No kidding! The way Paulo flicks that Ac.Bass sounds so real I can almost smell the smoke in Ronnie Scott's jazz club. He's such a joy to watch and listen to.
Have one since it came out and used it a lot , especially layered with an esq1. It sounded quite the business . The piano really cut through the mix. I now have bought a few more of these units (2xu110 and 2xu220) during the last few years and have all of the rom cards now.. I still enjoy them very much
@Gael Larry This website does not inform people of any payment for the trial test. After submitting your Paypal details it deducts 15 USD from your account. Then consequently, it deducts a monthly fee of 1700USD. All for nothing, as it doesn’t really hack into any Instagram account. The code is just a collection of random digits.
Great rewiew Paulo ;) I have an U-220 and the sounds always fit in somewere in a song,..Thanks dear Paulo for your Presence! and congrats to you turning 50, it is a great age, i am 51 and still feel like 33 :D much love
A very nice and underrated module. I use it for some sprinkle and extra stuff on my songs. Usually Detuned Bell, strummed accoustic guitar (together with similar patches on the CM-32P/CM-64 modules which are the same PCM engines and can read the same cards). Some cool drum samples too. Perfect for that cheesy GM emulation also (especially brass). :)
I loved my U-110. But the outputs are terribly noisy! Nowadays I'm happy with my MV-30, which accepts the SN-U-110 ROM cards but sounds much cleaner. Added bonus to the U-220/U-20, it has nice filters :)
You all forget though that the cards were really poor value in that you only get a handful of patches on them compared to the JV/JD cards plus there's no other expansion either unfortunately which is a shame as the potential was there.
9:56 these are the strings that became trademark sound of Prodigy on their first two albums. On Roland U-20 the patch is called Strings-3, with it you can play intro of "Out Of Space" on the spot.
This was the official jingle producer sound module. Lots of tv and radio advertising ads were using these sounds. The U 110 just had sounds that were great for this type of work at the time. You mixes were guaranteed to be almost effortless.
That "CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'"riff you played, using that MELLOTRON like flute from 12:32-12:59, that did it for me. I'll have to get find one of these, or the u-220.
So many games on various systems used samples from this machine and the Roland sample library. I played plenty of games on Amiga in particular in the early 90:ies. Such a lovely collection of sounds ;).
Hi Paulo thanks for bringing back some great memories for me. Back in the late 80s/early 90s my live set up was a Roland U220, Korg DS8 and Kauai K1 and the Roland sounds really cut through live. Man I got a lot of use out of that thing, so solidly built and indeed I still have it in a rack in my studio now and amazingly it still works fine. I love your videos, keep up the great work.
The Roland Finger Bass has always been the best. It really cuts through in the mix and requires little or no processing. I still rate the U110 and U220 for stock instruments. Great demo and a nice trip down Memory Lane :)
I've had a burning desire to get a U-110 for some reason. Something about it that evokes memories of my early pro-studio days in 1991. The studio owner had a real ear for the best gear, which were not necessarily the most expensive. He (Carl Stipetic) was also a top pro musician and had toured Europe with some big acts in the 1960s and 70s.
Thanks for the the trip down ROM memory lane. I think the module could still be a useful addition to your synth army. I know they're a bit long in the tooth now, as we all will be in time! but have a certain charm.
Much luv to Paolo / Synth Mania, Your only 50 ? There is lots of music still inside of you. Keep in shape,exercise & eat right, that's the most important thing for all of us that are fifty & over (even younger). Keep up the great work as always, techno never gets old😀
Happy Belated (much, much belated) Birthday! And thanks for the review on this. A friend recently gave me a U-220, which I'd used on some demos back in '89. I've been having fun messing around with it and helping others who have the U-20/-220/-110 on Facebook. It's been quite a learning experience, and it's been interesting hearing your demos and re-imagining how I could use the U-220 in some of my projects--especially those strings!
Happy 50th! I also turned 50 at the end of April. 69 FTW! ;-) I remember people bragging about their piano samples back then. Like Ensoniq had their 1MB grand piano multi-sample on the SQ-series (I have an SQ-2 Plus) that was like 1/3 of the entire sample library ROM.
I used to have one of these. I was very much into jazz piano at the time and I hated the piano sound, although for the time it was pretty good and I did play a lot of piano gigs with it. I just didn't know what to do of all the "funny" extra sounds it had. So this has been my live piano for quite a few years. It's been nice hearing these sounds again. It's like hearing them under a different light. Thanks.
