Korg O1/W or expanded roland JV-80

[Paughrock]

For $400 what is the better option: JV-80 expanded with a "vintage synth" card, or a korg 01/W? Which one sounds better, which one has a better build quality?

[gd1]

I have the vintage synth card in a JD-990 and have used the O5R/W module version of the 01/W that one of the guys has at our weekly jam session. Personally I would go with the JV and vintage card. At these jams it is strictly rock with some blues and surf thrown in, ymmv.

[Justin Havu]

The JV-80 is a decent board, however watch out for the infamous "red glue" problem with the keybed. It does have a bit of a cleaner sound than the 01, but I myself love the 01--the pad/synth sounds can be enormous. Just depends on what you're looking for, I guess.

 

I should mention, too, that the display backlight may be dim if it hasn't been replaced recently. Those EL backlights tend to go bad after 8-10 years or so.

[stillearning]

I can only say that I loved my 01/W so much, that I bought a 01/W rack to double the polyphony and as a backup. I had a Roland from the same time period (cant remember which one) and didnt keep it long. I thought the Korg sounded better. As far as build quality, the Korg held up just fine, the Roland may have, didnt have it long enough to have a valid opinion though.

[Paughrock]

i would rather deal with replacing an led/screen than red glue. I am looking for big pads, leads, fretless bass, and interesting soumds and textures. I do a lot of freely improvised piano shows and am looking for a board with interesting textural soumds to compliment the piano. I think I am leaning towards the Korg.

[Doerfler]

I think I am leaning towards the Korg.

 

25 years ago (I know, right?) I used to gig with a Korg O1W/FD over a Korg O1W/Pro. Solid set up for the time. O1W was the replacement for the Korg M1. You will find more of the sounds you are asking for in your posts in the Korg than the Roland JV 80.

[Paughrock]

Nice. In 25 years maybe I can grab a Kronos for around the same price, lol. What were some of your fav presets from the O1/W?

[J. Dan]

I never owned an O1/W so I'll take your words for it, but I'm a little surprised, based simply in timeline and technology of the time. O1/W immediately followed the M1. M1 was same timeframe as D20/50/70 series from Roland, which was followed by the first JV series. XP came after. I had a JV30 and and XP50. JV30 was abasically the Roland GS soundset, 16-part. XP had a much more expanded sound set and polyphony. I'm guessing it would align more with the first Triton, which I believe had a better sound set than the XP (I still own a Triton pro), but also as I recall only 8-part.

 

What I'm getting at is that I would think that the O1/W would be a generation behind the XP-80. That doesn't mean that one brand can't have a superior sound set a generation before another manufacturer.

[Paughrock]

take a stock ambient pad for example...I am not knowledgable enough to know why a pad on an O1/W or M1 is 'worse' than a stock pad on a triton or kronos for that matter. The early 90s korgs were on a lot of albums and they all sound nice to my ears, even today.

[Song80s]

Nice. In 25 years maybe I can grab a Kronos for around the same price, lol. What were some of your fav presets from the O1/W?

 

I am buying up Kronos' left and right. I am convinced it will be a collectors item and worth at least $999 in 30 years

 

 

 

 

[xp50player]

Owned an 01/Wfd until the XP50 came out. The Korg is definitely better for ambient pads, leads maybe. The Combi mode and larger 32 note polyphony are a bonus. 01/W isnt good for making analog/subtractive sounds, due to no filter resonance, but it has dual multi-effects with routing options. There is a waveshaper which is used to emulate filter resonance in some patches. Overall its a more midsy and lo-fi synth, with compromises made in sample quality vs quantity. Sturdy build quality.

The JV-80 has only reverb and chorus, so those Vintage Synth board patches are not going to sound as good as in the later units they are compatible with, the pinnacle being the JD-990, with 7-stage effects. Not having insert effects, the JV-80 internal presets are programmed to not rely on them, which can be a good thing. The JV-80 is better for analog sounds, having filter resonance and Analog Feel drift emulation. The sound is very clean and hyped. I couldnt imagine however using the piano sounds on either of these units now, except in a dance context.

[Bucktunes]

O1/W immediately followed the M1.

Not immediately. The T series (T1, T2, T3) followed shortly after the M1. Besides different keyboard types and sizes, they added a much better display, a floppy disc drive that enabled an improved sequencer and patch storage, and doubled the wave ROM with an additional bank for the new patches. Also, there was optional RAM memory for loading in samples. The sound engine was the same as the M1 and had the same amount of polyphony, so in retrospect it was kind of an incremental improvement over the M1. For that reason it didn't make the splash that the 01/W did.

 

In fact, I remember that 01/W was originally going to be called the M10 since it was more of a next generation instrument. But to avoid insulting T series owners, they instead flipped the M10 upside down and voila! The 01/W was released.

 

Back on subject; I would personally choose the 01/W given the choice for $400. Those old Korgs were built like tanks (I still have my T3 and it still works and sounds good )and sound much fatter and warmer than the JV80. To my ears, anyway...

[xp50player]

The JV-80 was a scaled down derivative of the JD-800, which came out the same year as the 01/W, so they are essentially the same generation. The 01/W was after the T series, but unfortunately had worse sample quality and no user sample RAM like the T series. Subsequent to the 01/W was the Trinity, getting into MOSS daughter boards and optional I/O, too rich for my blood at the time. The same JV/XP PCM engine is still going strong after 28 years, in the current FA series and Integra-7.

[J. Dan]

Sorry I was confused on my previous post and was thinking XP, not JV. I primarily was thinking this due to the red glue comment which I associate with XP. Did the JV series have that issue? I thought that came with XP.

 

Anyway, if we're talking JV then I assume this is the larger version of the JV30 I owned. As I had mentioned, Roland GS soundset, 16 parts, great MIDI implementation. Just depends on what you want. Pads are pretty easy on any synth. The Roland GS soundset is very usable and the MIDi implementation allows for deeper editing than most people realize. I would still sort of consider this to be a bit beyond the Korg in many ways, not discounting the quality of the Korg sounds. But I wouldn't judge just in pads, because pads are easy.

 

[Paughrock]

I really like the sounds on that vintage synth card...now I am back to getting the JV 80

[Justin Havu]

Only JV I know of that had the red glue issue was the JV-80, I had one a few years ago that succumbed to it.

[Paughrock]

I live near a roland repair facility. Going to have them deal with it...I doubt it is under warranty but I have some nostalgic love for this board as it was the first pro board I ever owned. My late father bought it for me as an 8th grade graduation present in 91 or 92. I sold it in 98 to get a vk7...my entire career has involved only organ, accordion and piano. I have become fascinated with synths and this repurchase is purely a hobby...