Roland XP-60

It takes a while to get familiar with the functions and operations of the product.

The keyboard action is very nice. The effects are very nice and fairly easy to use. There are wonderful expansion capabilities that will keep the consumer happy for a long time. The 16 track on-board sequencer is very fun to use, and you can create endless numbers of songs of any style.

Most instruments are very realistic. The keyboard is adaptable to all styles of music and it can react in any way the user sees fit as far as velocity and aftertouch. It is very sensitive and exressive to the mood or emotion played behind a song.

I have never had a problem with my keyboard. It is probably the most reliable keyboard I've ever owned. I would definitely use it by itself because there is no need for a backup.

As far as I've dealt with Roland, they've been fairly helpful. It is difficult however to find expansion disks, at least over the Internet.

If my Roland was stolen, I would have to buy another. I've been able to create and compose my own music with such ease. The Roland keyboard was the best keyboard for the price I paid.

Easy as can be. The sequencer is a pain..but the board is only a few weeks old. I will get the hang of it(if I keep it).

Editing patches is a piece of cake.

The manual is helpful in starting a campfire.

The Keyboard action feels GREAT. I dig it. Polyphony is nice as well.

The effects sound good enough to me. I would like to be able to employ deep hall2 reverb AND a delay, but what can you do.

The expansion slots are a nice feature. However, I heard a few of the expansion boards and I amn not impressed with them.

The pressure sensitivity on the keys is excellent. Aftertouch and velocity is great.

Like I said before, the onboard sequencer is escaping me at the moment, because my xp-60 is at a certified roland tech for a "little" decay problem.

Most of the sounds are crap, but thats ok. The synth engine is very deep, and I have already pulled some crazy stuff out of it with only a few days. HEY ROLAND DITCH THe DARN SAX SOUNDS. THEY SOUND LIKE A DROWNING DUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think the xp-60's sounds cover a wide variety of styles. Thats whats so nice about it. Most of the bland sounds can be fiddled with to be made very good.

The onboard effects are good, but a little limited.


heres the major problem:


My xp-60 has a grunge-static noise on notes with alot of sustain.
Add in a little reverb, and its downright ANNOYING. Try one of the accoustic guiatr patches, or a sharp piano. Make sure the effects and chorus buttons are enabled. I first noticed this when in my quiet home with a pair of studio quality headphones. It is balatant in a quiet environment. It seems this problem would render the xp-60 USELESS for quieter passages in the studio.

I like this keyboard, I like it alot. If Roland can fix this problem for free, I will keep it. If not, I still have 14 days to returnt it to the store for a full refund.

I dropped it off at an official roland tech here in the Chicago area.
I then called roland customer support, and was basically yelled at and insulted. In fact, all net users in general were insulted.

I told the rep that the xp-80, and 50 did NOT have this problem. HE told me I was wrong. He said he owned an xp-80 and it was fine. I told him the problem wasnt with the xp-80, and that it was the 60 I was calling about. He told me "if you have to be in a quiet room to hear it, whats the problem"?

He basically started to raise his voice, and sigh dramatically. He told me he was going to hang up if I was going to argue with him. My voice was level and even tempered the entire time. He then said he just saw a lady play an xp-60 in a large auditorium, and he didnt hear anything, ect. HE then said that "noise" is an inherent design of the roalnd 1080 line. I told him I already knew that , and that this type of noise was a DEFECT grunge-static noise on notes with alot of sustain ect, and not the usual sample-go round noise at the end of alot of synths.

HE told me to call back after I talked with the certified Roland tech, which should be tomorrow.

This was easily the worst customer service encounter I have ever had, with any manufacturer, ANYWHERE, for ANY product.

Excuse me if I dont want my 1500$ sytnh sounding like a 10 dollar pc soundcard.

I bough the keyboard two weeks ago. A few days after that, I noticed the noise. Since I like the keyboard, I decided to see if Roland would fix it for free first so that I could just keep it. Most people if they encounterd a faulty product would take it back and get a refund immediately. I however, decided to put my faith in Roland as a company, and give them the benefit of the doubt. I assumed they would handle this situation with aplomb and class. I figured it would not be a hassle. Sure, messing around with techs and customer sevice with something you just bought IS a hassle, but like I said, I liked the board. I thought it would be worth it.

So, I have 14 days to return it and get a refund. If roland will not recognize or fix this problem by then, I will get a refund.

I probably will pocket the money and wait a few months to see what pops up on the market. Im not too enmamored with the Triton, or any other synth for under 2k really, except for the xp-60.