A poor workman blames his tools - you manage to coax cool sounds of this because you play it well... I hope I can get there by the time I turn 50, and look as good as you do for your age!
Thanks Paolo that was interesting, my first digital synth was the u220 ( no way I could afford a D50/M1 etc at the time). Didn’t realise the sounds came from the W30, yes these “romplers” are very unfashionable now but I still like the acoustic piano on it. I bought an MV30 fairly recently just to have some of those old Roland samples back!
It would be nice to see a more advanced vidio of D-70 and JX-1 ... synthesis with a change in resonances, sweeps, and so on .. interested in the possibilities of synthesis and their vintage character (not rompler, There are many examples of rompler on the network
Restaurei um Roland U20 🎉🎉 deu trabalho .porem tenho que usa lo como modulo tambem...pois a regua e contatos nao encontramos para substituição, nossa saida é usar um controlador pra salvar o que resta do lindo sintetizador Roland ❤
The Roland D70 had a lot of parts from that. Not to say that it had to be a bad thing, but they rushed the machine together to try and compete with the Korg T1/M1's which meant it never really got credited as a top classic.
Hi Paolo! another great review (actually more for your playing skills than for the sounds) I like the way you pronounce 'vibrato'. After all it's an italian word!
I have (and still use) two of these. One of them is my principal Bass & Drums source. I agree with you - Fingered Bass 1 is probably the best electric bass sound I possess, and I've used it LOTS over the years. The second one I principally used as a Piano module, as for 24 years my principal keyboard was an A-80, which was purely a master keyboard. I still use it when recording. I've used its Shakuhachi sound a lot. It's one of the most expressive sounds I possess. For piano purposes, though, I now use an RD-2000 stage piano, which I bought two years ago when the A-80 was showing signs of dying of Senile Decay. I have three cards in one of them, Orch Strings, Electric Guitar and Latin & FX. (The last one I bought only a couple of weeks ago, and I haven't done much with it yet.) The brass, well, it did the job, but the looping was very obvious. And sorry, but I thought the choir sounded awful below about Middle C (very warbly). My overall opinion is there were a few really good sounds, some that ""Did the Job", and some that were downright lousy. Having said that, none were too bad to be useful somewhere. My two have been my "Meat and Potatoes" since 1993 and 1996, when I got them. They still have an important place in my rack, and can be heard in my own tracks on TH-cam.
Hi, yes, I have it in the plans to do a vid on hooking up the '80s drum machines to the mixer using the separate outs and treat with processors of the era - as several people have also asked about... will put it on the to-do list
I remember the release of the U-110 very well. It was followed very quickly (it seems) by the U-220 (and U-20 keyboard) in 1989. I was selling Roland gear (and pretty much every other brand of electronic musical instruments) at the time in a high-volume music store in the SF Bay Area. Though the short-lived U-110, and the much more popular U-220 were VERY popular, and upon an initial listen, the acoustic piano sound was regarded as being "so much more realistic" than what you got from a Korg M1 or Emu Proteus… that "ring/buzz" in the piano sound would get to you in no time… and you couldn't somehow edit it out. It made that piano nearly unusable to me… it was so close to being great (for the time), but ultimately it was like nails on a chalkboard. The D-70 followed (loved it at the time and bought one), but it wouldn't be until the introduction of the JV-80 & JV-880 that the stock acoustic piano sound out of the box was pretty good for a rompler.
I had the D70 for years and it was a great looking instrument. The piano sound was probably okay for the time, but I found it shrill at the top and lazy at the bottom. The electric (Rhodes) type pianos were really good and so were the lead sounds. When using it to play live music though, in the end, the D70 just became a mother keyboard for my MIDI racks.
" in the end, the D70 just became a mother keyboard for my MIDI racks"… lol… similar experience for me. I still have my D-70 (in great shape), but within 2-3 years after purchasing it and as i was adding additional rack-mounted synths, the D-70 became more my master keyboard controller than me caring about the internal synth engine. Just over 50 synths today and my D-70's been leaning up against a wall for "quite a while" now.
@@StephanS There definitely is at least one JD sound in SSF2 (Fusion Solo). As far as what U series unit they used, this video from 1996 does show a U-110 at Capcom at around 4:16: th-cam.com/video/dLdxCvgSZ-M/w-d-xo.html The person's head is hiding the card slots, but the button layout matches the U-110 as opposed to the U-220.
