Hello,

Realise it's no museum piece, but I have a Roland D5 that I've just rescued from a wardrobe and dusted off.

In its time in hibernation, something's gone wrong: it sounds really warbly, as if it's underwater. All the features and keys seem to work, so this is a global problem of some kind.

Before I take it into a repair shop and pay £50 to find out it's dead, can anyone offer any informed guesses as to what's wrong?

Cheers,

Nick

I queried a search on the web and found that this particular problem happens more often with Roland D-5s.

Perhaps this page might be helpful in solving the problem.

Cheers,
Frank

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Imagination is more important than knowledge - A. Einstein

hello,

partly just a bump to see if anyone can help. partly to say that the mystery deepens.

i took the d5 apart for the first time today and couldn't see anything obviously wrong. then again wasn't entirely sure what i was looking for - and didn't check any currents or anything like that.

what i did discover, though, was that the ROM demo song plays back fine, without that weird warbly effect.

any ideas? anyone?

cheers,

nick

Well, first thing I'd do is a reset, just because it's free, it's fast, & it won't hurt.

...but, dammit, I can't find the procedure in my notes. In trying to find the info via Google, every site says there's no reset for the D-5/10/20. As I've owned both a D-5 & a D-20, & performed a reset, I wish to differ. If my faulty brain is correct, for the D-20 it was something like: turn the beast off, hold down the WRITE and TUNE/FUNCTION buttons, and turn it back on. I think is was a different pair of buttons for the D-5, but that's all that comes back to me -- sorry.

Speaking of: I got the D-20 cheap because of what I immediately guessed was a power-supply problem. All I had to do was put in the proper fuse & it worked beautifully. Other players report that the culprit for them was a failing battery. Makes no obvious sense, but if it works, it works.

Best of luck! The D-5 was my first synth, & despite its limitations could produce unique sounds with minimal twiddling. (I've still got the three-pack Voice Crystal RAM cards, too.)

Quote:

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Press MODE repeatedly until the ROM PLAY light comes on. While holding EXIT and EDIT, press ENTER. While holding down A/B, press the BANK 8 button.

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http://www.rolandus.com/corporate/press_media_resources/assets/SystemVersi onGuide.pdf

If that doesn't work, next step is changing the battery.

it feels like cheating, but i posted the same query at another forum:

http://electro-music.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45858

according to a user there (who i think was consulting the roland service manual), there is no global reset function. in test mode (which is what you're describing) hitting a/b + 6 or a/b + 7 will reset different functions.

(scroll down the link to see what i mean.)

cheers, though. turns out it was a faulty mod/pitch wheel, probably.

(...might be worth dosing the control/potentiometer with contact cleaner in that case...)

In which case a read of my FAQ entitled ‘How Can I Stop My Pots & Switches Crackling?’ may help

www.soundonsound.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=717481


Martin

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YewTreeMagic

thanks, will have a read and try that...

...but don’t forget to record your warbly Roland D5 before you fix it - people spend many hours circuit-bending trying to get the sounds you already have


Martin

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YewTreeMagic

Quote Martin Walker:

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...but don’t forget to record your warbly Roland D5 before you fix it - people spend many hours circuit-bending trying to get the sounds you already have


Martin

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Hahah so true

good shout.

then i'll record it all onto sample cds and flog them on here...

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YewTreeMagic

Hi, I just received my Roland D-5 today from eBay, and the cosmetic condition is absolutely fabulous, basically it's a brand new instrument, and it looks really beautiful, made of metal and all, I love the design. I was so happy when I took out of the box, it felt like Christmas, until I plugged it in...

The synthesizer produces high amount of distortion in signal path, mostly noticeable when the sound decays. I suspect maybe it's the D/A converter, but I am no engineer, so my guess is as good as shooting in the dark.

Anyway, I definitely don't want to get rid of the instrument, because the design is absolutely beautiful. So, I have to figure out how to fix it. First thing coming to my mind is to get another D-5 with good internals and simply swap the internals. Or maybe it's something that can be fixed easier? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Andrew P.

What you're describing could easily be the poor quality of the DA compared to what you're used to in modern systems, in which case there is nothing wrong with it. Post some audio examples, that will help.

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madtheory creations
Synths and pianos for Kontakt

Indeed - posting a couple of audio examples might just put your mind at rest

(or destroy your opinion of this new dream synth )

The D5 was a fairly budget synth in comparison to the classic D50.


Martin

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YewTreeMagic