The xp-60 WOULD have been an excellent little controller and creator along with my sampler and software sequencer.

The ball is in Rolands court now....they have 14 days to act in good faith for a loyal customer.

But instead, I get a pouty, winning customer service rep. HE tells me " you cant speak with my boss because it is the christmas rush" ??????????


Sorry Roland, you get a big fat 1 for sounds. This MAY change if you stand behind your products and FIX them.

The xp-60 is worhtless as a studio synth.

Roland customer support is the worst I have ever experienced, for ANY product, by ANY manufacturer I have ever witnessed.

If it were lost or stolen, and I knew the decay issue would be fixed? I would get it again.

I have been playing for several years.

I love the synthesis engine, the bender, the realtime controls, the keyboard feel, the aftertouch/velocity ect.

I hate the decay grunge and roland customer support. Truly a frightening experience.

DO NOT BUY AN XP-60 unitl this issue is resolved. Check them out at the store with a GOOD pair of headhones on a non-busy day.

Roland customer service is not recommended. TheW ORST customer service I have EVER encountered, for ANY product, by ANY manufacturer, that I have ever witnessed.

The Roland XP-60 synth is pretty amazing. What really makes this instrument stand out are the available expansion boards which can be installed in the rear panel of the keyboard ( up to four maximum ), thereby giving the user about 1500 different sounds to choose from! Each expansion board contains about 255 patches ( or sounds ), and some contain rhythm kits. The keyboard also offers a number of built-in preset sounds which are sampled from various expansion boards. I would say about 80 % of the patches sound terrific, and they are varied to suit multiple musical styles. Some of the patches are redundant and some sound too "synthy" or metallic. But who's perfect? With some tweaking and effects, anything is possible!
The XP-60 also offers a mini mixing palette on the front left panel of the keyboard. If you don't care for mixing too much, this may be all you need, but if you are into dance-oriented music, be prepared to invest in additional equipment. Editing the patches are never easy for me, regardless of the brand, as I am a perfectionist, and the manual is just there, so to speak. Anyone who really wants to experiment with editing sounds and laying down effects has to do just that - EXPERIMENT! The manual can only do so much for you. However, you can do quite a bit with the Roland.

The XP-60 has a 61 note, 64 polyphony range and has basic effects. Really, the built-in effects are not its strong point. The Phaser is not too powerful ( and that is my favorite effect next to Slicer, which is not accessible on the XP-60 ). There are 8 different Reverbs, including Delay and Pan Delay. The Hall 2 and Stage 2 Reverbs are decent, while the rest are less than adequate. The Chorus effect is fine. Aside from these two, independent effects, there are also 40 other effects the user can select from. However, only one can be used in each performance. In other words, the user can add Reverb, Delay, and one additional effect to the mix, which is standard in affordable keyboards today.
The sequencer took me forever to figure out, only because I was unfamiliar with how they worked. The manual did squat for me, but then I began to zone out on all the terminology. Basically, I learned how to use it myself, and it all clicked in one brilliant moment. I can't explain it, I just suddenly "understood" what to do. Actually, the sequencer is so easy to use that I am disgusted I couldn't figure it out sooner. In that brilliant moment, I learned how to utilize the basics of it in abot three minutes!! Now that's easy!!!! Also, it is a good sequencer as the sound doesn't get lost when adding new tracks unless the user applies more than 64 instruments to the mix ( that's alot anyway for one poor sequencer to handle ).

With the XP-60, I bought it because it sounds better than virtually any other synth out there. Some synths have some better sounds here and there ( some of the Yamahas, Korgs, and [Soltans??] ), but the XP-60 is the best bet overall. The expansion boards give the user so much to choose from, how could anyone go wrong?
The synth seems best suited for dance-oriented music, but other styles can be derived. I see the instrument as an all-around tool, combining dance with classical, ethnic, and even contemporary jazz styles.

It is a Roland, and it is therefore reliable. My brother's Roland keyboard is about 12 years old ( it is an old version of the XP-60, but I don't have the name of it as I have not used it in a few years ), and it is still going strong. My brother continues to play with it to this day!

If my Roland was a' stolen, I would throw a fit! I would buy a new one quick, but only after I first tested the Yamaha E7 ( or whatever it is called ) as it seems to have many capabilities. I have been playing on this keyboard for 1 1/2 years. I tried out about every keyboard from here to China, and I really am comfortable in the choice I made. I wish that the onboard effects were more powerful and up-to-date in terms of some of the more cutting edge type of stuff like Slicer, Phonograph, and Jao. I have never considered myself a true songwriter, but I have written some pretty powerful stuff with this synth. If I can do it, anyone can do it! You just have to stay focused and experiment with, practice, and time everything. Anything is possible! Good luck!!!!

