Could someone please explain to me the difference between "factory initialize", "initialize", and "GM initialize". It's not very clear in the Reader's Digest version of a manual this device comes with.

Thanks.

Off the top of my head and without having an XP30 myself or being near my XP60 manual (is that enough of a disclaimer? I also may be just wrong):

Global "factory initialize" will return the entire instrument's user patches/performances/rhythm sets to their default/original factory presets (the patches etc. that occupied those memory locations when the unit was shipped from the factory).

You can also, at least on the XP60, initialize an individual patch etc. in an individual user location to its original status, i.e., initialize just a single patch etc. "back" to its default patch instead of the entire user memory.

Normal "Initialize" is the procedure that "zeroes out" all the parameters in TEMP to a factory-determined set of (again) default values for a hypothetical generic patch etc. for you to start programming. If you are in patch mode, the TEMP will be initialized to a certain, standard set of values for a generic patch with, I believe, acoustic piano waveforms. Now you take over and programm the patch you want with whatever waveforms and data values you want.

GM Initialize sets all the GM parameters in GM mode to a factory-determined set of default values similar to regular initialize in patch, performance, or rhythm set mode. There are really no GM initialize values industry-wide (I don't think), so Roland just zeroes everything out or sets them to mid-values (basically; there may be a couple of parameters that are different) and to a predetermined chorus and reverb type etc. Then, again, you take over and program as you like, it's just that you're starting with *all* the values the same for all parts in the GM performance (again, with Acoustic Piano 1 as the default patch).

Hope this helps.