11/26/2022 0 Comments Roland xv 5080 samplersThis makes all the synth's facilities more accessible and more pleasant to work with, removing the user‑unfriendly barrier imposed by the XV3080's 2x40‑character display. Externally, there are a number of more obvious improvements, the best of which is the tasty 320 x 80‑pixel screen. The synthesizer engine within the XV5080 is in most ways identical to that of the XV3080, but with a number of important additions, which we'll come to presently. No fewer than eight expansion boards can be inserted into the XV5080 to extend its sonic capabilities. It's much more than that, as we shall see. But don't for a moment think that the XV5080 is just an XV3080 with more memories and a bit of RAM thrown in for good measure. You can install up to 128Mb RAM, and use this to load Roland S‑series samples, Akai S1000/3000 samples, WAVs and AIFFs. In addition to all of the above (which already exceeds the capabilities of the XV3080 by a considerable margin), the XV5080 also offers extensive sample replay options. Add to this the 128 slots for user Patches, 64 slots for user Performances, four slots for user Rhythm Sets, and the (up to) eight banks of Patches and Performances that appear when you install expansion cards. Hundreds? Well, there are seven preset groups of 128 Patches, a group of 256 GM Patches, 14 preset kits of 64 percussion instruments, nine GM kits of 64 instruments, and 64 preset Performances. With huge editing potential and literally hundreds of Patches, Performances, and Rhythm Kits taking advantage of these waveforms, it's going to take you (and me) quite some time to fathom the depths of this synthesizer. This includes all the JV2080 waveforms, many waves from the respected JD990 module, and still more from Roland's extensive sample libraries. Unlike older Roland synths, the heart of the XV engine uses stereo PCM waveforms and, with well over 1000 multisamples, the XV5080 offers more than four times the ROM of the previous 'JV' models. This means that, like its little brother, it offers a substantial 128‑voice polyphony, GM Level 2 compatibility and advanced multi‑effects, and it can host Roland's new SRX expansion boards. Surprisingly supplied only in 2U rackmount format (there's no keyboard version), it's based on the XV synthesis engine already discussed in our XV3080 review (see the July 2000 issue). The Patch Finder button, as on the XV3080, allows sounds to be searched for by category, making it easier to handle the hundreds of timbres an XV5080 can provide. It's not a sampler, but it owes its existence to both the '90s JV sound engines and the S‑series samplers of the late '80s. Unlike its predecessors, the XV5080 has both a father and a mother, and it's the first Roland synthesizer in more than a decade to incorporate traditional sampling technology. why haven't I included the XV5080 in my story? Surely this is simply a sexier version of the XV3080? Well, yes it is, but it's somewhat more than that. If you trace the developments of Roland sound engines from the T110 onwards, you'll see that each has led logically and smoothly to the next, culminating in the XV3080. There's been an awful lot of begetting going on. Recently, the JV2080 begat the XV3080 and the XV88 keyboard version. TheJV80 begat a plethora of JV keyboards and, more importantly, the JV880 module, which in turn begat the JV1080, the JV2080, and the JV1010. The JD800 in turn begat the JD990 module, and then the JV80, the first in Roland's most successful family of synths to date. The D70 then begat the JD800, the first incarnation of Roland's 'four tones to a voice' synthesis system, which has since become the trademark of the company's sound engines. The U20 then begat the U70 - or it would have done if Roland's marketing gurus hadn't decided to cash in on the success of the D50 and call it the D70 instead. However, the T110 became the U110, and this begat the popular U220 and its keyboard counterpart, the U20. First there was the T110, but you won't have heard of that one, as it was never released. Take the development of Roland's S&S synthesizers as an example. 'Begats' are a bit like buses - they always come in bunches. Gordon Reid assesses past, present and future. In their eagerly‑awaited new flagship synth Roland have harked back to the sampling technology of their respected S‑series samplers, as well as adding some contemporary touches to equip it for the 21st century.
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