I have software version 1.10. This has not given me any problems so far. The synth is really quite intuitive and easy to use. I used to own a Technics keyboard, so the architecture of the XP took some getting used to at first, but after a couple of weeks I had most things under control. Editing patches is not very difficult, thanks to the great interface and LCD, but of course there are lots of parameters that can be set. A synth is supposed to be complex. Otherwise i would still own a keyboard :) The most complex and difficult part of the synth, in my opinion, is the controller system. It is also very flexible once you know how to use it.

The manual is not the best. Most things are in there somewhere, but sometimes in a caothic order. The most advanced details may not be explained at all, but I guess that would only make the manual more confusing.

The polyphony is 64 voices. A patch can use up to 4 voices. A very nice feature, is the way the synth handles running out of voices. This is absolutely noiseless and undetectable. Great! The keyboard is semi-weighted synth-action. The best I've ever tried, but I haven't tried them all. It has reverb, chorus, and a multi-effects unit. The effects-routing is very simple thanks to the interface. Effects sound great. A bit limiting with only one multi-effects unit, but this can mostly be overcome.

The XP-60 take up to 4 SR-JV80 ROM expansion boards with samples and patches. Great system, but expensive.

It has a good MIDI-implementation, but I have used it only as a stand-alone instrument, so I don't know much about how it would be to connect ot to other instruments.

This is a synth workstation with 16-track sequencer. The sequencer is powerful and easy to use. The powerful CPU makes it real useful.

The sound quality is great. I have heard the much discussed decay-noise on some patches, but it is normally inaudible. I have to turn the volume of my amplifier gradually to max at the decay of a sound to hear it.

The presets are most very good and very usable. They make a good source for your own sounds. This is a synth, and it should be programmed. The pads and other synth-sounds are extremely good. This is where the XP really excels. Many of the acoustic sounds are great too. Drums are fantastic. I play mostly electronic music (Jean-Michel Jarre etc), and it works great for this.

Velocity-response is great. The aftertouch takes a little pressure to react, but is mostly easy to use.

I think I can depend on it. It has never frozen or locked up in the 6 months I have used it. It seems really well built. I do not gig, but I would use it without a backup.

I have had no problems with it yet (cross my fingers).

This is a great synth. I would buy it again anytime. If you need a high-quality synth workstation, but do not need DSP-synthesis or user sampling, this must be one of the best buys in the market. The XP-80 is a good alternative if you need 76 keys, otherwise they are identical.

I have been playing keyboards more or less the last 15 years (since I was 10). The XP-60 is the only instrument i own, and actually the only instument I need. I really like this insrument, and there is nothing i really dislike about it.

I compared it to the Korg Trinity Plus,Yamaha EX-7, and found that the XP gives most value for money if you need a PCM synth workstation. The Yamaha has had a lot of bad "publicity" lately, and the Trinity Plus was quite expensive, and only has 32-voice polyphony. The Triton was not yet launched when I bought it 6 months ago, but I still think I would buy the XP. I feel that buying a Triton/Trinity would be spending my money on features I do not REALLY need. Like that oversized LCD on the Korgs. I am sure it is a great interface, but I am also sure Korg let you pay for it.... The Triton is more expensive.

Besides, I like Roland, even though this is my first Roland-product.

Feel free to mail me if you have any questions.

Manual is not as bad as a lot of Roland?s manuals. Considering the complexity of the machine it not ?that? bad . For some reason the patches don?t seem to follow any logical grouping. Roland should adopt Alesis? patch grouping scheme. The sequencer takes a little getting used to, but seems logical once you get used to thinking its? way. The LCD if very informative and goes a long way to making the thing useable.

Onboard sequencer (with 16 phrase and 100 pattern tracks ? 60,000 note capacity, 180,000 via floppy), 320 x 80 backlit LCD, 4 Foot controller inputs, Two separate pairs of audio outs, 2 asignable sliders, sliders for Cutoff, Reso, Attack, Decay (which doubles as volume levels for each of the 4 tones used in a patch. Edits to patches done via the sliders can?t be stored without actually editing the patches directly) , 3.5? floppy drive, Arpeggiator, RPS (Real-time Phrase Sequencer which lets you play riffs from a single mapped key), 1 reverb, 1 chorus, 1 EFX (40 sets to choose from) 64 note polyphonic, 8MB compressed ROM (= 16MB linear), 4 expansion slots for SR-JV80 expansion boards, making it possible to have 40MB (80MB linear) total and most importantly a very nice sound.

