Roland D-50 Vintage Linear Synthesizer (1987) - sound demo - no D-05

vintage synth demo by RetroSound
supported by UVI: bit.ly/retrosound-uvi
Roland D-50 Linear Synthesizer from the year 1987
a real classic synth!
8-bit attack or looped PCM samples and digital oscillators (saw & square), low pass filter, chorus and reverb fx...
this demo shows the different sound possibilities. first a few legendary D-50 patches and in then second part some special sounds.
RetroSound synthesizer demo videos since 2007.
All is for free. If you like my work, I'm also happy about a small donation or a purchase of my music albums. All is very welcome and helpful. Thank you!
more info:
/ 265713782347

[@retrosound72]

Vintage Synthesizer and Drummachines sound demos, sound tutorials, one synth demo tracks and a lot more since 2007 can you find on the RetroSound Channel. Enjoy! RetroSound Playlist -----> kzbin.info/aero/PLDE9B65840284BBA0

[@edwardhanson318]

This has always been my favorite Synthesizer I use in creating my music. I fell in love with it since 1987 when I first discovered it.

[@retrosound72]

thank you

[@WV591]

And still one of the best sounding synths of all time.

[@brandontaylor2790]

Selling my D-50 was almost as dumb as marrying my ex-wife... almost.

[@synth4ever]

lol...

[@deauvillevrienden]

I also sold my first one because it was a second hand and not looking so good. Immediately missed it and bought a D-550. Then I had the chance to buy a D-50 that looks as if it comes out of the factory... Me happy :-))

[@moxigeren50gabe23]

Rik Vanhoenacker I just bought one for 250 dlls

[@MIDERA]

The opposite happened to me Rik - Bought one that was pristine, decided I didn't need it, sold it, then really wanted another one, and it's in far worse shape :/ That's the way she goes I guess! Will probably be on the look-out for years to come for a better unit. But I can't complain since I only spent $200 on it.

[@alabanzasmedia6121]

i still have mine i lost some screws when replacing the battery have not been able to reinstall original patches but it works as midi controller

[@bytex666]

Also, once you realize that it's really 4 single oscillator synths in one, each with its own filter, envelopes and LFO, that's when you realize what a powerful beast this can be. Just stacking 4 saw waves in unison sounds HUGE.

[@DIGITALSCREAMS]

I love the D50.....the warmest sounding digital synth Ive ever used. I also really liked the key action. It was perfect for fast hammering....

[@mattsynth]

Great classic sound. You can hear the D50 on tons of records back in the 90's. I had fun with mine but always remembered it being a bitch to program. I probably did not know much about oscillators, filters and envelops back then so maybe that was my problem.

[@geoffk777]

Classic board! Along with the Korg M1, really launched the modern synth architecture. If you listen to "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul, the D-50 was used for the brass riff.

[@q16621777]

Another one I wanted to have, but could not afford! Loved it. I think almost every 80's early 90's techno/new wave band had one in their arsenal.

[@StudioAnnur337]

6:02 the sound used by Phil Collins on the intro to Another Day In Paradise. For the late 80s, this synth was well ahead of it's time. Marvelous digital sound-producing machine.

[@bytex666]

I have this synth too. It's lovely. All the programming shortcuts are ingenious when you get under its skin. The manual describes the programming unusually well for a Roland product. Plus, Jarre loved it so much he almost made an entire album with just D-50 sounds (Revolutions). I also have hundreds of soundbanks for it if you want more sounds. And a sysex editor for made for D50. Nothing thin about the sound. The saw wave is more like a shark fin shape than straight saw, so it sounds warmer.

[@HisXLNC]

Sounds good even today.

[@analogsynthaficionado1406]

As with most synthesizers that have built in FX, when you turn those FX off the synth becomes anemic sounding. The trick is to program the synth not using FX, then when you do apply FX (preferably nice outboard FX), the synth truly comes alive. The D50 is capable of incredible sounds if you take the time to learn it. Well worth the effort.

