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.

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.

The presence of many big buttons makes the synth very easy to use overall to do the main function. The editing in depth is very hard if you use only the insufficient display(2x40). To choose the sounds is necessary to press too button. Very interesting is the software to manage the sounds and the performances but it is a little difficult. The manual is too simple: it doesn't go in depth.

The polyphony is 64 notes but every sound can have four tones that reduce the polyphony. The keyboard action is very good and has channel aftertouch. The synth has three built in effects: one for reverbs, one for chorus, one for dsp they are insufficient (look at trinity or alesis qs and yamaha) but the quality is very high. The sounds are more then 1400 and you have 128 user sounds in addition. The performances are 32 + 32; they are few but you can buy the memory card to have some other space. The sample memory is 32MB of compressed samples and you can add two other expansion board (they are very expensive). there isn't a sequencer.

The general quality is very high and you can make many interesting sounds using the big synthesis capabilities. Many sounds have different level. To make better sounds you must use the dsp effect processor. Pianos: nice piano very good (not acoustic) it plays a little bright, The session piano isn't good; you can have some enhancement using the editing(sessione piano is good on the upper frequencies). Too few. Organs: poor Flute: very good Pads: wonderful Brass: poor (an exception is the super tenor) guitar: nylon good in the middle, str guitar very poor(has somebody a k2500 Slo type Guitar for xp30?) electric and distorted are good. all orchestral: wonderful synth: very good bass: very good ethnic: good but too few.
ps if you use very well the effects and the editing you can make many acoustic sounds interesting and make many new sounds. For me too drum sample

I'd buy it again but I'd look the Generalmusic Equinox. I love it but i'd have liked some other sample of piano and acoustic guitar and overall a bigger display. The overall quality is very high. I'll look the country board for guitar.

The preset patches are incredible! Most keyboards will have some not so useful patches, but this one has very usefull prsets! This Synth is amazingly easy to edit patches to create your own variations of sounds! I've already made a couple of them. The manual was difficult to completely understand at first(especially the section on how to make your own patches) but it gets much easier when you actually start trying it yourself!

It has 64-voice polyphony. I love the weighed keys because it gives it a much more realistic "feel" to it. It has 40 effects that can be applied to the patches. I was amazed that it had so many sounds! It has the full JV1080/JV2080 Sound set plus 3 of Roland's more popular Expansion boards(Session, Orchestral, and Techno) and there's still room for 2 more expansion boards! The lack of a sequencer is easily made up by the expansion boards and price of course.(Since you can still sequence with a PC and MIDI software like Cakewalk)

The sounds are trully impressive! Especially the Orchestral sounds. One of the reasons I purchased this synth was because of the realism of these sounds! Since I compose mostly scores, the Orchestral expansion alone was worth getting this synth. Everything is fully customizable(The effects, velocity, aftertouch,etc.)with the assignable sliders! The effects were very natural as well. I also like how the sounds are "true to life" depending on the velocity.When the velocity is very high or low, you can hear the changes in the sound.(unlike other synths that will just increase or lower the volume of the same sound)

I would definently depend on this synth. It has a very durable body which can be trusted to take anywhere. I would take this and a laptop to a gig, without any other backups. (If anything was to go wrong, it most likely wouldn't be the synth's fault)

I haven't needed to use it yet. (hopfully I won't have to)

If it was to be stolen, I would definently get it again! I've used it for a couple of months now and I've aleady made several songs and scores with it! This is by far the best damn package you can get for a synth at this price range! I definently would never get rid of it! (If I ever get new gear, this synth will always remain in my gear list)

This is an update to my previous review - At the time, I said that I loved the machine except for some significant grunge - IM distortion, and a grungy static near the end of slow decays.
The grunge has been resolved - it was a problem in the otput circuitry, and not a design flaw.

The sounds are impressive, but I dislike the method of selection - requires a confirming press of the Enter key to actually change the patch. I suppose this can also be useful, you set up the patch number as you have the time, and then one keypress switches, but this is not the best performance option.

