Fixing my good old XP-50

Hi,

this is in fact exactly the high pitch sound i keep hearing when i turn the volume up.
At the same time, the actual samples are played back very silent even wit hthe volume slider on 100%.

During my OpAmp replacement i checked a few things.. I'm not hearding anyhting on the mono jacks it seems. just opn the headphone stereo jack, but very, very low volume - along with the high pitch noise.

So I thought replacing the 4570 OpAmp (IC4) would make sense as there seemed to be some kind of outpüut, just way too silent.
Replacement went very smooth and fast, but even with a new device in place, the behaviour remained exactly the same.. Not the slightest difference :/

I was wondering if i should try to get hold of the actual mono OpAmp as well (IC3) and replace that, too... I just cant find the chips anywhere :(

However, the MUTE suggestion sounds like another chance to narrow down the source of the problem...
Any concrete idea where to remove the mute signal for a quick test?

Regards...

Hi again,

btw...I'm gonna try doing a factory reset again (said to fix mute issues sometimes) and going for the sound test procedure as stated i nthe service manual.
I got an oscilloscope her, just havent used it in years.. i hope i can still operate it lol...

Damn... i really want the XP50 to work again.. its in such a good shape otherwise... and fully expanded, too

Regards...

Hi,

my enthusiasm is slowly vanishing... since it wasnt the caps and not even IC4 I tried the resetting and following the service manual steps to check the sound output.
At the point where the square and sine sounds are missing they talk about checking various ICs and transistors... which replacing wouldn't be a problem for me at all - if I had a chance to get hold of them.
And thats the main problem I think... I was able to get hold of the OpAmp IC4, but i cant seem to get IC3.. same with some of the other transistors mentioned in the service manual... I can find some of them in more or less reliable online shops, but half of them aren't available anywhere.

My last hope was contacting Roland support, asking for either replacement parts (PSU module and mainboard) or an option to get them repaired professionally, and Roland just answered, telling me CLEARLY its too old and they cannot provide replacement nor any option to repair it.

I think I'll slowly accept that trying to fix it is just too exhausting and not worth the hassle...

Hi!

I have a Roland XP-50 keyboard that i purchsed back in 1994.
It is not powering on.
Also, the disk drive may need repairing, altho it might still work fine.
The keyboard was left in a friend's basement loft in a warehouse for over 15 years and I only just retrieved it a few years ago.

This is my proposition to anyone who can help me out:
1- I have over 100 songs on floppies that i programmed on the xp-50 back in 1994-1995. I performed these songs at mostly goth industrial clubs in NY & California in the mid 90's. But i never released this era of music I did. If someone can repair my kepyboard, all i want to do is be able to transfer a bunch of my songs from the xp-50 keyboard to my laptop so i can mix them down and release them now 25 years later. I'm broke, but if someone can fix my keyboard I will let them keep it! Again all i need is to transfer my songs first after it is repaired.

2- If you find you cannot repair my keyboard but you have a working XP-50 you can lend me, then I can still transfer my old suite of songs off the xp-50 floppies, and I have some great vintage music gear i can offer you in return just for lending me the keyboard for a few weeks to perform this task.

3- The songs were really great, I spent alot of time on them during the course of 2 years in the mid 90's, it would be worth a lot to me to be able to resurrect them over 25 years later.

I hope to hear back soon from anyone who can help with this, thanks!

Have you guys tried resoldering the smd chips? The JX-305 units all get the problem of flash rom chips loosing contact to the board. This can be easily repaired with an electronics soldering iron, some flux and tin. The pins just have to be gentley touched, so the tin gets fluid and reconnects to the board. Of course you should also recap the PSU and all that look fishy. Maybe start with the DAC chips and then flash roms for system OS? Then resend the firmeware and restart with factory reset. It always works with JX-305s. I
Just don't overheat anything. Good luck!

KS Ash wrote:

If someone can repair my keyboard, all i want to do is be able to transfer a bunch of my songs from the xp-50 keyboard to my laptop so i can mix them down and release them now 25 years later.