[@preis205]

I agree. My D10 with Fx sounds close to D50.

[@arkhayemodinson6325]

Picked up one of these in perfect working order in a pawn shop for $300 :D

[@rhinanthusminor]

"Incredible sounds from this synth ,as with all Retro Sound`s demo`s you seem to instinctively take us to the supernatural heart of the instrument avoiding any fancy workouts ,a true skill, allowing us to hear the breadth and depth of what they can do."

[@retrosound72]

thank you!

[@wizardofozbe]

Still love this synth after all these years, I'll never dish mine ;) Thanx for the cool demo of this cool synth! Grtz, Dave

[@ElectronicazMusic]

I now wish I still had my D50! Some of your presets are unbelievable.... I never thought of gating sounds using, I'm guessing a square LFO, when I had mine. I'm reverting back to hardware these days, and thanks to soft synths my sound design skills are much improved. I'd love to get back inside a D50 now! My 1st synth back in 89 I think it was, and I learned how to program every inch of the thing by reading the manual cover to cover.... Never done that since mind you!

[@StewartBrand85]

Can only imagine what it would have been like hearing this synth when it came out

[@joeblow1328]

Probably like when people first seen Terminator, Jurassic Park, ect, it was mind blowing

[@LesFarrington]

i remember when the D-50 first arrived on the scene i was playing an Emax Sampler and a DW-8000 Korg. I have never lusted for a synth the way i did for the D-50 even to this day. it had more "resin" and Guts to it than any Digital Synth of the time. it fell out of fashion for a while but I hear it creeping back into the Soundtracks and songs lately. if you find one at a good price you cant go wrong

[@bytex666]

In the late 80's there was a huge industry in making sounds for these new digital synths. So there were tons of cards made with soundbanks, given away in magazines or for sale. Some nice people have transferred all these cards to .sysex format, so we can send them via MIDI to the synth. I have a couple hundred of those files :) So wide variety of sounds, even a full Hammond soundbank, and none sound the same!

[@julienlecoq8734]

Great demo ! the sounds of the D-50 are unique and beautiful...

[@retrosound72]

Julien Lecoq agreed! thank you :)

[@julienlecoq8734]

It is really complementary with analog sounds, because it makes sounds that you could NOT do with an analog. For me it can be awesome when you combine some cold digital or FM sounds with analog stuff. Thanx to Retro Sounds for this demo, good job as always.

[@retrosound72]

Julien Lecoq :))))

[@marcosapone2667]

Einer der besten Synthesizer, die ich je in meinem Leben gesehen habe !!

[@1vootman]

A fantastic sounding synth...you handle it like a master!

[@retrosound72]

1vootman :) thank you!

[@jimbun10]

Still a proud owner of this lifelong musical partner.Thanks for the demo! Although I have the instrument right next to me, also used as a MIDI device connected to the pc, it gives me the shivers to hear you play it. Cheers!

[@geoffk777]

Thanks! This board is a totl classic, and it still sounds great after 27 years. My V-synth XT card gets close enough to it for me, though.

[@dreampictures9990]

At 3:00 it reminds me korg polysix!! What an excelente synth!

[@MorbidVideoProd]

Great Vid, Great piece of hardware!

[@SpacehotelMusic]

I agree - D-50 is beautiful, nothing like it but yes overall the JD-800 'wins' on flexibility, filter, sound quality and hands on ergonomics! Looks amazing too 8-)

[@manuelcarneiro4866]

Great demo! I also have a Roland, but it is a Roland A-33! Thanks, guys!

[@AlexanderRoca]

THANKS FOR THE RETRO SOUNDS !

[@saltyninja]

Sounds fantastic.

[@retrosound72]

+saltyninja :)

[@mr.tomraypaz6085]

0:11-0:47 patch used on “Sirius” by Clannad, “I Don’t Want To Live Without You” by Foreigner, and the jingle for the Qintex Productions logo.

