Korg Forums

RKfan · Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 9:17 am Post subject: uk price

1549 POUNDS on dv247

gjvti · Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 10:33 am Post subject:

Bachus · Platinum Member Joined: 23 Apr 2006 Posts: 3127

http://youtu.be/4TURZ3aC9dQ

Sounds great, might be a good board to have on top of your Kronos... Still to bad they did not add this on top of what the v-synth offers...

Jan1 · Platinum Member Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Posts: 765

So far I love it, but I wish Roland would do a 76-key version of it as well.
And yes, I'm still hoping for a revived V-synth in one form or another...

NuSkoolTone · Approved Merchant Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 1069

Gotta say, from the demos I've heard so far, to me it sounds like s**t! Very "Digital" and harsh sounding to my ears.
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Korg: KRONOS 73, M50-61, 01W/r
Yamaha: Motif XS7, FS1R
Kawai K5000S, Roland JD-990 w/Vintage Synth

jeremykeys · Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 11:29 pm Post subject:

It occurs to me that I can stop watching this thread. I'm in no position to by anything right now and my keyboard room is full. That and my wife would kill me! Wink

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If music is the food of love, play on and play loud!
Gear: Kronos 73, Triton Pro-X, Wavestation EX, Polysix, King Korg, Monotron and Monotron Duo, Minikorg, Moog Grandmother, 1 Roland U-20, Hammond M3, 4 acoustic and 6 electric guitars, 1 Ibanez 5 string bass, a bunch of microphones and other very cool toys, 1 wife and 3 cats!

Bachus · Platinum Member Joined: 23 Apr 2006 Posts: 3127

MortenJ · Joined: 04 Aug 2012 Posts: 32

Bachus · Platinum Member Joined: 23 Apr 2006 Posts: 3127

Kevin Nolan · Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 4:03 pm Post subject:

Have to say I'm leaning towards skepticism on this one. Don't want to be too negative - it looks lovely, sounds very well.

But - like the Prophet6 - 4-octaves screams EDM to me. So I'm disappointed with 4-octaves and 4 voice analogue. You cannot claim a synth to be "Flagship" with those specs; and the fact that Roland are claiming that speaks volumes about thinking (profit centered EDM packages and not actual synth innovation).

Also - I'm a JP80 owner and while its Synth Tone "engine" is very nice indeed, it has a serious flaw in that PWM exhibits aliasing from about C4 upwards that is almost as loud as the wave itself. I flagged it with Roland last year and they have not fixed it - and to be honest I find it a bit "underhand" that they are selling a flawed synth engine in a new package when they know there's a serious flaw (PWM features in about 80% of the programs, rendering them unusable in quality critical scenarios).

I'm also disappointed with the LFO routing in the Supernatural Synth Tone - the JD800 blows it out of the water with respect to feature set, real time control and in my opinion sonic character.

I hope Roland will release a 5 or 6 octave version of this with a minimum of 8 analogue voices, but I won't hold my breath on that. In the mean time, I'll pass on this one.

@Bachus: I doubt that !

Bachus · Platinum Member Joined: 23 Apr 2006 Posts: 3127

Just wondering what synths compete with the JD-XA, i.e. What synths will it replace in the various setups

- access virus
- nord electro
- roland v- synth
- roland jp 50
- king korg
- korg radias
- roland aira system 1..

NuSkoolTone · Approved Merchant Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 1069

Kevin Nolan · Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 9:45 pm Post subject:

Of course all of these issues we're raising are quite subjective.

I will say these positive things:

- It does look very nice to me
- The supernatural synth engine, PWM issue aside, is a very nice synth engine. I'm learning it extensively on the JP80 as we speak. Its filters are really exquisite - broad, natural, full of character. So I have to disagree that the JDXA doesn't sound well.

I honestly think that anyone who tries it up close WILL actually like the sound a lot. Dont go by demos, try it. And, modern analogue is always to be commended in my book.

