Why I bought a Roland D-110 in 2022. Most frustrating synth ever, or 80s gem?

I blame ‪@AudioPilz‬ entirely for this one. I loved the sound of the Roland D-110 so much that I had to seek one out for myself. This thing is a bit of a tricky beast, but sounds *excellent*, and I genuinely love it. A rack synth filled with beautiful synthwave-tastic 80s sounds. Is it as frustrating as it seems? Well, you have to watch or else I won't get my delicious KZbin revenue.
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[@AudioPilz]

The horror, the horror...;)

[@StephenMcLeod]

You have a lot to answer for.

[@dankeplace]

@@StephenMcLeod show him your beard oscillator.

[@indirektdjs]

Both of you pretending not to be masochists but you keep going back to nightmare interfaces like the 110/220. Be honest. You like that s**t. Kneel before the altar of 80s and early 90s programming PAIN and when your done ask for seconds.

[@audiolego]

I'm hooked. Getting one

[@5pr1nk57]

I've just come across a D10 which is basically this rack synth with a keyboard for the bargain price of £70! It needs a little tidy up but I'm considering getting it as a consultation price after losing and auction for an MPC 2000 earlier for £250! 😢 Only thing is, I don't really hardly any space! Wanted to get both this and the U220 as rack units to save space for other keyboards like the M1, Poly 61, Juno 106, etc

[@seanluke3052]

I am Edisyn's author. Edisyn is an old variant of the name Edison and is pronounced the same way. If you have any difficulties or annoyances with Edisyn, beyond the complexity of the D-110 itself, send them my way! I always appreciate feedback. My email address can be found on the front of Edisyn's manual.

[@tonverfall_studio]

Edisyn is amazing, and even moreso for being open-source and Linux-friendly. It makes the D110 fun to experiment with (along with a raft of other powerful synths with challenged UIs).

[@StephenMcLeod]

Thanks so much! You are a legend.

[@KimStennabbCaesar]

Very cool. I've had a D-110 lying around for years, can't even remember where I got it from... Prolly need to replace the battery first, but I'm definitely gonna have a go at programming it with Edisyn.

[@audioartisan]

Thank you for Edisyn, Sean. It makes programming the Ultraproteus much easier! 🤩

[@ciatangallaghe2485]

That's pretty sound.

[@cnfuzz]

D110 is a capable synth in the right hands , it's keyboard version D20 was a cornerstone on my records between 1988 -1993 , made all custom patches , could sound like a polymoog if tweaked well

[@StephenMcLeod]

It is a beauty

[@5pr1nk57]

Ooh, any examples of tracks you produced with it?

[@dadjeanious1025]

This has inspired me to dig much deeper into my 1U e-mu mo’phatt rompler. That I bought for $75 at a USA pawn shop btw. It's branded as like a “90's street hip hop" sound machine. Not the same as the 110 for sure, but it's like a time capsule for those types of sounds...

[@StephenMcLeod]

Ah amazing! I love those old weirdo units

[@5pr1nk57]

I have the original Planet Phatt :)

[@RobynVids]

Incredible unit, you can kit it out with 4 Proteus 2000 ROM cards. The controls and filters are amazing, as well as the presets tbh. Great for making music

[@ericMT]

Did you know the Mo Phatt and Planet Phatt were made by Dave Rossum’s E-MU and if you are in the modular world you surely are aware of his very advanced and high quality modules. Morpheus, Assimil8or, Panharmonium, and Control Forge are some of his best modules.

[@mudsh4rk]

If you like the D-110, probably the seminal D-110 album is probably Magick by Tim Blake (ex Hawkwind). It was his return to music after taking an extended break in the 80s, and it was made entirely with a D-10 (keyboard version of the 110, a sequencer, one microphone and a tape recorder. Also alegedly written and recorded in one evening, during a thunderstorm, inside of a medieval windmill in rural France (and it sounds like that's at least mostly true). Throw a PG-10 (with a new, backlit display - trust me when I say you don't want to use the factroy display on the PG-10) and it's a whole different synth. Still not really live tweakable since not all of the parameter changes update in real time, but very quick and intuitive to program. The lowprice of the 110 justifies the high price of a PG-10, too (up to a point) I got the 110 for free, paid about $225 for a PG-10 and another $20 and 15 minutes of simple soldering to upgrade the display, and I think at least $100 more than that would be defensible in today's synth market (don't bother with the people trying to get $400+ for a PG-10 on its own, though).