@@markuskoivisto Yep. The 50 and 60 have the exact same banks as the JV-1080 (except for MAYBE the User bank?), and the XP-30 is a JV-2080 without the extra FX units. I covered all that in a video I did on them
I remember that i found the U110 a bit boring against the U220/U20, but the Choir Sound nails it! Im going to buy a U110 just to use the Choir Sound once in my music
hey dude, I just got a Roland U220 and could do with some help programming it, would u know how to program each part etc? maybe do a tutorial vid on it? plz?
Is it true the drums on Sandra's Stop for a minute are from the Roland U20/110/220? If yes which drumset is it? In Sandra's track they somehow sound pitched down.
Hi, I just got a U110 and works great (I played the demos). I am trying to play patches from a Yamaha Sy22. I can set the midi channels but I am unable to play sounds from the u110. I miss something though I am reading the manual. I still don’t get something perhaps. Can you please give me a hint? Thanks.
- Yamaha SY22 MIDI Out to U-110 MIDI In - U-110 stereo line outputs to your audio interface / mixer / amplifier --> speakers / headphones - MIDI channel needs to be the same on both machines
I have a Roland U-220 which worked fine but showed low battery; I replaced the battery and restored the factory sounds via SysEx but now I do not have any audio although I have connected the audio out to an amp; what could be the problem? Any insight in this regard is greatly appreciated.
I also have a D-110. I would love to hear a good review on it. Most people scoff at it. It has some sounds that would work for Italo Disco, I think. Please Paulo, give us a review!!
@@SynthManiaDotCom I used to have two of those. The second one replaced the first. Both died after being fed under-volt power at outdoor gigs. The second one got replaced when it died by a JV-1080.
I have one of these... I think it's a great machine.... Midi on it is phenomenal I use it in conjunction with a Yamaha QY10 and a rare Korg Sq8... Yes it's bread and butter sounds... But it is a work horse and does it well ....There is that old saying a bad workman always blames his tools .. If you have the imagination you can make this a dream synth
Hello people. I need your help. I"m a kid with no any gear yet and I found a U110 and U220 for sale. I"m wondering what are differences between them and which one should I buy? I got inspired by Liam Howlett thats why I"m looking for one of these. From what I"ve read U220 is a better option but it costs 210 dollars and U110 costs 80. And every dollar makes a huge difference for me, but If I"m buying something, I want it to be finest and most useful I can buy. I"ll just add the seller of U110 sells two cards separately for something like 35 dollars. I"d appreciate any help.
The main difference is that the U-220 has built in reverb and delay effects and includes all the sounds from the Synthesizer and Guitar and Keyboards PCM card ( which was why I bought a U-220 earlier this year ). But I personally think some of the sounds like the saxophone are a bit better on the U-110 and another good thing about the U-110 is that it takes 4 rom cards.
Hi, Paul, I have a U110, with several cards, but I cannot manage to set up the different sounds. I do have access to an online user's guide. However, I find the explanation so complicated, that L can't use the module the way it was meant. Could you write me say an instruction for dummy's? Many thanks! Btw, I am way over 50, 56 that is.
Hi, Michael, I don't have the U-110 at the moment but Sweetwater has instructions here: www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/roland-u-110-select-pcm-card-tones/
@@SynthManiaDotCom Hi, Paul I have been trying to use the instruction on wsweetwater, but it seems the problem comes before that. My user's guide tells me to first insert the card and then choose the card number. Well, that seems to be the real problem; I do not know how I can do this. Btw, I am sure I inserted the cards the right way. Could you help me again? I have tried to find relevant articles on the internet, including on the sweetwater site, but haven't found anything usefull.
Once you have inserted the card, you'll have to change the source from "I" (Internal) to the card you inserted... for example, if you look on the user's guide at page 20, there's a picture that shows "I-02:A.PIANO 2". Again, I don't have the U-110 at the moment but if I remember correctly, you'll need to change the "I" to "C" to access the card(s). The Sweetwater procedure is taken from the U-110 manual, so you should be able to get to it by following it - or just reading through pages 20-to-24 of the manual
there are 64 internal patches ... and a temporary one. when you switch to an external card and pick a voice or set of voices for the patch, you are editing the temporary patch. if you want to save it, I believe you have to overwrite (write) one of the 64 internal patches. The expansion cards are voices on rom memory but you have to create patches as none are included with the expansion cards ... and limited to 64 on u110.
