Roland Forums

Hi team i thought i would ask here and see what you all say. I am looking for an efects unit to use with my keyboards and like most people want as much bang for my buck as poss. Must have th eusual stuff like chorus and phaser, flanger, reverb etc

I dont have a fortune to spend sadly but i do want to get one which will go well with keyboards as most of the ones i have looked at seem aimed more towards guitars.

I had looked at the Alesis quadraverb and lexicon mx200 but i dont know if these are suitable so i let them go..

What do you reckon guys??

There are soooo many to choose from.
Anything from a second-hand Boss ME-50 (which I know for a fact has some 'keyboard effects presets' to a TC Electronics M300. If the Alesis, or Lexicon rock your boat then go for it.
Try and go for a 'multi' effect unit rather than a reverb only unit as these tend to skip on the time based effects you're after (chorus, flanging, phasing, etc).

What kind of keyboard do you intend to process?

well the Roland has a nice sound in its own and so does the Korg M1 so i was looking at maybe doing the DX7 which at present i have running through a kaosspad..

havent quite decided yet as the DX does have some lovely sounds of its own... but for starters i would look at the DX7 and take it from there...

the 2 i mentioned were just a couple i came across first off when i started looking... i will check out the ones you mentioned as well and see what they are like..

by the way i am waiting for parts coming to repair the D-50 keyboard :o)

Even the early Roland synths had chorus. Gave them their character.
The M1 has 2 effect units built in, usually in a chorus --> reverb serial connection.
The DX7 good as it was, didn't have the benefit of effects, as a result they did sometimes sound 'thin' or 'cold'. Some would use a guitar chorus pedal (Boss) to give them a little 'warmth'.

So you've dived into your D-50. Not that difficult was it?
What parts did you require?

I've ordered parts from Roland, I've found them reasonably priced, and always helpful.

yeah the DX sounds clinical compared to the warmth of the D-50 and the M1.. however with effects on it that certainly helps and the actual keyboard on the DX is lovely to play..

I have not opened it up yet but i know what to do when i do... th eparts i rrequire ae the contact strips which are under the keys.. i should have ordered some replacement keys as well as some of them are very worn..

only reason i ordered from holland is that roland didnt have any and it was roland who passed me onto this place that i ordered from :D..

kinda dreading strippin the roland down as i am somewhat ham fisted :o(

I believe Korg was using the same DX7 inside the M1 (Yamaha had an influence with Korg at the time).
The very early DX7's had aftertouch sent as a CC message, and their velocity sensitivity went to 100, not the normal 127. MIDI hadn't been around long, think they were a few things that needed ironing out.

Good idea to replace the contact strips, especially if you've got more than a couple down.
I assume Roland UK had none in stock then.. worrying, if I need any.
Good of them to point you to some replacements, they still care for their old offspring.

I'm sure you will be fine stripping it down, just make sure you hide the hammer. (Clarkson style)

well mate if you need any i would be quick as i know that they are virtually sold out and once they are gone theres no more... they did tell me that they have none left of the far right key as i snaffled the last one..

if you want the email send me a pm and i will sort it out for you..

i believe my DX7 is an early one and i was advised that the midi might be abit ropey but it seem sok apart from the latency

I did drop a whole new key contact strip on my D-50 some years ago, so hopefully I will be okay for a few more years.
Thanks for the offer.

Ropey MIDI? Could this explain it's lack of communication with the D-50?
Latency?

Possibly but it wouldn't explain why the midi controller doesn't work with the D-50..O moght try the controller with the M1 and see whay happens there.

Just missed out on a JV 2080 which i fancy as well but then if th emidi controller i have doesnt work via midi then would need to use one of my KB's and i dont wanna do that

argentum40 - 27 February 2010 05:28 PM

Hi team i thought i would ask here and see what you all say. I am looking for an efects unit to use with my keyboards and like most people want as much bang for my buck as poss. Must have th eusual stuff like chorus and phaser, flanger, reverb etc

I dont have a fortune to spend sadly but i do want to get one which will go well with keyboards as most of the ones i have looked at seem aimed more towards guitars.

I had looked at the Alesis quadraverb and lexicon mx200 but i dont know if these are suitable so i let them go..

What do you reckon guys??

Take a look at the Boss VF-1 or the Boss GS-10.