has anyone tried to export patterns as mid-files and...

[han_jammer]

...used them inside a daw or midi file player, and built songs out of them? i´m contemplating buying a hardware standalone midi file player (roland bk-7m, miditemp mp11 or ketron midj pro). my goal is to export jd-xa midi files, built a song out of them inside the midi file player, and then trigger jd-xa´s internal sounds via the midi in jack from the midi file player (only track 1 to 8). what do you think? from what i understand one can programme cue lists of mid files with those midi file players. might this be a viable workaround solution for jd-xa´s lack of decent internal sequencing capabilites such as song mode? best.

[Coorec]

I dont know wether its possible or not.

But you could record the data into a DAW via midi and make the midi files there.

[han_jammer]

thank you for your reply. i´ve decided not to purchase a jd-xa. the whole concept seems to be flawed. roland wants 2,000$ for that workflow bummer? give me a break. by not allowing users to properly sequence WITHIN the board, roland engineers cut the bough they are sitting on. it´s crazy. without external reworking the board is useless. a 2,000$ product that can´t be used standalone is a bad joke. the jd-xa is basically another jupiter 80 which sounds great, too, but was heavily and rightfully criticized by countless commentators at gearslutz, the clan and elsewhere. roland apparently didn´t learn from their mistakes. when the jd-xa was announced i was thrilled. i wanted to purchase one immediately. but without basic sequencing funcitionality this thing has nothing to offer, workflow-wise. sad. epic fail. the fact is that roland lacks imagination when it comes to workflow. they seem to have little or no understanding of their target audience. they should create online surveys. survey participants are driven by the desire to make engineers change specs. they want future products to be different. yes, i want the jd-xa´s sequencer to be different! why did they leave out a sequencer worthy of the name? are they taking us for fools? my comment here is an expression of disappointed love and hoplessness. as a long time fantom g devotee (loved its phrase list!) i tried to look at the jd-xa through rose-tinted spectacles. it didn´t work. wishful thinking doesn´t make any sense. my prediction: the sequencer will drive users insane. still no song mode? still no os update? i can hardly believe it. my 400$ electribe has more to offer, sequencer-wise. sad. epic fail. to put it bluntly, roland´s synth staff made too many careless mistakes. seemingly insignificant things--like the inability to change patterns on the fly--make the jd-xa worse than useless as a standalone production tool. let´s face it: this product is a slap in the face for those who want to sequence properly. the engineers should ask themselves why they might have made these errors. to afford jd-xa users to have song mode would have been a trivialty. they decided against it. why? were they in a hurry because they procrastinated? were they stressed out and thinking about something else? i don´t know. btw, kandō (感動) is a japanese word used by the yamaha corporation to describe their corporate mission. kandō in translation describes the sensation of excitement derived from experiencing supreme quality. in sharp contrast with that feeling i suffer from a great deal of frustration when i think about roland.

[DaniH]

Seems you want the power of a fantom mixed with the analog circuitry of the JD-Xa?? Also you have to remember just because it doesn't work for doesn't mean it will not work for someone else.

[richardbates1]

Their is rumor of an OS2 coming out around June for the JDXA, I am hoping allot of the limitations of the sequencer will be addressed and upgraded????

[SynthGraphics]

I have had great luck with taking my internal patterns and putting them in my DAW via MID file export, and you can take 64-beat patterns from the DAW and put them into the JD-XA quite easily using a USB drive.

As for epic fail. Far from it. It's not a workstation, it's a synthesizer. People need to stop thinking it should be a workstation - the pattern seq is a sketch pad, use it as it was intended. Stop comparing apples to oranges. Use it with a external sequencer, because doing workstation level sequencing on a tiny screen would be no joy at all. Prophet-6 and OB-6 have no real sequencer and they are 3K, so are they epic fails too?? Heck, they can't even do more than one sound at a time.

That said, get a JD-XA for what it does best - its sound engines. I hooked mine up to a old but trusty Alesis MMT-8 and that makes fully sequencing the 8 parts very simple and effective. I also have it hooked to my DAW to sequence the 8 parts as needed.

[rsaintjohn]

i´ve decided not to purchase a jd-xa. the whole concept seems to be flawed. roland wants 2,000$ for that workflow bummer? give me a break. by not allowing users to properly sequence WITHIN the board, roland engineers cut the bough they are sitting on. it´s crazy. without external reworking the board is useless. a 2,000$ product that can´t be used standalone is a bad joke.

Hi, Pedro.

[Coorec]

my prediction: the sequencer will drive users insane.

No it doesnt. The sequencer is pretty cool and easy to use for what it is.

According to your rant all synths without song sequencers would be "useless".

To me this is an "epic fail" assessment.