God I feel old. I have the TG-55 and the U-220 in my rack unit. Big question for u is did you get the sound effects card and ever use the Godzilla sample...lol
I've been a proud owner for decades...however fired it up the other day and the LCD told me the battery was low. Have you ever had to replace yours and method?
Great demo thank you. Why don't they do these modules anymore ? Because using computers or ipads the sounds are not as good and there are latency issues. I just don't understand why there are no such quality modules made now. Can you tell ?
Yeah, what's the deal w midi channel 10? Is that where the normal drum sounds are? I play an Octapad through a JV-1080. How many more kit sounds are on the card?
He has the original Roland R-8 and I did comment a request for him to review that a while ago on another video. On his website he also loaded a sample pack of all the stock drums from his R-8 which I used to use in my productions before I finally bought a real R-8 last year.
came from bad gear to enjoy the masterclass in keyboard playing
No kidding! The way Paulo flicks that Ac.Bass sounds so real I can almost smell the smoke in Ronnie Scott's jazz club. He's such a joy to watch and listen to.
Same here :)
Have one since it came out and used it a lot , especially layered with an esq1. It sounded quite the business . The piano really cut through the mix. I now have bought a few more of these units (2xu110 and 2xu220) during the last few years and have all of the rom cards now.. I still enjoy them very much
All of these presets make me think “Local Weather Station BGM”
@Gael Larry
This website does not inform people of any payment for the trial test. After submitting your Paypal details it deducts 15 USD from your account. Then consequently, it deducts a monthly fee of 1700USD. All for nothing, as it doesn’t really hack into any Instagram account. The code is just a collection of random digits.
Great rewiew Paulo ;) I have an U-220 and the sounds always fit in somewere in a song,..Thanks dear Paulo for your Presence! and congrats to you turning 50, it is a great age, i am 51 and still feel like 33 :D much love
Have 110&220 and still use them quite often...
Nice peice on and old classic
These units, U-110 & U-220, are great! I own both. The piano to me is one of the best ever heard among the ones of that age and even beyond.
A very nice and underrated module. I use it for some sprinkle and extra stuff on my songs. Usually Detuned Bell, strummed accoustic guitar (together with similar patches on the CM-32P/CM-64 modules which are the same PCM engines and can read the same cards). Some cool drum samples too.
Perfect for that cheesy GM emulation also (especially brass). :)
Hi, Anders!! How have you been - all good here - yes, I agree, those S-series sounds have a special character, very "present"
I loved my U-110. But the outputs are terribly noisy! Nowadays I'm happy with my MV-30, which accepts the SN-U-110 ROM cards but sounds much cleaner. Added bonus to the U-220/U-20, it has nice filters :)
You all forget though that the cards were really poor value in that you only get a handful of patches on them compared to the JV/JD cards plus there's no other expansion either unfortunately which is a shame as the potential was there.
9:56 these are the strings that became trademark sound of Prodigy on their first two albums. On Roland U-20 the patch is called Strings-3, with it you can play intro of "Out Of Space" on the spot.
Yep your right prodigy use u220 or the u20
This was the official jingle producer sound module. Lots of tv and radio advertising ads were using these sounds. The U 110 just had sounds that were great for this type of work at the time. You mixes were guaranteed to be almost effortless.
That "CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'"riff you played, using that MELLOTRON like flute from 12:32-12:59, that did it for me. I'll have to get find one of these, or the u-220.
So many games on various systems used samples from this machine and the Roland sample library. I played plenty of games on Amiga in particular in the early 90:ies. Such a lovely collection of sounds ;).
Happy Birthday Paolo, fifty years young! Currently using my U110 to access some of Roland's sound cards, thanks for this inspiring video.
It truly was exciting when MIDI sound modules starting coming out!
In 1989, my setup consisted of a Roland MT-32, S-10, TR-505 and MC-500. Great times.
I had that same setup minus the mc-500 in the early 90's. Those machines got soul ;)
In 1989 My setup was Korg M1 & DDD-1, Roland D-10 & W30. 😊
Hi Paulo thanks for bringing back some great memories for me. Back in the late 80s/early 90s my live set up was a Roland U220, Korg DS8 and Kauai K1 and the Roland sounds really cut through live. Man I got a lot of use out of that thing, so solidly built and indeed I still have it in a rack in my studio now and amazingly it still works fine. I love your videos, keep up the great work.
Thank you, Nigel! Yes, those old units are still going strong!
