The new XV-88 or equivalent modules sounds to me great. Post here any info, opinion, review web sites, boards you have about these new boxes.

Here's some info: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/cgi-bin/doc/0001234930216207321950112332747?doc=info,rolandnamm.html

The XV88 is the 1st Roland synthe with an 88 note weighted keyboard (don't confuse this with RD digital pianos and A90EX controller).

It looks much like an XP30 on steroids and I'll almost put money down that Roland will bring out a 61 and 76 note version later on (mabey called the XV61 and XV76????).

It has 128 notes of polyphony, fx wise it has a dedicated reverb, chorus and a newly designed EFX section with COSM based effects.

It offers 64 meg of ROM out of the box!!!! and can be expanded with 2 SRJV80 cards and 2 of the new 64MB cards which Roland are going to start producing. This is one thing that gets me with these new keyboards (Roland and Korg). With so many expansion boards already produced Roland why couldn't you give us much more slots for these! This is very short sighted as far as I am concerned even though they can be replaced.

There are 4 outputs at the back and 4 real time sliders. Not much has been mentioned about improvements in the synthesis from the older JV's and XP's.

In Australia it should retail at about $5,495.00.

I think that this kind of keyboard will be the mainstream of millenium. First Yamaha with the nice (and cheap) S80 and its new little brother S30 and now Roland. It's time for realistic sounds, natural keyboard (piano) feel and stereo samples. Great idea for real musicians (if not DJs). Here in GREECE Korg is the best selling gear because of the known bugs in recent Yamahas (EX) and the age of XP80. S80 sells well and i believe that XV-88 although expensive will sell well. It is not a workstation or an analog knobs-full synth but it is just a musical instrument with real polyphony and sound. I cannot wait to put my fingers on it.

That red-orange lcd that they used looks ugly.

Too bad they left out the onboard sequencer on the XV-88.

Personally, I'd rather deal with the red-orange LCD of the XV88 (and XP30) than the impossible to see Gameboy LCD screen of the XP80

I agree with previous message. I think that a sample play-only synth does not need a large XxY lcd. It's the OS and user interface that counts. We all have seen big lcds on synth with so unfriendly OS that make them difficult event to use (Yamaha's EX). My opinion is that the XV-88 kind of synth is a "musical instrument" not a workstation-like monster. Who really needs a SEQ that is just an marketing-trick ? There are nice seqs out there (from pocket battery versions to full blown studio quality as well as software). In 88-key weight synths is the sound quality that counts. As i know Yamaha's S80 that is close to XV-88 specs, sells very well and the reason is its piano sounds as well as piano feel. It is also has no sequencer or sampler or big LCD etc. IMHO we need keyboards with warm sound, effects that don't steal polyphony, samples that can play single part for maximum polyphony, stereo sounds and build quality. While i'm not Roland (or else) lover i believe that we'll see XV-88 in many studios even at home. I also believe that 76,61 keys versions are under development. We'll see...

I should think a larger LCD would be an advantage, even if it is "just" a synth (unless you use software patch editor), and no workstation. I think the XP-60/80 has a great interface that lets you see what you are doing when you edit sounds.

In my opinion, Roland would be crazy if they developed a 61-key XV without including sequencer and bigger LCD. I can understand that a lot of "piano-people" like the XV-88, but for the rest of us, I think it would be more interesting with an upgraded version of the XP-60 and 80. (Not that these need to be upgaded yet, considering the competition)

Besides, I see the XVs more as evolotion than revolution over the existing XP/JV-series. For example; check out the effects-section. A few more and better algorithms, but same number of processors.

And yes, there are some people that use built-in sequencer.. We even use our workstations as "musical instruments", playing the black and white buttons and everything.... :-)

I just don't need 88-keys, and having grown up with electronic keyboards, I hate "piano action and feel" !!

Stig

I think Roland will do well with the XV88 because there are many pianists out there who crave a nice action weighted keyboard.

However, it's important to stress that it doesn't feel right to play certain sounds from a weighted keyboard. I come origionally from an organ background and let me just say that I HATE playing organ sounds from a weighted action keyboard. The same goes for playing piano sounds on an unweighted action- I HATE IT!

I hope the XV88 will have good midi controller capabilites (able to control several zones at once etc). I like the action of Roland weighted keyboards so I am keen to check it out. But the $5,495.00 (Australian) price tag and the fact that I just splurged on a (beautiful!) Korg Triton, wont have me pulling out the cheque book in the near future.

I hope this keyboard sounds terrible and doesn't inspire me so I don't catch the dreaded 'TECHNOLUST- I MUST BUY IT!' disease again.

