D-20, any good?

The D-20 is in the same family as the D-10, D-110 and MT-32. It doesn't have as powerful an engine as the D-50, so no, you won't get the same sounds.

)

Dave

:: http://www.drstudio.demon.co.uk/ :: http://www.myspace.com/daveboulden ::
"Musicians fall into three categories: those with a physical block, those with a mental block and those with a wooden block". Unfortunately, I'm in the 1st category!

hmm.. thats confusing because i owned the D20 many years ago
and i though it was the next model up, was the same as the 50 but had a built in 8 track/ or was it 16 track sequencer with an on board drum kit machine too.
floppy drive to save all settings...

unless it was the other way arround
i had the idea many years later it was the d50 with the sequncer
but it turned out it was the d20 that had all the extras??

nice keyboard..


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No, the MT-32, D-110, D-10, D-20 and a couple of desktop modules (CM-64 ??) had the same basic synth engine that was "derived" from the original D-50 but was not as powerful.

I owned an MT-32 and a D-110... also had a friend who owned the D-50.

The D-50 had no sequencer, but had a more powerful synth engine although it was not multitimbral.

)

Dave

:: http://www.drstudio.demon.co.uk/ :: http://www.myspace.com/daveboulden ::
"Musicians fall into three categories: those with a physical block, those with a mental block and those with a wooden block". Unfortunately, I'm in the 1st category!

Not confusing but you're right Quinnx.
The D-50 is indeed more powerfull then the D-20 ... as synth. For eg,as I remember, D-20 had a 2-tone patch while the D-50 is 4-tone (starting this structure for the Roland sinths). But , in fact,the extras went to the D-20.


o - ...just could not afford the 8
(
\_/
hear what I've done with the 7

In short, would you advise for or against buying this tiny beast at a reasonable price to go along my X7?

JP8000's are rare in the used market, and folks usually ask too much for them (at least, I think 650 euros ARE too much for a jp8000).

IMHO, you won't be impressed with the sounds, but if they sound OK to you for a 2nd keyboard amd it's cheap enough then why not.

Personally, I'd be looking at a different brand as a 2nd keyboard to give some variation to your sound.

)

Dave

:: http://www.drstudio.demon.co.uk/ :: http://www.myspace.com/daveboulden ::
"Musicians fall into three categories: those with a physical block, those with a mental block and those with a wooden block". Unfortunately, I'm in the 1st category!

a Z1 would be my dream, but they are even rarer than jp8000s

If my memory is good :

D-50 : You have 3 LFO per tone (read osc)
Bigger display and better keybed
A better Reverb/Delay section
Chorus sections
EQ section
The best outpout/DAC's section of the D family
Hands down the D-50 has the best sound quality
of them all, but it's noisy by today standard.
The D-50 is bitimbral with two different sound
using each one 2 osc (16 poly).
In 4 osc mode, only
one sound at a time is usable (8 poly)

D10/20 : you gain over a D-50,
More partial algorythm selection
(wich uses 1 or 2 osc in different configuration)
Multitimbrality
Drum machine section
Sequencer (D20)

but you lose on these features
Tiny screen.
No aftertouch, altought the keybed is good
1 LFO, for vibrato per partial
a limited Reverb/Delay section
More noise in the output section and less definition

D5 : I believe is the same as D-10 without reverb section

MT-32 : The noisiest and lamest sounding of the D family

If your lookind for a D synth the obvious choice is the D-50, but I beleive the D10 or the D110 would be a nice cheap second choice. I once had the D-10 in late 80s and it was a nice entry level synth, my first multitimbral synth wich was a Godsend miracle.
By the way with the D synth family you can only applied filter+reso section to synth partials (saw, square) but not to partial using the sample table. The analog recreation I did on my D-10 was cool and harsh, the reso was also very good.