This is my first ever hardware synth. I have been using high powered software for several years - Reason, Reaktor, Tassman, Absynth, etc. -so I cannot compare it to much more expensive units, but at the price I paid for it, $200, I feel like I am getting away with something. If your first impression of this unit is via headphones, you will be a bit let down, as I think they cut some corners there to keep the price so low, but as soon as you plug it into a better amplifier and speakers, that

There is nothing here I would demand, again, at the low price. I think you get much more than what you pay for.

It seems very well built, and I have no reason to assume that it should not work as designed. The appearance of it either looks a bit retro, or a bit dated, depending on your point of view. The knobs all seem decently robust, and the sliders feel a bit thin and fragile, but nothing feels like it will break off in your fingers. Again, at $200, well above par.

$200? Game over...

Not really concerned about the looks at this price. And in all honesty, the look at any price...

Experimental, Sound Track, Rock, Techno, Jazz, Spoken Word

too tricky for djs? too techno for synth guys? think of this as a small arp odyssey as your starting point.

would have got a ten if it had a step sequencer.

seems sturdy. replace the wall wart with a micro adapter from radio shack.

absolutely the best synth under 200 bucks. the only thing in the price range is the darkstar xp2, but if you don't mind the thin reedy sounds like arp, there is no comparison in terms of ability to make strange sounds. (and techno too if you are boring)

pretty helpful. 12 bucks for a manual is a bit steep for this unit, though.

i just bought a second one.

ambient

The actual sounds you can produce with the unit are really superb. If you tweak everything correctly, you can get really fat analog pads, trippy sound effects, crunchy basses, etc. The effects section is especially helpful in this respect. Too bad it only has two effects!

For the price, this little box offers more features than you can get anywhere else. It's too bad that you can't hook up a modulating pedal, and the modulation routings (esp. for mod wheel, aftertouch, etc) are severely limited. None the less, it is packed to the gills. The arpeggiator is fantastic.

There are many bugs in the system that it doesn't look like Roland is going to fix. For example: using the LFO to modulate the panning results in an audible (and unpleasant) distortion; the DACs overload easily when the volume is turned up; the portamento will only glide up two octaves (any note higher than that will sound the same pitch)but will glide down indefinitely, etc. The unit didn't sell that well, so I don't think they're going to fix these particular bugs.

For the money? You can't beat it.