[@EdEditz]

I just scored a Roland JV-880 which is the rack version of their JV80 synth, from 1992. It even came with an external drum card. Payed less than 200 euro's and these are very highly praised for their killer pads and low end cinematic sound. It's still in the mail but I can't wait to get to grips with it. :) Well worth looking out for or maybe you already have one, which wouldn't surprise me ^___^

[@StephenMcLeod]

Oh nice!!! What a find. I'll need to keep my eyes peeled for one of those beauties.

[@stevenaustin4591]

cool, I got the U-110 and U220, the U220 was used on Experience and Jilted Generation by the Prodigy ;)

[@StephenMcLeod]

I didn't know that! Awesome.

[@brettlemmings]

i have three U220 with all cards of course. i bought U20 when it was released, later switched it for the rack - U220. i have never been without a U220 since release date ;) there is a U110 in the stores somewhere too .. . . .i can't remember where it came from 😇 the ringmodulator is da theng when playing around with D-series!

[@StephenMcLeod]

@@brettlemmings Amazing! Maybe one day I'll have a play with one.

[@jennoscura2381]

My D-110 just came in today. So far I love it! I have just been playing around with the drums and whatever sounds the previous owner had in there. I can't seem to access most of built in sounds. But it's probably me not understanding how to use it rather than a problem with the synth. I did find a nice Sitar that has some reverb or something. I have some sequences in my Keystep Pro. So I used those. I had a nice jam going with drums, the sitar, and bass provided by the Roland M-BD 1 Bass and Drums rack mount module. The M-BD 1 is pretty simple. Just a bunch of bass sounds and some drum sounds. But it's cheap and easy to use. If you find one cheap; it's worth a look.

[@StephenMcLeod]

Thanks for the heads up! I've never heard of the M-BD 1. I'll be keeping an eye out now :D

[@cnfuzz]

@@StephenMcLeod there is a whole range of those , they are 1 rackmounted plugin board from the jv1080 series , in the 1080 you can plug 4 of those extensions , you should better look for one of those, even without plugin board it offers far more range

[@tonverfall_studio]

Kawai K1r is another 1U rack synth that can do some surprising things, is pretty inexpensive, and complements the clean sound of the D110 with gritty lo-fi waves. Also supported by Edisyn! 😃

[@StephenMcLeod]

They seem fairly tough to come by around these parts but I'll keep my eye out!!

[@mastercylinder1939]

And is also very cheap, I bought a rack version K1 for $40 and a K1 keyboard for $100, the case it came in, was worth more than a $100.

[@mastercylinder1939]

@@StephenMcLeod Kawai was a synth manufacturer that flew pretty much under the radar compared the big three, Roland, Korg and Yamaha. They made gear that covered the whole spectrum for music production, a drum synth, various drum machines, and a hardware sequencer and midi mixer. Their synths, included the K1, the Kii, the K3, that was their first hybrid synth release, the K4, K5, the precursor to the muchly desired K5000, their last synth. They did do some synths earlier than these, the SX-240 for instance, but they truly are vintage and rare. I’ve never seen any for sale in my neck of the woods.

[@cnfuzz]

@@StephenMcLeod but remember ,K1 has no filter but does have amplitude modulation between the waveforms that create more interesting overtones plus the basic romwaves are comprehensive , if you source the MK2 version it has added drumsamples from their r50 range

[@jamesprisciandaro3144]

K1 is a great sounding synth

[@ChristopherOrth]

There is a lot to be said for multi-tambrality. After coming up on powerful synths like the K2000s, and still owning a Virus Ti2, it's pretty hard to get excited about a synth in 2022 that brags about 8 voices and costs more than either both of those boards combined.

[@StephenMcLeod]

Hell yeah. I had a Virus B which I really liked but foolishly sold some years ago. The ability to make full tunes on a single box is awesome.