You can use Awave Studio to try to convert those SVQ files to standard SMF (MidiFile):

https://www.fmjsoft.com/awavestudio.html#formats
https://www.fmjsoft.com/fmt/svq.htm

If you mean SVD files, then some JV/XP editors or utilities can extract the Patches and Performance data and convert those to SMF or SYX files too:

https://forums.rolandclan.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=65555

Hi,

Have you guys tried resoldering the smd chips? The JX-305 units all get the problem of flash rom chips loosing contact to the board. This can be easily repaired with an electronics soldering iron, some flux and tin. The pins just have to be gentley touched, so the tin gets fluid and reconnects to the board. Of course you should also recap the PSU and all that look fishy. Maybe start with the DAC chips and then flash roms for system OS? Then resend the firmeware and restart with factory reset. It always works with JX-305s. I
Just don't overheat anything. Good luck!

I replaced all el.caps on the mainboard during the first stage. also replaced the flex cable which was in bad condition.
I completely removed the psu and replaced it with a more modern electronic switchtin psu providing +/-15v and +5v, eliminating the simple voltage regulators but kept the psu caps in the circtuit (replaced them with new ones, too) which was also acting up.

As a result, I was able to fix my "warmup" issue where the synth always got stuck shortly after turning it on unless i left it for 10 minutes to warm up, switch off and back on again.

So, after all its running stablke now, but produces almost no sound.... extremely low volume o nthe stereo jack, seemingly no sound on either mono jack.

As said earlier, I also replaced some other smd components, mainly the one of the preamp chips.
The thing is, these chips are hard to get by these days or i would have replaced all of them at once already.
Soldering isn't an issue for me.. I got all the equipment and experience... just getting hold of the exact chips is, SADLY.

I think I'll finally give up... take the 4 expansions out, try to sell them on ebay separately and getting rid of the xp50... I'm a bit diappointed by the complete lack of support in trying to get hold of information and parts by roland for one of their former flagships anyway...

Foksadure wrote:

KS Ash wrote:

If someone can repair my keyboard, all i want to do is be able to transfer a bunch of my songs from the xp-50 keyboard to my laptop so i can mix them down and release them now 25 years later.

You can use Awave Studio to try to convert those SVQ files to standard SMF (MidiFile):

https://www.fmjsoft.com/awavestudio.html#formats
https://www.fmjsoft.com/fmt/svq.htm

If you mean SVD files, then some JV/XP editors or utilities can extract the Patches and Performance data and convert those to SMF or SYX files too:

https://forums.rolandclan.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=65555

hi, I am just seeing your reply! Thank you for replying. The songs i created on the XP-50 were very complex and multilayered with a lot of sound editing too. If i just convert to standard midi files, then I would lose the sounds, right?

If you saved the Performance & Patches settings as SysEx into a track, hopefully it will also be imported into the Standard Midi File.

If not, then loading a SVD backup of the sounds you used back then before playback will be needed.

I still have a glitchy but working XP-50 with a Gotek USB drive, though not in the USA.
You can PM me if you want me to have a look and convert a few of those SVD/SVQ of yours to SMF-1 using its internal sequencer, and see if you can work your way with that afterwards.

I continue this old thread as I was able to fix my XP-50 with the help of a friend, but one thing remained wrong. The earlier mentioned high pitched sound was a result of failed connection in one cap close to DAC, but when properly soldered it went away. However, one thing still remains bothering me.

Has anyone encountered a problem with LFO panning setting? Some patches that have LFO automation programmed in them do sounds like there is rattling sound there especially in lower frequencies and with LPF and panning settings on. When the pan is centered or neutered then the problems disappears. And when pan is added the distortion or rattling comes back. Could it still be a capacitor issue or DAC or something else?

I can hear it in some patches such as PR-C:081 3D Flanged , PR-C:084 Moving Glass, PR-C:092 : Aurora and PR-C:093 : Strobe Mode

Any ideas?