I've had the Roland XP-80 for more than 4 years and have never regretted my purchase. I am a hobbyist composer primarily focused on New Age and Electronic styles of music. The XP-80 is perfectly suited for any number of genres. It is commonly used in styles from techno and industrial music to new age and easy listening music. Though less frequently so, the XP-80 is used in genres from classical to rock and country music as well.

Manual Labor

To look at the thick XP-80 Owner's Manual, you would expect clear, descriptive explanations of features, functions and procedures. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The XP-80 does come with a Quick Start Guide, which is a bit clearer in its description of procedures, but it only covers the basics leaving more advanced concepts to the Owner's Manual. If you require visuals to assist you in procedures, you'll only find conceptual flow-charts, Venn diagrams, and XP-80 screen-shots. Though there are useful visuals, for a novice, they can be, at the least, cumbersome to decode. The organization is fairly logical, though specific concepts and procedures are more difficult to locate and the index is by no means comprehensive. Though a number of my fellow XP-80 owners have commented to me that the manual simply doesn’t tell them how to do something, I must disagree. Though I agree that it is not easy reading, all the information about the XP-80 that a performer or hobbyist will likely need is included somewhere in the manual. The key is to creatively combine procedures to accomplish your final product. However, I must admit that having a long history of consuming technical manuals did give me an advantage when using the XP-80 Owner's Manual. All in all, the manual is probably the least desirable component of the XP-80 and is likely its sole drawback.

Effective

Many first-time users of the XP-80 are often surprised to discover that in multi-timbrel mode (Roland calls this Performance mode), they are not able to reproduce all of the patches in the same way as they can in single-timbrel mode (Roland calls this Patch mode). This is one point the Owner's Manual touches on but leaves primarily to implication though its descriptions of procedures while in Performance mode. The manual does not emphasize this point enough. The XP-80 has only 1 "EFX" processor, 1 "Reverb" processor and 1 "Chorus" processor. Without going too heavily in to details of the operation of the unit, Patches are generally programmed with a specific EFX, Reverb, and Chorus setting just for that Patch. As there is only one of each of these processors, it is not possible to apply the different effects settings of all Patches while in Performance mode. This means that you, as a composer, must decide which Patch it is most crucial for the effects to be applied to.

The quality of the effects is decent. Though the reverb is not quite studio quality (there are some minor audible defects in the decay of long-lasting reverb effects), ti is certainly suitable for most studio and live work. The versatility of the effects is quite liberating and I have yet to discover the full potential of the EFX processor after 4 years of using the instrument.

Repair History

I have never been forced to send my precious XP-80 into the shop for repairs due to either an accident on my part or due to defective parts from Roland. I have sent the XP-80 in one time for a ROM version upgrade under Roland warranty; an unpleasant experience I do not intend to repeat. As a word of advice, I would suggest that all potential new users of the XP-80 ensure that they are getting the latest version of the ROM and CPU. As of this writing, the latest ROM version is 1.10 and the latest CPU version is 1.02. Though the original ROM and CPU versions are very functional, there are a number of bugs, particularly in the sequencer. There is one very specific sound engine bug which is fixed by the 1.02 CPU revision which, prior to CPU version 1.02, manifested itself as a VERY loud popping sound when keys are pressed while using Patch C-98 in Patch mode. If you purchase a used XP-80, it would be in your best interest to make sure you are getting a unit with the 1.10 ROM and 1.02 CPU.

Sounding Good

So how does it sound? Just about how ever you want it to sound. The sound engine, though not the most complex on the market, is not wanting for functionality. It is a sample-playback based synthesizer engine that is capable of 64 simultaneous tones. As with most synthesizers, however, a single Patch can contain more than one Tone, which can quickly guzzle up your polyphony. The overall sound of the XP-80 would probably be described as a bit on the warm side. Though the treble response is very clear, the bass response is powerful and sound engineers will likely want to pump up the mid frequencies a few decibels in the final mix down. Because the synth engine is sample-based, many of the Patches are realistic sounding, though a few leave a great deal to the imagination. One of the most heavily utilized Patches, at least in my compositions, and probably the most heavily debated are the piano Patches. A number of people complain that the piano Patches are not realistic enough. Some point to overly short decay times (an accurate conclusion, though not necessarily detrimental). Others point to a lack of "fullness" or stereophonic encompassment. This is also understandable of the preset Patches. However, the piano samples themselves, though lacking, are redeemable for background and even lead work. But this is better accomplished by XP-80 user Patch contributions, not by preset Patches. I personally use 2 piano patches I've downloaded from the Internet and rarely, if ever touch the preset piano Patches. Strong critics of the preset piano Patches suggest purchasing either the Piano expansion board or the Session expansion board (which is said to have a very good stereo-sampled piano). In addition to the piano sounds, another strongly scrutinized sound is that of the saxophone. The XP-80 simply does not have a full-sounding sax. Though this isn't a problem in my compositions, musicians who need a soprano sax for leads would need to consider purchasing the Session expansion board (which is also said to have decent alto and soprano sax samples on it).

But when it comes to old-school 80s-style electronic synths, the XP-80 shines nicely in its accuracy of reproduction. Such sound engine features as 2 independent LFOs per Tone, selectable filters for each Tone (LPF, BPF, HPF, Bump, or Bypass), a rudimentary FM module, a ring modulator, a booster, and selectable Tone Structures letting a Patch designer select from pre-defined paths through which the sound signal passes allow for very realistic sounding pads and synth sounds.

Making Music

The XP-80's built-in sequencer is very easy to use. It has all the features of a professional sequencer such as real-time and post-record quantizing, track editing functions including transpose, time-fit, and so on, as well as a few not-so-common features. Though some other music workstations have similar functions, the XP-80 (and now discontinued younger sibling the XP-50) was one of the first to include Roland’s RPS (Real-time Phrase Sequencing). This feature allows you to assign multi-timbrel, multi-track sequences to keys on the keyboard. The Microscope editor allows you to edit every MIDI message recorded making it easy to add or remove individual notes or MIDI messages. Other features such as real-time loop recording and real-time individual key erasing are especially useful for recording percussion tracks.

Overall...

The XP-80 is one of the best instrument values around. Though there are other music workstations with more features, for the price, the XP-80 provides the best features at a reasonable price. The Owner's Manual is probably the worst feature of the XP-80, though it does contain all the information you'll need to operate the unit, it needs further decoding for novice users. The effects are versatile in function but limited in the number that can be used simultaneously for multi-timbrel playback. The keyboard is a sturdy unit with a metal frame and metal base, capable of handling many gigs. Those intending to purchase a used model should look for a ROM and CPU versions at or greater than ROM version 1.10 and CPU version 1.02. The XP-80 has a slightly warm sound, though it can sound very sharp as well. Instrument sounds are generally realistic with a few exceptions. Sounds that are lacking can be supplemented or replaced with an expansion board. And the XP-80 tends to reproduce old synth and pad sounds very well. This is a undeniably great instrument.

Recommended: Yes