The JDXA needs a period of taming. Be patient. It's worth it

[runningman67]

I spent the day organising my Banks into catagories.
I had downloaded the sounds I liked from the Roland site and created a few of my own over the past few weeks too. Also had a second listen to the factory presets.
There are some great Bass and Arp sounds there.
In doing so I once again have been surprised by this synth.

The JDXA demands attention. It challenges you to learn, develop and trust your own taste and ear.

Trust me it does deliver. I don't worry about if I am using the crossover aspect, or what or how the sounds are made. If it sounds right to me, it is right and the JDXA will gladly help me develop my sound shaping skills.

This Synth delivers pads, arps, leads by the bucket load. That's just for starters.
I sort of understand why Roland designed it the way they have. It's a bit Retro. It's old school. Yet it gives you satisfaction in learning it. It's a project.

I find that the JDXA just wants to be your friend. It's just a bit eccentric and it tries to hard to blind you with function and glitz but really, underneath it is a thing of beauty and charm.

[johnstimley]

I have to concur with this and recent pads on the tremendous power lurking beneath the surface of the JD-XA. I downloaded some of the Axial sounds a while back and have discovered some really good presets from the point of view of starting places. E.g. the Cinematic group of presets: using these just with the use of wheel 2 give an incredible palette of sound possibilities and that's just for starters. Roland explains it: "This collection is perfect for music that requires diverse and texturally moving synth pad sounds. These Programs have "life" and a unique movement of the sound...especially when you adjust the Wheel 2 in realtime as you play.The diversity and usefulness of these Programs are especially apparent when you adjust Wheel 2.Wheel 2 (assigned to cutoff...cc74), provides not only textural contrast but also dynamic contrast. The results differ from adjusting the cutoff knob (at the preset level) because the Wheel 2 is making global adjustments, while the knob may only be affecting an individual Tone grouping. In many cases, there is a morph-like quality between an analog sound to a digital sound, or an interesting combination of both."
As a creative tool I find this way of working so inspiring and leading to so many sonic possibilities and the potential of constant surprise. What an amazing machine..........

[runningman67]

Yes, it's the best Pad machine I have owned.

I also agree about the morphing of sounds. There is a wonderful sweet spot when using the crossover aspect. It's a bit special and unique this synth.

[Myrk-]

Try these bad boys out from Gattobus (see attached file). He covered loads of famous tunes using the JD-XA (you might have seen his vids on youtube) and the sound is just amazing. Made me realise there's an element of a workstation in the way the JD-XA can be approached (covering so many parts)... if it had a slightly better sequencer then it would truly be the synth to end all synths!

[FirstAxis]

... it would truly be the synth to end all synths!

Ha, that's probably why Roland left the sequencer in such a basic state, otherwise they wouldn't sell other synth models.

BTW, I saw a drop in prices here in Switzerland, the JD-XA is almost on par with the System-8 (JD-XA is ~60 Francs more expensive). Anyone else has seen this in other countries?

[mimoid]

Yes, I bought mine in Sweden for less than what a System-8 goes for today, which was a pleasant surprise for me.

The JD-XA is a highly underestimated machine. Its amazing sound capabilities are brought down by the unorthodox and for some people off-putting design and a rather clumsy user interface - for instance, I still cannot understand why there is no value scroll button next to the display; endlessly prodding the plus/minus buttons while programming a complex patch is not something you want to do in this time and age. Also the integration between the sample-based and the analog engine is not very elegant and has a pretty steep learning threshold.

/// Tom