JDBoy wrote:Honestly don't know what the big deal is about the 'labels' being at the bottom. That's breaking convention. Juno and jupiter weren't at the bottom, v-synth not at bottom, jd-800 not at bottom. For me it's fine as it is namely because I don't even need to read them after the first week (yes I've said that before but if you are STILL needing to read the labels on the synth after more than a month something is seriously off in your ability to learn). I don't mind the red labels for the same reason, and looking at the new roland covers (the one I saw anyway) that white text looks trashy and untidy compared to how it is as standard, because the synth doesn't need to be shouting about every function. It looks good as it is. I hope they do a cover that retains the exact same layout and colouring of text only in matte for the lexan non glossy look should mine ever end up looking too scruffy. Gloss v Matt I can understand, but the rest? Just learn the thing, use it, twist knobs, there's not that many controls on it and it's more than obvious what all of them do after a short while (other than perhaps the p-env stuff and the aux source selector as that is multi choice and lesser used compared to the common functions) even so, the first time you use it you 'learn'.
I'm surprised any of you who complain about the text/looks ever got any use out of it all, seems you focus so much on that instead of just twisting knobs and listening to sound no wonder so many seem to have trouble learning synths. You just got to go for it! It won't bite. I program this beast in complete darkness, inc the menu / cursor buttons. You can too if you start using it in earnest instead of nitpicking trivial issues and always putting sound creation on hold till 'perfection' is reached (I think once some of you get those covers you'll find yet more issues preventing you from making sounds on it - sounds like avoidance technique to me! if it really is that hard for you to read and learn maybe stick a light on for a while until you have learned. SELF. START.). If you've had an XA for more than a month and are not getting good sounds out of it already, it has NOTHING to do with the looks/text/covers it's all about you!
Well, it's a personal preference more than anything but I can also tell you that you are correct that in the past Roland has put the labels at the top. Why? Because in the past Roland used 90% sliders for everything so you could read them until slider cap was at the top so it was never a problem on those synths. Traditionally synths with knobs (Prophet, moog, korg, etc) usually have the labels below the knob.
I don't think it's very fair to say people that complain about not being able to read labels are lesser of a knob twister than yourself. Use a JD-XA live with lots of lights (reflecting off the shiny surface) or in a dark studio and you would understand - and is why I starting making these. I totally baby my gear and after several months of standard studio use the factory surface looked horrible even after cleaned. Having the shift functions labeled and things readable just increases work flow while writing music. Serious programmers need labels.
My products are not for everyone. But are exactly what some have asked for their own reasoning that they require. :)
