I can't bring myself to like the JD-XA - I'm selling it.

[Myrk-]

Had the most fun 4 hours messing with those tones since the day I got the synth (playing Muse and Depeche Mode over and over)! Amazing work from Gattobus.

[Jdoo]

Had the most fun 4 hours messing with those tones since the day I got the synth (playing Muse and Depeche Mode over and over)! Amazing work from Gattobus.

+1

I totally got wrapped up in playing a couple of the tunes last night, also. I wish there was an easier way to work with the sequencer and patterns. Gattabus' songs take advantage of those -- which really makes the JD-XA more like my FA-06.. only better.

[runningman67]

We are all different and I understand the OP's frustrations.

I've spent 5 days with my XA.

The first day I was confused, what was the synth actually trying to deliver, in fact was it trying too hard to cover every base. The few presets that are provided, apart from a handful are average at best. I couldn't believe the amount of empty presets. What had I spent all that money on.
I couldn't find the 450 'tones' and I couldn't understand a blue light from a red and green one.

5 days on, thanks to help from the forum, youtube and basic patience and button pressing, I can honestly say that I have fallen in love with the XA.

I have developed from being a lazy preset player, to a custom sound maker I have gone back to my roots.
A synth player. Thanks to the XA. For me a 'keeper'.

[cello]

We are all different and I understand the OP's frustrations.

I've spent 5 days with my XA.

The first day I was confused, what was the synth actually trying to deliver, in fact was it trying too hard to cover every base. The few presets that are provided, apart from a handful are average at best. I couldn't believe the amount of empty presets. What had I spent all that money on.
I couldn't find the 450 'tones' and I couldn't understand a blue light from a red and green one.

5 days on, thanks to help from the forum, youtube and basic patience and button pressing, I can honestly say that I have fallen in love with the XA.

I have developed from being a lazy preset player, to a custom sound maker I have gone back to my roots.
A synth player. Thanks to the XA. For me a 'keeper'.

LIKE! :)

[mimoid]

We are all different and I understand the OP's frustrations.

I've spent 5 days with my XA.

The first day I was confused, what was the synth actually trying to deliver, in fact was it trying too hard to cover every base. The few presets that are provided, apart from a handful are average at best. I couldn't believe the amount of empty presets. What had I spent all that money on.
I couldn't find the 450 'tones' and I couldn't understand a blue light from a red and green one.

5 days on, thanks to help from the forum, youtube and basic patience and button pressing, I can honestly say that I have fallen in love with the XA.

I have developed from being a lazy preset player, to a custom sound maker I have gone back to my roots.
A synth player. Thanks to the XA. For me a 'keeper'.

LIKE! :)

Yes, the JD-XA's success is probably severly affected negatively by the horrible set of presets - probably the worst set since the Casio CZ-series in the 80's. When I first tested the JD-XA in the local music shop, I was could hardly believe my ears how awful it sounded: annoying and shrill brasses, weak and boring basses, some ridiculous floppy drums, raw and unpolished lead sounds and blaring pads without any movement or definition whatsoever. The amplitude furthermore varies all over the place, causing some sounds to distort even at low volumes, all drenched in effects without any restraints. I actually went away in disgust.

Some months later I saw another JD-XA in a different shop and decided to start from scratch testing out the analog engine in itself, and it was at that time I realized what a sweet, deep and interesting sounding machine this really is. Whoever is responsible for programming those abominable presets should never ever be allowed to touch a synthesizer again.

I won't blame you for not instantly liking the JD-XA, but I definitely think it is a pity to sell it without REALLY learning to program it from scratch. Honestly, I would advice you to delete ALL presets and start all over. I can guarantee that in a few weeks you will end up with a better set of sounds than the factory presets. If you still don't like it, you can just do a factory restrore and then sell it.

/// Tom

[JD Knight]

though i rally do like the JD-XA especially for the bass sounds,
i sold mine now.

i just could not take Roland zero communication anymore,
plus the JD-Xi being able to change presets without sequencer stopping
and all that and on top getting an update with sidechaining...
while the multiple times more expensive JD-XA's still lacking all that....


bye, Roland ...

[jerry_merry]

I agree. For me there are too many obstacles to overcome with the JD-XA, for a synth that has a lot of surface control there is a lot of menu diving and no plans from Roland for an Editor to help with this.

Even with the nice covers from Roland mine is now on Gumtree in the uk.......

I have a System-8 ( I know they are not comparable) but I have done so much more with the 8 in a few weeks than a whole year of the JX-XA.

[Myrk-]

-- which really makes the JD-XA more like my FA-06.. only better.

Yes! I am really starting to investigate the midi functionality of my JD-XA too, and being surprised how many features are embedded. I think the key is not to expect what the JD-XA is, but to keep exploring it's feature set and pushing it beyond levels most other synths peak at.

If any mods are reading, can we add a like button to this forum to like posts? :)

But yer each to their own workflow I think with these things. I'm a hardware synth lover, so I know buying these things and selling them soonish is a bit of a bank hit! But like most of the comments I think my JD-XA is a long term keeper, with my Steinberger guitar and 1986 SynthAxe! :P

[runningman67]

I like the effort that it takes to tame the XA. I enjoy the rewards and feel I can claim full ownership.



Never had that kind of relationship with a synth before :)

[HaveIt]

I really like the architecture. 4 monos. 4 polys. I'm all yours, tell me what to do :)