[@retrosound72]

👍

[@Mocuischalom]

i like this synth for atmospheric ambiance sounds, thanks for this

[@geoffbagwell34]

Used to own one of these. Great presets - and thank god! - never got my head around programming the thing. Not enough knobs and sliders.

[@subwaygaragemusic]

While Phil Collins is promoting his then new single “Both Sides of the Story" in '93-'94, the D-50 always on top of his CP-70 piano. A little fact.

[@trevorsong3054]

He did not have any keyboard on top of his piano on that tour. In 1990 he did, but he favored the DX7 even though the Roland was out for a while by that point.

[@adam872]

I still love my D50. You can get some great analogue sounds out of it (I've got some great Oberheim style brass and strings patches) and the digital ones are pretty nice too. I've used it heaps over the years.

[@Shep220]

Man this sounds so awesome!! reminds me so much of Tangerine Dream, of coarse they used these a lot too. I hope one day I can acquire one. Thanks for posting!

[@machiwoomiapoo]

Nice sounds! :)

[@Cesarsound1]

Nice sounds!

[@WitsEnds]

does it have XLR or 1/4inch jack connections I could use with an audio interface to connect to my pc?

[@alabanzasmedia6121]

the aftertouch keys are superb even as midi controller

[@danfuerthgillis4483]

00:53 OMFG Vangelis - 1492: Conquest of Paradise- Monastery of la Rabida!!!!! Holy man that is the opening sound . Awesome Synth . I just bought the Roland cloud D50 and my lord the sound is heaven on the ears.

[@mimmodippolito7258]

Great sounds

[@retrosound72]

:)

[@tanttalon8263]

My favorite synth. I prefer this one over JD800, it has such a unique sound. Nothing can compare to D50.

[@channelkerr]

2:59 sounds like the identical patch AND chord from The Depreciation Guild - Trace.

[@cynthiamagoon9594]

how can i change the tones ..cant figure it out please help

[@acaruso36]

The first patch sounds like it was used in a song called " I've been waiting for a girl like you" by Foreigner. Great Demo man, Thanks!

[@TrainmasterCurt]

The Roland D-50/D-550 Rack is the best synth for Ambient and Space music bar none, the sounds at 0:55 are heavenly

[@JamesDiamondDurant]

My favoraite and my first pro synth. Flawless

[@SynthAddict]

love it man, great demo love my D-50 are some of the patches you play past the known factory ones available for download? for the personal patches, do you sell them?

[@droidbotdotcom]

perfekt..trippy sounds and melody!

[@MrLeonardomontoya15]

Excuse me, what's the patch called in 6:04???

[@anstonian]

Wonderful. Incredible pads. I have one. Thanks for sharing. Excellent. LOL .

[@nickguy6820]

It's interesting to see the synthesis techniques used over the years to overcome technical limitations. The D-50's LA architecture, using small samples for attack and texture and combining it with synthesis for the sustain, was a very clever workaround to the high cost of ROM at the time. Yamaha's modeling synths in the 90s took this philosophy further, with spectacular results. We're in an era of sample-based synthesis because it's now so affordable to sample every key of a piano at multiple velocities for the full decay, but as the models improve, and processing power continues to grow, I look forward to seeing synthesis and modeling come back to the forefront. There's just no comparison to the expressiveness of real-time synthesis.

[@jaggass]

This what i love about old synth's. They just don't sound like anything else that's out there today. It was Yamaha that opened up a new can of worms regarding synthesis when they brought the DX7 out in the early 80's. That synth marked the beginning of digital synthesis. I don't like todays keyboards as they are merely samplers.

[@MM-nj6nn]

Hey RetroSound, would you possibly do a request for me? Please reply! I love listening to this kind of music!!

[@matthewmiller6730]

Phat, ty for sharing. subscribed

[@retrosound72]

Thanks a lot

[@TechnoMancer7908]

It's amazing bro! really!

