for the first time and you want pro quality with and enormous sound set, this is the thing to seriously think about. The XP-10 doesn't really compare to the XP-30. For $500 more (a lot- believe me I know) you get over 1000 more sounds (I think).... no question the better deal. If you want to hear what the XP-30 sounds like, listen to my song "homage" here: http://www.mp3.com/omegaman . I made this song with Logic Audio Silver and the XP-30 & nothing else. Hope my review helps!

Cheers and enjoy!

The version of my XP-30 is 1.0 I think.
There are good and bad presets. There are really tons (too many) strings sounds like violin ensembles etc.
In a general way, I find the acoustic sounds really great. The organs are medium, and there are only few and bad pipe organs sounds.
The synth is very easy to use, thanks to the large buttons. It is easy to modify sounds, even several parts at a time. However, programming the controllers (aftertouch, sliders etc) is very unconvenient, you really have to read the doc to do that.
The manual is good if you are already familiar with synths programming. It does not give too many details on the effect of each parameter on the sound.

Polyphony 64 but in practice I would say 18 as most patches use more than 2 tones.
I like the keyboard action, the keys are long enough. A bad point is that I have a hard time controlling the aftertouch.
Between 0% and 100% aftertouch, there is very little difference in the pressure of the keys so it is hard to master it.
This keyboard has really tons of sounds and you should have enough with the 1040 patches available there !
The effects are good and quite versatile I think.
The MIDI capability is great, although you still have to compute the checksum at the end of SYS-EX that you may want to write yourself.
Otherwize the midi implementation is well documented, although they don't provide all the information about how the synth dumps patches and performances.
The arpeggiator is good but it's a pain in the ass to change its parameters. You can change some of them directly by holding the "arpeggio". But to access the most interesting ones (style), you need to go through menus and submenus.

I am not a real piano player but I like the pianos (especially the Concert Piano on the Session board).
The acoustic sounds are great, but there are not enough oboes, clarinets, and organs (reed and pipe).
The synth does not even enough wave form to create them. They wasted the ROM. Sometimes you have waveforms that you can hardly differenciate, and which difference is only in the filtering, but you could do it yourself with the filter !
I think the synth sounds are bad. You can hardly use the "structures" to combine tones because the ring modulator is really really bad. Do not expect to be able to make things like on a D-serie synth.
Also the synth waves sound like plastic. Hopefully, with the "analog feel" parameter you can try to give them some charm but it is still very limited.
The XP-30 is very unsucessfull in creating fat and metallic sounds (except if you use distortion effects or the "booster").
Actually, it is sample based and the only it does well is sampled instruments.
Forget about the fat synths. Even on the Techno board there are really few of them.
I rate it 6 as I use use synth sounds (not techno) and the XP-30 is not good at this.

I have 5 or 6 Roland devices, some of them from 1987 (D and U expanders), never had a single reliability problem with them.
I blindly trust Roland for that. And the XP-30 case is made of hard plastic. It looks
robust, although it's not heavy.

Never had to deal with them.

I am not gonna sell it because it's a good workhorse for acoustic sounds.
I've beeing owning it since April 2000. I've been playing for 17 years.
The drums are not very powerful although realistic. It lacks a "infinite time" drum roll.
I own a D-50, D-110, U-220, R-5 drum machine.
I owned a E-15 (first keyb) and a CS1x Yamaha (which I sold for because I didn't like the plastic synth sounds)
I love the ease of use of the XP-30. The sounds are sorted by category and it's really easy to find what you're looking for.
I compared it to the Yamaha CS1x. The drums are worse but the acoustic sounds are much better.
Also the CS6x. I did not like the sound of this synth at all (but it looks very pretty). If you consider buying a XP-30, give a try to the Yamaha S-30, it might be worse trying this one as it is very similar to the XP-30.

I have no idea how to determine the software version on the XP-30 so I'm afraid I can't comment on this. . .I've had my XP-30 since July 1999 though if it helps any.

The presets pretty much run from average to superb--that is there are *no* bad sounds (with the exception of the GM bagpipe sound). There are a few mediocre sounds (the guitars are kind of thin and reedy)but overall the (acoustic) sounds compare VERY well with every other machine except for the Kurzweil K2x00 series, but those cost two arms and two legs.

