customer reviews
59 People rated this product :
7 out of 10
4 People wrote reviews
7 out of 10
"Great unit with some flaws."
Feature:
good menus, lcd has a support for just 3 digits. you need either to memorize your patch number or print them all, you can't do it from the roland editor or just program your midi controller before the playing.
Anyway you have to keep the patch listing closer to you. menus are arranged by category which is nice and expansions(2) are categorized separate as well. RCA and 1/4" output are great however they are shared not independent ones, meaning both work with just one signal. midi in,out,thru is good.timing response is excellent in most cases. honestly I've never got a delay and you are just limited because of the polyphony which is 64 and each effect takes 4 voices(polyphony). It's a math thing. If your voice/performace have 4 effects your polyphony goes down to 16. Comes with 2 SRX expansion slots.
Quality:
looks well made. yes it appropiate for using on the road. everything is made from aluminum except the buttons.
Value:
expensive.
Desirability:
pretty
Sound:
Sound is ok.not great not bad. I'm sure roland waveforms are excellent, the issue here is with the xv-2020 hardware converters. Best suited for home/recording use instead on stage live. Outputs are low for a $600 unit. My keyboard amps sumo 300 and crate kxb100(both 100 watts)weren't enough for this little sound module. I tested with a roland kc-550 and it worked fine. outputs should be better. Overall sound quality is good.
SRX expansion cards are outstanding, if you want to get the most of your xv-2020 you won't believe how much sound gets improve with those expansion SRX cards.
Ease of Use:
pretty easy, one of the easies I've seen.
Support:
Haven't dealt with them
Submitted: 10/6/2006
Style of Music: gospel, afro-caribbean
10 out of 10
"The Roland XV-2020 is Composers and Performers gateway to high quality sounds at an entry level price."
Feature:
Pretty awsome features, more than enough to work with. The problem is in the software, though. It's really buggy and took me a couple weeks to get working on my Windows XP Laptop. Another problem is that you can only really control the synth sounds with a computer. Great for laptops if the software works.
Quality:
Onboard effects are just superb as well as some great instruments. There's not much to break on this unit. I had some trouble installing an SRX card at first, but after the second try it worked fine. Overall wonderful quality.
Value:
The next product on the Roland line is $1400. This is less than half that price, and you can install 2 SRX expansions. It's the most "worth it" product in it's price range. If you can afford to buy this and an expansion, you won't regret it.
Desirability:
The unit itself appeals very nicely to my studio and I'm sure it will to others ranging from beginning performer to professional composer. If your a composer thinking of getting a product like Gigastudio, which is the same price as the XV-2020, for movie scoring and classical work I'd say go with the XV-2020 and get the orchestral SRX expansion. If you like to compose or perform Pop/Rock or Ballad tunes go with the XV-2020.
Sound:
The core sounds on this module are pretty decent. The Guitars and Synths are the best, and the Pianos are the worst. For those who want very high quality sounds the SRX expansions, of course, have the best sound quality. If your into Pianos try getting the SRX-11 Ultimate Grand Piano Expansion and install it into the 2020.
Support:
Here's a tip, don't let the XV-2020 break. You'll regret contacting the horrible Roland service. The Roland manuals, especially the XV-2020s' are just horrible, but most will be able to work around problems with the module without having to consult the 2020's manual.
Overall:
At $600, the XV-2020 will be alot of Performers, Song Writers, and Composers gateway to high quality instruments. I highly recommend the SRX expansions and especially the module itself. There are no better products than the XV-2020 for it's price range.
Submitted: 12/23/2005
Style of Music: Rock
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