Generally good sample set - saxes suck, of course, but the ALL do - it's not a good instrument to sample, there aare too many ways to produce the same note. This is best left to modeling-style instruments.
I have a minor issue: many of the decaying-type sounds (guitars, pianos, etc.) have what appears to be a short loop-very 'static' sustained tone-and a tendency toward an unnaturally long decay time. This is. Of course, easily correctable, but a bit of a pain.

Roland's Customer Support desk was initially not helpful - the tech could not hear the problem over the phone (may be true, but it was really obvious to me, and to a friend who heard it on the phone.) But in the end, this was not an issue.

The grunge in my XP-30 was not a system-level problem, the output stage was defective. My service tech replaced a couple of parts and the problem went away! Curiously, this was the second XP-30 exhibiting the problem (the first I returned to the store) but the main point is - it sounds great!
I think it's a great cost-per-feature machine, and now that the grunge has been resolved, I wholeheartedly recommend it!

I am a professional musician, but a first time synth owner and MIDI enthusiast, and I found all the basic functions of the XP-30 to be very intuitive for a beginner/ intermediate. You can pretty much figure out all the basic stuff just by spending 10 minutes with it in the music store without even looking at the manual! When you get into the guts of it though, this board is an incredibly versatile machine, if you can figure out what everything does. I figure it will take me about six months to really understand and be able to use this synth. Unfortunately, the manual is a weak link. It is a pretty dry read, and if you aren't experienced with synths or MIDI, you may find yourself lost once your past the "Getting Started" section. Hopefully, Roland will put out a more comprehensive manual, and maybe a video in the near future.

You can read all about the specs on the Roland website until you're blue in the face, so I won't go into them here. In my opinion, however, this board has everything I need to put together a powerful MIDI workstation. I don't gig on keys, but my guess is that it has everything you will need for performance, unless your maybe Rick Wakeman, or want to be him.

I think the patches on this board are outstanding, and very useful. There seem to be a lot of useless sounds out there, but Roland has pretty much weeded them out of this thing. Being an acoustic instrumentalist myself, I am picky about my acoustic patches, and I found them to range from pretty good to the absolute real deal. The synth sounds were all killing too. With some 1400 sounds onboard, and the ability to expand, I know I will have no problem finding any sound to fit my music. The overall feel of the board is pretty good - it's no piano, but then again if I wanted a piano, I'd buy that instead of a synth.

No problems so far, and from my experience and other musician's experiences, I don't anticipate any.

I try not to call (and haven't called) customer support. I don't care for muzak.

I think this synth is the best buy out there right now. I spent a lot of time researching synths, and this came away as the winner, hands down. It is pretty complex, a little too complex for me right now, but better to have room to expand then to dumb down you're gear just because you're inexperienced. If this were stolen, I'd tell the insurance company that I had two, but if that didn't work, I would definately buy another. Quite honestly, it has opened up a whole new world of musical possibilities for me. Any instrument that does that is worth it's weight in gold.

I seem to have stirred up a bitof contraversy with my review of the XP-30 by stating there was observable digital grunge in the samples. Several readers and XP-30 owners took issue with my statements, so I feel a more detailed update is in order. I haven't had time to complete my investigation, so here's what I plan to do - I'll create some WAV files of the offending patches and post them on my Web site for your perusal and rebuttal (I really hope there is something amiss with my synth, or my eras, but this is the second one to have the symptoms!) The peculiar sound around G1 has been traced, and I'm embarassed to admit was a resonance from a jar of writing implements! But the grunge factor is still a problem for me. It appears at this writing to be a form of IM distortion, or harmonic interaction. I'll keep you posted.
David Kempton davidk@thesoundsmith.com

Presets are great, most of them are usable, depending on specific music style. As far as it includes three popular expansion sets - "Session", "Orchestral" and "Techno" - the synthesizer is quite universal. Editing patches and setting parameters for performances aren't great problems - it's a question of patience and time, until you get into the way. I'm using Cakewalk Pro Audio 8.0 as a sequencer, and for selecting performance parts and adjusting reverb/chorus parameters. The XP-30 package includes CD with "Sound Diver" for editing performances etc., which is a monster software, 'cause it requires, it seems, 21'' monitor at least, and has very unusual interface. The manual of XP-30 is chaotic, it seemed that Rolands were in hurry a bit before winter NAMM... But for beginners it is just one way out to understand XP-30 . I wish it would be rather lika reference book, a-la dictionary.