The OS on the XP-30 is absolutely stellar IMHO. There are some 1400 patches on this synth, which can be very overwhelming at times, but the way they are organized by bank, and then by expansion board, with the CATEGORY sorting function is first-rate. As far as editing sounds go, it's very easy to do exactly what you want to do to the sound, and it's very easy to find the specific parameter(s) you're look for. Even by today's standards this is a deep instrument, and it really says a lot that's it's so easy to use.

The manual is better than most Roland manuals I've used, which isn't saying much. The XP-30 comes bundled with an OEM version of SoundDiver, the PC version of which is worthless IMHO.

-64 note polyphony, 64MB ROM (compressed to 32)
-multimode resonant filters (lowpass, highpass, bandpass, and peaking)
-the keyboard (velo and channel aftertouch sensitive) action is of the semi-weighted variety, and is very good; it's solid enough to be confidence-inspiring but not so heavy that it impedes your playing I think
-the pitch-bend/modulation joystick sucks though because the joystick can only travel about 1/4" in the Y axis, which can be troublesome. It's a shame Roland decided to use this joystick instead of the one in the XP-60 and XP-80.
-2 outputs: this is the biggest shortcoming by far and is inexcusable. People may argue that that would increase the cost too much, but the XP-30 is based completely on previously existing products. It's obvious the absence of an extra output pair is intended to prevent cannibalization of the XP-60/80 (most pro users are unlikely to use the 60/80's onboard sequencer, and would want to have the 3 expansion boards, but would be turned off by the 2 outputs, and then fork over the extra $400 for the bigger machine).
-the effects are mediocre overall, but the funny thing is that the people who programmed the presets obviously knew they aren't that good. You don't really run into many sounds drenched with reverb and delay like you do with the Alesis QS series (I used to have a QS6), and the effects parameters are carefully adjusted for each sound.

-You get separate global reverb and chorus processors (the GM style controllers 91 and 93 to adjust effects depth per part), and an EFX. The reverb is kind of grainy and metallic, but doesn't get muddy at all the way the dreadful Alesis QS series do. Roland's always nailed chorus effects and the excellent chorus on the XP/JV is no exception. The EFX offers 40 algorithms from EQs and compression to up to 2 chained effects (like distortion and delay). The delay effects are great, and the chorus and flangers are equally good. Some of the effects like auto-wah, and particularly distortion and overdrive are dull and lifeless and are in desperate need of some balls. It would certainly be nice to have more EFX options though on this synth.

-2x expansion via SRJV-80 series PCM expansion boards
-no onboard sequencer (the XP50/60/80 have sequencers however)

-well obviously the session piano sounds' realism is kind of controversial so I'll leave that to you; I like it personally and use it all the time in songs or to play Chopin or whatever.
-the acoustic sounds on the session and orchestral board are what really make the sounds on the XP-30; the string ensembles on the Orch board are absolutely beautiful (esp. #39 Full Strings, and #84 Big Marc! The solo strings sound good in a mix but are not realistic enough to be by themselves. The brass sounds are pretty good overall; choir sounds are superb (Session #23--Dream Voices, Orch #228--Choir 2), especially if you make a patch that layers these sounds together; the woodwinds are flat-out outstanding as a group. The electric pianos are kind of thin, as it seems obvious that Roland wants you to fork $200 over for the sounds on the Keyboards of the 60s and 70s expansion board. The guitars and basses are average, with a few standouts on the session board. As for electronic sounds, the pads are very Roland-like-->very clean and smooth but precise and digital. The synth leads and basses are good overall, but they're lacking in the "balls" factor--they're kind of thin and it's obvious they've been compressed. This is where your synth programming skills come in: get 2 or 3 tones working in a patch, detune them, add a noise waveform to the other tones to fatten them up.
-the filters are pretty good for a sample playback synth--no real stepping artifacts; the bandpass filter is particularly good
-the acoustic snares and kick drums *SUCK* and are not at all realistic, though the toms fare much better, as do the various percussive instruments e.g. congas, timbale . . .The electronic drum sounds are good, and there are a *lot* of drum sounds on the techno board. That said, you can never please Roland TR drum machine gurus/addicts/whatever with samples, so be prepared if that's your bag.

