Roland U-110
PCM SOUND MODULE (1988)

 

Multitimbral rackmount expander- the first fully PCM rompler unit from Roland.

RACKMOUNT ( weight: 4.5 Kg) 1 unit.
The main panel features a 16 x 2 lines display, 6 buttons and 1 volume knob.


Back panel terminal connectors:
- Midi interface
- main out
- 6 assignable AUX outputs

Front panel terminal connectors:
- 4 PCM card slots
- headphones out

 

VOICE system handles 31 digital voices polyphony based on synthesis DC PCM Pulse Code Modulation.
TECH: the structure badly miss a filter section.

 

EDIT sound hierarchy is a bit confusing: the lowest level is a tone which is composed by either 1 or 2 samples (2 samples tone reduces the whole polyphony) out of 128 tones available (drum is apart) with no possible edit.

STRUCTURE the upper level is the timbre composed by a single tone that has some editable parameters including:
- volume
- detune
- vibrato (LFO)
Finally 6 timbres make a patch for performace.

 

WAVETABLE the ROM is organized in 2 sound groups:
1- acoustic samples: piano, bell, guitar, string, organ, brass and more
2- precalculated basic waveforms: pulse, saw and generated harmonics

 

EFFECTS section features digital chorus and tremolo at the same time for whole parts (MASTER).
Both effects have just 2 parameters: depth and rate (quantisized in 15 levels).

LFO a single modulator for the amplitude control (vibrato), extremely simple with just a single waveform, a delay time and depth value. The special RISE function sets the necessary time for the Vibrato to reach the maximum value (0-15).
TIP: the modulation can be also assigned to Midi aftertouch.

ENVELOPE section offers a single 2-stages AR for amplitude.

MEMORY:
- 99 tones
- 64 patches
Battery replacement: open the rack, locate the holder, remove the CR-2032 and place a fresh one.
TIP: unlike later u220 or u20 models, this unit cannot save sounds to standard M256 ram cards.

 

EXPANSION the ROM can be expanded using special PCM cards,
Here's the list of available U-110 PCM models:

SN-U110-01 Pipe Organs & Harpsichords INFO SN-U110-02 Latin and FX Percussion INFO SN-U110-03 Ethnic INFO SN-U110-04: Electric Grand and Clavi INFO SN-U110-05: Orchestral Strings INFO SN-U110-06: Orchestral Winds INFO SN-U110-07: Electric Guitar INFO SN-U110-08: Synthesizer INFO SN-U110-09: Guitar and Keyboards INFO SN-U110-10: Rock Drums INFO SN-U110-11: Sound Effects INFO SN-U110-12: Sax & Trombone INFO SN-U110-13: Super Strings INFO SN-U110-14: Super Ac Guitar INFO SN-U110-15: Super Brass INFO Musitronics Akkordeon (ID: 25)   Musitronics Analog Synthesizer   Musitronics Voices (ID: 22)   Musitronics Eldek (ID: 21)

 

U-110 EDITOR here is a list of available software editors for the rack:
- Soundquest (MAC/PC commercial)
- Sounddiver (out of business)
- Motu Unisyn (MAC commercial)

 

 

RELATED FAMILY:

U-220- bigger wavetables, less noise ratio in D/A, clever performance handling, more effects, 4 -stages envelope U- 20- like the u220 with 61 keys, arpeggiators and more controls

 

VST PLUGIN / SAMPLED VERSION there are some free and commercial samples set of U series:

	name	price	link	demo
	Martin 78	FREE drum sample pack		n/a
	Nion	Commercial sample pack		n/a

 

AUDIO DEMO

classic strings sweet bells ambient works other strings U20 arpeggiator square waveforms moments of...

Hammond RIFF deep choirs mellow rhodes bass sequence U20 factory song U220 factory songs U110 factory songs

 

 

Soundcloud U-110

YOUTUBE VIDEO CLIP SELECTION U110 doom version rise triad U110 duke