Roland D-10 / D-110

Roland D-10 Image

Second generation D-50 style synthesis. The D-10 is a Digital Linear Arithmetic Synthesizer and the D-110 is its upgraded rackmount version. Capable of decent acoustic sounds and great new synth-type sounds the D-10/110 is a great and cheaper alternative to the popular D-50. It has a confusing synthesis / editing method composed of tones, partials and timbres. Basically it all boils down to tricky programming which, if you know what your doing, can have interesting and unique results. On-board drum sounds, reverb effects and internal / external memory storage are also a plus.

Roland D-110 Image

The D-110 rackmount version adds 6 individual outputs, and the follow-up D-20 keyboard version adds an 8-track sequencer. Definitely worth a listen for any musician on a budget! It has been used by Suzanne Vega, Future Sound of London, and Information Society.



68 VISITOR COMMENTS

Justin
April 23, 2012 @ 2:13 am
The previous owner of my D-110 busted the shaft off the volume potentiometer. Found a replacement pot that works: Bourns PTD902-2015K-A503
Still need a replacement volume knob, though.
It looks like the original pot had a knurled split shaft, like the replacement. A JV series knob looks like the right size, but is for a D shaft, so it won't work.
Richard
March 9, 2012 @ 9:06 am
A cheap way into the D-series sound, it failed to impress me, but will surely yield good results to anyone willing to put in the time to wrestle with its rather obtuse interface. Still a good synth, just not very desirable any more (and when it was, the D20 walked all over it).
Goofy
March 1, 2012 @ 12:25 pm
I have a D-110 in my setup since - 1991 - I think. It sounds good but it's horrible to program. Now I bought a PG-10 and I hope it will be easyer. The sound is the only reason I still have this synth in my setup - but it's the same with all the Roland Synthesizers of that time. Good sound but a nightmare to program. Tones, Partials - bla.bla.bubb - This is not funny.
Matt
March 1, 2012 @ 7:58 am
I bought a D10 a few years ago for £50, I ended up taking it down the tip along with a rom card of bass sounds.
Then I bought a D110 for the same amount of money (now why did I do that and what a waste throwing the rom card away), I guess something intrigued me about it or more likely that it's so cheap and I thought I would have another go with it.
I switched it on last night (one has to have the patience of a rock to program via the units interface) and managed to get quite a fat bass.
It's so cheap, it's probably worth a punt and you will learn from it eventually.
Casimir's Blake
February 23, 2012 @ 12:50 pm
Without wishing to start a "slanging match" Tim, I take issue with your offensive comment regarding programming. I've programmed many effective sounds with a Nova, KS, various Junos, and Waldorf's Q, Pulse and XT.

The simple fact of the matter is, the D-10 has an awkward interface that isn't fun to operate, quite opposed to being immediate, and hardly engages one's creativity in either a studio or live context.

An Alpha Juno has a solid, powerful sawtooth wave that can be easily shaped into tons of useable sounds. A D-10 requires MANY layered for a vaguely similar result. Why bother?
 
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  • Demos & Media
  • YouTube Thumbnail
    Video 1
    - Roland D-110 demo sounds

    YouTube Thumbnail
    Video 2
    - Roland D-110 Rom Play

    Audio Clip 1 - A few demo tunes submitted by Mick Genialis.

    Manual - Roland has made manuals for most of their products available as free PDF downloads.

    Patchs - Original factory patches for the D-110. These are Midi SysEx files and can be downloaded for Macintosh or Windows/PC.

  • Specifications
  • Polyphony - 32 voices
  • Oscillators - Digital LAS (Linear Arithmetic Synthesis) & ROM Samples
  • Effects - 8 Effects
  • Multitimbral - 9 parts
  • Drums - 1 kit, 63 sounds
  • Memory - 128 internal & 128 external patches, 64 performances
  • Keyboard - 61 note with velocity sensitivity (D-10)
  • Control - MIDI
  • Date Produced - 1988

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