Pricing and availability
We compare 600+ stores and found this item at 1 store. Prices updated .
Store
Reviews
Price
* Product prices and availability are updated by Equipboard every 24hrs and are subject to change. Equipboard may receive compensation for purchases made at participating retailers linked on this site. This compensation does not affect what products or prices are displayed, or the order of prices listed. For more information, please refer to our affiliate disclosure.
Description
Step into the world of classic digital synthesis with the Roland D-550, a revered sound module that is a staple in the arsenal of many professional musicians. Introduced in the late '80s, this rack-mountable version of the iconic D-50 synthesizer delivers the same Linear Arithmetic (LA) synthesis technology that defined an era. LA synthesis combines traditional subtractive synthesis with PCM samples, allowing you to create rich, complex textures that were groundbreaking at the time and remain unique today.
The D-550 shines with its capability to produce lush pads, shimmering bells, and punchy bass sounds that have graced countless records across genres. It features a user-friendly interface, despite its vintage pedigree, making it accessible for both new users and those looking to revisit the sounds of the past. Equipped with a vast array of sounds, the D-550 is perfect for studio production or live performances where classic tones are desired.
Key Features:
- Linear Arithmetic (LA) synthesis for diverse and rich sound creation
- Rack-mountable design, ideal for studio setups
- Compatible with Roland PG-1000 Programmer for hands-on sound editing
- Over 100 preset tones, including iconic pads, bells, and basses
- MIDI compatibility for easy integration with modern setups
- Built-in reverb and chorus effects for added depth
Product specs
| Brand | Roland |
| Model | D-550 Digital Piano Sound Module |
| Finish | Black |
| Year | 1987 |
| Made In | Japan |
| Categories | Digital Synthesizers, Rackmount Synths |
| Analog / Digital | Digital |
| MIDI I/O | MIDI Input, MIDI Output, MIDI Through |
| Polyphony | 16 Voices |
FAQs
-
What synthesis method does the Roland D-550 use?
-
The Roland D-550 utilizes Linear Arithmetic (LA) Synthesis, which combines subtractive synthesis with sampled PCM waveforms, allowing for a wide range of complex and unique sounds.
-
How many voices of polyphony does the Roland D-550 support?
-
The Roland D-550 supports 16 voices of polyphony, enabling it to play multiple notes simultaneously, which is ideal for creating rich, layered sounds.
-
Is the Roland D-550 suitable for live performances?
-
Yes, the Roland D-550 is suitable for live performances, especially when used with a MIDI controller, as it provides a wide array of sounds and can be easily integrated into a live rig.
-
What are the MIDI connectivity options for the Roland D-550?
-
The Roland D-550 features MIDI Input, MIDI Output, and MIDI Through ports, allowing it to be connected with other MIDI-compatible devices for versatile performance and recording setups.
-
Can the Roland D-550 be used without a keyboard?
-
Yes, the Roland D-550 is a rackmount sound module and can be used without a keyboard. It requires a separate MIDI controller for playing and controlling its sounds.
Videos
RetroSound
Roland D-550 (D-50 module) Linear Synthesizer (1987) no D-05
Roland D-550 (D-50 module) Linear Synthesizer (1987) no D-05
RetroSound
Man In The Mirror(Intro) with Roland D-550
S T
Sounds of the Roland D-550 (D-50 Module)
CGMAGIK
ROLAND D-550/D-50 VOICE CRYSTAL 4 CARD Sounds (JONATHAN CAIN) JOURNEY/ BAD ENGLISH
Eaglechild
ROLAND D-550/D-50 - HOW TO LOAD FACTORY PATCHES/SOUNDS TUTORIAL(SYSEX format)
Eaglechild
ROLAND D-550/D-50 Sound Demo VALHALA CARD (Only Playing/No Talking)
Eaglechild
Reviews
PROS
-
Classic, always in demand
-
Rich and unique sound
-
Useful with PG1000 editor for deep programming
-
Capable of evolving soundscapes
-
Distinctive 80s sound, still relevant
-
Complements a rack of Roland synths aesthetically
CONS
-
Programming interface is arcane and tedious
-
Requires external programmer (PG1000 or DT01) for easier use
-
Limited by presets without deep programming effort
-
Unintuitive for users accustomed to other synthesizers
Owner Insights
We analyzed real musician discussions from forums and Reddit to find what players love, question, and tweak about Roland D-550.
Features and functionality
-
The D-550 lacks the joystick function present in the D-50 and D-05 models, limiting hands-on control options for certain sound manipulations.
Source
Software and compatibility
-
Cult of D50 is a recommended resource for downloading sounds and accessing software programmers compatible with the D-550.
Source
Setup and maintenance
Comparisons
-
The D-550 is noted as being significantly more challenging to program compared to the D-50, due to its rack-mounted design and lack of a programming board.