[@geecen]

K2000 is great, and actually has a very clear menu system

[@geecen]

@@StephenMcLeodyou should def get a k2000 and see what you can do with it. Works great with m8, Mpc etc. as it responds to tonnes of midi cc

[@repeat_defender]

I appreciate the way you explain things, I have a hard time understanding all this stuff. Also those are the nicest palm tattoos i’ve ever seen, I like them a lot.

[@StephenMcLeod]

Thanks very much! The palms hurt like nothing else, not gonnae lie...

[@repeat_defender]

@@StephenMcLeod they must have done! I have just a wee dot on my palm to show where in Michigan I'm from (Michigan is shaped like a hand) and that smarted enough!

[@StephenMcLeod]

@@repeat_defender Sometimes the dots are the worst!

[@dadjeanious1025]

Similar thoughts about the palm tats... Respeck!!!

[@pcbmusic9289]

Used by every major studio small and large semi-pros in Uk, and the sound of the 80s 90s and beyond... Being there when it came out it revolutionised music of the era. - Damn hard to programme but stick with it, its worth it.

[@StephenMcLeod]

It sounds excellent!

[@davemcconnell8630]

Have a D110 and a GM70 guitar to midi converter. Ran it w the midi pickup on my SG. Used to play out w it using the organ sounds. Sounded great.

[@dreamstaticsounds]

It's such a small world. I was looking for an old Boss recorder because [tldr] and I happened upon a really cheap used one that needs some work at a store less than a half hour away and I fix those kinds of things all the time so I started looking through their Reverb store and found a Korg Wavestation SR which is the last hardware Wavestation and is a rack mount module with 32 voices and 16 part multi-timbral, right? So, I go there and take a bunch of gear I'm not using for a trade in and I end up with more credit than the things I initially wanted to get and so I start looking around for other stuff to get and I happen upon a Roland D-5 which is in the same family as the D-110 and can even open patches from the D-110. It's also 32 voices and 16 part multi-timbral so yeah. I honestly didn't even realize the D-5 was related to the D-110 and happened upon your video in relation to it and I'm just laughing at how all that came about.

[@StephenMcLeod]

That is awesome! I knew very little about these old Roland things until I got a hold of this one too. How are you liking the D5?

[@dreamstaticsounds]

@@StephenMcLeod I would like it better if the damn board wasn't malfunctioning and making the modulation data go haywire. Even if you unplug the mod wheel from the main board it still does it. Going to have to get out my soldering iron. *Sigh*

[@dreamstaticsounds]

@@StephenMcLeod speaking of these old Roland devices, I also got ahold of an old Roland S-50 this year which is essentially the sampling equivalent of the D-50 keyboard which the D-110 and D-5 are based on. The S-50 is a big metal TANK! It's a 61 key metal keyboard that weighs a fuckton and could probably put a hole in a concrete wall if it were used as a projectile! It uses floppy disks and you can sample into it. It has I believe 16 voices and it's 4 part multi-timbral.

[@tonyisyourpal]

@@dreamstaticsounds If you can get one, get the rack mounted S-550 module (effectively the S-50 plus the resonant TVF filter from the D-series) or it’s little brother, the S-330 (half an S-550 in a 1U case). Make sure to get a screen and mouse for the full “poor man’s Fairlight” experience !

[@RANDOMLOOPGENERATOR]

Grabbed one of these from its only owner complete with manual and programming sheets last year for £50. Just decided it's time to get to grips with programming it after revisiting my Yamaha DX-21. You're right about the manual, absolute nightmare!

[@StephenMcLeod]

That's a bargain!

[@RANDOMLOOPGENERATOR]

@@StephenMcLeod oh yes, just grabbed a Kawai K1 for £75 too! Joystick wasn't working, took me ten minutes to fix it, other than that it's in mint condition, again it came with all the manuals AND a memory card!

[@mikeomolt4485]

Very versatile module, probably saved thousands of pounds by programming sound-a-like patches that replicated other popular synths, but remember once describing the programming experience as similar to painting a picture through a letter box. Two of these modules with decent custom patches, running in sync with track, took care of all keyboard parts and bass line.

