I like ROLAND

[Muad’Dib]

I admit it! I happen to like Roland! I know a vast majority of members on here have a dislike for the company. Which I have seen expressed vastly on here. I admit, I"m not too found of having too pay a membership, in order to use there Cloud service, just to have access to their software instruments and storage. I know, a lot of people are not happy with their tech support, and customer service, but they have put out some fairly good stuff. Every company has it"s good and bad points. We do not have to all agree on everything. That"s why there are multiple synth manufacturers out there. Too give us a choice!

[jeffincltnc]

I am very productive with a set of their tools working together -- Fantom 8, Jupiter X and Roland Cloud/Zenology. The platform approach of ZenCore is working for me along with deep integration to tools like Logic Pro X and Mainstage. The instruments are very well built and are flagship quality. I have other gigging instruments from Nord and Viscount for things that are not in the strengths of Roland.

[wineandkeyz]

Another Roland fan here! I"ve owned Roland gear almost continuously since the mid-70s. The list includes an RS-101, a JX-10, two D-50s, a D-70, two JD-800s, two JV-880s, an XP-80, an XV-5080, an AX-1, a Fantom FA-76, a VK-8, a VR-760, two Fantom X7s, a VR-700, and a Jupiter-80. There were also a couple of other obscure modules in there somewhere...

 

I also ran through two KC-500s for a while. Don"t judge.

[RABid]

I've always liked Roland but was really happy when the upgraded their stick years ago to have a longer throw. Their synth action keys have my favorite feel. Very fast playing for me.

[Song80s]

I admit it! I happen to like Roland! I know a vast majority of members on here have a dislike for the company. Which I have seen expressed vastly on here. I admit, I"m not too found of having too pay a membership, in order to use there Cloud service, just to have access to their software instruments and storage. I know, a lot of people are not happy with their tech support, and customer service, but they have put out some fairly good stuff. Every company has it"s good and bad points. We do not have to all agree on everything. That"s why there are multiple synth manufacturers out there. Too give us a choice!

 

without any doubt, keyboard people have strong feelings, and subjective preferences.

 

It can result in a herd effect, if thats only what a person reads.

 

I go by independent thinking and identifying/ matching requirements.

 

Scrutinizing expensive purchases helps the budget, too.

 

Thats the bigger picture, IMO.

[LX88]

The. FP 10 I got last month is one of the best purchases I ever made.

 

RD 300 GX I got 10 years ago also still in use.

 

FP 10 has 2 years labor 5 year parts warranty

 

Yamaha P45 I got 2 years ago is falling apart. Cheap action.

[16251]

Never had a bad thing to say about Roland until SuperNatural then modeling. These pertain to acoustic piano as IMO modeling, etc. ok for Rhodes, etc. sounds.

[allan_evett]

I'm a fan. Like most other manufacturers, Roland's inclusion or exclusion of particular functions puzzles me; but overall I like Roland gear a lot.

The Jupiter-50/80's design was different, but once learned I enjoyed programming in that environment. I used to have several older, Roland pieces, but have sold off most of that - except for an XV-5080, which has a non-function dial (Have been looking for the replacement encoder, but no luck yet).

 

I have a Fantom 7, which is a Roland gear culmination of sorts. I like this new hardware and cloud 'co-op'; very cool that I can import Fantom-created Z-Core Tones into the RD-88. Though I now wish the Fantom 7 was either a desktop module or available in a comprehesive software package (going beyond Zenology Pro). The 76-key instrument is great in many ways, but I use it more as an extensive sound palette, vs. a production center.

[Docbop]

As you know I'm new to keyboards, but in all my playing, reading, research, I am really happy with my first good keyboard my RD-2000. Excellent keybed, good sounds especially if you tweak just a bit. quite a large selection of sounds, and a lot of control for a stage piano. My only experience dealing with Roland was when I got the RD-2000 one of the small knobs was broken off when I opened the box. I called Sweetwater and they overnighted me another one and arranged for broken board to be picked up. I know Sweetwater has a Roland rep' on site and if it was Roland, Sweetwater, or both that took care of that issue but it impressed me.

