Roland D550 - Dishonest eBay Sellers, Screen Replacement, and Patch Editing Using Ctrlr

[@jeffdacey1255]

Thank you for your description of the D-550 repair. I admire your patience in determining the steps necessary to bring yours back to life. I also purchased a unit from ebay. At the time, the seller was also offering two other synth rack modules from a similar era, a Korg M1R and an E-mu Proteus. The thing they had in common was they were being liquidated from the studio of Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie! So it was exciting to score a piece of rock and roll memorabelia, even if it was not featured on their most prominent albums because of the dates of their release. When it arrived, it had a noticeable flaw, the screen was blank, but not like yours. I decided to take it to the technician at my local music store. He was recommended as a trustworthy person and he made a skillful, if not entirely pleasant, determination of the problem. Step 1: There were two batteries in the unit, and one or both of them were responsible for maintaining the factory patches in memory. Being over 20 years old, it was understandable that both batteries were dead. One was a common and easily replaceable type; the other was not. A few days later, both were replaced. Then we noticed the second issue. Step 2: Restoring the factory patches. As this episode happened a few years prior to your video, there was not a wealth of online information on this topic. The technician did his best using the Roland supplied information plus the user manual I emailed to him. Unfortunately this effort was not successful. I had a hunch back at step 1 that there might be some difficulty restoring the factory patches so I looked on ebay again and found a Roland memory card contining all the factory patches. Not a cheap solution but it had to work, right? I brought the memory card with me to the store and the two of us figured out how to copy the patches into the internal memory. Success!!! We both enjoyed the glorious sounds that came from the unit. I thanked him for his patience and paid him for his time and expresssed my appreciation for tackling this repair. The unit has worked fine ever since and I even managed to assist a former band member who also owned a D-50. Using the memory card, I was able to resore the patches for him in less than a minute.

[@mortonharwood9836]

I came here because I'm about to replace a display on a D50 I'm restoring. Helpful video in that regard but holy cow, the few minutes you spent playing around with the Fantasia voice was extremely unexpected and insightful on how to program these things. Thanks!

[@joev5638]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! You just told me something I needed to know to get my Roland D-50 patches into the MIDI librarian software I use! This has been bugging me for quite some time, and thanks to you letting me know to hold down the Data Transfer key, it's working now!! I can't tell you just how much I appreciate it! Thanks again!

[@kevinred9023]

I found the same page as you for replacing my D-550 display but I was a bit hesitant because the results didn't look too great judging by the picture he took. From looking at yours, I have no doubt that this is the route I need to go. Thanks for making this video.

[@TheMusicAddict]

Awesome. This is great to hear. Good luck, and let me know how it turns out for you.

[@junksmith_wizard]

I was just reading that article this video is AWESOME!

[@Venatt1]

Excuse me to ask but where can I download this D50 virtual editor that you show at 13:19 that shows exactly that screen configuration ? because I noticed there is another one but it looks different with knobs.

[@TheMusicAddict]

The Ctrlr software an its various control panels can be downloaded from here: ctrlr.org/ .

[@MIDERA]

I had a very similar thing happen to me (though my item was actually in working condition when I got it). The seller showed lots of great photos, but when I received the unit, the left ear of the rack was massively bent. I was like, "How did I miss this? Did this happen in transit?!?!?!" Looked back at the photos and the seller did such a good job of NEVER showing the left ear rack, just said he didn't cause it. It must've happened during shipping. How magical that the side he never took pictures of ended up being the side that got damaged during shipping... Right........

[@dstrats]

Amazing vid! Thank you! I will have a D550 arriving this Friday that needs the factory presets reinstalled. Something I’ve never done but your vid is a great help. I have a question: when you were using that VST that’s like the editor hardware for the D50/550, where you editing the actual unit? Or does the VST have all the presets that you are playing with (partials, cutoff virtual sliders). If the actual rack unit, how is that possible! Thanks in advance.

[@hectorruiz5821]

Cool stuff do you have a way to fix a volume on a Roland d50 that only work on the top half of the volume ? Thanks

[@matrix12x]

great video.

[@bmusic2833]

I recommend watching some videos on de-soldering techniques. There are better ways to remove a multi pin header connecter that will make life easier. Also, the extra work to get the display to fit properly is worth it in my opinion. Yes it's a bit tricky, but the unit looks much nicer when the plastic display lens is installed.