-a lot of people comment on how the sounds lose their effectiveness/character/whatever in multitimbral mode and though I agree to some extent, this phenomenon is *nowhere* near as bad as it is on synths from other manufacturers (especially Alesis and Korg products except for the Trinity and Triton). Other companies' synth programmers rely too heavily on effects to get the patch's "sound" so when you use them in multi mode, they fall flat, but I've found Roland's presets are carefully designed to prevent this becoming an overriding issue.
-As for the notorious "static decay" problem, it *does* exist but it is nowhere near as bad as some people describe. The first time I noticed it was when I put an XP-30 synth lead through one of my compressors, which (with a 4:1 ratio or so and 6 or 7 dB of output gain) boosted the level of the decay portion of the waveform. . .

The XP-30 is quite well built for something in its price range. The top, bottom, and back panels appear to be made of aluminum, while the sides are made of a sturdy plastic. Still compared to a Juno or Jupiter, it's pretty fragile and would probably not survive in the hands of a careless owner (or roadie) for long. Roland has an excellent reputation for reliability though.

I've had some major problems with Roland in the past, and was so pissed off with my encounter (in 1995), and the utter arrogance that was de-facto at Roland U.S. that I vowed I would never buy Roland equipment again. Based on what I've learned on the net it hasn't improved much if at all. I couldn't resist the XP-30, because there's really nothing else within a $500 range that has better sounds.

If this thing were lost or stolen I might think about getting an XV-3080 or 5080 b/c I have another good 61-key keyboard controller. Still, I really like to play it by itself late at night so I don't have to turn on all my other equipment so this says something. I've been playing since about 1995, seriously since 1997 or so.

This synth has a ton of good sounds that fit well in a mix, is well-designed, is easy to program, and has some nice synthesis feaures (ring mod/booster, frequency cross-modulation, 2 independent midi syncable LFOs). This is my all-purpose machine that I use for song/idea sketches before I start to seriously work on a new project, for specific instrument sounds, and as a basis for resampling (for example sometimes I'll put the XP-30 through my Wavestation A/D's inputs, run it through some more effects, and then sample away). It has a great GM bank, which I use every once in a while. . .On a typical song, I use 4 or 5 channels in multi mode, so I rarely have a problem with polyphony, but if this were my only synth I would have trouble for sure.

The 2 output limitation is frustrating, but fortunately I have enough other gear to compensate; if you don't you might not like the XP-30 as much. Nevertheless there's really NOTHING that unequivicabllybeats the XP-30 for several hundred dollars more and that's quite an accomplishment. Everyone else who has reviewed the XP-30 mentions the Alesis keyboards--they honestly can't hold a candle to the XP-30 as far as sound quality or synthesis power. I owned a QS6 for 2 1/2 years and quickly ditched it as soon as the XP-30 came out and I've not looked back since.

We don't have to buy MIDI interface.. because it is including a built-in it

Everything was OK.. but I don't know why my computer doesn't detect it... I mean, auto-detect..

I used Korg X5D before. I think, xp-30 is better than that.. except
piano and drum sounds.

the first time that i bought xp-30, there was something wrong with my expensions. I called them, and they fixed it easily.

if it was lost or stolen, then i'm gonna buy it again.^^

The Presets sound good though they go a little flat in Multitimbral mode. Some aspects of the interface are very easy to use (like patch selection, turning on and off instruments in layered sounds(programs). But, trying to figure out MIDI assignments in multitimbral mode is way too hard and the manual is useless.

The action feels pretty good to me. I play acoustic as well as synth and it doesn't get in the way, which is good. The XP-30 is expandable, though I can't imagine navigating more sounds. It is a bit overwhelming even with the category buttons. Has a lot of features, no sequencer.

Have to agree with what has been said before. The Piano sound are awful. I like the Alesis Piano sounds better if that is any reflection. I didn't get this for piano sounds though and the rest sound good. Maybe the brass is a little weak

Haven't had it long enough to have a opinion

Didn't see a toll free number on the website nor an obvious tech support e-mail. Going to have to look again.

Don't know yet whether I'd replace if lost or stolen.
I've been doing the MIDI thing for 4 years now and feel pretty competent. My old Yamaha V-50 had much better navigation through sound parameters, midi assignment, etc. i have to say that the manual is awful, awful, awful. It is unfortunate cause a well written one would make this instrument so much nicer to use.