[@RANDOMLOOPGENERATOR]

Haha, been programming my D-110 the old school way and FINALLY understand why Future Sound Of London loved it so much! Seriously, just go through the settings, push the buttons and use your ears, great fun! Having said that I've been using some form of Yamaha DX for almost 30 years so I kinda get on with the supposedly difficult mode of sound design.

[@irradix213]

Nice, I got one last year too, TX81Z and K1r as well, I need a fourth but may just get a dupe of one of them bc I don't know another in the price range and era that is actually a synth instead of a proto rompler

[@StephenMcLeod]

Nice!!

[@TMSBRANDA]

Back in time I only did need the Card "Latin/FX/Percussion" to complete the drumset with bongos, congas etc.

[@StephenMcLeod]

Whatever happened to your collection?

[@TMSBRANDA]

I still have it ...never sold all my gear!

[@tonyisyourpal]

There’s always the Emu Morpheus if you fancy the outer reaches of sample-plus-synth type synths - it’s ticking all the boxes (manual the size of a small telephone directory, 3d morphing filter cubes, programmable function generators, a 2x16 lcd to program it all with…) Looks like Edison supports it but I haven’t tried that yet. The Casio VZ series has a couple of rack units (8m is 1U, 10m is 2 or 3U) - they don’t have the reputation of the CZ range so will likely be cheaper and another slightly simpler route to 80s clanginess than anything DX…

[@StephenMcLeod]

Nice tips! I'd like to try out an Emu Morpheus, though they are tough to find at a good price. Will keep my eye out!

[@tonyisyourpal]

@@StephenMcLeod They suffer very badly from the “the factory presets are shite” fault, sadly. But they do sound pretty good. The PG-10 isn’t as much of a help as you’d think btw - I’ll have to hunt for the link, but I’m pretty sure there are a couple of parameters it screws up on the D-110 (and, in my case, the GR-50 - imagine a 3 part multitumbral D-110 with a 13-pin GK guitar interface) which then can’t even be edited properly without a reset on the unit itself…

[@doordedeur]

The D-10/20 is quite easy to program. See it as an analog synthesizer with additional sampled waveforms and ringmodulation. The parameters on the D-10/20 are easy to access. I have no experience how easy it is on the D-110, but on the look of it, it must be straightforward too.

[@StephenMcLeod]

Come round and program mine!

[@Schule04]

Emagic SoundDiver is a pretty good for programming this synth, if you have a windows PC

[@StephenMcLeod]

I am Apple scum, but good tip!

[@johnerutpar6567]

@@StephenMcLeod There is a mac version as well

[@lemon2125]

can it do classic rompler pads? like what you might hear in ambient drum n bass

[@StephenMcLeod]

WIthout knowing 100% what you mean I can't say 100% yes, but I would say... 95% yes.

[@elout]

had a D110 back in the early 90's together with a friend. you had software on the Atari ST, to change and make your own soundbanks. certain sounds had a loop, and you could combine like 4 of them the same time. If you changed the speed slightly different, you got this tower-clock bell effect, like they go in sync, then out of sync again. and if I pressed a key-tone then. It would start with a crazy sound-rollercoaster, always changing for like minutes. =____=

[@StephenMcLeod]

Atari ST as a controller! Now that's a blast from the past. :D

[@dussie920]

​@@StephenMcLeodstill does the job😅

[@RobynVids]

You got the D-110 sounding great, it's quite an underrated module.

[@StephenMcLeod]

Thanks a lot!

[@dfkman]

I have a JV 880. Some kind soul has written a Ctrlr app for it and it makes the editing infinitely easier (if still menu divey). Similar deal with the XV 5050. I'm shocked Roland's official editor still works on Win10 (even if the USB drivers don't).

[@StephenMcLeod]

God bless the unsung heroes!!

[@cnfuzz]

Jv880 has nothing in common with the d110 , it comes from the jd800 line soundarchitecture wich sounds much colder , d110 is somewhere between d50 and u110 and was multitimbral wich made it in some way superior to the d50

[@jordanrattanavong2655]

Does the software controller and that preset pack work for the D-10 as well?

