While some manufacturers rely on multiple sound sources or expansions to achieve higher polyphony, the Roland XV-5080 obtains its 128-Voice polyphony through a single, powerful sound engine. This means even the most complex multitimbral arrangements and layers can be created using just one XV-Series synthesizer.

There are 424 new waveforms, each painstakingly sampled to achieve a level of realism never before possible. These new waves include everything from lively stereo grand pianos to sampled guitars capable of reproducing slide and harmonic performances. In addition, there are new expressive Rhodes® pianos, rock organs, saxophone, orchestra unisons, and analog synthesizer waves—plus new drum sets that must be heard to be believed.

In addition to these new waveforms, the XV-5080 includes all of the internal waveforms of the JV-2080, ensuring backward compatibility with all XP/JV-Series synths. Roland even mined the archives to include 112 waveforms from the legendary JD-990. These waveforms are perfect for sound designing and offer a variety of analog waves, attack transients and spectrum loops.

Continuing Roland’s commitment to expandability, the XV-5080 can use a combination of quality-intensive SRX-Series 64MB wave expansion boards and any current SR-JV80-Series boards. The next-generation SRX-Series boards boast more memory than any other expansion card currently available, yielding absolutely stunning sound quality to put the XV-Series in the running with high-end samplers. In fact, a completely expanded XV-5080 offers instant access to 512MB* of waves—by far surpassing flagship samplers on the market. And navigating through Patches and bookmarking your favorites for instant recall is a breeze thanks to a Patch Finder button and new Favorite List function. Put simply, Roland’s XV-Series synthesizers, combined with SRX-Series expansion boards, are the most powerful instruments in Roland history.
* When converted to 16-bit linear format.

With the XV-5080 comes enhanced Roland tonal architecture; XV-5080 synths can play back two waveforms per Tone. Since a Patch can use up to four Tones, this makes for some incredible 4-stage velocity switching or four-zone keyboard splits, each using a stereo waveform within a single Patch. A Lock Legato function even allows precise legato performance of the waveforms. So now, for the first time, even the most delicate expressions can be reproduced at the Patch level without running out of polyphony thanks to the XV’s 128-voice design.

Whether it be a hint of vibrato or a sudden change in pitch, the XV-5080 utilizes an extensive set of modulation routings called Matrix Control to add even more nuance to its sounds. A total of four destinations can be assigned per source, each having its own bi-polar sensitivity parameter. Modulation can be switched on or off for specific Tones—even added inversely. Or, use the Tone Mix Table to control the independent levels of each Tone via a modulation source. Combined with enormous hardwired routings and other advanced synthesis functions, the expressive possibilities are endless.

The XV-5080 synthesizer has powerful DSP effects onboard, incorporating independent reverb, chorus, and studio-quality multi-effects processors. The lush, ambient reverb algorithms are derived from Roland’s top-of-the-line SRV-3030 24-bit Digital Reverb Processor. The chorus section produces a rich, thick modulation perfect for fattening up leads and pads.

The M-FX section contains all of the JV-2080’s EFX algorithms, plus popular V-Studio effects, RSS, and unique algorithms like 3D Delay, Slicer, formant filter, Isolator, and a triplet-based Shuffle Delay. The M-FX section* is beefed up further to include COSM processing and a set of multi-effects optimized for guitar, bass, and keyboard. The 5080 even sports a master EQ per output. Most importantly, with entire XV Series all of this massive DSP processing is heard through 24-bit D/A converters, ensuring crystal-clear sound reproduction.

* Note that because the XV-5080’s M-FX section differs slightly from the XV-88/XV-3080, some Patches created on the XV-5080 will have effects set to “Through” when transferred to an XV-88 or XV-3080.

Roland’s support of expandable synthesis is evidenced by the wealth of SR-JV80-Series expansion boards currently available. With over 19 titles to choose from, no other synth expansion library even comes close. Keeping this in mind, Roland designed the new XV-Series to be compatible with both SR-JV80-Series and the next-generation SRX-Series wave expansion boards. The credit card-sized SRX-Series boards hold an impressive 64MB of wave data—four times that of the SR-JV80-Series boards or equivalent to the standard wave memory of an XV-5080. Designed with an intense focus on sound quality, the SRX boards provide instant access to its exceptional sounds without hassles or loading time. Thus, you can try out as many sounds as you wish while your musical inspiration is fresh.

The XV-5080 includes all of the Preset Patches from the industry standard JV-2080. In fact, these Patches will often sound better when played on an XV synth due to the improved waveforms, effects, 24-bit D/A converters and audio circuitry. The XV-5080 is also compatible with Patches from any SR-JV80-Series Expansion Board, provided the board is installed in an open expansion slot. This combination of XP/JV/SR-JV80 Patch compatibility with the SRX-Series Wave Expansion Boards easily makes for the largest sound library available in a synthesizer today.

For those who want to take advantage of existing sample libraries, the XV-5080 offers playback of Roland S-700-Series and Akai® S1000/S3000 CD-ROM’s through its built-in SCSI port. For even more flexibility, the XV-5080 can also read AIFF and .WAV files. Up to 128MB of optional SIMM memory may be installed, allowing users to convert wave data—and even S-700/S1000/S3000 Patches and S-700 Performances—and store them to the XV-5080’s User memory. Loaded sample data can also be stored to external hard drives via SCSI or to SmartMedia™ cards. With the XV-5080’s sample-playback features, it is no longer necessary to have a dedicated sampler for accessing sound libraries on CD-ROM.

72-pin
FPM or EDO
60 ns or faster
64, 32, 16 MB