Vintage Synth Explorer

Roland • D-10 / D-110

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.

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.

VISITOR COMMENTS (17)

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Charles

Posted 19 days ago

It uses a CR2032 3 Volt lithium battery. Found in PC motherboards and some RF car keys. Can be found in electronics stores and occupationally supermarkets.

Sysexes can be found here.
http: / /www.synthzone.com/midi/roland/d10/

There's a number of interesting sets of patches, but the only original set that worked for me is in D20_SYX.zip - the patches are the same. There's some good stuff in the BOI and BOCM sets but they will replace everything so have fun cherry picking the good stuff back out.

mkearn

Posted 30 days ago

is it worth trying to bring one of these back to life? what kind of battery does it use and where might i find an os/sysex file? would i load it using a usb midi thingy or can i load it onto a floppy and use an old micro composer to get it on there?

Digi Fan

Posted 59 days ago

D-10 was my first board, bought it when first came out. Nice to hear that mp3 of the old demo again. Allway's dreamed of owning a D-50. Miss my ol D-10 an wish i never sold it.

Graham

Posted 62 days ago

I bought one of these when they first came out and loved it. After 20+ years in the loft I decided to get back into it again and bought a patch editor to help me get some better sounds. However, it reports that the system rom needs to be 1.05 or above in order to work. Now I'm stuck as mine is 1.03 and I can't find any reference on how to upgrade it. Worth checking out before buying.

Reinaldo

Posted 140 days ago

I really liked the D-10. When a kid it was an awesome synth but I ended up buying a Kawai K1 wich was great. I like how bright the D-10 was and I remember there was some special effects in the drum section.

Today I have a D-50 and let me tell you, they are two totally different machines. The D-10 does the job well, but the D-50 takes over the stage. The only sond comparable with the D-50 is the JD-800 witch I think is a cleaner and a bit more digital version of the D-50. The D-70 was basically a prototype of the JV series, it has nothing to do with the D series sound engine.

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