The XP-50 is not just another synthesizer workstation, it's basically a JV-1080 with a built-in keyboard and a 16-track sequencer! It is a digital synthesizer using sampled ROM waveforms. Superb sound quality capable of emulating most any instrument imaginable plus totally fat analog synth type sounds and loads of percussion! It has 64 voices of polyphony and is 16-part multitimbral. The XP-50 makes a great beginner's pro-quality workstation.

It has 8MB of sounds and it also offers a lot of expandability with 4 expansion slots and 2 data card memory slots. You can get up to 42MB of sounds by adding any of the popular SR-JV80 expansion cards suited for Techno, World Instruments, Orchestral or Synthesizers. There's also plenty of multi-effects, reverbs, choruses and filters for creative flexibility, motion control and extensive MIDI implementation.

Some of the features the XP-50 brings (to the JV-1080) are a standard 61-note keyboard with velocity and aftertouch. The MRC-PRO 16-track sequencer which features 60,000 note capacity and can hold 100 patterns and 1 song. Several recording features (loop, step, realtime), quantization and editing features are available too. A built-in 3.5 inch disk drive facilitates storage of your sequences and MIDI data. With a 'bang for your buck' value the XP-50 still makes a great keyboard alternative to the JV-1080. That means you get some of Roland's best sounds in a performance workstation that is as affordable as 'pro-quality' can get (beyond which come the XP-60 and XP-80 mega-synths). It has been used by The Cure.

Evan Long

September 20, 2010 @ 10:56 am

A major weakness of this unit is the disk drive. If it happens to wear out over time as disk drives can, finding a replacement is very difficult. Roland, who reportedly once sold them for $100 shipped, no longer has these available. According to their database, the Teac part number is FD-235HF-5327 although there are a few other equally rare model numbers (the last four digits in the code above) cited by various unofficial sources on-line.

Kim Herrick

August 17, 2010 @ 9:38 pm

I've performed professionally with my Roland XP-50 for at least 12 years. It was used when I purchased it and has proven to be very road worthy. It's been my #1 synth since I first bought it. Only recently added a Nord for the more advanced Organ and L100 technology. Gonna find a synth expansion board soon and already use the Organ expansion board. I love this keyboard. We've spent a lot of great time together.

andy

August 11, 2010 @ 7:36 pm

I have the xp-50 and i have a Alesis QS 6.1. I was wanting to know can i hook up both of them thru one amp thru midi.If so can you tell me how

Martin

August 7, 2010 @ 7:27 am

So far I've been fortunate to own some great synths such as SY77, MS2000, DX7-IID, D-20, D-50, Alpha Juno, Juno 106, VZ-10m, but the XP50 is my favourite. It's incredibly versatile and sounds damn amazing, it can be whispy, it can be harsh, it can be phat. My only wish for this keyboard, was that it was as solid built as a SY77 - the keyboard is too light and feathery.

Evan Long

April 12, 2010 @ 7:10 pm

I've used the XP-50 for almost fifteen years. I had heard Rolands had a bad reputation for being difficult to navigate menu-wise but personally, I didn't have much of a problem. That said, I generally didn't get into modifying sounds too much; this was more of a songwriting station for me. Some of the sounds are excellent (especially strings) and I've downloaded some excellent user patches from the web, some of which produced patches I never suspected could come from this unit. As a songwriting station, it was excellent, with an abundance of voices and sixteen easy to use tracks. I didn't get into the expansion cards but did use the included Dance presets (came on a special floppy), which gave the instrument new dimensions. Overall, there's something about the sound which leaves me wanting more but I'll definitely hang on to it because it is so versatile and listenable, though perhaps not knock-your-socks off amazing.

<87654321>

 

Post Comment!

Your Name: (Required.)

Email Address: (Required, not published.)

Image verification: (required)

Message:

 

Posting Rules:
Please keep your comments relevant! Do not post requests for help, do not use for sales, do not post unless you have something interesting to say about this instrument, or we may delete your post.

I have read and understand the posting rules.