I found the XP-30 easy to use, if you wnat to use it life on stage, however, at home I use it with other syths and modules, like MU100R and technics KN1500, and ASR10. ALL completely different machines that has their own characteristics. Using this synth between the others can cause errors. Also using it as a multitimbral soundmodule, is not that easy.(or is it me?) I use it mostly with the old atari Qbase, and find it very difficult to set up the keyboard aswell as the soundmodule, so I can use both seperate (this function is possible according the manual (YES I read the manual)) It gives and gave me some brainbrakers to set it up right.

Looking to all the features this keyboard has a lot of them(if you really goin to use them is a second question). Sound expansionboards are nice, but looking to the price and see if you really need ALL the sounds on the expensionboard is more me a big question. The effects are very nice, but one insertion(40) is now a days not TOO much. looking to my MU100r wich has 2, with more effects inside (60) and also tripple effects. looking to the MIDI possibillities, I think you can do a lot with it, but me, user of Yamaha mostly, find it very difficult to set it all up the right way.(Is it ME again?)
No sequenser build in, wich is good, (who needs a sequenser inside when you have a computer that can do it all).

Goin thru all the banks multi and pathes, I find the sounds very progressive. (else I never would have bought this synth in the first place). I play a lot of jazz and funk, but at home I make a lot of different musicstyles. the most sounds were okee, but listening to the piano, I Have to be hounest, is too much attack sound, wich the keyboard is too much responding to my playing. Also the aftertouch is nice, but would have liked that you can really feel it in your fingers when pressing the key(s). Also I noticed, that the aftertouch seems not to be polyfonic, but maybe I'm wrong here, and have just to figure out how to set this option. keyboard is very smouth to play on, I have to say, wich gives me the feeling that I wnat to use it also as a masterboard.

I think the xp-30 is a reliable synth, to use it on stage, how ever, using it at home with other synths, I found a lot of problems, that I still did not found a solution for.(midi settings for instance, or putting the synth to multitimbral, to use all the patches over 16 channels.

I called with the helpdesk in belgium, and also emailed the same person, but stil did not get any answers yet. This was obut one week ago. caling the helpdesk in the UK gave me the feeling that the number does not even exists there, or the line must have been really busy. giving it an advantage of doubt I I hope to get a reaction soon from them.

If it was to be stolen, I would have been very sad, because its not insured at all, anyway, I think I would buy the sameone, or mayby I would buy the JV2080 instead. When I bought it, there was also a QS6.1 wich people seems to compare wich the XP-30. I dont think that the QS6.1 is worth a compare to this one. However, QS6.1 and for example the Yamaha sinths in the same price were also very nice with the sounds, but really not so beautifull as the sounds off the xp-30.
I would have liked the synth to have also GS and in the general midi a possibility to use more sounds then just the 128 that you have normally.

Very easy to use right out of the box.I did have a little trouble figuring out how to get phrase loops from my expansion cards to sync with my sequencer, but I finaly got it (no thanks to the manual). The manual can be a little confusing at times.

64 voice polyphony is plenty for me, and I have some very textured sequences. I never had a problem with note cut off. The effects are great, and easy to use, but in performance mode, its hard to get the sounds to be as fat as they are in play mode. I still long for a keyboard that can duplicate the effects of each instrument seperately while in a performance mode!!! You can still get them to sound great, but not all of the sounds will be as good as the original sounds in play mode. So far I just have the Hip-Hop expansion. At about $230, they are a bit pricey, but I am totally satisfied with this card. Its a lot of fun, and very useful while sequencing. Live I run the XP-30, a Juno-106, and a Korg M1. All my sequences come from a Kawai Q80-EX, and the XP-30 has given me no problems. The action is good. The only thing that I can complain about is pushing the joy stick up for LFO and other effects is very stiff. It feels like I have to push alot harder than I should!!

The sounds are mostly excellent. The only complaint I have here is the piano's and brass! I'm sorry Roland, but Korg has it all over you as far as these sounds are concerened!! Everything else is fantastic. My band plays cover tunes from oldies to techno, rap, classic rock, alternative, and lots of dance. The XP-30 is usefull for all of it.