Source
Mods and upgrades
Build quality
-
Owners have noted that original front panels for the D-550 are rare, making custom restorations or wraps viable options for aesthetic repairs.
Source
4.5 out of 5
Based on 5 Reviews and 28 Ratings
41029
Roland's answer to the DX7 was a totally new thing and drove yamaha to create the SY series
I got this rack version awhile ago but forgot about until now when i was redoing the studio. Why? Well its unique sounding and super cool, right? A unique take on digital synthesis for the time that informed all the stuff that came after and not just from roland. Capable of crazy evolving soundscapes. I mean, you know what this is and that it has quite a famous sound... but like the dx7 its arcane itnerface (worse on the rack) turned it into a preset box. Unlike the years I spent learning the dx7 with the d550 I plugged it in, tested it out, discovered all the Enya presets and then never used it again because my patience for the UI had gone way down from when I was a teenager. At 40 I just don't have the time or inclination to learn this thing properly. Its prodigiously tedious. I've dug in a little lately during coronavirus, but I gotta get a bellyfulla wine! I think I need a PG1000 programmer or a DT01 programmer to get anything out of this. As it stands when i clear time for music I tend to go with something easier or at least familiar. I an squeak a lot of similar stuff out of say my SY35 with a lot more ease because I'm sued to the DX and SY yamahas. For more traditional sounds, well, I have a Juno! And there's a lot of stuff this does I can do with my modern stuff like the modal or summit. But there's those attack samples man, I need to explore this more because it does thigns all its own and apart from the D05 boutique or a Vsynth with the D50 cartridge no other synth seems to replicate it. I find these roland units to be particularly irritating though. Being a yamaha man I've just never gotten into anything mroe complex than the mks50 unless I have a programmer.
I gotta be honest I think part of my motivation in purchasing this is that it still looks the part against MKS synths and I've been trying to make a big rack of roland synths for the home studio. And this looked the part... I knew it would be frustrating, but I was like "but it'll look cool whenever I get some more MKS synths!"
26907
I've been tempted by these now and again, and I'm sure the value will keep climbing... but for the D50, M1, and (hear me out) the DX7... there are software alternatives that are legitimately more fun and easier to use than their hardware counterparts... I know the mk1 DX7 is the new Nord Lead 1 of the 2010s/2020s... and all the cool kids want the brow one with the click keys or the TX7 because the mk2 was cleaner and more sterile... but that doesn't make the mk1 a freakin' CS-80, it still sounds like a damn DX synth! software emulation of analog will always be a compromise of sorts, but for these synths that didn't have a great interface to begin with... give me the fakes!
26907
...and yet... I still want one. ::facepalm::
41029
dude, let me tell you a little story about a sound design and mix project I'm working on for a talented organist with no clue what an oscillator is... so I wanted to add a layer of like bowing noise to layered analog and hybrid strings. I needed full 6 op FM, some filtering, noise or a wave memory shape and maybe digital chorus to save plugging up a lexicon or soemthing. I thought SY series. The 22 has no fitler. The 35 is only 4 op and more for space soundscapes.... 77 or 99, don't have one anymore. Got an EX5. Which is 3x as arcane to program although tis more of a synth than a workstation so there's less extraneous bullshit. But mine has been ahving some midi timing issues and this is apparently common I'm hearing. QC was not great on the EX5 sadly. So I open stock fruityloops sytrus. YUP Build a scratch patch with sines and saws and the right modulations between them, do some keyboard scaling of all that, highpassing, lw passing, scale that, run the part through it and its pretty cool. Chrus built right in. In this giant mix of coveted synthesizers there's a huge layer of plugin FM/subtractive with built in FX. It made the sound and the GUI made it fast and intuitive. Woudla taken forever on the EX5
41029
if I don't sell my dx7 1 locally I'll let you know... I have friends interested in town but who knows...
41029
also, I own a muse receptor, so I have 'hardwareized ' plugins, but I've been loaning it to my best friend to try out
26907
Exactly.
1264
1980 called and wants it's synth back
It sounds like Enya. It sounds like Duran Duran. It's terrible to program. I love it.
41029
best review ever.
618
Roland D-550
The legendary Roland D-50/550 is still a top tool for all sound fans of the 80s with a distinctive and distinctive sound.
Quintessential late 80's sound
Great for when you want to sound like 1986-88 pop cheese.
424
Famous and beautiful
The rack version of D50, I used it a lot. Beautiful sounds from the 80ties and 90ties, still very useful for particular ambience.
Artist usage
Add artist
From "Musician" magazine, December 1992 found on Prince.org:
LEVI SEACER plays a Gibson Epiphone ("Because my stuff is clean stuff") straight into the board. He has a rack-mounted Zoom unit 9010, a Cry Baby chorus pedal, a Roland GPS and a Boss digital delay pedal. On "Thunder" and "Live for Love" Levi pulls out an Ibanez guitar with double humbucking pickups. Levi uses D'Addario strings.
