Emu XL-7 & MP-7 User's Group

Brian,

Why trade your XL-7 for a MC505?  I've been using the 505 for almost 
five years now and, although I love it and it's the center of my 
setup, I'm going to trade it in for the XL-7.  I agree that the mixer 
section of the 505 is nice and I think that the pattern editing 
features are more robust (at the moment) but the 505 has several 
serious shortcomings when compared to the XL-7.  

The XL-7's 16 tracks (vs 8 on the MC505) is a big advantage for me, 
as are the expansion capabilities of the XL-7.  The presets on the 
505 are tired, and even though the synth engine is deep, there are 
severe limitations to the kinds of sounds you can come up with.  So 
many of the 505's base wave forms are crap (running water, scratching 
sounds, shouts) that they will never be of any use.  I have created 
over 200 user patches on the 505, but I'm starting to run into a 
wall.  If the 505 had expansion capabilities and 16 tracks, I 
wouldn't consider switching but, as it stands, I'm going for an XL-7.

I also like the flexibility of the XL-7.  On the 505, you can't 
select which MIDI channel will be used on a track - it's hard coded 
to midi channels 1-7 for track 1-7 respectively.  This becomes a 
serious problem when you want to use the 505 to trigger samples on 
your sampler.  I also like the fact that the XL-7 can address 32 midi 
channels.  The 505's mega-mix capability is nice, but I find I never 
use it.  The 505's song mode is horrible - absolutely useless.  Also, 
Roland's product support is crap.  There hasn't been a single OS 
upgrade since I bought it - even though there are still a few bugs.

I love my 505 despite it's shortcomings, but I also know a good thing 
when I see it and that's the XL-7.  The 505 is a dead box.  It's 
already 5 years old.  Also, I should mention that almost every single 
505 has it's LCD display die at some point in it's short life.  I 
think I have one of the oldest 505's with an original display and 
mine started to die just this week.  I think the XL-7 is a much 
better product at this point in time.

Biomech


--- In xl7@y..., NOLAbar10der@a... wrote:
>  Hi everyone. A friend of mine wants to trade his 505 for my XL-7 
(plus cash). I have a couple of questions.