61 keys; Poly - 64; parts - 16; standard 1080's 8 reverbs, 1 chorus, 40 EFXs; 1406 patches and 26 rythm sets onboard, 2 extra slots for SR-JV80*, 1 slot for memory card (4Mb max); assignable sliders (C1...C4), standard pitch bend/modulator. Preset-E, arpeggiator (43 styles), phrase preview and patch category features was taken from JV-2080. XP-30 has only one mix out, and two pedal inputs (one switch and one CC assignable). Noise level: moving Volume slider from "down" to "up", noise gains at "mix" to ~5dB max. Keyboard action is great, most parameters are adjustable, channel aftertouch is perfect and smooth. XP-30 has no onboard sequencer, but this fact is not the matter for me, because I use Cakewalk to MIDI all my gear. I knew what I bought - lot of Roland sounds and nice controller - 2 in 1.

The sounds are pure and clear. I'm just immersing into them everytime I touch keyboard ! No decay noise problem, noticed on some Roland models: no even noise or distortion, the patches sound the way they should. Great Guitars, useful Brasses, realistic Strings ! Most of Organs are great. Pianos, IMHO, are 50/50. Beautiful synthetic sounds - pads, rhodes etc. Solo Violins aren't great - it's understood. Unfortunately, Ethnic and SFX sets are very short, however, most of existing patches sounds very nice, exept Bagpipes, which are, kinda wildbird croak. In short, 90% of sounds are really good and useful for any type of music creativity.

I purchased it 2 weeks ago - nothing to comment yet.

Never consulted with Rolands. Seems strange, that they don't advertise their e-mail address, isn't it ?

I'm sure to state that I would buy it again if something happens (I wouldn't wish troubles neither for myself nor for everyone). 1406 patches, 26 drum sets, effects and perfect controller - absolutely worth the money! But I wish there would be a second pair of outputs or second effects processor. And, may be, more intuitive software for editing. I'm just learning to operate it, but couple of tracks are already finished, so, I should say, I help XP-30 to make sounds and XP-30 really helps me to make music !

The XP-30 is probably the greatest sounding box out there right now for the money if you plan to take it live, but there is a significant amount of digital grunge in many of the samples, like they compressed them a little too far. Some of the sounds exhibit no trace of this, while others are really quite annoying, especially around G1.
Editing is as straightforward as any Roland product (about average for the current generation)

64-voice polyphony is used quickly in multitimbral performances, so set your voice reserves carefully. The effects are very good in general. The two expansion slots took cards from my XP-80 with no problem. Aftertouch is good (and adjustable). The slider assignment capabilities are really useful if you are controlling external modules. Eachslider can accept a system-wide assignment (not patch-by-patch, but what do you expect for under a grand street price?)

Great nylon guitar, double-reed, bones, string sections, ambient and tek sounds. Very good electric guitars, church organs, cellos/bass. Adequate flute, pianos, electric pianos, clavs. The Hammonds suck. Onboard fx help a lot. Good response and feel.

Dependability with Roland is generally very good, I've only had this a short time so can't be objective. WOuld I use it on a gig without a backup? Of course, I'm not Herbie Hancock! I can't afford 2 of everything...

I have about a dozen other keyboards and modules, have been playing a long while. I buy my keyboards as system components, not stand-alone units. I got this to act as a live adjunct to an acoustic piano gig with drummer/vocalist and sequencer. I wanted better quality sounds than we currently get (he uses an SC-88 and the sounds, to me, are cheesy.) This is a significant upgrade to the sound quality.
I wish it were as clean as my XP-80; as soon as I have time, I intend to check out another unit at a music store to see if this is endemic, or if I got a noisy one (but I don't think I did...) Generally, it's a fine machine for its price point.
If anyone who owns one listens closely in a studio (or really quiet) context and can tell me there's no trailing grunge on any patches, I'd love to hear fropm you while I'm still under warranty.

