JV-90

Back in 1993, this synth arrived as Roland's gateway to expandable digital sound design, packing a 4MB ROM of acoustic simulations that laid the groundwork for legends like the JV-1080.

Its 76-key semi-weighted keyboard responds to velocity and channel aftertouch, paired with four hands-on sliders for volume, presence, assignable C control, and a bender/mod lever for pitch and vibe tweaks. Digital oscillators drive up to 28 voices of polyphony—expandable to 56 with boards—through filters, dual LFOs, and envelopes per tone, building patches from up to four layers and performances with 8 parts plus drums. Effects include 3 chorus types and 8 reverbs/delays, with 256 preset patches, 64 performances, and slots for PCM/Data cards to grow your library to around 600 patches. MIDI handles 8-16 parts, and outputs cover stereo mix, V-EXP, and headphones in a sturdy metal chassis measuring about 47 by 12 by 3 inches at 21 pounds.

Players love its intuitive editing and deep pads with solid low-end punch, plus top-notch acoustic guitars and analog emulations via expansions. Stock organs draw some gripes, and aftertouch needs firm pressure, but as a MIDI master controller, it's built like a tank and still inspires in complex rigs.