The Roland Finger Bass has always been the best. It really cuts through in the mix and requires little or no processing. I still rate the U110 and U220 for stock instruments. Great demo and a nice trip down Memory Lane :)
Beautiful piano textures
I've had a burning desire to get a U-110 for some reason. Something about it that evokes memories of my early pro-studio days in 1991. The studio owner had a real ear for the best gear, which were not necessarily the most expensive. He (Carl Stipetic) was also a top pro musician and had toured Europe with some big acts in the 1960s and 70s.
It's got good core sounds - actually, I'm thinking about doing a video of the U-110 with modern quality FX such as the Strymon
Just bought one of these a couple of weeks ago. And now ought a yamaha qx5 to sequence it.
If only I was that good at playing piano
Thanks for the the trip down ROM memory lane. I think the module could still be a useful addition to your synth army. I know they're a bit long in the tooth now, as we all will be in time! but have a certain charm.
Wonderful sound trip down to memory lane! I still have the expansion M-GS64 since 1995. It sounds amazing even now.
Much luv to Paolo / Synth Mania,
Your only 50 ? There is lots of music still inside of you.
Keep in shape,exercise & eat right, that's the most important thing for all of us that are fifty & over (even younger).
Keep up the great work as always, techno never gets old😀
Thank you! And yes, long live Techno ;)
Happy Birthday mr. Paolo. Auguri!!!
Those sound are indeed classic now!
Very useable..
Thank you!
Happy Belated (much, much belated) Birthday! And thanks for the review on this. A friend recently gave me a U-220, which I'd used on some demos back in '89. I've been having fun messing around with it and helping others who have the U-20/-220/-110 on Facebook. It's been quite a learning experience, and it's been interesting hearing your demos and re-imagining how I could use the U-220 in some of my projects--especially those strings!
Thanks!
The DAC's on this thing are legendary. That's why Roland soon after released the U-220.
My first sound module. 1990. I think. Cheers
Happy 50th! I also turned 50 at the end of April. 69 FTW! ;-) I remember people bragging about their piano samples back then. Like Ensoniq had their 1MB grand piano multi-sample on the SQ-series (I have an SQ-2 Plus) that was like 1/3 of the entire sample library ROM.
Excellent review of some of the sounds. 👍
I used to have one of these. I was very much into jazz piano at the time and I hated the piano sound, although for the time it was pretty good and I did play a lot of piano gigs with it. I just didn't know what to do of all the "funny" extra sounds it had. So this has been my live piano for quite a few years. It's been nice hearing these sounds again. It's like hearing them under a different light. Thanks.
Thank you, Mirko
Epic! My first S&S synth, bought one in '91 and it's all over my early ambient stuff... SH101- Prophet 600 and the U110.. Great to hear it again :)
Hey Jervis! :) That was a killer combo (still is today!)
@@SynthManiaDotCom Thanks buddy! I'll have to see if I can find some tapes.. sure there was a DS8 in there for a while too..
A poor workman blames his tools - you manage to coax cool sounds of this because you play it well... I hope I can get there by the time I turn 50, and look as good as you do for your age!
Gotta love the 8 sec loop from the old MKS-100/S10 samples. :D Great vid!
Thank you!
I want it. I want them all! Sometimes the strings, choirs and brass in my head sound like this.
Very nice videos.
SynthMania #1
happy birthday
Thanks!
I have a Roland U-20 i bought back in 1996? which is essentially the U-110 with a keyboard. I still use the sounds.
You have blown my mind qith this video.IT motivates me to pick up from where I left off after I quit piano lessons, lol.
Thanks!
I love the antialising and the hiss!
You could make a stylophone sound like a grand piano, your so good.
I still use my U 110 too ! I love it !!
Thanks Paolo that was interesting, my first digital synth was the u220 ( no way I could afford a D50/M1 etc at the time). Didn’t realise the sounds came from the W30, yes these “romplers” are very unfashionable now but I still like the acoustic piano on it. I bought an MV30 fairly recently just to have some of those old Roland samples back!
Yes, well, technical S-series (W-30 came after S-50 / 550) - yes, still solid samples
Happy Birthday Paolo. We are the same age. 😎
Thank you and Happy Birthday to you as well (when it's your day....)
It would be nice to see a more advanced vidio of D-70 and JX-1 ... synthesis with a change in resonances, sweeps, and so on .. interested in the possibilities of synthesis and their vintage character (not rompler, There are many examples of rompler on the network
Great post Paolo, I always enjoy them.