 

So I would buy another Roland, in fact if I wasn't so bad at selling used stuff I sell the RD-2000 and get a Fantom 8 because it has the same keybed.

[ElmerJFudd]

Title of the thread made this scene pop into my head. I love Roland, Mommy!

 

[video:youtube]

 

Roland has always made some great sounding stuff, and they have never ignored affordability. I gigged an XP-80 for a very long time. Parted with it just a few years ago. I"ve also owned a U-220, JV-2080, BOSS SE-80, various interfaces, etc. Never had an issue or repair needed on any of it.

[Muad’Dib]

I should have been more specific! For example: I like Roland Keyboards!

[area51recording]

Should we just go ahead and start the "I like POLAND!" parody thread? You know, just to save time.....

[Muad’Dib]

Should we just go ahead and start the "I like POLAND!" parody thread? You know, just to save time.....

 

 

Go ahead! Although, I know nothing about the country?

[uhoh7]

Roland is like Mama when you are young. You love her and you hate her The Roland team from 1978 to 2000 was pretty impressive. Synthmania has taught me that

[brenner13]

My old Fantom X7 and my not so old VR09 are out of warranty and both have faulty pitch sticks. If Roland would simply let me buy a couple of new-from-the-factory pitch bend assemblies, all would be forgiven and I"d once again become a fanboy. Until then, I will never support them with another purchase and continue to make known their poor customer service policy.

[ElmerJFudd]

Roland is like Mama when you are young. You love her and you hate her The Roland team from 1978 to 2000 was pretty impressive. Synthmania has taught me that

 

This post brings this number to mind...

 

[video:youtube]

 

When you"re good to Roland, Roland"s good to you.

 

What does that mean? I guess if we buy their stuff, they make more stuff we want to buy. Of course this does not include re-issues of their classic analogues.

[Muad’Dib]

The closest thing too a reissue is the Jupiter X.

[Song80s]

Should we just go ahead and start the "I like POLAND!" parody thread? You know, just to save time.....

 

 

I like PIEROGI !

[wineandkeyz]

My old Fantom X7 and my not so old VR09 are out of warranty and both have faulty pitch sticks. If Roland would simply let me buy a couple of new-from-the-factory pitch bend assemblies, all would be forgiven and I"d once again become a fanboy. Until then, I will never support them with another purchase and continue to make known their poor customer service policy.

 

From Syntaur: https://syntaur.com/Items.php?Item=4666

[Outkaster]

Not me. I think the quality of their sounds are not that great and the weighted actions are shitty. I don't know what it is other than the SP30 drum pad I haven't owned a keyboard from Roland in 20 years. I want to like the company more but I prefer Hammond, Korg and Yamaha so much more.

[Song80s]

Not me. I think the quality of their sounds are not that great and the weighted actions are shitty. I don't know what it is other than the SP30 drum pad I haven't owned a keyboard from Roland in 20 years. I want to like the company more but I prefer Hammond, Korg and Yamaha so much more.

 

I realize anything goes on a forum.

 

IMO, not that great and actions shitty is another topic

[AnotherScott]

I like every brand. :-)

 

Here are some things I've liked from Roland this century:

 

FP7 and FP7F were digital pianos with some of my favorite hammer actions. Too heavy for me to gig with, but I came close to buying one to keep in a girlfriend's apartment.

 

FP2 and FP4 were the rare reaonsbaly lightweight digital pianos with speakers loud enough to do cermonies, cocktail hours etc., and the actions were very playable even if not so much like a piano.

 

RS9 was a very lightweight 88 with one of the best semi-weighted actions, nice sounds and interface.

 

VR-760 and VR-700 were nice organ focussed multi-function boards that again had some of the best semi-weighted actions (unfortunately, a little unwiledly to move around).

 

VK-8/VK-8M were excellent clonewheels for the time, and again, the VK-8 had a nice action. Along with the VR models I mentioned, these felt better than most of today's clonewheels.

