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Average rating:
3.8 out of 5
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this synth has really nice synthpads! i think, it is brilliant alternative to a midisynth (8+1 parts), if you want to get allroundsounds i can recommend it, if the price is right. some sounds are really clear and fantastic sounding.
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i just bought one last week. if anyone can run the features to me i'd appriciate it. i've been using it as a controller. i dont like the the factory sounds much. i know it has potential, so please give me some feedback on the sounds you have created. oh, also, can you make the chase/ arpegiation work in multi/layer mode? if not that sucks. anyway- so far its been well worth the 200 dollars i spent just as a controller.
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A wonderful shop (Encore Music) sells 98+% guitars. One day in '99, this poor D-5 was sitting there -- dusty, no manual, crap power supply (non-Roland), and 6 dead keys to boot... for $135. Took it home next paycheck, no regrets. I drive it with an EP-7, but the main kbd allows me to set up tones, and the strange effects in Performance (chase, etc.) are a trip. I've found great flexibility modifying parameters live -- yeah, jabbing at the dumb clicky buttons, but when I run a 4-finger arpeggio while tweaking, it paints a surprisingly dense background for the other players; with a small patch-changer, I'd be in heaven. Reminds me of a '67 Nova, a musclecar for teenagers -- the D-5 isn't for artists, it's a stripped-down hotrod. If you want big/wide/pretty/comfy, this ain't the one. If you want loud/crude/reliable & (ultimately) disposable, try a D-5.
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My 1st "Pro" synth, I bought it after seeing it gather dust at a local shoppe as a display model for about $600. Up till then I had been using a friend's Kawai K1 as a controller and synth.
The D-5 was a nice General MIDI instrument, but was kind of thin on sounds. It has a nice metal body and good keys. Aftertouch is pretty nice. I was a bit annoyed with the 2-line "dot-matrix" display and having to scroll constantly to get where I wanted to go.
The pitch bend knob?wheel (the "?" is not there by mistake!) is a bit weird too. It's a wheel with a stick molded to the top-center of it. I suppose that Roland probably figgered that it would be easier to manage and grip it if they did this to it. I found it a bit odd to work with. The "wheel" doubles as a mod controller, but not very well. Plus it's on a plane parallel to the front edge of the 'board and not at the usual perpendicular angle. I prefer 2 seperate wheels, myself.
This sucker's HEAVY. It reminds me of the weighted key Ensoniqs that so many of my buddies have.
I never got any ROM card(s) for it, but I understand that they add a but more capablilty. Good luck finding any now, though.
The manual is the standard antimanual that came with so many of the Roland synths in the late 80's and early 90's: good because they give you enough info to get yourself into trouble, but usually a good kind of trouble.
If you are looking for a good starter synth, this is a good bet, but you could probably get the same enjoyment and creativity out of a Kawai K1! Or you could just get a decent controller and get a bunch of modules and have the same thing.
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I bought the Roland D-5 back in 91' when it was fairly new (manuals and all). It was the floor display model and I think I paid $700 for it. The sounds are so-so without an effects processor. Overall it's been a pretty sturdy keyboard, except for the buttons on the unit. Mine are starting to fall INTO the unit, since they've been pressed so many time. Had it repaired and only 1 button fell in again. But for close to 10 years of use I guess I got my money's worth. Still using it as my main controller and I bang on at least 3-5 days a week practicing with my band. 1 problem I had was creating patches and then saving them. EVERY time I tried to save one it would never keep the save. Can save sounds with the memory card but not the unit itself. Maybe just a faulty unit. Anyways, I've been fairly happy with it.
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