I use it live 2 to 4 times a week, and it hasnt let me down yet. My sequences depend on it to work and I'm not worried.

Havent had the displeasure of finding out!

I would buy this unit again in a heart beat! For the price you cant compare anything else to it!! I've been playing proffesionaly for about 13 years (since I was fifteen). I started out with a JX-3P and a Wurlitzer electric piano that I traded in for the Juno-106 (stupid, stupid, stupid!!!). I got a Korg M1 about 6 years ago, and the XP-30 about 1 year ago. If it had Better Piano's and brass, it would be perfect.

The patch sounds are splendid, on the whole. The XP-30 utilizes the JV 1080/2080 soundset + Orch. + Techno + Session boards. A wide variety of sounds.

The manual is very good for providing an overview of the synth; it is easy to grasp basic concepts, like auditioning patches, using phrase review, changing filter (palette) settings. More advanced operations (as you might expect) are more difficult and tedious to understand. I found myself reading some sections in the manual 2-3 times, to try to understand what is being said.

It is fairly involved to edit the patch tones (patch mode) or tone voices (performance mode). I'm having to do it manually, [and it requires careful attention].

Tried installing SoundDiver -- but the software would not auto-detect the XP-30 on my Pent. 166 Win NT system. I sent an e-mail to Emagic, and never heard back. So I've kind of given up on SD, uninstalled it, and just use the XP-30 panel buttons instead. Note: I've heard other users use SD quite successfully, though--so maybe it's just me...

All in all I think there's a lot of power in this synth--I know i'm not close to exploiting all the functionality available. Hope Roland comes out with a video on the XP-30 like it did on the other XP models, to make it easier to master the "more advanced" stuff.

Well, 64 voice poly is plenty for my needs. I haven't come close to running out of voices--although it's theoretically possible. The manual addresses the issue of "using up too many voices" in-depth, and offers useful options [e.g., drop oldest or quietest tones, I think].

Note that Roland now has an XV-88 synth [128-voice polyphony]. If you've got $2500, it's certainly a better synth with more poly (and it is backward compatible with JV/XP gear).

The stock EFX on the patches are fantastic. I especially love the pads, since i'm into new age music. Some patches could be better [a few flute and harp patches are disappointing, I think]. But many patches sound like the real thing.

As with all JV/XP series synth engines, you can't have separate EFX for each tone in Performance mode. Patches therefore sound somewhat different (i.e., thinner) when you switch from Patch to Perf. mode [from what I'm reading, you must user Perf. mode to make a multi-track MIDI recording].

Volume levels of different patches aren't particularly well normalized. Some blast your ears out; others are practically inaudible.

It can accept SmartMedia memory cards, and can take up to two additional wave expansion boards [which cost c. $250 each].
I'm glad the XP-30 includes the Sess. and Orch. boards at no add. cost--these patches are very useful in compositions:.

No on-board sequencer, but Cakewalk works great for me. I suspect it's much more of a flexible tool than an on-board seq.

The real-time sliders are cool. Very useful for tweaking up the sound.

The Arpeggiator is nice. There are quite a few styles. You just hold down the ARPEGGIO button for a second and you can change some of the ARP parameters--pretty intuitive. But it can require extra effort to use in performance mode, because you have to set the keyboard coverage area for the non-arp. parts so they don't overlap with the (single) arp'ed part.

Fantastic sounds. Don't know which type of music the synth is suited for, but I do like the pads, Vox sounds, New Age stuff [e.g., "Desert Crystal", "DreamVoices2", "Str+Choir", "Enlighten", "Translucence",
"Liquid Sky", "Big Vectors", "Stacc. Heaven" patches, etc.]. I also think the "Cathedral" organ patch is killer. My 11 yr. old son loves the "RockYurSocks" distortion guitar patch(!).

Again, the flutes and harps weren't so hot IMHO--but you can probably buy add on wave-expansion boards with better samples of these instruments.

The EFX are very powerful -- there are multiple parameters you can tweak for reverb, chorus. Through intelligent choice of reverb and chorus settings, you can probably improve the sounds of Performance-mode stuff to the point where it is usable.