XV-88 and the two new rack modules use Roland's new synth-engine scheme. Officials from Roland here in Greece told me that we might expect non weighted - 76/61 keys -workstation versions of this synth. I don't know if these would have larger LCD or sequencer etc. but the engine will be the same and that's good news. On XV-88 though the synthesis is the same (good) as the XP/JV, the new processors,DSPs,EFXs have the extra power to drive 64 MB stereo sample playback. Yesterday i checked a demo-XV88 for a while and i really believe that it has the best S&S sound i ever hear. The stereo samples are great (especially piano,strings,percussion,FX) and the EFX sounds better than any external unit. A month ago i bought a Triton-PRO with MOSS board and i am very happy with almost all its sounds. But XV88 is something else.
I know, it has no sample builtin or SEQ or big touch screen but IMHO it has MUCH BETTER sound.
I did not check the extra 64 MB (32 MB - 32 bit really) PCM boards as they are unavailable yet.
128 polyphony is great for MIDI setup but you may notice that stereo samples count as two parts so if you use them divide polyphony by two. (At least on the demo i saw).

You'll like the infrared beam system and you will feel like JARRE and VANGELIS

Anyway i really believe that new Rolands will drive S&S synthesis to the limit but at a price (2800 US$ in my country).

If you have more info,news, post'em here



[This message has been edited by Inray (edited 02-11-2000).]

Inray you said that you heard a demo of the XV-88. Where can we get/hear this? I can think of no better comination than a Triton Pro (loaded) and the XV88 with the 64 meg piano expansion card. I would like some feedback on this expansion board if anyone has heard it. Thanks!

"Love & Peace" hi...
On Frebruary 10 here in Greece in Roland's distributor i tested myself a prerelease version of XV88 (but no any expansions) and i listened its sound. I sounds great and believe me, not at all the same as XP/JVs. Roland's salesmen told me that some sortcomings will be corrected when XV will be on the market (April in Greece). I must say to you that though recently i bought a Korg Triton, i ordered an XV-88.
You can read some posts on Sonic State from people who heard piano board at NAMM. (http://www.the-gas-station.com)

Will the new Roland XV series contain many waveforms from the SR JV80 expansion boards (like the XP30 with the built in orchestral, sesssion and techno boards)?

The builtin ROM samples are new or new resampled for use with new stereo S&S engine. The new plugin system can hold new SRX 64MB ROM cards (only for XVxxx) mostly with excellent stereo samples. It can also hold old SR JV cards and has full compatibility with older JV/XP patches.
XVs will not contain "bonus" extras like XP30. That was only a Roland's marketing trick to shell XP parts and cards and hold its customers until XV announcement.

The xv 88/3080/5080 has JD 990 waveforms + 424 new waveforms and 100 drums= 1083 inall.
I have orded a XV 5080 and VM 3100pro.

I wonder if the XV's contain some choice waveforms from any of the SRJV80 boards?

For example- the lovely piano, strings and nylon guitars from the session board.

Some of the great string and vocal sounds from the Orchestral 11 board.

Could anyone who has tried the XV series let us know about the 424 new wave forms. Also do the other sounds sound the same or better than on the XP series?

Also,could anyone who has ordered the new XVs particularly the XV-88 tell me where they ordered it from and how much it was in US dollars. Thanks!

The xv new waveforms are :
Stereo grand pianos.
Rhodes pianos.
rock organs.
saxophones.
guitars like slide and harmonic.
Analog synthesizer waves.
Orcestra unisons.
112 Jd 990 waveforms.
New drum samples.
and the same waveforms as jv 2080.

To me it sounds like they have given us the JV1080/2080/XP waveforms plus added the equivalent of a new session expansion board and some of the old JD waveforms. Couldn't Roland just be kind and give older JV users access to these extra waveforms in new expansion boards.

It seems strange to me why Roland haven't simply completely overhauled the older waveforms. I thought that Roland had a saying of 'WE DESIGN THE FUTURE!'.

No I'm not rubbishing a product I haven't even played yet (and believe you me, I'll sell my JV1080's and replace them with one of the XV series if they are good enough) but I hope we won't be hearing more of the same (non eraseable) factory patches that have been around since 1993/1994!!!!!

The new waves have nothing to do with older XP/JV except the names and philosophy. XV series has new synth-engine using not only new software algorithms and FX routes but also new A/D converters, DSP units, and true stereo multisamples at a tone level.
So even old (named) patches are more crisp, better sampled and with excellent S/N ratio.
Don't be fooled by old names. The XV sound is the best (not only in my opinion).
I have a K2600 with its excellent piano, a new Yamaha S80 + PLG cards and Korg Triton. After listening XV88, i ordered one and i'm going to sell my old grand.

