Roland D50 is it a classic or out of date?

Synthaholic · Post by **Synthaholic** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:33 pm

For those who think the D-50 can only do shimmery new agey type pad stuff, listen to Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn". Guess what synth that is. Hint #1, it's not analog. Hint #2, I'm posting in this thread.

OriginalJambo · Post by **OriginalJambo** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:28 pm

Owning both for a short time I would agree in saying that the D-50 sounds warmer and more 80s and the JD sounds very clean, detailed and more early 90s.

Sold the D-50 because it was helluva noisy (for reference much, much worse than a mk1 DX7 - problem with the earlier models I think?) and is a complete bastard to program without a software editor (which incidentally crashed all the time) or the PG-1000 (that I didn't have).

As for the JD I traded it for a Mono/Poly. I kind of miss it but I never really attempted to program it much as I found the sheer number of parameters quite daunting.

Out of the two I'd probably say I preferred the JD - it's like a more detailed, hi-quality sounding D-50 on steroids. And the quality of the onboard effects is really impressive.

Post by **Stab Frenzy** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:02 am

Synthaholic wrote:For those who think the D-50 can only do shimmery new agey type pad stuff, listen to Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn". Guess what synth that is. Hint #1, it's not analog. Hint #2, I'm posting in this thread.

But shimmery new agey type pad stuff is so awesome, why would you want to do anything else?

Mr. Black · Post by **Mr. Black** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:29 am

Your not alone there, JD- when programmed, can sound huge with it's wide spread string pads, which the D50 can't really achieve, plus it's a little more versitle with better EFX,higher quality waveform's,I can undrestand owning both each sounds different.Watch out with certain D50's the earlier the serial number the more D/A coverter noise they will have,I can't confirm this, I read it somewhere awhile back,but my first D50 clean, second lot's of noise, second had a earlier serial number.

Out of the two I'd probably say I preferred the JD - it's like a more detailed, hi-quality sounding D-50 on steroids. And the quality of the onboard effects is really impressiv[/quote]

replicalex · Post by **replicalex** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:45 pm

thanks again guys.

and thanks for the link D-collector some good info there.

Synthaholic...since you asked - I have in no particular order...Roland SH101, JX10+PG800, Juno106, JX3P+PG200 (selling this soon prob.), Korg Monopoly, Access Viruskb, Yamaha DX200, Novation Basstation kb (selling this soon too), DSI evolver.
oh and I'd rather not listen to Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" if I can possibly help it!

oh ...Mr. Black and OriginalJambo thanks for pointing out the noise issue. Its good to know when synths have these little quirks so you can look out for them. Cheers.

Synthaholic · Post by **Synthaholic** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:34 pm

replicalex wrote:Synthaholic...since you asked - I have in no particular order...Roland SH101, JX10+PG800, Juno106, JX3P+PG200 (selling this soon prob.), Korg Monopoly, Access Viruskb, Yamaha DX200, Novation Basstation kb (selling this soon too), DSI evolver.

Lots of cool analog stuff. A D-50 or JD-800/990 would layer nicely with those (the shimmery stuff).

Even if you didn't have any analogs, the D-50 makes a pretty impressive surrogate analog.

seamonkey · Post by **seamonkey** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:55 pm

Synthaholic wrote:For those who think the D-50 can only do shimmery new agey type pad stuff, listen to Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn". Guess what synth that is. Hint #1, it's not analog. Hint #2, I'm posting in this thread.

Ummmmmm let me guess..a yAMaHAHA DX7????

That's a great song but I can't help thinking about that stupid Rock of Love show on VH1 when I hear it..Bret what were ya thinkin dude?
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
What do you think you get when he takes that bandana off?
Phil Collins head

D-Collector · Post by **D-Collector** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:45 pm

Don't mock Phil Collins' head! That head was the birthplace of many of my favourite songs! :thumbup:

iProg · Post by **iProg** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 1:16 pm

I need tips for programming the D-50. I have the PG-1000 but so far I've only used the presets so far. I really haven't found out howw to program it manually yet and what part of the patch to start tweaking etc. Any tips are welcome.

ERIC31 · Post by **ERIC31** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 3:39 pm

I love the D-50 and I will get one in the future! It sounds awesome!

check this out to hear the sounds.
http://www.synthmania.com/d-50.htm

DIGITAL SCREAMS · Post by **DIGITAL SCREAMS** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 6:25 pm

For the money, nothing beats a true D50.

Watch both these videos in their entirity and then tell me you still have doubts.

1)

2)

From a D50 fan....

DS

seamonkey · Post by **seamonkey** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:01 pm

DIGITAL SCREAMS wrote:For the money, nothing beats a true D50.

Watch both these videos in their entirity and then tell me you still have doubts.

1)

2)

From a D50 fan....

DS

Those are awesome, thanks for the links DS.

Cycom · Post by **Cycom** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 3:45 am

I asked the guy if he could share those patches....basically he said no. Shame, as they're lovely.

Anyone have them?

D-Collector · Post by **D-Collector** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:29 am

Don't bother asking him to share or trade, because he won't. However, many of those patches are available on the net, and though they sound great, they're really not that special or hard to program. I recognise some of them from the Valhala Gold and Patch Pro cards. Great banks btw. PM me if you want the Valhala cards in sysex.

iProg, you shoud just experiment a bit, and get to know the menus. When you become familiar with the menus and editing system, programming is a breeze. And you don't need the PG-1000.

Don Solaris · Post by **Don Solaris** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 4:17 pm

Synthaholic wrote:With the PG1000 you can create killer sounds.

For those who don't have PG-1000, there is a freeware editor for PC called D-50 VE.