Roland D-20

Roland D-20 Image

The D-20 makes a great budget or alternative D-50. It's more closely related to the D-10 and D-110 synthesizers but adds an 8-voice sequencer with a rhythm track. The D-20 is a digital synth that employs linear arithmetic synthesis (LAS). It's 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. Reverb effects and internal / external memory storage are also available on the D-20. Definitely worth a listen.

73 Visitor comments
xan1242
June 8, 2013 @ 8:11 pm
A beautiful synth for its time.... I love it because I can use it in old games and I actually reprogrammed MT-32 patches to work with the D-20. I don't wanna even talk about the drums because they are amazing. I am considering to upgrade the ROMs to version 1.02 because it has buffering issues and it keeps dropping polyphony even if the MT-32 doesn't, and they are essentially exactly the same synths. Only things different are the PCM samples.
carlo
April 27, 2013 @ 4:20 pm
Found one at almost new condition for 100€, perfectly working, and now have fun with D20 too :)
carlo
April 22, 2013 @ 9:38 pm
Hi, almost found one, they are very cheap now, i am sure can be programmed to be as good as my D50, with different sounds of course since is a similar but a different machine from D50.
Carlo :)
David C
April 21, 2013 @ 10:14 pm
@adam- I doubt you have even ever played a d-20
much less a d-50. Either that or you are deaf.
carlo
March 29, 2013 @ 10:04 am
I think the best thing to do is to personally try a synth instead of reading opinions particularly when they are 50% good and 50% bad since the taste of everyone is as different as the music preference and his requirements.
What is awesome for someone can be boring and uninspiring for some one else, that is normal :)
 
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  • Demos & Media
  • YouTube Thumbnail
    Video 1
    - Roland D20 demos part1

    YouTube Thumbnail
    Video 2
    - Roland D20 demo part2

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

  • 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 preset patches, 64 user patches 128 performances
  • Keyboard - 61 keys with velocity
  • Control - MIDI
  • Date Produced - 1988

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