Roland JD XA

Michael Robles · Post by **Michael Robles** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 4:08 am

I liked the potential of the prototype Roland JDXA on display at NAMM. Here's a clip just released from the Roland news conference describing it as a 4 voice analog with Roland Supernatural voices and sequencer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4KeiyYPsQ4

Bachus · Post by **Bachus** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 9:09 am

Michael Robles wrote:I liked the potential of the prototype Roland JDXA on display at NAMM. Here's a clip just released from the Roland news conference describing it as a 4 voice analog with Roland Supernatural voices and sequencer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4KeiyYPsQ4

After Namm i had a hard time to place this ... But as the video says, its the new flagship synthesizer, which makes it the follow up of the Vsynth for me..

I hope it can live up to that standard...

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 11:35 am

Don't know how LOLand manages to continue to underwhelm me for so long...

Bertotti · Post by **Bertotti** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:23 pm

Shame on you EvilDragon for having such high expectations!

You know I am kidding. :3dcool:

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:58 pm

If Roland seriously calls this their "flagship" synth, they have all my pity.

To me it rather looks like another mixed bag, putting elements of their technology into a new casing, and then leaving it to the customer to make something of another wild mix with a weird OS and UI.

Bachus · Post by **Bachus** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 2:03 pm

jimknopf wrote:If Roland seriously calls this their "flagship" synth, they have all my pity.

Did you hear or even play it? All we have seen was a nonfunctioning model on display at Namm..

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 3:46 pm

jimknopf wrote:putting elements of their technology into a new casing

That's catching fingerprints like crazy!

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 4:49 pm

I like knobby interfaces and considering the high demand for romplers with some sort of VA and the return to analog this concept looks quite promising... Except that they put it in a 4 octave board?? That would be too small for me even as a second board at a gig.

jeremykeys · Post by **jeremykeys** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 5:19 pm

Well, it looks pretty. But unless they build one with at least a 61 key keyboard their flagship is at halfmast!

Just out of curiosity, compared to Korg, how many different synth engines has Roland made? I can think of a few. If I was them, I would be trying to build something comparable to the Kronos.
They have piano and organs down fairly well as well as the V Synth and Jupiter.
Just wondering.

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 6:04 pm

It's essentially something like an FA-06 with additional drum engine and a monophonic analog voice on board, packed into a 4 octave keybed. Certainly something you can have fun with, but hardly a flagship compared to the Kronos.

I just dislike the way Roland puts components into one board, and most of the time their OS and UI just doesn't cut it. Since the V-Synth I don't like even a single one of their board designs: not the forever halfbaked Fantom G, not the Gaia, not the JP80, not the Integra, not the Fa06, just to name some of them.

They even blew their substantially interesting Sytem1 by designing it with that incredibly bad keybed.

BobTheDog · Post by **BobTheDog** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 6:51 pm

I like the way it is stuck behind a fence!

So basically a box with a moving green light surrounded by a sea of red lights.

Bertotti · Post by **Bertotti** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 8:46 pm

You know this could be a really good move on their part by not letting anyone play it, describing it and having something to look at they are inviting criticism and that will give them input and time to react before muskies. Might even find out they have a 61 or 73/76 key version in the wings if the outcry is loud enough. I will reserve judgement until I hear it.

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 8:52 pm

jimknopf wrote:It's essentially something like an FA-06 with additional drum engine and a monophonic analog voice on board, packed into a 4 octave keybed.

I read somewhere 4 analog voices. One analog voice is on the mini brother JD-Xi.

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 9:53 pm

4 analog voices would add significantly to the value of the synth.

Let's just wait and see/hear. I will be glad if my sceptical perspective would be proven wrong, after all these very mixed efforts in the last years.

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 11:15 pm

I also understood 4 analog voices and a completely analog filter.
Which leaves me interested in the concept. Add a bunch of bread and butter sounds using the SN engine and it could be a GREAT live board... Except that they gave it only four octaves!

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