Thank you!
Love mine, I do enjoy to see how someone with talent uses it :)
the u-110 is sexy, loved its sound
saw the video and grabbed myself a u110 + guitar card
@@SuperKillerkarnickel thats the only card i have :p
Your creativity and your skills are always awesome paulo:-)
Thank you!
Restaurei um Roland U20 🎉🎉 deu trabalho
.porem tenho que usa lo como modulo tambem...pois a regua e contatos nao encontramos para substituição, nossa saida é usar um controlador pra salvar o que resta do lindo sintetizador Roland ❤
Love your videos! You're a very youthful 50!!
The Roland D70 had a lot of parts from that. Not to say that it had to be a bad thing, but they rushed the machine together to try and compete with the Korg T1/M1's which meant it never really got credited as a top classic.
I always like seeing a good rainbow too!.... and I noticed the second bow is very clear @~24s
Hi Paolo! another great review (actually more for your playing skills than for the sounds)
I like the way you pronounce 'vibrato'. After all it's an italian word!
I have (and still use) two of these. One of them is my principal Bass & Drums source. I agree with you - Fingered Bass 1 is probably the best electric bass sound I possess, and I've used it LOTS over the years. The second one I principally used as a Piano module, as for 24 years my principal keyboard was an A-80, which was purely a master keyboard. I still use it when recording. I've used its Shakuhachi sound a lot. It's one of the most expressive sounds I possess. For piano purposes, though, I now use an RD-2000 stage piano, which I bought two years ago when the A-80 was showing signs of dying of Senile Decay. I have three cards in one of them, Orch Strings, Electric Guitar and Latin & FX. (The last one I bought only a couple of weeks ago, and I haven't done much with it yet.)
The brass, well, it did the job, but the looping was very obvious. And sorry, but I thought the choir sounded awful below about Middle C (very warbly). My overall opinion is there were a few really good sounds, some that ""Did the Job", and some that were downright lousy. Having said that, none were too bad to be useful somewhere. My two have been my "Meat and Potatoes" since 1993 and 1996, when I got them. They still have an important place in my rack, and can be heard in my own tracks on TH-cam.
I had the U-220 ❤
Roland created beautiful sounds with vanishingly small sample sizes.
Yes, amazing what they could do with limited sample ROMs of the day
Oh yea remembered that one, as a Roland service engineer back then a very popular rack module, bye the way congrats to the 50´s 🎉
Thank you!
Amazing gear as always
Hi Paolo! Could you show us how to edit the sounds of the Oberheim DMX to sound like they are on the "Sophisticated Boom Boom" album by Dead or Alive?
Hi, yes, I have it in the plans to do a vid on hooking up the '80s drum machines to the mixer using the separate outs and treat with processors of the era - as several people have also asked about... will put it on the to-do list
Thanks! 😊😊😊
I remember the release of the U-110 very well. It was followed very quickly (it seems) by the U-220 (and U-20 keyboard) in 1989. I was selling Roland gear (and pretty much every other brand of electronic musical instruments) at the time in a high-volume music store in the SF Bay Area. Though the short-lived U-110, and the much more popular U-220 were VERY popular, and upon an initial listen, the acoustic piano sound was regarded as being "so much more realistic" than what you got from a Korg M1 or Emu Proteus… that "ring/buzz" in the piano sound would get to you in no time… and you couldn't somehow edit it out. It made that piano nearly unusable to me… it was so close to being great (for the time), but ultimately it was like nails on a chalkboard.
The D-70 followed (loved it at the time and bought one), but it wouldn't be until the introduction of the JV-80 & JV-880 that the stock acoustic piano sound out of the box was pretty good for a rompler.
I had the D70 for years and it was a great looking instrument. The piano sound was probably okay for the time, but I found it shrill at the top and lazy at the bottom. The electric (Rhodes) type pianos were really good and so were the lead sounds. When using it to play live music though, in the end, the D70 just became a mother keyboard for my MIDI racks.
" in the end, the D70 just became a mother keyboard for my MIDI racks"… lol… similar experience for me. I still have my D-70 (in great shape), but within 2-3 years after purchasing it and as i was adding additional rack-mounted synths, the D-70 became more my master keyboard controller than me caring about the internal synth engine. Just over 50 synths today and my D-70's been leaning up against a wall for "quite a while" now.
Super Street Fighter II uses a lot of sounds from this module and its expansion cards.