The keyboard action is great. I've never played any other synth with vel. and aftertouch sens. before, but when I pound down on the keys, the sound seems to react dramatically and promptly. I suspect things are working the way they should!

I did my homework thoroughly before I bought this synth ($860, used on ebay). I'm very happy with it. Don't think anything comes close for under $1000, including the Alesis QS6 and QS7 line, which i read about carefully. If I had more money (and didn't mind my family starving), I would have gone with the XV-88. Oh well.

Can't say. I bought my XP-30 used [a few months old], and it's held up well for the last 2 months, but this is hardly a good test. Other users indicate Roland stuff is very reliable. But it doesn't hurt to be careful... I've read horror stories about users breaking the pitch-bend lever or wearing out the "VALUES" dial on some of these XP units.

Haven't had an opportunity to interact with Roland support. As noted, I think the Emagic (SoundDiver) support is poor.

Great sounds. Very high on the BBFTB scale (big bang for the buck). One can certainly overlook a few negatives here and there.
Would buy it again.

Alleluia, Praise the Lord!

Editing the patches is fairly straight-forward. Editing the performances, however, is a another matter. I have had this board for about two weeks and I am still trying to figure out how to make the performances sound the way I want them to. Of course, I read the manual, but it seems to me that it overexplains the simple functions and is vague in its explanations of more complex functions. Maybe I'm just stupid, but I had give a low rating on this category because I just didn't get much help from the manual.

The keyboard I had prior to the XP-30 was an XP-10, so needless to say, this is a vast improvement. I won't go into the ployphony and MIDI capabilities because I mainly use this board live with a band, and frankly, I don't even have a sequencer or computer. The keyboard action is pretty sturdy and solid-feeling, and I love the aftertouch function. It is expandable with up to two of the Wave Expansion boards and it already has the Session, Orchestral, and Techno boards onboard. No sequencer, but I have no real use for one right now anyway. For the price, this board is packed with features, which is one of main reasons why I decided to buy it.

Like I mentioned before, I had an XP-10 before this one, so when I first played the XP-30, I was blown away. I may not be very finicky when it comes to piano sounds, but I think the ones included in the Session board are pretty good. I usually play piano, electric piano and organ patches with my band and there are plenty to choose from here. The Orchestral board is pretty impressive, too. Almost every patch is very realistic sounding. The Techno board has some interesting stuff on it, although about 90% of it is useless for me, seeing as the bluesy/rock band I play with would probably kill me if I tried to use them. The multi-effects features are good, although almost every preset patch has an excruciating amount of reverb added to it (That's easily edited, though). The velocity sensitivity and aftertouch make for a fairly expressive board.

I feel that can I rely on this keyboard 100%. I played live with my XP-10 for about two years and it's never freaked out on me. However, I still bring my old keyboard to gigs, just in case.

Fortunately, I've never had to deal with customer support.

Overall, I think this is a great synth for the money. It's a great benefit for me live, and if I ever get a sequencer, I'll enjoy messing around with more interesting sounds. I've only been playing keyboards for about two years (I'm more of a guitar player), but since I bought the XP-30, I've realized how fun it can be. My only qualm is that the patch and performance editing can be a bit complicated and frustrating (and the manual is no help). If this were lost or stolen, I would want to get another XP-30 (after an appropriate period of mourning, of course).

Just some info...
When looking for a patch:
HOLD THE CATEGORY BUTTON WHILE PUSHING THE CATEGORY YOU WANT!!!!

This opens up a menu, for example.
If you push and hold the category button and then push the guitar category you will have three choices.
AGT, EGT, DGT. You choose them with the left/right arrow keys. Up in the top right it tells you which one is which. If you put the cursor under "DGT" in the upper right it says "Dist. Guitar" for distorted guitar.
This makes finding patches much easier. Some categories like SYNTH give you 6 sub categories.
Everyone I know that has an XP-30 just pushes the category button and then chooses the category they want. Bitching about how it was a good idea to put the function there but they only put 100 or so patches in the categories.
Well, they,(the patches), are all there. Just remember to hold the category button while choosing what category you want.
The down arrow will take you to the patch select, the up arrow takes you back to the sub-category.
Hope this helps some people navigate this thing easier!

