I currently own a Roland XP80 expanded with Voice, Base & Strings, Drums and Session expansions. The problem is the display is fading out and the keyboard will eventually become useless and I can't find a replacement display anywhere, so I guess I'm stuck buying a new keyboard. Problem is, I wish to have one as close to or even better than the XP80, a workstation keyboard, and something that uses more advanced recording devices (USB, DVD ROM, ETC...) Any advice?
The USB on the keyboards I've seen are used for two things - as an alternative to midi in/out and to pass patch info back and forward to a software editor. You may find you'll still need to record the same way you would with your XP80 - from the L+R audio outs (or just L for mono). Fading display - may just need a new battery. There could be life in that old dog yet. It's a good sounding bit of kit. Keep it (and your cash) until it's been "gigged to frig" and can't be repaired. Those sounds you're afraid of losing - AFAIK the samples at the core of the sounds are still there in the Roland products released after the XP80 (1996 was the SOS review I found online). The Fantom range and older modules like the JV1010, XV2020 etc... in fact some of the JV cards your synth takes were repackaged into the SRX card range. Workstation keyboards - IMO the world has moved on to do the sequencing bit via software and not in hardware except for live playback. I'm seeing a lot of laptops on stages too. Korg's Kronos is on its way - a serious workstation of a keyboard (with a serious price tag). I won't be getting one - couldn't justify the price with the gigs/recording I get - but I'm wondering how well it will do for them. Big advance (IMO) has been VSTs. It's not the future - they're here, they sound great - and the biggest problem is finding something gig reliable to run them live.
Thank you Thank you, goz. I really don't want to get rid of the XP80. But everything I've read about trying to repair this common LCD problem is pretty electronically involved and that just isn't my thing. I wish I could just order a new one; I'm at least tech savvy enough to take it apart and plug a new one in (even if it takes a little solder) but what I'm reading goes way beyond that even. Roland doesn't offer the parts either. I can use my macbook to record and burn CDs, so that really isn't a big deal. It's just that darned display! Such a small thing but so important...
If you've checked with your local Roland repair people and they can't do it - that's bad news. What spec is your macbook? Fancy going down the VST route? As long as the XP80 is still sending a midi out signal you can use it as your controller.