Keyboard is semi-weighted synth type, 61 keys. It has a very solid, but light feel. I love it but you had better try it out first. It has a very shallow depth of travel (or at least it seems that way to me). If you are looking for piano feel you best look elsewhere.

The sequencer resolution is only 96 ppq, although I have not noticed this being a problem, I understand that it could be. So far it seems to accurately reproduce exactly what I played in. Which isn?t always a good thing. :) The ability to save a song list and play it back from the floppy has been a real plus for me.

The EFX seem very good, but I personally try to use them as little as possible. You can only have 1 insertion EFX type in a performance which can be very limiting. Here I have Trinity/Triton envy.

I wished it had input for external audio and a patch finder?. and while we?re at it, a drum machine (think ZR-76) would be nice.

This being very subjective I am certain there will be opinions that differ from mine both ways. The unit has an overall warm tone that just sounds great to my ears. Yes, some of the patches are worthless, but I am yet to play a keyboard that I can?t say that about. And yes I can confirm the problems with decay noises on a ?FEW? patches, but honestly such a small number of sounds are effected that I don?t personally see at as much more than a minor inconvenience. Considering how many good players use JVs or XPs , it must be a survivable problem.

The Pianos? are ok (better than most ROMpers), but still not great. I had to add the Session board to be satisfied. With the Session pianos (both the stereo and dark variations) I am happy enough to end my quest for a dedicated piano module. The Brass and Strings sound great, the acoustic guitars are very good, some really nice pads and ambient sounds, the sax sounds like a glorified kazoo and there are WAY to many basses and overlapping sounds, but the same could be said for most other keyboards. Although I have seen other people do it, I have never been able to get electric guitar sounds to work on a synth and sadly the XP is no exception. Pilot error?? .... Probably! Drums sound good, but I am easily pleased in this area.

Overall there is enough variety to keep most folks happy and it has a warmth that just has to be heard to be appreciate. If I had not had to go with an add-on board to get a good (actually very good) piano I would have given it a 9.

It doesn?t feel as solid overall as my QS6.1, but it does seem pretty well built. From my experience Roland units are very good at holding up. I still have an Alpha Juno 1 from the early 80s that works as good as the day I bought it.

Don't know....knock wood!

I waited till I had the unit for over six months before I considered writing this review and all things considered I would buy it again in a heartbeat. I have intentions of filling the expansion slots and keeping this thing for a long while. The only other keyboard I would consider if I were to replace it is the Trinity/Triton . The onboard sequencer, big LCD and great tone have freed me from continually being tied to my computer and keep me focused on playing. That alone has been worth the price of admission

Hi, Note: this is just an update to my previous review. What I'm referring to is the decay noise problem that is common to new Roland keyboard and module products. I have contacted Roland on this problem and they told me: "This problem is inherent of the machine you are using. The XP-60, 80, & JV-2080 all use 18-bit converters so they have a brighter and clearer sound thus exposing noise on the decay of notes in some patches. The JV-1080 and XP-50 use 16-bit converters and have a darker sound so you don't hear the noise." This is the explanation Roland gave but, I think it's just an excuse for inferior sounding converters on supposedly superior keyboards and modules. I then asked if Roland saw this decay noise issue as a problem and if so, were they currently working on a fix. Here's what I got: "We've contacted Japan on this subject but, we haven't heard a response yet." I asked what do they suggest I do in the mean time (I already told the tech I have a 1080 and didn't notice the problem there). Another quote folks: "Use your 1080 for intro parts and quieter passages." I tested another r XP-60 in another state and city (I was just on a business trip), same problem. Here are a few patches that can be auditioned which have a louder noise problem than most. PR-A 072 Fantasia JV, 084 Wave Bells, 086 Beauty Bells. PR-B 112 Alto Sax. Note: Be sure to have all the internal effects on and listen through quality headsets - preferably some place quiet. I think I should let everyone know that I am not a Roland basher and I have been a Roland and Boss user since 1989 (D-20). I guess I am more disappointed than anything. I use to look forward to new Roland products knowing that they would be the standards by which all others would be judged. I hope Roland doesn't incorporate these same "brighter & clearer 18-bit converters" into new products. For now I still use the XP-60 along with the JV-1080 for all of my synth sounds. I returned the E-MU Proteus 2000 for another JV-1080. I have plans to expand it with the newest cards. I hope this clears up any confusion. Tyrone Oliver

I am using an XP-60 with ROM ver. 1.10. The presets sound pretty good (standard Roland sound set - 1080, 2080, XP-50 & 80). Editing the pathches is not too hard because of the excellent graphic display. The manual is very general and too "formal" - It reads like Airforce Tech Data (very dry). Roland should hire an american company to write a better manual, ala "XP-60 for Dummies" ect...