I found this Synth very easy to use right out of the box. The presets for the most part are very nice, although patch memorizing is very key. The manual is worthless unless you are out of firewood. Perhaps a video manual is in order (hello Roland!)

The action is great, the built in effects are nice. No sequencer is necessary in this age of the PC. The expansion capabilities are wonderful and it's extremely easy to pop in new cards. Feature wise, near perfection.

This synth is very versitile and could be used for many many different types of music. Better piano voices would be nice, but that's what Kurzweils are for, right?

I've owned it for about seven months now and no problems yet.
As far as backup goes, if you've got the cash...always have a backup at a gig.

I haven't needed to deal with Roland yet, but let's hope their customer service is more friendly than their manuals.

Overall, this synth is wonderful. I've been playing for about seven years. I started out with Yamaha and switched to Rolands about four years ago. I also own a Juno 60 and a JP 8000. Go Roland!
For it's class of synths, there is no equal.
If you're in the market, I highly recommend the XP-30.

I just wanted to say a little something about this noise (Grunge)
problem some people are experiencing with their units.
I owned an XP-80 (3yrs) and then bought an XP-30 (8mos)old.While I
still had both, I sent both units L/R outputs to my Yamaha MD8 Mini-
disc recorder and A/B their sonic quality. I could not tell any difference between the two units, either played thru my audio system
(EV S122s Pushed with 2 Stewart 200w Power Amps)or with my Headphones
AKG 240DF. This info is just FYI, I thought someone would like to know
my experience. Thanks PH

I find it quite easy to use but it isn't that simple really. Finding patches is the hardest while playing. I memorised about 4 and am stuck with them until I remember a few more

This is just an update on my earlier review of it. Now I have had the keyboard for over a month (!) I can say that I am growing to like the sounds a lot more. As a performance keyboard it is great to take out - light weight wise, small length wise and fat sounds.I have posted samples of the session and techno boards here : http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/hall/4339/techno.mp3 (1.3mb)and http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/hall/4339/session.mp3 (4.3mb)if anyone is interested. Right clicking on the link should (in theory) invoke the save file as box and such.

it hasn't broken yet
would I use it without a back up - course I do, I only have two keyboards and I have no room to take out two of everyting. Roland gear is usually well made. Look at the number of D110's out there still chugging away after years and years

Auckland has the Roland distributor. I deal with my local music shop who are very helpful

It is pretty easy to use out of the box.
The sounds on this machine blew me away after listening to an Alesis.
The sax sounded like a real sax.
The manual is alright. It was not as thorough as the Alesis keyboards.

The keyboard action is kick-butt if you compare it to an Alesis keyboard.
The built-in effects are really good. I love em. They are pretty easy to use also.
It has two expansions on it. It also has capabilities for Smartmedia 2meg and 4meg.
16 Channel midi. Doesn't have a sequencer, but if you have a computer like me grab a simple Cakewalk program like the HomeStudio.

The sounds are very realistic. They are very easy to use. This keyboard can work for any style of music. Effects are good. It is very expressive.

Yes. Regardless of what I or anyone else has. A Backup is required.

Not the best. It sucks about trying to get the sequencing definitions for Cakewalk from a different site. Couldn't find any definitions on the Roland site.

Very good. If it were lost or stolen I'd kick some !@#. I would definitly buy another one.

the presets sound good. most are usable for various kinds of music. Editing is done with the Sounddiver CD. Intuitive to use. The manual is written in a simple manner, but just has a technical nature to it. But I learned this synth by trial-and-error. Easy to use.

64 note poly. keyboard action is semi-weighted, but solid and very expressive. i love playing the piano patches on it! Only complaint is the bender.

for the price I payed, it is probably the best sounding synth in its range. no other synths in its range has as many sounds, and the quality of sounds it has. Chorus, Reverb, and EFX are good. I love how most of the patches can be controlled with aftertouch and velocity.

If I plan to gig with it, i would depend on it w/o a backup. It has been sex months now since getting it, and still has not locked up on me. i managed to crash it when i tried to upload some sysex stuff to it, but resumed when i reset the synth.

i e-mailed a few inquiries to Roland, and they responded promptly. The local dealer would probably be more help for more detailed issues.

It is the best value of a synth out there in any class. Hands down!!!

At the risk of turning this site into a discussion board, I have to object to a few N.S.'s views about the XP-30.

