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Alécio Costa 11 August 2003

Hi folks
I have a XP80 and to tell the truth, this keyboard has beem somewhat a pain in the ass.

I am a huge fan of Roland, pionered their DM800 older DAw line in Brazil, helped solve some bugs, did do 2 machines function with a long rig of ADATs and so.. ( japanese team said it was not possible...)

However, funny things have happened with the XP:

a) sometimes, the sequencer gets crazy, loses sync, even if you make shift clock. My toy Roland JW50 has a seuqener 100 times better (in terms of accuracy) than the XP. My keyboardist has a XP60 and the same Sh.. happens;

b) there is a small metal card glued under the keys... Lots of these cards fell and I had to send to repair to refrix that. Hey, mine is kept udner nice temperatures. It has happened to other XP's also.

c) The local Roland tech head told me that I have a version 2 that still had OS upgraded via floppy.. He told me that there is a newer version where we can upgrade VIa Eproms ( like the DM800) and seems there was a factory recall considering the damn sequencer board. IS it true?

I am really afraid of buying a Fantom S, which twice the price.

So?
Thanks for any info
:)

Comments

Nate Tschetter Tue, 08/12/2003 - 07:06

Hi Alecio

How much is the upgrade? Or is it free?

I'm not much of a Roland guy but I hear that new "Varios" thing is pretty cool. I've noodled with the Fantom a bit in GC but its SOOOOOOOOO "plastic fantastic" that I just can't be a fan.

I agree that the stuff looks and feels cheap. A great test is to go into a repair shop and look around. Whatever they have lots of will tell you what is likely to break. I always see Roland, Ensoniq and Kurzeil instruments.

I _do_ want to check out the Varios. If I were in your shoes, I'd get a Triton or a Motif ES. That is my totally unobjective-not-liking-any-Roland-piece-since-the-MKS-80 opinion.

UncleBob58 Wed, 08/13/2003 - 07:41

IMO never, never, EVER buy a Roland keyboard or sequencer. The rack units are okay, but that is because they will not be "pounded" like a keyboard. Quality control on every brand of gear in the mid-priced range seems to have alarmingly gone downhill. I had an Ensoniq ASR-10 and a DX-7 on the road for years and never had any problems. My Roland A-33 fell apart after only a couple of months. NEVER AGAIN! I will only use Roland rack gear, and that only in the studio where I can use Unisyn and not have to push buttons or twirl knobs.

Uncle Bob

:p:

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