64 voice polyphony with standard keyboard action (nothing to brag on). Good effects, very easy to use. Excellent expansion capabilties. I have the Orchestral, Vintage synth, 60's & 70's, & Hip-Hop cards - love them all! Sequencer is pretty good but I use an Akai MPC2000 to sequence so I never bother it and it never bothers me. This is basically a 61 key ver. of the XP-80.

Sounds are generally good for all types of music. Very responsive to aftertouch. Effects are good and very programmable. Now here's what's wrong with it. IT HAS A TERRIBLE DECAY NOISE PROBLEM THAT IS VERY AUDIBLE ON PATCHES WITH ALOT OF SUSTAIN. THIS IS AUGMENTED IF THE PATCH USES ONBOARD REVERB. I DIDN'T NOTICE THIS IN THE STORE BECAUSE MUSIC STORES ARE LOUD AND I WAS ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH THE SOUND SET FROM USING A JV-1080. I PRIMARILY MONITOR WITH HEADSETS (SONY MDR-7506) AND FOUND THIS TERRIBLE PROBLEM WHILE SEQUENCING A HARP SOLO. I INITIALLY THOUGHT IT WAS IN THE INTERNAL EFFECTS UNIT SO I CUT IT OFF AND THE DECAY NOISE IS STILL THERE. IT SOUNDS LIKE A CHEAP 8-BIT SOUND CARD - VERY FUZZY AND STATICY AND THE END OF NOTES WITH LONG SUSTAIN. I INVESTIGATED THIS PROBLEM BY TESTING ANOTHER XP-60 - SAME PROBLEM. I TESTED A JV-1080 AND NO PROBLEM - VERY CLEAN. I TESTED A JV-2080 AND THERE IS A DECAY NOISE PROBLEM, BUT NOT AS LOUD AS THE XP-60. THE XP-80 I CHECKED DID NOT HAVE THIS PROBLEM - SOUNDED AS GOOD AS THE JV-1080. I CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS SYNTH TO ANYONE TO USE AS A PRO. SYNTH. BUT AT THE STREET PRICE OF $1,500, ITS COST IS CERTAINLY PRO. THIS NOISE PROBLEM HAS FORCED ME TO LOOK ELSEWHERE FOR SYNTH SOUNDS, SO INSTEAD OF BUYING A 1080 I GOT A PROTEUS 2000 WITH VERY GOOD AND CLEAN (NO DECAY NOISE) SOUNDS. I JUST USE THE XP-60 AS A CONTROLLER AND BACKING SOUNDS. IT'S A DAMN SHAME A KEYBOARD WITH SO MUCH POTENTIAL COULD FAIL IN AN AREA AS CRITICAL SOUND QUALITY. NOT RECOMMENDED, GET A JV-1080 OR PROTEUS 2000!

I think it will hold up. I do notice how newer Roland keyboards feel cheaper then say a D-50 or a D-20. Gotta cut costs somehow I guess. Too bad Roland decided to go with cheaper D/A converters on it's flagship Modual and Mid-priced workstations :(

On my attempt to reach Roland to adress this problem I looked in the back of the manual and called 213-685-5141. The area code change to 323 - no problem... o.k. 323-685-5141.... "The number you have dailed is disconnected" It figuers, i'm sure no one at Roland will admit to this problem and probably just blow me off.

This would have been the workstation to end all workstations as far as price and features go. But the bottom line is this; how good does it sound. Most competing synth companies can't compare with Rolands sound set and features but with Shitty D/A converters your beautiful Roland sounds end up sounding like they were played though an 8-bit computer sound card. Everything was in the right place on this workstation except Roland dropped the ball and went with cheap D/A converters. Hint, Roland: YOU DON'T CUT CORNERS BY DEGRADING THE SOUND QUALITY, YOU DO IT BY CUTTING THE FEATURES. THIS SYNTH IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THE PROFFESIONAL/STUDIO MUSICIAN.