[@retrosound72]

thanks

[@audiofella2631]

are these factory sounds i'm thinking about buying this synth but I don't know what I'm getting?

[@ianslack6673]

So cool matey was his used on The soundtrack for witness

[@retrosound72]

:)

[@MM-nj6nn]

Love listening to this. Dude, you gotta play Terminator 1 1984 opening theme on this Synthesizer! It must sound orgasmic. Would love to hear your rendition of that synthesized intro *_*

[@gjc82071]

retrosound72 - What is your opinion about a Roland D-50 VS JD-800 & also a Juno 106 vs an Alpha Juno?

[@DLHerrod]

How much is this board worth today? Not as a collection piece but as a weekly giging or a studio board......

[@Cherrytea558]

Enya used this synth for a while.

[@retrosound72]

yes

[@danfuerthgillis4483]

00:52 VANGELIS 1492 Conquest of Paradise . That thing sounds incredible and full.

[@retrosound72]

:)

[@sturmbeatz]

Cool, der D-50 war mit mein erster Synth (äußerst hart erarbeitet damals), den Sound mag ich heue noch.

[@eddiezzz100]

have you got a video on the ensoniq vfx?

[@CleverDjembe]

Pretty legendary!

[@NELLOARA]

very good synth!!!!!

[@SpacehotelMusic]

so retrosound - D-50 or JD-800? which would you take if you could only take one?

[@alvaromirandafernandez7296]

Hi Friends please if anyone can tell me that keyboard Roland or another compatible with roland D70 to copy their programs. THANK YOU

[@retrosound72]

unfortunately not

[@575garden]

00:45 reminds me of when you used to load up a play station back in the day.

[@soundmanhaven1]

i had one too wish i never sold it love it for it jucly pads just needed the pg 1000 for it to change sounds

[@gelazari]

best sounds i've ever heard..

[@bladewalker6816]

it's beautiful.... omg

[@retrosound72]

:)

[@jaggass]

I have the D-550 which extremely hard to program since it has no joy stick but many of the stock patches sound great.

[@deauvillevrienden]

Use the editor librarian ;-)

[@jaggass]

What's the patch called at 6.04?

[@Timecop1983]

Ok, i need a D50 now!

[@douro20]

The D-50 is a hybrid synth, using 8-bit PCM samples for the attack transients and digital oscillators using linear subtractive synthesis for the rest. The only drawback is that there is no way to provide new samples for the attack transients; it limits programmability somewhat.

[@gcoudert]

I had both the D50 and D550 module. I preferred the latter, mainly because of the adjustable overall reverb setting but I wasn't mad on the envelopes and hated the fact that you can't route the PCM samples through the filter. I liked the fact that you could assign an envelope to PWM-Mod, which not many digital synths can do, not even my Jupiter-50. I ended up getting a JV-1080 instead, which was in a similar vein but much more flexible and multi-timbral.

[@Life-is-a-Dance]

What?

[@gcoudert]

Richard Da-Lionheart I should really reword my first sentence. The two versions are identical apart from the fact that the D550 has an overall reverb level control, which the keyboard version hasn't got. What I didn't like about either of them is that the attack segment of the SYNTH section envelope is not 'percussive' enough (try a JP8 and you'll see what I mean) and the PCM samples bypass the filter. Hope this makes sense.

[@10hz]

gcoudert You can assign an Env to PWM ? I thought only an LFO was possible.

[@gcoudert]

10hz I have checked the manual and I was wrong. Only velocity, LFO and aftertouch can modulate the PW so I stand corrected. This is weird because I clearly remember this sound I made on it (I liked to call it my 'signature sound') that had a piano style envelope and the PW decreased with the decay. Maybe it was a slow key-sync'ed LFO. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since I last had a D50, I must admit.

[@leroyrs]

Roland - fantastic sound.