[@StephenMcLeod]

Not sure about the controller but I would imagine the presets should aye!

[@impietas5011]

is it easy to transfer sysex files to the module? I have sysex librarian on mac but not sure how to get the patches over to the d110 if thats possible

[@StephenMcLeod]

As far as I remember, yeah - though you would need an audio interface with a MIDI output - or a USB to DIN MIDI converter.

[@ambientoccluser]

I had for decades D5, that I really deconstructed to pieces and mainly used for squelching its synth generator parts. D110 is supposed to be module of just slightly advanced D10 (I think it only had bonus onboard effects, while D5 had none). Long story short, D110 obviously managed to utilize Da10/20/110 rom card that I bought way back then and occasionally used on D5, but patches and tones made on D5 and recorded on external ronald RAM M-256e card didn't recognised. Anyhow, Yeah I too bought it for nostalgia and cheap offer, but eventually it can squeeze pretty fine sounds, since it's not just a rompler as they used to be back then.

[@FuZZbaLLbee]

A while ago i wanted to get the D-05 bautique, but it isn't made anymore and really expensive on the second hand market

[@StephenMcLeod]

Is that the one with the keyboard, or was it the newer boutique ones?

[@FuZZbaLLbee]

@@StephenMcLeod one of the boutique ones. Normally not a big fan of that size, but since this synth mainly has buttons, it would be oke.

[@LouisSerieusement]

Hey thank you so much for the video, I rarely seek helps in the comments section, but I have Edisyn and my D110 connected together, I can retrieve current patch and it works, I can play my midi keyboard, but as soon as I move something in the editor, the midi bug (I guess ?) and it stops working, I have to disconnect midi and retrieve the patch again but can't edit. Do you have any advice ? Thanks you so much !

[@LouisSerieusement]

I ended up editing all by hands. Wouldn't recommend this to anyone, it took me hours of programming to get a grasp on this

[@LittleRichard1988]

I don't think it's ever "too late" to but any Roland workstation, sound module or drum machine produced over the last 35 years. I bought 4 sound modules and 2 drum machines this year starting with a Roland U-220, I do prefer the PCM sounds because instruments sound more realistic but I do also like some of the lofi percussion and some of the FM-like instruments that the D-110 and the MT-32 produce. In the summer this year after listening to an old nursery rhyme cassette that used Roland CM-32L and 32P sounds I decided to jump at the chance and buy a CM-32L and CM-32P but the CM-32L is basically a slimmed down version of the MT-32 but neither the MT-32 or CM-32L have any onboard sound editing except through sysex they can play custom sounds for example when used as a playback device for Dos games that support MT-32. In terms of LA synthesis the CM-32L is likely to be as good as it gets for me but I highly recommend either a U-110, U-220, JV-880 or JV-1080 as another module to buy in the future.

[@StephenMcLeod]

I will check those ones out! Thanks for taking a look.

[@cnfuzz]

U110 no because cards are expensive, u220 no because colder sound , JV 880 no , jv1080 yes because good variety/programmability , i payed crazy prices for both 1080 and d50 , 60 pounds and 45 pounds when nobody wanted these things some 15 years ago , expect to be 5 times or more in current market

[@kevinmichaelgreen1162]

I had to deal with one of these when I was doing some programming for an album in 1990, without a manual. There is a logic to the structure but editing was far too tedious and time consuming. We ended up only using it as a mono-timbral unit and not very much at that. I also had a good go at a Yamaha TX16W sampler which was just as bad. Shame, because it had some good stuff in it's library. Have fun, Kev

[@StephenMcLeod]

Programming in specific sounds to it is definitely a bit of a nightmare. I've found a good set that has a wide enough range that I've been using so far though and I like it! So long as I don't need to adjust a specific envelope or something...