No, i think it was (as usual back then) the JD800 and U20
@@StephanS Roland did reuse partials forever though, these are a great cheap way to get into the sampling era of chip
@@StephanS There definitely is at least one JD sound in SSF2 (Fusion Solo). As far as what U series unit they used, this video from 1996 does show a U-110 at Capcom at around 4:16: th-cam.com/video/dLdxCvgSZ-M/w-d-xo.html The person's head is hiding the card slots, but the button layout matches the U-110 as opposed to the U-220.
Really lookng forward to hearing all the cards when you get them.
awesome module, did a lot with it
please review the roland xp series. a very underrated synth.
More or less the same samples as the JV/XV series, which I think have popped up quite a few times?
@@markuskoivisto Yep. The 50 and 60 have the exact same banks as the JV-1080 (except for MAYBE the User bank?), and the XP-30 is a JV-2080 without the extra FX units. I covered all that in a video I did on them
Ah, yes, I have featured the JV (same as XP) several times on the channel, but plan to do more in the future
I had an XP-30 back in the day. Never really understood how to edit it. If I had, I would have appreciated a lot more.
I remember that i found the U110 a bit boring against the U220/U20, but the Choir Sound nails it! Im going to buy a U110 just to use the Choir Sound once in my music
2:46 The piano part reminds me of The Sims soundtrack. A bit melancholy/jazz vibe.
Thank you
You're welcome
Happy Belated Birthday my friend
Thank you, Morrisman!
SynthMania thoughts on Yorick Tech - Low Frequency Expander (LFE)?
I want to buy it, don’t have the money yet.
I have a U110 with 4 cards but I wonder: which card is the best one?
hey dude, I just got a Roland U220 and could do with some help programming it, would u know how to program each part etc? maybe do a tutorial vid on it? plz?
Great demo. I have one question, how do i save a changed sound on its original spot?
(belated) Happy birthday!
Thank you!
Awesome love roland
Thank you!
Cm’on you are a great piano player too!!! 😎😎😎
Is that the Choir sound they use on Age Of Love?
Now you've sad that I think it could be!
Is it true the drums on Sandra's Stop for a minute are from the Roland U20/110/220? If yes which drumset is it? In Sandra's track they somehow sound pitched down.
Hi, I just got a U110 and works great (I played the demos). I am trying to play patches from a Yamaha Sy22. I can set the midi channels but I am unable to play sounds from the u110. I miss something though I am reading the manual. I still don’t get something perhaps. Can you please give me a hint? Thanks.
- Yamaha SY22 MIDI Out to U-110 MIDI In
- U-110 stereo line outputs to your audio interface / mixer / amplifier --> speakers / headphones
- MIDI channel needs to be the same on both machines
0:23 Runs the red light like a boss.
Hahaha it's true. Man on man I'm in Europe next time i di that they'll pull my license bro. It's real in these streets!
found one today at the flea market for 20€ :D
I have a Roland U-220 which worked fine but showed low battery; I replaced the battery and restored the factory sounds via SysEx but now I do not have any audio although I have connected the audio out to an amp; what could be the problem? Any insight in this regard is greatly appreciated.
Hi Paolo, is there a chance you do this with D-110 too?
I also have a D-110. I would love to hear a good review on it. Most people scoff at it. It has some sounds that would work for Italo Disco, I think. Please Paulo, give us a review!!
Sure - I used to have the D-110 in the '90s also but sold it a long time ago - I'll try to grab another one at some point
@@SynthManiaDotCom Thanks Paolo! Can't wait for your video on it!!!
@@SynthManiaDotCom I used to have two of those. The second one replaced the first. Both died after being fed under-volt power at outdoor gigs. The second one got replaced when it died by a JV-1080.
I just found 8 cards for one of these in my garage. Forgot I ever owned one.
Thanks, rainbow.
Nice video. Thanks. Can you connect this Roland U-110 to any keyboard?