[@teknokont]

D50 sounds like a vintage synth . JD800 is a first class , lovely synth which sounds wide , open , bright and modern . I love them both but I think It's not fair to compare them . I use jd990 , wavestation ad / sr , emu xl-1 for digital pads , ambient soundscapes and I want a d50 badly . It's worth tracking down . In the past I missed a couple of d50s and I regret a lot now , I hope I can find one :)

[@jhetta22]

Geddy Lee used one of these on the Presto tour.

[@AdamTheAd-vanc3d]

I have a question if you please, is this synths sawtooth and and square/pulse produced by dco's or sampled waveforms i have read up a bit but still not very clear ?

[@retrosound72]

+Adamski Ajull digital osc with saw and pulsewaveform + attack samples and spectrum waveforms

[@AdamTheAd-vanc3d]

+RetroSound Thankyou for your reply now im clear as crystal with the sound generating engine ;-)

[@tie32101]

What sound card do you have in there?

[@maerchenkoenig23]

Ich hab noch einen D-50 von 1989, es war mein zweiter, den ersten hatte ich mir 1986 gekauft, und gedacht, nach so vielen Auftritten müsste ich ihn ersetzen, den zweiten spiele ich seit damals, er hat über 1000 Auftritte hinter sich und mich nie im Stich gelassen, lediglich ein Kontakt war etwas schwerfällig beim Umschalten. Ich mische seine hauchigen Flächen gerne zu anderen Klängen hinzu, klingt phänomenal, wenn man ihn zu analogen Flächen bspw. vom MKS-80 hinzufügt. Zeitlos schöner Synth!

[@moogdome2562]

I have one somewhere. great sounds like better the Korg M1 and DX7. I forgot just how good this is, but like a lot of digital synths, not easy to programme alone. Been used by so many people. It's time to get mine out, blow the dust away, get into my spandex, and sail away sail away sail away into outer space and beyond. Thank you for sharing.

[@retrosound72]

thank you

[@TrainmasterCurt]

@ 0:08 is the same patch used in the intro of Foreigner’s 1987 classic ballad (I Don’t Want To Live Without You) check it out

[@retrosound72]

yes

[@JakobHill]

Awesome video! What are the major differences between this and the D-10?

[@retrosound72]

+Jakob Hill the sound is very different. and the features, waveforms....

[@SuperGoombaAlex]

This is the same synth used by Tom Scholz on the song "Living For You" by Boston.

[@josephpaice9224]

Yes that's just what I was thinking! Love Tangerine Dream.

[@domenico_66]

Sublime

[@retrosound72]

🙌

[@philipjanssens7605]

I have one and I must say, that is a hell of a synthesizer as in amazing. Also I'd suggest you use longer midi and output cables or move the synth closer to the mixer ;-) Nice vid as always!

[@retrosound72]

+Philip Janssens ;) thank you

[@Arperture]

Boutique version coming this month from Roland.

[@soundmanhaven1]

as i had one spents hours on its lush sounds in the end i needed the pg 1000 to make new sounds such sweet sounds it make :)

[@good_old_80s_90s]

Brings back great memories. It was the first synth i ever bought,played it for many,many hours,after a good few years,i ended up selling it,it broke my heart,but i needed money.

[@retrosound72]

:)

[@Flaytt744]

feel u bro..i have been loyal to my juno..it is like a marriage

[@acaruso36]

Oh thats right! thanks

[@fmsynths83]

yes, in fact it is! Thank you .

[@NeilVanceNeilVance]

...not much in it between the D-50 and the later JD800?

[@ETericET]

@cullyvan Maybe a reaction to the thiness of digital sound?

[@moxigeren50gabe23]

I have one memory card and it says illegal card??? anybody can explain me

[@jdorozco1275]

Either the battery has died or it has lost its patches. Basically the keyboard cannot find any patch info on the card. Go to format card and reformat once replacing the battery and it should work again.