I think the XP-30 is about the best keyboard on the markket in its price range. The sound set is pulled from the JV-2080. I replaced my XP-50 with this keyboard, so I already knew what I was getting, sound wise. I was planning on buying the "Session" expansion board for my XP-50 when I heard about the XP-30, which has the "session" "Techno" and "Orchestral" built it. I don't need onboard sequencing, so the XP-30 is perfect. I am so pleased with the excellent range of the presets, so many sound great and are really useful. I do a lot of music for low budget film and TV, and the XP-30 is packed with appropriate sounds that I do not have to edit. Another great feature is the new switch design. Switches that have on "on" or "off" state have large, easy to see LEDs, unlike the tiny LEDS on the other XP keyboards. The switches here are more of the quality found in Roland's stand alone controllers, like the A-90. It makes it very easy to see what you are doing. In general, these are the best switches I have seen on a keyboard. Very tactile. When you consider the sound search feature, the built in, multi-function control sliders, and the compact size of the keyboard, I think it sets a new standard for price and feature. The manual is also clearly written, the useful examples! Key functions like syncing internal LFO's to incoming MIDI clock. Very cool.

I have nothing but praise for the XP-30. Instead of a floppy disk drive, or costly RAM card, it has a Smart Media slot. I purchased a tiny, wafer like card for $26 that holds 4 MB of patch data. I big improvement over the old technology. My only complaint is the mod wheel/pitch bend level. On the XP-50, there was true movement on the "Y" axis (up and down), but on this keyboard, it's more like a pressure controller. I have to push quite a bit to get the same effect. This is the place where I believe they cut corners. Also, they included the Sound Diver software, which I was excited about, and I used it to transfer my old XP-50 library to my Mac, then later to my XP-30. Or so I thought I did. I later discovered that while I did load my sounds into the Mac, "Save" did not mean that I saved my patches ( I had to first create a "library"), so I spent two hours doing nothing and lost all my patches when I sold my XP-50. Sound Diver is cool, but not very intuitive. Also, the XP-30 does have a computer port built in, so you canb plug it directly to a mac or pc with no MIDI interface required. Like its predecessors, a "shift" key is required to access banks of sounds, except for the expansion boards, which have dedicated switches (nice).

The sounds are versatile, excellent sounding, and worth every penny.One new feature is the ability to easily modify filter, resonance, attack and decay using simple MIDI continuous controllers. I created a console in Digital Performer to do this, and if I do need to tweak a sound, I can do so entirely from the Mac, and be confident I will get my sound back the next time I play the sequence.

I do not kow yet.

I called Roland twice with questions, and I got tech support right away, and they knew the answers.

This keyboard rules. I use it for my occassional live gig, which is just for fun, and for my music composition, which is how I earn my living. I would like to have a better Mod wheel design, and it would be nice is the control sliders were close to the Mod wheel, but its not a big point with me. For this price point, I think Roland got everything right.

Well, here it is - the first review of the XP30. I've only had it for a couple days but I've been asked by many to post a preliminary review.
It's pretty easy to use. There's only a two line display but there are lots of buttons to quickly access all the functions. The interface is fairly intuitive.

64 note polyphony, comes with 64 MB of ROM standard and includes the equivalent of the techno, session, and orchestraI board plus two more expansion slots. No sequencer and only one set of outs but that only makes it more affordable.
Has the patchfinder and phrase preview functions of the JV2080 which is cool.

This is the reason why I went to Roland. It has the most unbelievably realistic patches compared to all the other synths I've tried in this price range. Many patches respond to velocity and aftertouch extremely well and allows you to get some really natural sounding tracks - morso than Yamaha's physical modelling technology. I also noticed increased sound quality and crispness compared to the XP50 - probably due to the borrowed clean synth engine of the2080.
Another reason why I bought the unit is because of its ability to do classical pieces. The best unit for this type of work IMHO. I couldn't care less for the techo stuff.

Have had it for 2 days ... no problems yet.

I'm not too fond of Rolands site and haven't had to deal with them yet. There's no email address for inquiries (that I know of) but I'm sure there's a 1-800 number available.

I absolutely love this thing. It's the best bang for the buck if you're into natural sounds (orchestral instruments for example). It comes with the equivalent of 3 expansion boards and is still cheaper than all the other expandable XPs so it's definately worth the money. I have the unit maxed out with the Orchestral II and SFX boards - 96 MB is nothing to complain about!
I'm extremely pleased.