1990 Scholz R&D Rockman XPR Programmable Processor Preamp for guitar

1990 Scholz R&D Rockman XPR Programmable Processor Preamp.
 
19” rackmount, 1 rack space. Serial number XPR 2067. Dated June 28 1990 on serial number sticker (unit is nearing its twenty-seventh birthday!).
 
Works fine. All functions and factory presets (1-25 of the 99 presets are factory presets, the rest are user, I reinitialized the factory settings so there are no user presets) work as they should. I don’t have any MIDI gear available to test that functionality nor have I attempted to program anything (I don’t know how to do that) but since everything else works perfectly I’m reasonably sure that those work as they should as well. Good cosmetic condition, some relatively minor scratches and nicks. One small nick on the “2K” EQ slider number scale and a little wear on the rack ears, otherwise the front panel shows no wear. Rear panel is perfect. There’s an 4 ½” unworn circle on the top from where a sticker once was…the sticker protected the finish underneath so it stands out in contrast to the surrounding 27 year old finish (there’s NO goop or sticker residue at all).
 
U.S. 117-120 wall voltage model. No manual, but one can be downloaded online.
 
Online info:
 
The XP series started in 1989 as a rack mounted programmable preamplifier called the XPR that was intended for direct connection to a full range PA system. There is a three band EQ that allows pre-distortion changes to the EQ. The clean signal can also be mixed with the distorted signal. The distortion is followed by a second 5 band EQ. The effects follow, including a stereo chorus that has a programmable sweep speed, along with a reverb.
 
Introduction-
A Rockman rig based on a series of Rockmodules is a very complex set-up, there are several groups of sliders, switches and footswitches to operate in order to get the sound you want.
The microprocessors that were available in the eighties were not powerful enough to perform digital signal processing, but they could easily handle the control parameters of analog devices.
The Rockman XP Series was based on this concept: keep the analog circuits of the classic Rockman units, and make them programmable.
 
Objective and history-
The XPR was not the first product based on this principle: there were digital controlled analog preamps and effects before.
But the XPR was certainly the first all-in-one unit: as a matter of fact, when you own an XPR, you don't need anything else to deliver the sounds you want, and you can store 100 different programmable sounds in it! That was quite innovative in 1989.
 
The first item of the XP Series was the XPR, the first 19” rack mount unit made by SR&D. It was replaced in 1991 by an updated low-noise version, the XPR-A.
 
The basis of the XPR is just...the X100 headphone amp! In other words, the XPR is a sort of big, programmable X100, with of course several additions that make it totally flexible:
There are 3 EQ bands at the input level that allow shaping the distortion at will (refer to Rockman - the concept of pre-distortion EQ).
 
Use, samples and limitations-
The XPR is a contradictory product. It is programmable, and that makes it a fantastic unit, of course. The preamp and EQ section are really great, and sounds really awesome.
The chorus and reverb sections are of course weaker: they don't have the complex circuits of the Rockmodules, and are fairly limited and noisy. For example, the reverb section is based on the same MN3011 chip as in the headphone amps, and was pushed to its limits in order to obtain a 220ms (340 in the XPR-A) delay. It is noisy, and far from the plain and clean 500ms of the Stereo Echo.
All and all a good unit, the XPR delivers a wide panel of sound and atmosphere in a very compact and handy format. Had it been a preamp only, with the Autoclean and a built-in Smart Gate, it would have been almost perfect. But like every all-in-one device, it has some minor faults. The earlier units were delivered with a series of 24 factory presets.
 
Collectibility and conclusion-
The XP products are quite rare: less than 3000 were built, most of them being basic XPR's or XP100's. The XPR-A, XP100-A, XP212 and Superhead are so rare that you must not plan on buying one,  just catch it if you can if you see one!