Persoanlly, I just recoil from what I see as bad or lazy decisions, and I see lots of them wiht the JDXA, and hence I cant quite bring myself to quite trust in it. I just do not get why it's 4 octave, 4 voice. There is no rationale for that on a "Flagship" synth, period.

But it also the sheer "screw the users" attitude of Roland in not rolling up their sleeves and fixing the PWM issue that has really thrown me. Again, I just do not know who in Roland is deciding NOT to fix their existing Flagship JP80 (and whose user base they HAVE abandoned in this), and who in Roland lets a brand new product out with such a serious flaw, when they are aware of it. That speaks volumes to me about the attitude of the company - sloppy and lazy. they seem not to care !

But, as a a very experienced JD800 user, I can tell you that the JD800 uses interface is also far superior. LFO options and routing are hugely superior on the JD800. Envelope generators are also significantly more sophosticated, and the realtime, on-control-panel setting for aftertouch, and the sheer number of parameters aftertouch can control, wipes the floor with both the JP80 and the JDXA.

In fact the JD800 is similar to the CS 80 in this regard - the access to so many realtime parameters, including aftertouch directly on the control surface, places the JD800 in a quite unique place, and JDXA carries almost none of these exquisite realtime features over! Why ??

So for me, the JDXA is a retrograde step - its far less capable as a realtime control instrument - though its being marketed as such - and I think this is legitimate to bring up because it is the successor tot the JD800, supposedly.

But to end on a slightly positive note - I do think Roland are doing the right things with ARIA and System-1 - that's exciting to me. And admittedly, for first time buyer of a JDXA not carrying the 'baggage' of the JP80 experience I'm carrying, it too represents an exciting package - so overall Roland are moving in interesting directions, many of them new and innovative. If only they could clean up their capacity for too often making stupid decisions, I think they would be accepted universally.

Devnor · Full Member Joined: 30 Jan 2011 Posts: 222

Why are you guys getting worked up over the word "flagship"? This term is completely meaningless to me. Either the synth has the features you want or it doesn't. Either you can afford it or not. Is it important to you that you must love the "flagship" and it should meet your every single need otherwise huge disappointment & frustration sets in? I see it throw around the forums and I don't get it.

JDXA -Did you hear the Scott Tibbs demo? I'm not an EDM guy but I'm used to hearing these kinds of demos and it sounded pretty good to me. He's playing both the analog & the SN synth sections. Big filter sweeps and that cool glide thing he does with the pitch bend lever. Plenty of EFX is used here but I hear the analog section quite clear; considering I'm listening to a compressed video stream. Most folks have missed this but JDXA also has a patch remain aka seamless sound transition. This new crossover design is totally new & unique - nothing else includes this feature set. JDXA seems to key in on what folks want in a synth: plenty of knobs and controllers, aftertouch and great sound.

Let me clue you in on some "questionable" design compromises. It has a 4 octave keyboard, wall wart power supply and only analog 4 voices because it needs to hit a certain price point. Its $2199 US. Its not a $4000 Moog Voyager and it never intended to be. Its meant to be affordable. The fact that it has a 4 octave keyboard doesn't scream EDM or anything else for that matter. Put this board in front of Jordan Rudess and he'll shred it. Give it to Geoff Downes and he'll whip out classic Yes tunes. With that JDXA, Eyal Amir will blow you away with his unique sounds and tuneage. The only limitations are yours alone.

Finally, we've discussed this before Kevin but if you turn off the alternate PWM waves on the Jupiter most of the aliasing goes away. With alternates on, if you move your hands down an octave or so there is plenty to love. You can't hear anything when playing bass sounds. Dog whistles are still a problem! Its unfortunate Roland didn't fix this but there are plenty of other possibilities awaiting for you to discover.

My mantra has always been to focus on the strengths of any musical instrument. Everything has its advantages and weaknesses. Don't let the brand name get between you and the possibilities.