[@cnfuzz]

Tx16w was easy ,used that for years even without typhoon os, you just had to make an empty performance on disk and swap the samples in and out from the edit buffer

[@cnfuzz]

@@StephenMcLeod do not invest in Rolands hardware programmer for the 110 , it is no help , synthworks editor for the Atari was good , you can still run that under steam emu with Midi support

[@LabRatWarfare]

This thing seems like a pain but holy smokes I am digging the Hell out of it's sound!! I've already heard a few of the tracks you've made with this and I think it was worth it for you, an awesome addition to your set up, glad you can at least save the freaking patches on that thing too hahahaha 😁🐀

[@StephenMcLeod]

Hell yeah man. I really like the sounds I've been getting from it! Having the savable patches is definitely a nice change too haha

[@MathHammer]

Based on your high-level description, the synth sounds like it has a structure that has been inherited by modern Roland Zencore synths and Zenology.

[@StephenMcLeod]

I believe that is the same yeah! Though I haven't used them.

[@blessidunion]

Thanks for this video! Here is a video from 1989 of my cover band using the Roland D-110. We sequenced with a Roland MC-500 Mk2. Other midi gear used: Kawai K1m, Alesis HR-16 and later a Roland W-30. Also a midi light controller. kzbin.info/www/bejne/omHYY6V-adJ0jc0

[@StephenMcLeod]

Nice one! So cool you have footage of your gigs from back then.

[@jdanielcramer]

Hahaha, me too, I got one of those a few years ago, it’s at the height of the ‘preset only’ craze of days gone by. 🤓

[@StephenMcLeod]

Fine by me!! I'm a preset queen

[@geecen]

Really like my d110. The whole tone, timbre, patch thing is so confusing, but if you just focus on the sound itself it’s not too bad. Made a few patches on it that I really like (see my videos) which have a great ambient lofi quality.

[@StephenMcLeod]

Yeah, I agree. I love how it sounds. I'll just tweak presets haha

[@mudsh4rk]

Once you wrap your head around the tone/timbre/patch thing, you know the basics of just about every Roland synth relesed from 1990 until at least the mid 2000s, and a lot of them since then. They refined it a bit though a couple interim models until the JV1080 hit, and from then on nearly every Roland ROMler (and some of their samplers) used the same basic architecture that has its origins in the LA synths (D50, D10, MT-32 and their variants and rack versions). It's definitely harder to get to grips with it on the LA synths than on the JV series (which are a breeze to program, at least as far as 90s ROMlers go), and even more so with the D-110, but it's definitely worth it. There's a lot more to these things than flute and electric piano presets. EDIT: also, a lot of the difficulty actually comes from the manual, which is cryptic and terrible even by late 80s Roland standards. Between that, all of the Roland ROMpler timbre/part/partial terminology, and minimal front panel the initial learning curve is a lot higher than it needs to be, but it's actually not as bad as it seems. A lot simpler than trying to program a Wavestation SR from the front panel!

[@lab-by-the-sea]

Bought it when it came out, instead of the D50 i wanted but could not afford. It stayed only a few months in my studio....

[@StephenMcLeod]

Did you sell it off a long time ago?

[@lab-by-the-sea]

@@StephenMcLeod Yes, i had also the MT32 and a Friend had a D10. But what i really loved was the D550 i had later together with an PG1000 Programmer it was much easier to programm. Sadly i always had to sell my best bits to buy new gear....😞

[@lab-by-the-sea]

@@StephenMcLeod I still use the MVS1 and JV1080 with Sounds from that Time.

[@CorbenEdward]

The other day I picked up the D-10 keyboard version of this monstrosity. At first I had no clue what was going on with the workflow, but after about 6 hours everything clicked and now I actually like it. It is an esoteric way to do virtual analogue stuff though. Sounds quite good for that, but really does a lot more. The PCM side of things can get a bit wild.

[@StephenMcLeod]

Oh nice one! I've never seen the D-10 in real life. It's such a cool synth. Way nicer than I expected.

[@CorbenEdward]

@@StephenMcLeod it is sleek and sexy. Less toyish looking than a dx7. For about $35 from one of my local shops it was a killer deal too. Who would have known vintage synths can cost less than a vst plugin! Might have a battery and some tact switches to replace in the near future, but totally worth it. Good on you for getting the rack version. Those are really cool.

