Roland built the RS-505 in 1978 as a direct answer to ARP's Omni, and it landed as the flagship of their string synth line—a warm, lush machine that proved you didn't need cutting-edge complexity to sound genuinely beautiful.
The RS-505 is a 49-key paraphonic synthesizer with three distinct sound sections working together. The String section offers two preset tones that sit in the 4-8 foot range and respond to Attack and Release controls plus built-in vibrato. The Synthesizer section gives you four waveform options across upper and lower octaves plus a dedicated bass range, each with its own VCF featuring cutoff, resonance, and a full ADSR envelope. The Bass section rounds things out with three preset bass sounds that respond to Attack, Release, and Vibrato controls, active on the lower two octaves of the split keyboard. All three sections can be blended together, and the real magic happens when you engage the built-in Ensemble chorus—a four-stage BBD effect that adds warmth and thickness that becomes almost essential to the instrument's character. The RS-505 outputs through three separate jacks for flexible routing, includes external audio input so you can run other gear through that chorus, and features a small performance section with volume, tune, glide, and pitch bend controls.
The RS-505 earned respect among players for its incredibly warm, analog string sounds and the surprising amount of control available for a string machine of its era. The Ensemble effect is genuinely lush, and the ability to layer the three sections opens up interesting pad and texture possibilities. Common feedback centers on the keyboard feel—it's Roland's standard SH action, which is noisy and feels a bit lightweight compared to later instruments—and the bass section, while functional, doesn't offer the same sonic depth as the strings. That said, the build quality is solid and the overall design has aged remarkably well. It's rare to find one in good condition, which speaks to both its durability and its appeal to collectors and players seeking authentic vintage warmth.