When TONY U. reaches for a guitar, it's either a Charvel or a hollowbody Epiphone. Tony's strings are either GHS lights or Dean Markleys. He has a Zoom effects processor.
SONNY THOMPSON plays an Oswald bass (though be admits his favorite is an Alembic, "a great bass") with a GB8 effects processor, an Akai Octaver and a Boss Octaver. Sonny uses a Heavy Metal distortion pedal and plugs into a Trace Elliot amp. He prefers GHS heavy strings because "they seem brightest- they keep the boing longest."
ROSIE GAINES plays a Hammond organ onstage, and has a Korg and Roland D-50 MIDI'd to the Hammond. Rosie sings through Shure microphones. Rosie is also leaving the NPG to go out on her own.
TOMMY BARBRELLA plays a Roland A80 and an A50 controller, a Korg T3, an old Prophet which he uses on "Kiss" and a few others "for that old analog sound." Tommy also carries a new Roland JD800, a couple of E-mu E-max 2s, a Proteus 1 and Proteus 2, and a Roland D550.
MICHAEL BLAND's drums are a combination of Sonor, Yamaha and Gretach, with Zililian cymbals and Vater sticks. Trying to get mere details out of Michael is useless. "I abhor shop talk," he says. "I don't know when we change heads, I don't know when we get new cymbals. I don't have any emotional attachments to gear at all."
Eric Chevalier's gear list circa 2003:
Mixing Consoles: - Sony DMX-R100 - Yamaha 01V Monitors: - Genelec 1031.A - Genelec 1030.A Samplers: - Akai s6000 (x2) - Akai CD3000XL - Roland S760 (x4) - Roland SP 700 Synthesizers: - Roland JD800 - Roland JD990 - Roland MKS80 + PG - Roland MKS70 + PG (x2) - Roland XV3080 - Roland D550 - Roland A80 - E-MU Proteus 2000 - Yamaha TX802 - Kurzweil MicroPiano - Korg M1R EX - Korg Wavestation AD - Korg Triton - Alesis DM5 (drum machine) - Access Virus A - Access Virus C - The theremin - Nord Lead Computer (& Plugins): - PowerMac G4/733 - PowerBook Titanium - Monitors Plasma (x2) - Pro Tools Mix Plus (software) - Logic Audio Platinum (+ eMagic plugins) - Spectrasonics Athmosphere - Spectrasonics Stylus - Mac Five - DD 80 Go + 120 Go + 160 Go LaCie - DD 40 Go Ice - Synchro: "Time Machine" C Lab - Unitor MK2 (x3) Effects: - Lexicon 480L - PCM80 / LPX15 - Yamaha SPX90 / D1500 (x2) - Tube Tech Compressor LCA 2B - EQ Moog - TC Electronics M5000 - TC Electronic Finalizer 96K - DAT Panasonic SV-3800 - DAT Sony PCM R500
Source: Interview with Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti about SNAP! mu:zines.co.uk - 1994: https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/snap-to-tomorrow/8245
Johan Berlin, a keyboardist known for his work in rock music, confirmed his use of the Roland D-550 synthesizer around 1995, as detailed in the Gig Performer Community discussion titled "Johan Berlin - The Journey to Gig Performer."
David Bergeaud was verified to use the Roland D-550 synthesizer, as evidenced by listings where he sold his synthesizers on eBay, confirmed by a fan group for Ratchet and Clank.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ratchetclankfans/posts/8289617861060344/
STRUMENTI E VINTAGE KEYBOARDS Pianoforte YAMAHA C3 CONSERVATORY mezza coda (Disklavier) Piano elettrico FENDER RHODES 88 tasti Piano Digitale YAMAHA P-60 HAMMOND B3 – HAMMOND C3 – HAMMOND T-500 – LESLIE 122 – LESLIE 147 Basso elettrico GIBSON RIPPER Chitarra elettrica GRETSCH BATTERIA PEARL con rullante LUDWIG e piatti PAISTE e ZILDJIAN CONGAS – PERCUSSIONI di vario genere VINTAGE KEYBOARDS MINIMOOG KURZWEIL K250 KURZWEIL RMX 250 KORG M1 KORG Trinity ROLAND D50 Linear Synthesizer ROLAND D550 Linear Synthesizer YAMAHA DX7 FDII ENSONIQ SQ80 Analog Sinthesizer ROLAND D-110 ROLAND U-110 EMULATOR III EMULATOR III XP 2 EMULATOR IV E6400 OBERHEIM Matrix 1000 KAWAI K1m BOSS Drums Machine YAMAHA RX5 Drums Machine
(All from the website)
"A Prophet T-8 was the main controller, although not used all that much as sound source. A Yamaha DX-7 and TX-7 were used for all the electric piano sounds. A lot of the strings were a combo of two Roland synths, the MKS-70 and the D-550. I used an Akai s1000 a lot and a Linn 9000 as sequencer, drum machine (this was before powerful computers were easy to transport). An Emulator 2 was used for the guitar and many other samples."
