Roland D-50

Polyphonic digital synthesizer with PCM and synth waveforms, ring modulation, resonant filter, pitch/TVA/TVF envelopes, three LFOs per tone, 2x EQ, 2x chorus and reverb units. One of Roland's very first completely digital synthesizers featuring the Linear Arithmetic (LA) synthesis.

Synthesis

Structure

• Patch: consists of two tones (layer/split)
• Tone: 7 tone structures combining two partials, pitch envelope, three LFOs, ring modulator and EQ into a tone
• Partial: includes wave generator, TVF with envelope, TVA with envelope

Wave generator (WG)

• Type: PCM (100 ROM waveforms), synth (saw and square with PWM)
• 5-stage pitch envelope

Filter (TVF)

• Resonant digital low-pass filter
• 5-stage TVF envelope

LFO

• Type: triangle, sine, square, sample and hold
• Destination: WG pitch, WG PW, TVF cutoff, TVA level
• LFO delay, key sync

TVA

• 5-stage TVA envelope

Memory

• 100 PCM ROM waves
• 64 internal, 64 card patch locations

Effects

• Two-band EQ (low, parametric mid) and chorus (8 types) per tone
• Global reverb processor (32 reverb types)

Controls

• 5-octave keyboard (61 keys) with velocity and aftertouch sensitivity
• 40x2 symbol backlit LCD
• pitch bender / modulation lever
• tone mix joystick

Connections

• Line, headphone outputs
• MIDI in/out/thru