The only way to modify the action further would have been to reprogram the velocity responses of the time‑variant filters and time‑variant amplifiers in the patches themselves. As it was, I was rather disappointed with this limited range of options. As for 'Full', I reckon that I could have dropped a reasonably endowed modular synth from a great height on to the XV88, and still not achieved a MIDI velocity of 127. This may be a consequence of too many years playing synth keyboards, but I found medium and heavy too. In practice, I found that I used 'Light' for everything. It offers five velocity responses, called Light, Medium, Heavy, Full, and 'Fixed' (which sets a single MIDI velocity for every key you play). 88 notes wide, beautifully weighted, pressure sensitive, and in some ways the most responsive that I have ever played on an electronic instrument. With the modules out of the way, back to the XV88 keyboard. Those of you who think they might be interested in the top‑of‑the‑range XV5080 module, have a look at the review in SOS November 2000. The XV88 incorporates all of this (except that the number of ROM slots is cut to four), so, rather than regurgitate all of the XV3080 review here, I recommend that you read the original in SOS July 2000. For those of you who haven't heard about it yet, the XV‑series contains the most powerful synthesis engine yet developed by Roland the 3080 offers 128‑note polyphony, 16‑part multitimbrality, a huge ROM with many stereo samples, stereo effects processors, and six ROM expansion slots in addition to a conventional RAM card slot. The XV88 is, in essence, an XV3080 with a keyboard attached. The XV88, in common with many recent Roland keyboards and dance workstations, features a D‑Beam proximity controller, and four assignable MIDI sliders. And when it became clear that the review XV88 would come with two of Roland's SRX‑format sound expansion boards (the new‑style cards which are only compatible with the XV‑series synths), I jumped right over the chance.
![used roland xv 5080 used roland xv 5080](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qoawaFG6Q_g/maxresdefault.jpg)
So, when SOS offered me the opportunity to review the XV88, I jumped at the chance. I managed to resist but, on a more practical level, a brief widdle on the keyboard and a dance around the control panel - resplendent with its large, friendly JD800‑style buttons - promised many good things to come. Last seen on the Jupiter 8 and Jupiter 6, these are like pheromones to a wrinkly such as me and, on a subconscious level, they were impelling me to flash a credit card. My first (printable) thought was "wow" - but I admit that part of that was a reaction to its metal end‑cheeks. Gordon Reid checks it out with two of the new SRX‑format sound expansion boards.
![used roland xv 5080 used roland xv 5080](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RMVtVQ3BTqM/maxresdefault.jpg)
The XV88 is the first of Roland's new XV range of synths to sport a keyboard, and also adds all manner of real‑time control facilities.