Synth Site |  Roland |  JV-1010

BUT... this synthesizer is VERY good at what it advertises itself as: an affordable expander model. For the semi-pro or casual musician, or even just for someone who needs a simple, standard palette of sounds to play around on, this model is excellent at widening the sounds you may already have. If you already have a MIDI keyboard, operation is simple. Just plug some patch chords in, plug a MIDI cable, set the channel, and you are set. Very easy to use.

There is a nice variety of sounds here. None terribly stand out as excelling in PCM synthesis, but none are too bad, either (basically the JV series sounds with a slightly reduced quality in them), and the cost for each sound is extremely attractive.

I don't think "serious synthesizerists" who can afford the Trinities will even look at this one (nor should they), but for me, it's perfect. For sound experimentation I normally concentrate on my Waldorf, Access, and Kawai gear. Even so, in tunes occasionally you'll need that piano or string to screw around or fill in a song. This module is pretty good at doing just that for not much dough. I think Roland has put together a very attractive package here.