Latest User Reviews

Review

By Svenna Mohaugen

Sound Quality 80%
Build Quality 90%
Usefullness 90%
Mojo/Funk 90%
Reliability 100%

I have used this mainly as a reverb unit, but it actually works well as an audio-processor as well. For mixing purposes you would need the MD-algorithm – which can be bought separately. My favorite preset is the “BigBlue” which is a large hall with an extended stereo-width bigger than real life.

LOVE IT!

By Arnaud Cambon

Sound Quality 100%
Build Quality 85%
Usefullness 100%
Mojo/Funk 100%
Reliability 85%

I love this machine. the reverbs are magnificent and full of finesse. a perfect complement to Lexicon. I have a PCM96, a PCM70, an SPX90 and an eventide DSP7000 and the M3000 is often my first choice on acoustic instruments and voices. For the price on occasion today, this is absolutely the reverb to have. If I had to keep only one, it would be this one. Sometimes it can have some small wheel problems…

Review

By Jens Svensson

Sound Quality 100%
Build Quality 95%
Usefullness 100%
Mojo/Funk 100%
Reliability 85%

Since I received the SST-282 I must say it’s a jaw dropping and playful unit. Everything sent through sounds magical warm and bright. As for the time it was made the delay time isn’t the longest but I mean for drums, perc, just about everything just adds more richness to the sound.

THE DEVICE THAT FITS THE “HOLE IN THE MIDDLE”

By Anonymous

Sound Quality 85%
Build Quality 85%
Usefullness 100%
Mojo/Funk 100%
Reliability 80%

As a specialist in deep 3 dimensional and spacious mixes i find this device able to fill that emptyness that often arises when mixing entirely in the box. The so called “HOLE IN THE MIDDLE” that many workstation mixdowns suffer from can partly be cured by this device as it utilises semi mono elements that fill up that gap. As many workstation plugin reverbs often sound (too) wide and not deep this SST is a fix in many of these cases. The sound quality is “strange” and that’s just what the brain sees as interesting and characterful. An amazing device that when taken care of properly, will bring years and years of joy to your mixing sessions.

1980’S REVERB ON A BUDGET

By René Kirchner

Sound Quality 80%
Build Quality 90%
Usefullness 90%
Mojo/Funk 70%
Reliability 70%

As stated in the review on this website already: the unit is from the eighties and sounds like the eighties. since the the review is written by me, I need to emphasize that there are (were, back then) of course better and expensive sounding units on there market, but the RVD901 is the easy and straight forward one to got to. You need some authentic eighties gate reverb on you drum machine – take MODE4 and there it is. Even from today´s perspective, if you are not after all the vintage sound, MODE1 offers largest and widest sound. That one was and is still a surprise for me. Go through the review and check one out if it crosses your way. PS: I gave it just a 70% in reliability, since the RVD is pretty young in my studio setup. Since it survived until now, I assume it´ll last and will be stabile.

HAD IT FOR 2 YEARS NOW SELLING IT

By Anonymous

Sound Quality 95%
Build Quality 95%
Usefullness 35%
Mojo/Funk 45%
Reliability 95%

I have the 3030 without the digital I/O. This is the reason I am selling it, I need digital connections. One overlooked feature of this unit is the compression which allows for some very dramatic reshaping of the reverb bloom.

Some rather wild effects can be had with extreme compression settings. I admit I am not a fan of the reverb sound though. It is thin and doesn’t sit well in my mixes – mostly it gets totally buried. I am a fan of the other effects this unit can do though. The chorus, phaser and resonator are delightful on their own and good for making spacious synth pads.

They also allow for some more creative reverb sounds that are more interesting than the reverb on its own. I find the editing is fairly easy but the resolution of the parameter knob isn’t fine enough and makes for a bit of frustrating fiddling. The unit is also very quiet. If mine had the digital I/O I would keep it. It’s a decent box for unusual effects but for basic reverb duties it has no traction.

THESE UNITS HAVE PROBLEMS

By Me FX

Sound Quality 30%
Build Quality 10%
Usefullness 20%
Mojo/Funk 10%
Reliability 10%

I have had 2 of these, both brand new. These units have well documented design problems. First thing I noticed is these units get VERY hot, even after not long being on. You could fry eggs on them. Both units ended up freezing up, or just plain powering off and on by themselves randomly. I returned them. Also the sound is not worth it. Very bland metallic verbs, and editing them did not help much. The older 330 series before them sounded smoother, tho kind of dark and nothing super special. This is opposite of that. My 330 series didnt have technical problems either. For those still willing to chance it on these 3030, there were 2 versions. One with optional digital in/outs called 3030D and one without just called 3030.

BETTER THAN MOST PEOPLE THINK

By Gary Jones

Sound Quality 85%
Build Quality 85%
Usefullness 85%
Mojo/Funk 70%
Reliability 95%

Too many people dismiss this reverb and I understand why, the presets suck. If you take the time to really dig in and get your hands dirty, this is a very good unit and very capable. The fact it is 24bit is also a huge bonus as it is generally very quiet. It is a pain to edit, but well worth the effort. The fact they can be picked up off eBay for song makes it a no brainer.

SHOULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH BETTER

By Steven

Sound Quality 65%
Build Quality 70%
Usefullness 65%
Mojo/Funk 20%
Reliability 85%

This reverb does not get a lot of love from those that own it, and it is not that it does anything particularly wrong, it is for me at least because it is very uninspiring in use. It does not have the funk of the Roland SRV-2000 or the pristine reverb tails of say the Lexicon 480. In a word, boring.

THERE’S A LOT BETTER YOU CAN BUY FOR YOUR MONEY

By Simon Alexander

Sound Quality 25%
Build Quality 90%
Usefullness 25%
Mojo/Funk 10%
Reliability 90%

Over the years, Roland have made some really fantastic outboard gear and conversely dropped a few clangers with some pieces of crap. I’ve bought one of these because it was going so cheap and I really don’t know why I bothered, because I messed around with it for about 10 minutes and put it back in the box. (Best place for it)

For the money but they go for secondhand you can do a lot better. Yes it is nicely built but the UI , is appalling!. Sadly, Roland gave it the SRV prefix, but it’s not in the league sonically or operationally of its predecessors.

SMOOTH AND SILKY

By Anonymous

Sound Quality 100%
Build Quality 90%
Usefullness 95%
Mojo/Funk 100%
Reliability 100%

VERY USEFUL BOX

By Anonymous

Sound Quality 100%
Build Quality 90%
Usefullness 80%
Mojo/Funk 100%
Reliability 100%

When I purchased my Roland SRV-330 and its companion SDE-330 second-hand back in 2000, I kindly declined to buy the third of the bunch, the SDX. What an omission it was! After many years of trawling the internet for one, I manage to get hold of one. Its flanging and chorusing algorithms are really stunning and there is a plethora of them to choose from (I would have loved to find some really *juicy* phase shifters included as well). I find myself going for the simulation of the fabled SDD-320 Dimension D all the time, simply because this emulation is absolutely stunning and authentic-sounding (it’s hands-down the best replacement for an original SDD, and believe me, I’ve had four of these!). The 3D RSS algorithms were, well, idiosyncratic enough to make the 330 series stand out from the rest but honestly, they add phase cancellation problems more often than once and should hence be avoided – it’s nice to have the option but there is no pressing need to use them. If you can find an SDX at a reasonable price, or any other member of the 330 family, don’t hesitate to give them a try.