Hey all, I'm a bit of a newbie to this board, although I've been doing midi for a little while now. I usually use midi via Finale/Cakewalk/Harmony Assistant for orchestral work.

Up until recently, I was using an E-mu Proteus FX for more realistic sounds, but it's pretty limited and its brass and pipes are quaky at best. So I'd like to pick up a JV-1080 and probably the orchestral I and II boards and maybe the vocals board as well. Unfortunately my funds are pretty limited right now. (Twelve hundred bucks is a little over my limit) I've heard that the roland 'midi boxes' (rack systems) are pretty durable, so I figured I'd go with a used 1080. Can anyone suggest the best place to look around for used Roland gear, or does anyone know if there are any hot deals around on any Roland keyboards or modules that already include the Orchestral sounds (i.e., the XP-30)?

Or, for that matter, does anyone more experienced with various gear think there's a better Orchestral MIDI box that I should be looking at?

Any help would be tres appreciated. Thanks in advance from the token newbie!

argoforg:
I'm pretty limited in experience with all this, but I can tell you that Roland loaded the same voices in the JV-1010 as they did in the 1080, and it's half the price.

I'm sure one loses something in the process - perhaps total processing power, definitely expansion (the JV-1010 only takes one board), and front-panel controls. However, if you're broke like me, it's worth a look. I'm running one with computer sequencing, and although it can be easily overwhelmed by a lot of data, it still does pretty well, and the sounds are good.

I just sold my JV 1010 and bought a JV 1080. I picked up the 1080 for $550, which in my opinion makes it a deal next to the difficult to use 1010 for about $100 less (new). It has 4x expansion vs. the 1010's 1 additional slot, and has a complete user interface that is VERY easy to use, compared with the JV1010 (Just look at the amount of posts on this board that are questions dealing with the 1010). In fact, unless you never disconnect the JV1010 from your computer and have more than 1 MIDI port (you can't use a sequencer like Cakewalk while editing performances/patches etc), and unless you are happy with the fact that once you turn off the JV1010, everything you've done is ERASED, I would skip the 1010 in favor of the 1080.

Brought mine home Thursday night having never used it before, and resequenced our entire set list and gigged with it this weekend. I would highly recommend a used 1080!

The 1080 is a nice little box. I would get a used one of those as well.

You can pick up a used 1080 from Ebay for Under $600.00. One note of caution is to make sure the seller is a reputable one. I also had a 1010, was dissatified, got a used 1080 and totally enjoyed it, but I eventually sold that to get a XP-30-which I am expecting to be delivered this week. Make sure you get one of the memory expansion cards. They are very useful because they enable you to have an extra bank of sounds onboard. I also think the display of the 1080 is worth the extra $'s over the 1010, not only do you see patch names, but you can see, and mute the 1-4 tones that make up each patch. This is a very nice feature that the 1010 doesn't have.

Well, I guess I'll shut up! . . . . (Uh, that'd be a personal first, actually ;-)

Of course, I'm one of those guys who will always have a computer hooked to his modules. It all boils down to how you use your stuff, I guess. I'm also getting old, and weary of learning my umpteenth interface. (There can be an up-side to having few controls!)

I was one of the belly-achers about the JV-1010, but now that I patch MIDI through the computer OS and a patch bay (rather than using the unit to control itself), I'm happy about the cost vs. sound quality equation of the 1010.

The lack of expansion slots is a problem, and, of course, the patch bay wasn't free. I justified it by the ease of selecting and driving other modules as I fill my rack. The search for new sounds hasn't been fruitful so far, but I'm having fun looking.

I intend to be the king of the half-rack synth modules! Bring on the stubby little @#$%^&*'s! I don't care if they don't have arms or legs - I'll put 'em to work!