The Yamaha DX7, which was already in the market at that time, was an epoch-making digital synthesizer, adopting complicated and anharmonic sounds (which did not exist in analog) in the initial part. Actually, this way of thinking led to developing the D-50. The sound after the attack is not so important.

Through my development experience of TR-808 and 909, I found that 90% of all sound identities occur during the quick transformation of overtones arising from the initial touch to around 20 or 30 milliseconds. Tadao Kikumoto (Technical R&D Leader at the time of D-50) вЂњRoland D-50: Born from the вЂњIdealityвЂќ of creative musical instrument developmentвЂќ Now, join us as we revisit how it felt to be Designing The Future way back in 1987вЂ¦ D-50 preset patches such as вЂњFantasiaвЂќ and вЂњCalliopeвЂќ showcased the potential of LA synthesis and, along with many others, became signature sounds for some of the biggest pop hits of the era (and continue to be used by artists today).Д¬ommemorating the 30th Anniversary of this legendary synthesizer, this page explores the history of the Roland D-50, and features interviews with some of the original engineers, sound designers, and musicians that brought the iconic instrument to life. Well ahead of its time, the D-50 combined samples and synthesis, resulting in sounds that ranged from warm analog to dynamic acoustic and cutting-edge digital all given a wonderful spacious sparkle by the integrated digital effects. And, as the first performance synthesizer to integrate DSP effects, the Roland D-50 delivered instant studio-quality sounds to keyboard players around the world. Linear Arithmetic (LA) Synthesis, which combines traditional subtractive synthesis with harmonically-complex sampled (PCM) waveforms, proved to be a sonic breakthrough.

Making its debut in 1987, the D-50 was the first fully digital synthesizer from Roland.

Roland d50 sounds