Odd problem with a Roland XV-5050

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Conjurer of Emotion
Member Since: Jan 14, 2006

Hey guys,

I have a Roland XV-5050 rack synthesizer which I have owned for a number of years now. It has always worked fine until a few months ago. I turned it on to use it after not using it for quite some time and found that there was a strange issue. Many of the patches when played are scrambled with a very harsh static sound. A fair amount of them play normally, but a significant amount of them will just play loud static right when i switch to them or will play fine on some parts of the keyboard and when i hit certain keys, only the static plays.

I have trouble-shooted the issue and have determined that it is definately the unit itself and no other piece of affiliated equipment that is to blame. To determine this, I used headphones plugged directly to the unit and used only the preview button to output sound as opposed to using a MIDI device to stimulate the unit. So I know for sure that the XV-5050 itself is the problem and I also tried cleaning all of the ports the best I could to eliminate the possibility of some sort of dust collection causing a problem as it was sitting in an open rack for a long period of time.

I really have no idea how this could happen and I can't imagine what sort of answer to expect from anyone, but perhaps this has happened to one of you members before.

Thanks for your time and I'm hopeful for some help!

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Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


May 01, 2009 10:52 pm

Hey dude. If it has sat for an extended period of time it could be a couple of things.

First one could be it simply needs to be initialized to the factory settings. There should be a description of how to do this in the manual.

Second could be it has possible issues with any expansion cards that might be installed.

Third, it is possible that it has altered patches upon being re fired up. I believe the unit used up to 4 sounds per patch and possibly it has altered one or more parts of the patch that is effected. As well it could have turned on effects or altered an oscilators settings or something odd. but if that is the case item one will fall into play. Re initializing it should cure that as well.

Conjurer of Emotion
Member
Since: Jan 14, 2006


May 02, 2009 11:35 am

Hey Noize, I was very optimistic regarding your suggestion to restore the factory settings. I couldn't believe I didn't think of that myself, but regretfully I just tried that and it didn't fix the problem. In fact I reset the unit a few times and turned it on and off just to be thorough about it and still the problem persists. As for the idea about expansion cards, I do not have any installed and have never even opened the bay to put them in for that matter.

If it helps any, I have a tiny bit more information on the problem. For some reason it appears the majority of the patches affected by this static scrambling happen to be pads and patterns. Others are affected too, but for some reason all of the nice drawn out pads and patterns seem to be screwed up the most, not sure why that is or if it is important. Also a friend of mine says he actually has a similar issue with a SOFTWARE synth where some of his patches just play static noise. I'm also not sure if these issues have a similar root cause.

Lastly, my only idea regarding a possible cause for this problem is maybe what the manual refers to as "data loss." The unit has not been fiddled with or sent out for repairs or even jogged physically etc. so I'm not sure what grounds there would be to cause a data loss and I also don't know if a data loss could result in a problem such as this. I'm just thinking maybe bits of information are missing causing the unit to spit out this ugly noise in place of the sound it is supposed to? I have no idea, I'm just hypothesizing...

Thanks for the suggestions Noize, they seemed perfectly logical to me, but so far the problem still won't go away. I'd greatly appreciate any further suggestions.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


May 02, 2009 10:05 pm

Bummer, I was really hoping it would be that simple.

As for the data loss idea. Yes, that is entirely possible. Since the majority of the stuff is on ROM and possibly even RAM chips that can happen.

I don't remember if that unit has USB connectivity or not. But it is possible to try a firmware restore or even update if there is one.

OK, did a quick search at Roland and found this in the FAQ section. www.roland.com/products/e...&prd=XV5050

There may be others as well, I didn't have time to search the entire FAQ section. And it doesn't look like there is a firmware patch or anything like that for it.

Conjurer of Emotion
Member
Since: Jan 14, 2006


May 03, 2009 08:29 am

That particular FAQ didn't look to quite match this problem, but I altered the suggested parameters anyway and no cigar. The unit does have USB connectivity and I will try to see if an update is available.

I will look around more online to see if there is an answer out there and I'm going to guitar center today anyway so maybe one of the guys in pro-audio will have an idea as to a possible solution. In the meantime though, I'm not sure how to conduct a firmware restore...is that something that would be enumerated in the manual? Also, if all else failed, do you think this problem is something that could be solved by me sending it to the company? I have never done that with anything before and I imagine it could end up costing alot of money.

Thanks for the help Noize.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


May 03, 2009 07:19 pm

Unless it is under warranty you would be better served to find a local outfit that repairs that type of gear. I'm lucky and have several choices here. All of them are not quick by any means, and also you are correct. It could rack up a bit of a price tag. But then again, it might not.

On the firmware or bios restore function. Yes if it can be done it would be in the manual. Having USB onboard at least tells me it might be possible.

Conjurer of Emotion
Member
Since: Jan 14, 2006


May 04, 2009 07:51 am

Well thanks for the help Noize. I did get a number of a repair guy from a fellow in the pro-audio department at Guitar Center yesterday so I will consult with him and consider the firmware/bios restore as well. I'll let you know how I fixed the problem if I can manage to do so. That way you will know what the deal was if anyone else ever has the same issue.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


May 04, 2009 06:06 pm

Glad you found someone. Hopefully they will be reasonably priced.

I really miss the analog days. It was so much easier. If it made, or stopped making certain noise's you know it was a bad oscillator or whatever. Now with all the digital stuff in them its so hard to pinpoint something direct.

Conjurer of Emotion
Member
Since: Jan 14, 2006


Jun 05, 2009 09:56 am

I just recieved my Roland XV-5050 back from the repair guy yesterday and it is working good as new! Turns out the problem was a poor connection on one or more of the several chips mounted on the board within the unit. The guy simply re-soldered all of the connections and it is now working beautifully.

For anyone else with this problem though, I would recommend taking it to a professional because these connections are very very tiny and you need special tools and some skills to do that kind of work. The bill came out to $115.00 USD which I think was fair considering the precision work he had to do. Ultimately it was a price well worth getting my Roland working again.

I hope this helps anyone in the future with this problem. In fact someone from the forums already contacted me a few days ago before I posted this and he had the same issue with his XV-5050 and did not know what the problem was. So apparently the issue isn't totally unheard of.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jun 05, 2009 09:18 pm

Glad you got it fixed for sure.

Considering they still go for upwards of $550 US used it isn't a bad price at that to have it fixed then either.

And yep, sadly it might have been a Monday or Friday afternoon that board was built on and that kind of thing happens. Even in Japan.

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