David Ferguson's equipment list:
Apple G3 266 computer, 96Mb RAM/4Gb HD. Akai S3000XL sampler. Alesis ADAT XT digital recorder/BRC remote. Alesis Microverb effects. Bit 99 synth. Drawmer DS201 Gate & LX20 compressor. Emagic Logic Platinum 2.6 sequencer. Emu Proteus 1, 2 & 3 sound modules. ("On the album, the 'Hall Strings' preset from Emu's first Proteus module is used a lot, because it's a great marcato string sound.") Emu Proformance piano module. Ensoniq VFX synth. FriendChip Timecode Refresher. Iomega Jaz drive. Korg 1212 PCI card. Korg DRV3000 effects. ("Weird and sometimes wonderful.") Korg Wavestation SR synth. Lexicon MPX1000 effects. Logan String Melody keyboard. ("The last of Random Hold.") Mackie 32:8:2 mixer. Oberheim DPX1 sample player. Roland D550 synth. Roland S760 samplers/SP700 playback unit. Sony 600Mb optical drive. Sony DTC690 DAT recorder. Spirit Absolute 2 monitors. SPL Vitalizer enhancer. Symetrix 511A noise reduction. Tascam DA30 MkII DAT recorder. TC M2000 Wizard effects. Yamaha AN1x synth. Yamaha SPX50 effects.
Didge Digital has confirmed the use of the Roland D-550 sound module in their setup. This information is supported by a Facebook post where Didge lists the gear they've owned, including the Roland D-550.
In the January 1990 issue of "Keyboard Magazine," the right-side column on page 37 mentions that Alan Pasqua used a Roland D-550 rack as part of his rig with the band Giant. The article was authored by Alan di Perna. An image of the magazine page can be found here.
2:03 aleks synteks uses the roland d 550, as one of its synthesizers
On stage the two keyboard players have almost identical systems: Ipinson plays a Roland A80 mother keyboard MIDI'd into a rack, an S1000 with 8Meg of memory, an M1R and a D550. He also has a Roland piano module as a safety precaution in case anything else goes down. Coxon's setup substitutes a Cheetah mother keyboard for the Roland and forgoes the piano module. Juckes' drumkit, meanwhile, is half acoustic and half SDX loaded with custom samples.
Album Usage
The Roland D-550 has been featured on the following albums:
The Unreleased Remastered Demos
Giuffria (2025)
Universal
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (1996)
New Anger
Gary Numan (1989)
Ghost (Live - 2025 Remaster)
Gary Numan (1988)
Revolutions
Jean Michel Jarre (1988)
Hold Your Fire
Rush (1987)
Strange Charm (2024 Remaster)
Gary Numan (1986)
Silk + Steel
Giuffria (1986)
Genre Usage
Based on how artists on Equipboard use this gear, it is most commonly found in the following genres.
Used With
Based on how musicians on Equipboard use Roland D-550, it is most commonly used with the following gear.
Community setups
Show yours
Similar
Add recommendation1 alternative for Roland D-550, curated by the Equipboard community.
$197.04
More Roland Sound Modules
-m.webp?v=1783238222)
$350.00
in Sound Modules Rank
$1,250.00 - $1,999.99
in Sound Modules Rank
$1,350.00
in Sound Modules Rank
$298.54
in Sound Modules Rank
$550.00
in Sound Modules Rank
$119.00
in Sound Modules Rank
$3,900.00
in Sound Modules Rank
$1,250.00
in Sound Modules Rank
$500.00
in Sound Modules Rank
$199.99
in Sound Modules Rank
$200.00
in Sound Modules Rank
$30.00
in Sound Modules Rank
$330.00
in Sound Modules Rank
$349.00
in Sound Modules Rank
$575.00
in Sound Modules Rank
$140.00
in Sound Modules Rank
$154.00
in Sound Modules Rank
$59.71
in Sound Modules Rank
$1,699.99
in Sound Modules Rank
$200.00
in Sound Modules Rank
$252.70
in Sound Modules Rank
$627.41
in Sound Modules Rank
$252.70
in Sound Modules Rank
$125.48
in Sound Modules Rank
$2,248.00 - $2,899.99
in Sound Modules Rank
$15.00
in Sound Modules Rank
$1,045.69
in Sound Modules Rank
$2,450.00
in Sound Modules Rank
-m.webp?v=1783238730)
Accessories & Related Items
-s.webp?v=1783238222)
Most Popular Sound Modules
Most Popular Brands
-
Added to Equipboard on by
federicovaonaGear IQ 424
-
