The XPs and JV sound great, but when Roland came out with the JV2080, their new Preset E bank raised the stake with unbelievably new, richer more realistic sounding instruments with the same synth engine.

This is so true. For those of you who have the Preset E bank or have it on disk in internal memory, listen to those guitar and synth bass sounds. Aren't they real thick. What did Roland do this time?

If all of Rolands sounds were like that, then man!

The Infamous EPU.

I've not heard the e-bank presets (I may see if they are available for download, now that I know of them), but shouldn't it be relatively easy to find out how Roland achieved the "thickness" and "realism" of these patches simply by investigating the settings of the various parameters of the patch (TVA, TVF, effects, etc.)? Or does the architecture of the 2080 differ from the 1080 and XPs (more simultaneous effects or something that could fatten the sound)?

Not really about effects. The sounds just sound better. The guitar sounds (clear guitar & solo steel) are so much better. Also are the distortion guitars.

Many of the Dist Guitar use the booster for Distortion rather than the EFX so you could actually use them in a performance.

The Infamous EPU.

To Wilkes,

You can download the JV2080 factory patches (including preset "E") at Lilchips: http://www.lilchips.com/roland/synths/jvxp/patches/2080fact.asp

Mgomes