 

Today, Juno DS61/76 is my favorite of the low-cost all-rounders. (The older Juno-G seemed really interesting, but I never had a chance to play one.)

 

Integra-7 and before that Fantom XR are some of the last of the strong rack modules. In a half-size, I really liked the JV-1010 (okay, 1999), I assume I would have liked the later XV-2020 as well. And Sonic Cell was a cool module, hobbled by poor patch navigation, but workable if you were running it from a board that had good patch selection functions.

 

AX-Edge is over-sized and kinda ugly... but the functionality and sounds are really nice... and it's probably the lowest cost all-rounder with aftertouch.

 

Lots of interesting/novel synths... the V-Synths, the Boutiques (esp. SE-02, JP-08, and probably D-05 though I haven't tried that one) and JD-XA are all impressive in their ways, and while I barely laid fingers them, System 8 and System 1 seemed appealing too.

 

There's also the second tier, boards I really admire in some resepects (and that many others love), though they ultimately missed the mark for me by too much, in one way or another... Jupiter 80, Jupiter 50, VR09... those Jupiters had nice actions, too. Looking at all the actions I've mentioned here, I've realized that Roland has probably made more actions I've liked than anyone else.

 

I haven't seen them yet, but the new Fantom and Jupirer models look nice too.

 

There are irritations, things that work in odd ways or "obvious" missing features and such... and they pretty much have no online presence, which seems pretty inexcusable for 2020, though they're hardly alone there... but overall, I think they hold their own.

[GovernorSilver]

The MC-101 is the newest Roland that I've purchased. I have yet to unbox it though because I'm spending all my synth time on Matriarch at the moment.

 

I understand I have until Jan. 2 or something to register the MC-101 and get all those Zencore sounds.

[Sam CA]

...We do not have to all agree on everything....

 

Revolutionary thinking right there. Why? Because personally, I think we all have to agree on everything. I'm old. I was born in the 20th century, so that might have something to do with it. If you don't like Roland, move to Poland. My first Roland was the E16 by the way.

[Muad’Dib]

...We do not have to all agree on everything....

 

Revolutionary thinking right there. Why? Because personally, I think we all have to agree on everything. I'm old. I was born in the 20th century, so that might have something to do with it. If you don't like Roland, move to Poland. My first Roland was the E16 by the way.

 

 

That"s it! Bring the humor! I"m old as well.

[nursers]

I'd challenge the idea 'the vast majority' of forum members dislike Roland. I'm guessing (yes guessing) that the vast majority pick their gear on a range of factors, of which brand would only be one of many considerations. I tend towards Yamaha and Korg now, but the reality is I have a JV-1080 staring me in the face that I still love. I'd imagine most have a similar mix of gear over time.

[Song80s]

I mentioned the herd effect previously.

 

Even with that, there is not 1 way of thinking

 

for example, 3 ways of thinking, while appearing opposite, can all be equally true.

[Muad’Dib]

I'd challenge the idea 'the vast majority' of forum members dislike Roland. I'm guessing (yes guessing) that the vast majority pick their gear on a range of factors, of which brand would only be one of many considerations. I tend towards Yamaha and Korg now, but the reality is I have a JV-1080 staring me in the face that I still love. I'd imagine most have a similar mix of gear over time.

 

 

True! Of course i thought people tended towards Yamaha, but towards Kurzweil as well. Not every product is too everyone"s liking. Like Roland"s keyboard amps for example.

[Muad’Dib]

I mentioned the herd effect previously.

 

Even with that, there is not 1 way of thinking

 

for example, 3 ways of thinking, while appearing opposite, can all be equally true.

 

 

I"ll agree with that!

[Marzzz]

Some of my favorite synths- the Jupiter 8, the JX-10/MKS-70 were Roland. But I don't love how they are going VA instead of considering either re-issuing or coming out with new analog synths, or that they introduce synths (the Boutique line, the System 8, etc.) and then seem to move on to something else. I would definitely be considering the Jupiter X(m), but am wary. Meanwhile, there are new software emulations (TAL J-8, the updated Arturia JP-8V, DIVA) which sound darn good.