[@TheMusicAddict]

Thanks! That's good advice. I've had much better results desoldering lately using a combination of a flux pen and solder braid. But I'll check on KZbin for some (hopefully) better ideas.

[@bmusic2833]

Here's a resent one that's has helpful info: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fouvgq14hLSEmNk

[@TheMusicAddict]

Thank you! This was great.

[@stumeek6825]

Hi, I"m a new subscriber and stumbled upon your D550 video. I also had the same experience on eBay, with a jv1080 . The seller said it just stopped working one day, so I thought ahh most probably the caps, so I bought it. The jv arrived and to my horror the rear of the unit (Not shown in the photo or mentioned whatsoever) looked as though a tractor had run into it what a mess!!!. Eventually got it all fixed up , however it cost me a fortune:(. Great show by the way ! . All the best Stu.

[@TerryxMasters]

Looking at the D-50 vs the D-550 I’ve got to ask you, how the hell do you do the joystick X/Y on the 550? 🤔

[@TheMusicAddict]

That's a great question! I don't really use the joystick on my D50, so I haven't missed it on my D550. My guess is that you could take two encoders from something like a BCR-2000 and map one to the X direction MIDI CC and one to the Y direction. It's not quite the same, but it would probably work in a pinch.

[@TerryxMasters]

Ah I gotcha, thanks for the tip! 😃

[@WV591]

Good job. TU. the current limiting resistor 22 ohms how did you decide on that value?

[@invisiblemountaincom]

Hey, great video. I have a 550, but I'm clueless as to how to connect my midi keyboard (keystep) to the 550 at the same time as the computer to use ctrlr while playing the keyboard, as you do in the video. Are you just using a midi splitter into the 550 from the computer usb to midi and the keyboard midi in together? This info about how you set up the midi connection in this video would be greatly appreciated. I'm hope this question makes sense. Thanks. Again, also thanks for the video.

[@oiuykghkjgkg]

I really didn't want to like this guy after reading the comments first but you know what, I like him. nice vid!

[@TheMusicAddict]

I'm a decent guy, I swear!

[@oiuykghkjgkg]

subscribed :)

[@TheMusicAddict]

Thank you!!

[@Venatt1]

Unfortunately this editor for the D50 in no longer available. Instead there is a new one with Knobs which is kind of weird ever since the D50 is not a knob synth.

[@TheMusicAddict]

Oh, bummer! What a weird choice to use knobs!

[@AndrewTSq]

nice video. I replaced the lcd on one of my samplers but I made a new cable actually for it. and the display did not fit in like your either, but I took some work with a dremel to make it fit :)

[@TheMusicAddict]

I got very lucky with the fit of my new display. The person who made the instructions I followed wasn't so lucky; he had to Dremel his. My Dremel is a bit dodgy, so I'm glad it didn't come to that.

[@ParmaJeanFuture]

If my screen on the D550 😩 is broken 😩 ... Will I still be able to use CTRLR

[@MarvelousMixinMiguel]

Just watched your video, thanks for making it. It was very helpful. I'm getting into synths and I'm doing research to learn how to use the gear. I picked up the D-05 but I can't find videos on how to use this machine. I know the basic but I would like to know more of the advance features. I have Ctrlr & it works great. Are you planning on making more D550 videos? If not could anyone tell me if I could change or mix and match my upper & Lower parts? I've imported other peoples patches to the D-05. Can I make my own sound/ patches and import it to the D-05? How do i make the patch? I'm sure there are specific specs the file must be in order for it to work on the synth.

[@MarvelousMixinMiguel]

Found a video on youtube created by Marshal Arnold that walks through creating patches.

[@TheMusicAddict]

Excellent! I'll have to check out that video.

[@YotamPiano]

I love it how just "by chance" the part where the synth was dropped did not appear in the photos. Not suspicious at all lol :) why couldn't he miss some of the other 90% minty synth parts? personally buying musical instruments online is a risky business

[@YotamPiano]

but great job repairing it nontheless, I wish I head your technical expertese

[@suadcokljat1045]

I think you got good bargain because D550 LCD is trash anyways and usually replaced with new LCD/LED or OLED. Imagine it was true what seller said and actually mainboard was faulty?

[@paulosimoes3119]

That new display is probably the right size. It´s the perspex panel that´s tinted on the side which should cover the exposed part that´s missing, IMO.