[@StephenMcLeod]

@@CorbenEdward What a bargain!!!

[@krushagrape786]

It's a bit underrated imo. Don't pay crazy prices, but it has a really nice flavour to it.

[@StephenMcLeod]

Agree

[@billybartcody3591]

The track at the end is great.

[@StephenMcLeod]

Thank you!

[@sammadden5540]

This late 80s/early 90s time was so weird. All these units are a weird mixture of synth/rompler/sampler architecture using their own terminology and workflow. Some great gems in that era though

[@StephenMcLeod]

I am completely here for it! Do you have any other suggestions for units to check out?

[@sammadden5540]

@@StephenMcLeod I'm a big fan of the 1u emu rack romplers. Honestly the sample cd distorted reality was used on so much of my youth media (N64, PS1) I think of it as a classic synth 😅 should be able to get one in an akai format for you 2000 It's later on but the emu's 4th gen of samplers have this beat munger feature that is like an alternative reality version of slicing. Really natural but weird at the same time

[@SonicVibe]

I miss the the 80’s simpler times and overlooked good music 🎶

[@StephenMcLeod]

I was but a wee laddie in the 80s :f

[@audiolego]

Both D110 and Alesis S4 are yummy now. Same price for a full tank of gas in the USA.

[@StephenMcLeod]

Never heard of the Alesis S4 before! I'll need to look it up.

[@audiolego]

@@StephenMcLeodand because of your video, I'm Gassing for D110 lol. And then because of your video, I got into the Kawai K1r . Just binge watching D110 , U220 and Kawai k1r. These are so cheap now. When I was a baby, these were a thousand.

[@simeonsmith785]

Amazing!! I love my 1980s quadraverb for similar reasons! :D

[@StephenMcLeod]

I've never actually used one! They look reeeal nice though

[@simeonsmith785]

@@StephenMcLeod So good, in a weird digital-artifacts-all-over kind of way. Also, stereo so you can do the whole right channel into the left channel and loop it around again thing.

[@KimStennabbCaesar]

You don't want to do the math of how old it is, when it's as old as you? Heh.

[@StephenMcLeod]

Thankfully I can't remember my age

[@realestatecult3105]

Trust me folks, it's far worse when you calculate the age of an old synth and realize you'd already started work when it was released.

[@palindromial]

And then you look at ZEN core and you realize that Roland has not really changed their sound engines in like 40 years... Still four partials. Still structures. Still weird cross-modulation that doesn't really work the way anyone expects. I mean, it's kinda nice that regardless of decade their stuff is pretty much the same, just with slightly better PCM waveforms. But it still strikes me as odd that they never once could get an engineer to sit down for a few months to redesign something less ... baroque? Anyway. Cool video! And I feel your pain! I bought one of these in the late 1980s for the full price and I programmed it with that display and those darn buttons. Paired it with a Kawai K1 keyboard a year or two later. Wow, those two, an Amiga as a sampler and an Atari ST as a sequencer in a basement. Good times were had! Nowadays I just have an MC 707 and use that for my noodling. But it all comes full circle. Oh, and if you ever get another D110 be sure to try out the overflow thing to get twice the number of voices!

[@StephenMcLeod]

Ha, right! I've noticed that since making the video, that a lot of that architecture is still present in different places. It's just particularly maddening on this wee tiny screen. I actually ended up just getting some presets from some other folks on the KZbin, tweaking them to taste, and have stuck with them as they fit that delicious 80s hole I had in my heart.

[@GeorgeL909]

Really? It was only 75 gbp? Jeez that's like... A volca. Pretty good deal to get those sounds, even if you only used the presets to feed to effects and samplers. Like an anime girl statue probably cost that much and would be even harder to program patches into...

[@StephenMcLeod]

Pretty great price! I got lucky though. They go for about 120 usually I think. Even still ..

[@sammadden5540]

😅

[@jazzad]

I had a D10. Played it to death. It sounded great but LA synthesis is madness. You have to take what it gives you because getting it to sound like you want doesn't happen.

[@StephenMcLeod]

Haha this sums things up nicely I think.

