Roland XV-5050
Roland's XV-5050 is a 64-voice synthesizer packed with their XV-5080 synth engine in a small 1-unit rack-module. It features four stereo tones per patch, expressive Matrix Control and over a thousand inspiring presets-expandable via high-quality SRX-Series Wave Expansion Boards. There are also three independent effects processors, digital outputs, plus a USB port for easy connection to computers.
Front panel controls are at a minimum, as you might expect from such a small rack module. You can select and edit patches from the front, but this module is really at home in a computer/MIDI studio set-up. You get all of Roland's XV-5080 sounds plus a selection of sounds from the newer Fantom-X series of synthesizers. The three effects processors offer 24-bit reverb and chorus, plus 90 multi-effects including COSM Guitar Amp Modeling.
For connectivity, the XV-5050 has superb features. They include four analog outputs, 24-bit D/A converters and S/PDIF digital outputs, a front panel USB port for simplified MIDI connections with a Mac or PC (drivers included on a CD-ROM), and two SRX expansion ports for adding more sounds (up to 192 MB total) from the SRX-Series Wave Expansion Boards. Each expansion contains 64MB of new sounds and patches, and can be user-installed in seconds.
Cost effective, simple, compact, computer savvy, superior sound quality. These are the means by which the XV-5050 was designed to provide users with the sounds of Roland's flagship XV-series sound engine.
- Demos & Media
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Audio Clip 1 - Hear some XV-5050 sounds, from Future Music issue 119.
Manual - Roland has made manuals for most of their products available as free PDF downloads.
- Specifications
- Polyphony - 64 voices (16-part multitimbral)
- Oscillators - 64MB Wave Memory (16-bit linear equivalent). 1,083 Waveforms
- Sampler - None
- Effects - Multi Effects (MFX) : 90 Types *Three different Multi-Effects (50 Types) can be used simultaneously in Performance Mode. Chorus: 3 Types, Reverb: 5 Types, System EQ: 2-band per each 4 outputs
- Memory - Preset Patches: 1,024 (128 x 8 Banks) + 256 (GM2) Rhythm Sets: 16 (2 x 8 Banks) + 9 (GM2) Performances: 64 (32 x 2 Banks)
User Patches: 128, Rhythm Sets: 4, Performances: 64 - Keyboard - None
- Control - MINI (In/Out/Thru), USB
- Date Produced - 2001
- Resources & Credits
Images from Perfect Circuit Audio.
Reviewed August 2008.
Errors or Corrections? Send them here.
Roland might have some sounds that are a bit better, but overall, I'll stick with my Motif rack. I could gig with only my Motif rack and nothing else.....it covers all the bases. Acoustic piano is a dream. Newer Motif racks are even better (each newer one is better) but the original Motif rack on Ebay can be had for $300 - $400....total steal !!!! 256 user sound locations....should be enough....enough for me !!!!