I have orded a XV 5080 and VM 3100pro.Xv 5080 is great synthesizer with sampler playback and R-bus, and it can sample akai s 1000 programs and roland s700 patchs+performance.

32 parts.
128 voice polyphony
64 MB wavememory.
1083 waveforms :
424 new ones include everything form grand to analog synthesizer.
448 jv waveforms.
112 jd 990 waveforms.
100 drum samples.
4 sr jv 80.
4 srx.
128 MB ram.
1152 preset patches/128 user.
18 drum kits/4 user.
64 performance/64 user.
Effects :
11 reverbs(srv 3030).
1 chorus.
over 70 multi effects (cosm/RSS...).
one master EQ per out.
and more...

I also have Waldorf Q,supernova and yamaha cs6x.

Inray-
Very nice setup man!
But remember, no electronic instrument will ever replace the beautiful natural naunces you can get from your 'old, real and 'acoustic' grand piano.

Please give me your personal differences in sound quality between the XV88, S80 and Triton. Cheers.

In Japan, XV-5080 ships in the next week, XV-88 in May (XV-3080 has shipped in the last month).

Korgasm...
I agree with you, there is nothing better than a wood old black piano in the middle of a living room
But my wife has different opinion as our new home is a small one and in my small studio room the space is limited.

Triton is excellent (as you know) for everything but classic sounds. Its pianos, even with the extra PCM card i own, are useless. When i sold some old gear i bought the Yamaha S80 as a master kbd to drive my rack modules. I found that it has some of the best pads,EP,vintage and ,using PLG boards, excellent analog voices and grand pianos. It has very good Rhodes and 60s,70s organs. Though it has a two line LCD its editing is very easy. It is not Triton on insertion FX routing but has its own quality and sound signature. I like it a lot.
I think that Yamaha didn'd realize that they built their best synth. It's not THE workstation but has the sound,build quality,keyboard feel,synth engine,polyphony etc. i ever wished for.
As you understand from my setup, i prefer keyboard synths instead of racks. This happens because many times i use just a single one of them for studio recording. So i want to have my favorite sounds and kbd feel with me. As i was in market search for a good 72 or 88 keys synth i saw a Roland XV-88 prerelease demo and i played a little with it. It really has THE sounds and THE keyboard (if you like weighted action).
The sounds are JD990,XV/JV and many new ones. The overall sound quality is better than those synths as XV series synth engine has new AD converters and true stereo samples for most of the tones. The FXs are brilliant and the number of them enough for most of realtime playing or studio recording.
The only thing i didn't try is the piano PCM board but hearing a CD sample i found that Kurzweill has now a competitor.
XV has nothing to do with prior Roland keyboards. It has better sound, clean output, better FX, and a keyboard that in my opinion has better feel than Roland's Axx master kbds.
I'm sure that soon Roland will introduce workstations (aka SEQ,large LCD etc) based on XVxxxx.

So if you need to know: Triton - S80 or XVxx the answer is simple for my and my needs:

Triton for dance parts and atmospheric pad tracks.

S80 for EP,analog (with plg150/AN board),vintage organ tracks.

Roland XV for pianos,drums and classical tracks.

... and K2600 for sampling anything else

That's only my personal opinion and just for my needs and setup.

PS: I write and play soundtracks, R&B and slow rock.

Inray-
Thanks for the excellent/fantastic info you provided (unbiased also). I have an organ and piano background and I suppose that sound is a very personal thing but I don't mind the Triton Piano PCM board. However, I hate playing these sounds from an unweighted keyboard (piano sound that is) although I haven't really got any choice at the moment!

Does the new XV series have all the factory patches of the JV2080 and JD990 or 'the best of' patches plus a whole heap of new ones?

What is the basic difference between the K2600 and K2500 besides the fact that the 2600 comes with the KDFX option installed?

I do alot of backing tracks for singers as well as whatever else comes along from rock to 'Slovenian' folk music.

My midi gear consists of-
Korg Triton with Piano, SCSI and MOSS boards.
Korg Z1 with 18 voice expansion.
Korg T3EX.
Korg DW8000 (this should have become a classic!).
Korg TR Rack.
2 Roland JV1080's (but I wont to sell one to get either a good priced JV2080 or save a bit and get the XV3080- should I just bite the bullet and get the XV instead of a bargain priced JV2080 now that their price will most probably drop?).
Roland MDC1 Dance expansion module.
Korg Wavestation SR.
Korg Wavestation AD. (I love these 2 beasts!).
Yamaha O3D Digital Mixer.

I hope to check out the XV3080 ASAP as I don't think I'll need all the extra features of the 5080 (plus 'cost' also comes into it!).

Thanks once again- Korgasm.

