I never said the xp's are bad synths. They are great synths. BUt apparently roland is using cheaper d/a converters, and that is the problem.

I spoke with a guy who had the same issue on an xp-30. He took it to a non-roland dealer and had the problem traced to a cheap d/a converter. The converter was replaced with a higher quality one, and the noise and tearinwent away.

HE had the same problem as I did, as do many with th xp's. I just had the luxury of having 30 days to return it.

Synthesizers are all about sound.
Its their most important feature. You can mess up the sequencers, you can mess up the features, but NEVER, EVER mess up the sound.

If you are going to cut corners, cut corners on features, NOT sound quality.

I love the xp synth engine, that is why I purchased one in the first place.

But I was already keyed into the defect tearing noise, and I could stand it no longer. I create pieces that have long , quiet decays, and the xp with the patches Iwanted just could not do this without that problem. When Roladn told me to " use another sytnh for the quieter passages", I had to laugh.