Yes, anything that has MIDI
I have one of these... I think it's a great machine.... Midi on it is phenomenal I use it in conjunction with a Yamaha QY10 and a rare Korg Sq8... Yes it's bread and butter sounds... But it is a work horse and does it well ....There is that old saying a bad workman always blames his tools .. If you have the imagination you can make this a dream synth
Now I know what's in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It's a Roland U-110.. ❤❤❤
:-D
Awesome Paolo thank you for sharing ! I was wondering if you could tell us about the soundcard you use for the videos ; thanks you :D
Thank you! The sound interface I use for several years now is the SSL Alpha-Link MADI AX (with MadiXtreme 64 PCI card)
Hello people. I need your help. I"m a kid with no any gear yet and I found a U110 and U220 for sale. I"m wondering what are differences between them and which one should I buy? I got inspired by Liam Howlett thats why I"m looking for one of these. From what I"ve read U220 is a better option but it costs 210 dollars and U110 costs 80. And every dollar makes a huge difference for me, but If I"m buying something, I want it to be finest and most useful I can buy. I"ll just add the seller of U110 sells two cards separately for something like 35 dollars. I"d appreciate any help.
The main difference is that the U-220 has built in reverb and delay effects and includes all the sounds from the Synthesizer and Guitar
and Keyboards PCM card ( which was why I bought a U-220 earlier this year ). But I personally think some of the sounds
like the saxophone are a bit better on the U-110 and another good thing about the U-110 is that it takes 4 rom cards.
Hi, Paul, I have a U110, with several cards, but I cannot manage to set up the different sounds. I do have access to an online user's guide. However, I find the explanation so complicated, that L can't use the module the way it was meant. Could you write me say an instruction for dummy's? Many thanks! Btw, I am way over 50, 56 that is.
Hi, Michael, I don't have the U-110 at the moment but Sweetwater has instructions here: www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/roland-u-110-select-pcm-card-tones/
@@SynthManiaDotCom Hi, Paul I have been trying to use the instruction on wsweetwater, but it seems the problem comes before that. My user's guide tells me to first insert the card and then choose the card number. Well, that seems to be the real problem; I do not know how I can do this. Btw, I am sure I inserted the cards the right way. Could you help me again? I have tried to find relevant articles on the internet, including on the sweetwater site, but haven't found anything usefull.
Once you have inserted the card, you'll have to change the source from "I" (Internal) to the card you inserted... for example, if you look on the user's guide at page 20, there's a picture that shows "I-02:A.PIANO 2". Again, I don't have the U-110 at the moment but if I remember correctly, you'll need to change the "I" to "C" to access the card(s). The Sweetwater procedure is taken from the U-110 manual, so you should be able to get to it by following it - or just reading through pages 20-to-24 of the manual
there are 64 internal patches ... and a temporary one. when you switch to an external card and pick a voice or set of voices for the patch, you are editing the temporary patch. if you want to save it, I believe you have to overwrite (write) one of the 64 internal patches. The expansion cards are voices on rom memory but you have to create patches as none are included with the expansion cards ... and limited to 64 on u110.
nice - just pulled mu U-110 out to give to a friend ! the B man 5 5 5
Buon Compleanno
Paulo!
Thank you!
God I feel old. I have the TG-55 and the U-220 in my rack unit. Big question for u is did you get the sound effects card and ever use the Godzilla sample...lol
Haha, yep, I had all the cards including the special FX card... I'll have to get them again at some point...
I've been a proud owner for decades...however fired it up the other day and the LCD told me the battery was low. Have you ever had to replace yours and method?
Great demo thank you. Why don't they do these modules anymore ? Because using computers or ipads the sounds are not as good and there are latency issues. I just don't understand why there are no such quality modules made now. Can you tell ?
There is the Roland Integra 7 - super high quality
@@SynthManiaDotCom I checked it , very impressive module ! Thanks. Infortunately it is too expensive for me.
i like your energy
Does anybody know what song or melody he is playing at 9:44 ?
improv
Thank you for the quick answer!
The first few seconds remind me of a song that I can't remember. maybe it's just imagination.
Are you using data cards or are these samples built into the unit?
Samples built into the unit
Yeah, what's the deal w midi channel 10? Is that where the normal drum sounds are? I play an Octapad through a JV-1080. How many more kit sounds are on the card?
Historically channel 10 is where Roland assigned drums, it goes back to 1984. You can of course change them to any channel you want.
@@SynthManiaDotCom thanks! I've acquired some Roland gear second hand and learning how it works with the help of TH-cam.
I wonder if anybody knows where the U 110 piano was sampled from ?
Hey SynthMania have you done a re-review on the R8-MK2?
He has the original Roland R-8 and I did comment a request for him to review that a while ago on another video. On his website he
also loaded a sample pack of all the stock drums from his R-8 which I used to use in my productions before I finally bought a real R-8
last year.
That acousic piano is dire but most of these still sound good.