Korgasm...

You have excellent setup.
I had 2 JV2080 too with many boards but i sold'em (except PCM boards) and i ordered XV88 and one XV5080 because they are 100% compatible.

Roland XV synths have ALL XP/JV (2080) waveforms so they're really 100% compatible with them. XV have also 112 waveforms from JD-990 (the best ones). These waveforms sound better on XV than XP/JV & JD because of then new fx routing and A/D (24 bit)converters. You can also use all JV PCM expansion and patches. (Up to 512 MBytes of sound ROM)

K2600 has KDFX installed plus better fx routing using updated algorithms. The sample option has new 20bit A/D with better s/n ratio. In K2600 Kurzweil redesigned the audio path and now the synth has new audio output circuit with new 8 balanced or unbalanced TRS outputs.
There is also a Digitech FX emulation mode that can be used with all programs and new filtering with 48 db filter resonance.
K2600 has also all new programs and setups, more memory and better (but still difficult) operating system.
Generally speaking 2600 is a refined K2500 with less bugs and more audio path power.

The XV 88/3080 and 5080 have all jv 2080 patches(640).
XV 3080/88 has 1024 preset patches and 16 drumkits.
XV 5080 has 1152 preset patches and 18 drum kits.

MY gear :

Waldorf Q : the best analog modelig synth now with wavetables(256 waves).
Supernova 44 voice.
Yamaha CS 6x with plg 150 AN & DX.
And later i want to get a ARP 2600.

Nice analog setup Morten...
By the way Waldorf Q is excellent with the exception of some minor software bugs.

PS: Today Roland distributor in my country told me that my (preordered) XV-5080 will be in me hands after ten days and XV-88 after April 25.

lucky you, Inray, Roland US won;t release the 5080 until June. They are adding new 'features" (uhh huuhh)

WindsongMan i believe that June is very late as XVxx are ready. I think that Roland wants to build some of them as preorders are many and the manufacturing is limited yet. It seems to me strange if here (Europe) we'll have them three months earlier than US.

PS: Think what will happen when they introduce their new workstation synths based on XV5080 ...

Inray (or anyone else who can answer!).

Can the XV5080 sample or does it just read/load samples into RAM?

Wouldn't it be great if they made it a full function sampler!

However, if they do release worktation versions (with sampling), other manufacturers better watch out! (and that's coming from someone who calls themself Korgasm not Rolandasm!!!!!!).

Korgasm...

XV5080 can only read sample disks into its RAM. It can play Roland S700, Akai S1000 & S3000, AIFF, WAV files. I don't know (yet) if future workstations based on 5080 will do real sampling but who knows?

I think that Roland tried to make their new synths as much cost effective as they could, giving priority in sound quality.

Korgasm,

Roland says that XV5080 will load (or convert load) samples from AKAI S1000 series and Roland S700 series. In the front of the unit (I only saw pictures of it) is printed in big yellow letters:
SAMPLE PLAYBACK
This is not a sampler at all....(I will keep my S760...)

Mgomes

XV 5080 read :
Akai s 1000/3000 programs.
S 700/760 programs and performance.

More info: Roland Corp. Japan has a good page (much better than Roland U.S.) with complete info on the new XV synths, including technical specs, at: http://www.roland.co.jp/worldwide/products/NAMM2000/XV-series.html

Mgomes

Inray, the 5080 June date info was straight from the Roland reps mouth 2 days ago. And I was there with a buddy who placed his preorder at Winter NAAM in Anaheim. He expected his 5080 in May.
I have noticed other very strange disparities with Roland between the US market and Europe especially with price decreases. No consistency.

To all you lucky guys and gals who have already put orders in the for XV's even though they aren't out yet- GET PLENTY OF CATCH UP SLEEP NOW!!!!!!! When you get the unit, you will no doubt have many long nights in absolute sleepless bliss!!!! Cheers.

I just sold one of my JV1080's for a good 2nd hand price! I've also just ordered an XV3080 for myself. I also had the choice of getting a new JV2080 for a good price (of course a few hundred bucks cheaper than the XV). Have I made the right choice of getting the XV over the JV? I can still change my mind and get the 2080 if I want to!!!!

I just saw a list over som sounds in XV(www.rolandus.com).It look like it have many waves and presets from vintage synth exp.

XVxxxx have all most JD waveforms and now with full stereo samples per tone. XV new waveforms have many samples from vintage synths. Its classic (piano, pads, analog) voices are some of the best around. They have analog feel though XV is a S&S. Excellent filtering, FX and audio route gives XV extra warm sound.

The list of sounds i saw was 3 free banks for XV and XP/jv that use the new effects and that and can be downloaded from www.rolandus.com .