The sampling quality: I think 90% of the patches sound good. Almost all wave-based synths have the munchkinization issue. And very impractical to use 8 MB on a piano sample just to get a few lo and hi notes right. In the range of notes used by most music, the XP-30 does well in the sounds it produces. And pls. tell me how many times u plan to use the extreme high's and low's of a 88 key scale? For the normal user, it would not be a problem.

SoundDiver: The synth, as noted by many other users, was meant to be more of a studio synth, than a performance one. And even if u were to gig with it, do u plan to edit patches while doing a set? And even if u plan to, maybe u can use an equipment called a laptop?

Cheap feel: Are you sure? If u read the other reviews, nobody has a problem with the built of the synth. i was particular with this factor, so i made sure i had a synth with a metal body. If it had a plastic body, i don't know if i would've gotten it. As far as the "cheap feel", u were mentioning about, i just can't get that "cheap feeling" u were talking about. For me, anything soft, mushy, and unexpressive feels cheap. the Trinity's keys felt cheap. Those Yammy PSR keys felt mushy and cheap. This one ain't, bub. Some users even note that they've abandoned their pianos for their XP-30's. I think the keys feel slightly weighted, but expressive and firm. As for the bottom panel, as soon as I read your post, i turned my XP-30 upside down to press that part. No bending noticed(unless u hit it with a hammer i guess). if u want something to use as an anti-tank armor, don't get the XP-30. otherwise, it's fine. Also, u actually turned the XP-30 upside down to press its underbelly in a music store?

Lastly, u cannot compare apples to oranges. Some of Mr. N.S.'s views are correct, but the complaints about the XP-30 are done without fair comparison to other synths in its class. In its class, the XP-30 is the runaway winner.

If there are other XP-30 users who can give a second opinion on these issues, please feel free to make them known in order to resolve this matter.

As far as editing goes, it is a little dificult without the sounddiver software. However compared to a lot of other synths out there it is still pretty easy to do straight from the board.
Once it's in pallette edit mode it lessens the button pushing by half.
The manual is pretty easy to follow, however I made it through the VS-1680 manual which made this one a breeze.
Not a beginner synth in programming unless that beginner is willing to take some time to really sit down and work on it.

Lots of polyphony(64), and it hasn't cut any notes out on me yet. And I have some pretty large sequences.
Of course I also have a couple of others so it's spread around some.
The built in effects are pretty good, with plenty of choices for you. Distortions, 4band stereo EQ, enhancer, rotary, auto-wah, just to name a few. Plus a seperate chorus and reverb, as well as more intricate types in the EFX.
2 expansion boards can be installed allowing up to 2044 total patches available.
And a SmartMedia card of 2 or 4mb can be used for saving more user programs.
The 4 pallette sliders perform many different functions as well. You can assign any of 94 different parameters to them such as breath, modulation, etc...
And use them internally, or have them control another external MIDI source, or both at the same time. Then, with a touch of a button they control the different volume levels of the different tones used in the preset you are playing. Another touch of a button and they control the filter, resonance, attack, and decay of the preset you are playing.
Velocity and aftertouch as well.

I love most of the sounds. I am sick of paying $300 or more for something that gives me 2 sounds I like.
The XP30 has to many good sounds to list, and not enough bad ones to mention.
The effects are pretty good for onboard effects. And the velocity and aftertouch are very nice.
With the expansions available I would say you could use this board for any type of music.

A nice strong metal body to this one. I would definetly trust it to not fail me live.

the only time I had a problem with a roland product,(the zip drive went out in my recorder), it was fixed for free and promptly. Unfortunatly I had to drive it to where it was fixed, an hour or so away. But that is a small price to pay for a new zip drive 8 months after purchase.

I wopuld definetly buy this synth again. I have been a proffesional musician for a long, long time. And I just love this keyboard.
I wish it had more outputs, and the pitch bend/mod joystick is pretty crappy.(very cheap feeling, like you could easily break it). But I have a Korg Kaos and that melds perfectly with it.
For the price, you really get a great synth. IMHO much better than an XP80,60,or 50(we won't even mention the xp10). The amount of sounds and control you get with the XP-30 far outweighs the importance of an onboard sequencer.

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.