Sundown Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 ...just as sexy as it was, when I first saw it at 12 years old. Maybe someday I'll pick up a used one. http://www.rolandclan.com/media/50/D-50.jpg Sundown Working on: The Jupiter Bluff; Driven Away Main axes: Kawai MP11 and Kurz PC361 DAW Platform: Cubase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 I still have mine. I don't use it anymore but can't make myself get rid of it. "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Ah, the D-50. Those are days I remember fondly in my youth. And that great imposter of so many organic and inorganic sounds covered everything from Hammond to a flute solo, to exciting morphing pads and beyond with scant specs. Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 I had a D-550. Pads and leads for days. Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonglow Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Still have my D-550. Love those spacious, ethereal pads. Nothing else sounds like it. "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAJUSCULE Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 There's one for sale here for $400 CAN. Eric Website Gear page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Coda Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Still have my D-550. Love those spacious, ethereal pads. Nothing else sounds like it. Same here. I had the luck finding a NOS mask ROM processor, replaced front panel tact switches, display backlight and some display related electronics. Has the Musitronics memory expansion (4 banks), speed-kit and "quasi" MIDI multimode (limited by lack of individual outputs) and some other firmware upgrades like additional FX routings, waveforms & loops. Sounds great and is not replaceable by any VSTi. Roland D550, Yammi TG77 (w/ new, bright LED display) and Korg Wavestation SR are the ultimate 80s/90s digital synth combo in a rack for me. A.C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel71 Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Keeping mine also under the bed in its case. I bought the sample for my Kronos and electro but still like the real thing :-) Regards Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unitjazz Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 I was a keyboard salesman at a music store when the D-50 was introduced. I thought it was one of the most interesting keyboards to come along, and deserves to be in the Hall of Fame of keyboards. The LA synthesis and PCM waveform sounds were stunning for the time. The keyboard action was really nice as well. There were few "modern day' keyboards I wanted back then (not a fan of the DX-7, and was unimpressed with the Korg M-1). I was busy buying keys I couldn't previously afford, like my (used) Mellotron, my (used) Minimoog, my (used) Porta-B, etc...but the Roland D-50 was impressive enough that I bought one (thank you, employee discount ! ). And although I currently have a Jupiter 50, the D-50 sounds in it just don't have the same quality that they did, coming from the D-50. Maybe it's just old age, or nostalgia, but "Fantasia" and "Staccato Heaven" just sounded better out of the D-50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 I thought it was one of the most interesting keyboards to come along, and deserves to be in the Hall of Fame of keyboards. +1 I bought a D-50 back in the day and loved it, although I don't have it anymore. It was hard to part with at first, but I realized it was just gathering dust in the studio for the last 15 years. The sounds were definitely unique though. Even though I have a "Fantasia" patch on a few of my current keyboards, they don't have the same sparkle and "air" the D-50 did. When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundown Posted June 10, 2016 Author Share Posted June 10, 2016 I was just getting into keyboards at the time the D-50 was released. It will always hold a very special memory for me. Something about the 12-bit samples and the DCO's sits very well within a track. It just glues itself in. There are also some great recordings from the late 80's that feature it front and center. I think Roland made a bit of a mistake when they launched the D-70, in that they should have kept the hybrid synth architecture (as opposed to going full ROMpler). If the basic D-50 core had been enhanced with greater processing power, along with more raw waveforms (such as sine and triangle waves), it would have really packed a punch. I think the D-70 fell short by comparison. When I get some more space, I'll find a used one. There seem to be quite a few in the $400 to $800 range. Sundown Working on: The Jupiter Bluff; Driven Away Main axes: Kawai MP11 and Kurz PC361 DAW Platform: Cubase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 When I get some more space, I'll find a used one. There seem to be quite a few in the $400 to $800 range. $800 for a D-50? Way too much... When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundown Posted June 11, 2016 Author Share Posted June 11, 2016 $800 for a D-50? Way too much... Some of those are bundled with the lovely PG-1000 programmer. Sundown Working on: The Jupiter Bluff; Driven Away Main axes: Kawai MP11 and Kurz PC361 DAW Platform: Cubase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Ah, well in that case, go for it. When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DulceLabs.com Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 A lot of the success of the D-50 is owed to sound designer Eric Persing. Many of those presets were ubiquitous to the point they made their way into the GM soundset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundown Posted June 11, 2016 Author Share Posted June 11, 2016 A lot of the success of the D-50 is owed to sound designer Eric Persing. Yep. Mr. Omnisphere. Sundown Working on: The Jupiter Bluff; Driven Away Main axes: Kawai MP11 and Kurz PC361 DAW Platform: Cubase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Coda Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 $800 for a D-50? Way too much... Some of those are bundled with the lovely PG-1000 programmer. I owned 2 D550 and the PG1000. The very 1st item I got rid of was the PG1000. Today I´m satisfied w/ only one D550. In a performance, I never used any hardware programmers. The software programmers from the past, Steinberg Synthworks, C-Lab Polyframe and Emagic Sounddiver worked much better, at least in my home. I still own ´em all as well as "old" computers. Emagic Sounddiver works well on my old G3 and G4 Mac Powerbooks,- OS 9.22 or OSX 10.4.11. I got the Powerbook G3 in original box from ebay for about EUR 40,- in excellent condition, found a PCM/CIA Firewire adapter new for cheap as well as 2 USB floppy drives and threw in a 30GB HDD. Enough for ages ... Bought a Powerbook G4 DVI for EUR 49,- and have a spare for parts incl. display, PSU, HDD, battery, P-RAM battery etc.. It runs Logic 6.4.3, which I use for MIDI only, in addition. Got a D-Link 2-port USB2 PCM/CIA new for EUR 30,-. Any USB device works w/ it. Those toys manage ALL my sysex in regards of "vintage" synths using Emagic MT-4 MIDI interfaces easy to find and cheap @ebay. Also my KURZ PC361 works fine over USB w/ the Powerbook G4/ OSX Tiger for backups via USB and/or backups of my xD cards. It also runs the Soundtower editor, which unfortunately is more or less crap. Back to D50/550: Even frontpanel editing isn´t difficult. It might be "cumbersome" at 1st glance,- but at the end of the day, it works. No need for expensive (vintage) hardware programmers. A.C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Back to D50/550: Even frontpanel editing isn´t difficult. It might be "cumbersome" at 1st glance,- but at the end of the day, it works it's still cumbersome. Fixed. When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Coda Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Fixed. A.C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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