Anyone try the D-05 yet?

[denni...@gmail.com]

I've been trolling Reverb on and off for years ever since I traded my D-50 in to help pay for an XP-30.  I had my D-50 for over fifteen years at the time, and I just needed... more.  But as much as I enjoyed having so much more multi-timbrality... I missed her every day since.  Problem is, the older they get, the more prone to being troublesome they become, and I am -not- a hardware guy.  The idea of unscrewing all of those screws to replace the battery terrifies me.

So I was pretty excited to hear that Roland had recently released a D-05 mini keyboard with what looks like the guts of the D-50 intact inside.  Just wondering if anyone here had any first-hand experience with one.

Dennis

[SJCH...@g.holycross.edu]

Hi Dennis,

I haven't had a chance to try one out myself, but from what I hear, reactions have been quite positive. The PG-1000 programmer also works with it and it includes all of the soundbanks from the memory cards released by Roland! I wound up purchasing a D-550 since I could snag one for the exact same price as a D-05 and I am a bit old school!

Steve

[dennis...@gmail.com]

I've had two D-05's for awhile now.  I never owned a D-50 (but always wanted one!).  I picked up the first D-05 and within a day of playing it, immediately ordered another one.  I'm a bit blown away that 30-year old synth tech sounds this good.  In the late 80's, I had a DX-7II which was a nightmare to program coming from learning on analog gear.  The D-05 really hits home with me.  All the tonal variances of classic 80's digital but with an architecture that is much more familiar to an old analog guy like me.  I love them!  I've been using iPad software synths almost exclusively for many years now and the D-05's are pretty much killing those off (with a few exceptions).  The arpeggiator and sequencer are great fun.  I'm also really surprised at how warm these digital units sound.  You can go from warm analog to icy digital and any combination in between.  Great units!

[dennis...@gmail.com]

I forgot to mention, the D-05 is fully compatible with D-50 SysEx so all the patch banks on Cult Of D-50 work perfectly!

~Dennis

[Gweg Gweggweg]

Same for Me... The D-05 is today one of my favorite synths.. I can achieve sounds that any other synths can't do... Love it