[@mandala306]

The display is the size but too thick for the perrplex to fit over it. He said you might be able to mount the display lower by getting other display mounting posts but he didn't look into it yet.

[@Pamberjack_]

The Aftertouch Police just called. They want to talk to you about your useage... 😉

[@TheMusicAddict]

I *AM* the Aftertouch Police.

[@Pamberjack_]

@@TheMusicAddict 😂

[@TheSoundtec]

wrong soldering iron. You can do plumbing with that.

[@AndrewTSq]

now i just need to fix my D50 aswell

[@MisAnnThorpe]

The display on my JX8P has just died on me. As someone with zero soldering skills and a very limited brain capacity, is it likely that I'll be able to replace it myself and get it working properly again. Also, does anybody think the JX8P justifies the effort?!

[@TheMusicAddict]

If you don't have any soldering skills, I wouldn't make it your first project. I think that the JX8P would be worth it (I've always liked that synth), but practice on a few other things first or else it'll get ugly really quickly.

[@MisAnnThorpe]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Are replacement displays for the JX8P readily available, do you know?

[@TheMusicAddict]

I just did a quick search. It looks like Syntaur sells a JX8P display board, but it's not cheap - $75 US, plus shipping. In that same search, I found a number of people who were able to repair their displays simply by touching up the solder on the joints on the display board. Again, I don't know if I'd make it my first soldering project, but it might not be all that bad. That would certainly be cheaper than replacing the entire board.

[@MisAnnThorpe]

Thank you so much for your time and effort.

[@morrisman64]

Never buy another man's JUNK!!!

[@zackthebongripper7274]

I had a seller do this similar scam to me with an electronic item. I gave the seller my best offer based on the photos and the item description. When I received the unit it was working but the mounts were cracked and broken off. Also, the cables were shortened when the description stated the wires were not reworked. I gave the seller a chance to offer me a partial refund but he/she instead played it like I got a deal with my accepted "best offer." FALSE. My offer was based on the item WITHOUT those defects. The seller essentially obscured the true state of the item and thus duped me into making an offer that was higher then otherwise I would have made. This is FRAUD. Plus, the seller wanted a 15% restocking fee for a return. What did I do? I kept the item and sent the seller a box with rocks. I fucked them, LOL. SCAM THE SCAM ARTISTS. The scumbag seller had no recourse because of eBays screwed up polices. Justice done.

[@rg2027x]

any chance posting the name of this cretin, so we can avoid them

[@looneyburgmusic]

You are making a huge deal over nothing... The seller was not dishonest - he said it was working, but then stopped working. *Why* it stopped working is not a required part of an Ebay listing.

[@TheMusicAddict]

The seller knowingly withheld vital information about the item, both in the verbiage of the listing and in the listing's photos. That is absolutely, beyond the shadow of a doubt, a dishonest way of doing business. If you think that this kind of stuff is OK on eBay, remind me never to buy anything from you.

[@looneyburgmusic]

How do you know it was dropped?

[@TheMusicAddict]

Really? The very bent thick solid steel rail and the completely severed display PCB are strong hints that the synth experienced some sort of drop-like trauma.

[@looneyburgmusic]

Sure. And it probably did... But you don't know because the seller didn't say. That's not being dishonest - he said the 550 was not working. Did I miss the part of your video where you mentioned you had asked if it had suffered a drop or other misfortune before buying...? If you did ask, and if he had said no, *then* you would have a reason to claim the seller was being dishonest. I buy "broken" synths all the time off Ebay for restoration/repair, or for parts - Before buying I always take the time to send the seller a set of simple questions - Was it dropped? Was something spilled on it? Last time it worked was there any "puffs of smoke" or a smell of something burning? That's one of the reasons Ebay has a system in place to ask sellers questions... Use it. A few minutes of typing can save a lot of hassle and bad feelings later on....

[@TheMusicAddict]

If you think that this seller's description was "a clear, honest, and accurate description about the item," which is in the eBay rules for sellers, then we simply agree to disagree. As for asking questions - yes, a buyer's due diligence is vital, but it does not excuse a seller from withholding pertinent information in an item's description. One does not justify the other. By the way: I think you're under the impression that I made a big deal of this on eBay. For the record, I didn't file an eBay complaint on this user, nor did I leave negative feedback.