[@patrikknoerr9777]

I bought mine in 2021 :) It is small and uses up only one rack space, and it is cool. But I love the D20 :)

[@StephenMcLeod]

Ohhh tell me more. What's the difference?

[@patrikknoerr9777]

@@StephenMcLeod You can actually use it, it has usable presets, and it's got a drum machine and a sequencer. And it's got a disc drive. Oh, and the keyboard is not bad as cheap keyboards go. I actually like it. The difference is mostly that it has so much more to offer. I have more fun using my U110 than the D110. Add the D20, and the combo is really nice.

[@MattPerrin]

One of these just popped up cheap in my local gear swap group. Glad I didn't give into GAS, doesn't sound fun to play around with

[@StephenMcLeod]

I don't bother much with programming it tbh. I've got a bunch of sweet presets on there that I stick with. If you're into sound design it's probably not the easiest thing in the world though!!

[@VintageModernAudio]

I'm not embarrassed to admit I have three of them...

[@StephenMcLeod]

wowsa!!

[@stephenmarsh6746]

Listening to you describe the voice architecture I remember why Roland synths and I never got along…

[@StephenMcLeod]

Haha right. It's not that straightforward

[@brettlemmings]

Vapor indeed!

[@StephenMcLeod]

I do love a bit of vapor.

[@MathHammer]

Well, there is always the Yamaha FS1R if you can find one and want to spend the money.

[@StephenMcLeod]

I haven't come across those before!

[@StephenMcLeod]

@@artisans8521 Cheap!

[@SynthFabriCraft]

See what you can do with the roland mc-50 midi composer.

[@StephenMcLeod]

Find me one and I will!

[@mixedsignalspresets]

Shameless self-promotion here, but check out my channel and see how I've made several classic drum machine kits (cr-78, 808, 909 etc) for the D-family (including the D-110). With the D-110:s multi outputs, it can become a pretty cool rack drum machine. You'll need something to sequence it with, of course. I've tried it with my Electribe ES-1, and that worked fine!

[@StephenMcLeod]

Nice one! That's actually one of the ways I've been using it, but I am curious to see how you got the CR-78 etc.

[@mickhealey5848]

I have one, paid £150 for it two years ago and have used it about 3 times. The most annoying synth to program, I have the original manual and it still makes no sense

[@StephenMcLeod]

I honestly just use presets almost all the time!

[@mastercylinder1939]

The D-20 has a sequencer, not even the D-50 has that, and the D-5 has an arpeggiator, the D-50 does not.

[@cnfuzz]

And the d50 was not multitimbral although you could make it with a 3rd party hardware board , you can generally look at the d110/20 to the d50 in a same way as Yamaha tx81z or fb01 to a dx7 , they van make sounds in a way the more expensive model couldn't

[@somethingbad2460]

you should check out the big brother, the D50/550.. that thing sounds incredible. it can be bright, glassy, airy etc but it can also be warm and fat.

[@StephenMcLeod]

I'll keep my eye out!!

[@cnfuzz]

@@StephenMcLeod do not get the d550 though , sounds less than the d50 ,other output stage ,less warm

[@guysmiley7289]

All drum machines are multi-timbral

[@StephenMcLeod]

I see this and raise you the Vermona Kick!

[@LouisSerieusement]

8:45 I remember spending 10minutes just to find the Attack envelop stage of the VCA 😂

[@StephenMcLeod]

Oh God. I haven't even bothered. God speed.

[@ChristopherOrth]

"Linear Arithmetic" is not a form of synthesis, like VA, FM, granular, etc. It's just a marketing term for virtual analog that uses a rom sample instead of an osc (sometimes of raw waveforms even), and can have layers. Think of something like a Juno with a rom sample as the sound source, and three of those whole synth structures as layers in one "patch". Sure, the synth structure can vary, but there is NEVER anything unique about the synthesis methods.

[@StephenMcLeod]

I've got a call here from Roland. They want to fight. (Just kidding - thanks for sharing that valuable insight)

[@androidpitanga9846]

LA is absolutely a form of synthesis by any common definition. Its called sample-based synthesis, and can absolutely generate original and unique sounds

[@tomdwij]

lol legend