JD-XA Crackling Sound

DonnieJ wrote:

FML.....

I picked up a JD-XA on craigslist....I'm sure you guys know where this is going...

When I'm playing with the headphones directly in and the Local Switch is ON, it plays perfectly.

When I'm playing via USB Audio in Pro Tools (Local Switch OFF)...it plays good for minuets then starts crackling bad. It won't go away on its own, only if I switch channels. But then then new channel starts to make the cracks. It is definitely not my DAW/interface because if I switch to any instrument (Guitar, JUNO DS88) there is no crack sound.

I went to check the serial # in the back and......no serial.

What are my options? Will Roland possibly fix this unit for me? What would it cost to fix? Is there a download I can try first? Already did a Factory Reset and still had problems.

Are you using a Mac?

OneOfManyPauls wrote:

DonnieJ wrote:

FML.....

I picked up a JD-XA on craigslist....I'm sure you guys know where this is going...

When I'm playing with the headphones directly in and the Local Switch is ON, it plays perfectly.

When I'm playing via USB Audio in Pro Tools (Local Switch OFF)...it plays good for minuets then starts crackling bad. It won't go away on its own, only if I switch channels. But then then new channel starts to make the cracks. It is definitely not my DAW/interface because if I switch to any instrument (Guitar, JUNO DS88) there is no crack sound.

I went to check the serial # in the back and......no serial.

What are my options? Will Roland possibly fix this unit for me? What would it cost to fix? Is there a download I can try first? Already did a Factory Reset and still had problems.

Are you using a Mac?

Yes

MacBook Pro Retina Mid 2012
OS Sierra 10.12
16GB i7

o.durmusoglu wrote:

len73 wrote:

Have you tried to contact Roland in your country ? They must provide a solution !

I have read that the fix is done within minutes but Roland is keeping it secret (do not ask my why !!)

I know that upgrading to 1.5 or a factory reset do not change anything to the problem (I have tried everything before sending the unit back to my reseller who then send it to Roland in my country...)

Takes some weeks..... but in the end the unit will work great !

The JDXa is a fabulous machine, incredibly deep !

Yes. Tried. Thanks to local vendor, i am promised today to be replaced once again (this will be my 3rd XA, coming/going because of this crackle issue).


It is told that existing Nr2 XA will be taken back and replaced once again not a local replacement but with a brand new one (expected from reach to Turkey in May,2017 from US).
Waiting now for 3rd replacement. Started waiting 2.5 months now.... Until that time i will be keeping Nr2. You are right. It is a great synth indeed.

________________________________________________________
At last, today, after long last waiting (2.5months) i finally received my JD-XA (the 3rd one, i just sent back first two ones to the local one for replacement)

But, now, the issue is why Roland didn't include overlays in the box?????? Why????
I now don't have overlay stickers. Anyone can tell me how to ask outside the Us?
Bye,
Ozcan

DonnieJ wrote:

OneOfManyPauls wrote:

Are you using a Mac?

Yes

16GB i7

I think there's an issue with Roland's mac usb audio driver. Looking around various forums, there seem to be people having the crackling issue with macs connecting to various bits of roland gear using usb audio.

I did post about something that lessened the issues for me:

http://forums.rolandclan.com/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=50556&start=30#p299682

that worked for the shorter sessions, but I had crackling again on longer sessions. My guess is it's some kind of sample level sync issue.

I basically stopped using it via usb audio and just bring it in via my sound card instead now. The latency on the roland usb audio was pretty crappy compared to the sound card anyway, so it works for me as a solution.

OneOfManyPauls wrote:

DonnieJ wrote:

OneOfManyPauls wrote:

Are you using a Mac?

Yes

16GB i7

I think there's an issue with Roland's mac usb audio driver. Looking around various forums, there seem to be people having the crackling issue with macs connecting to various bits of roland gear using usb audio.

I did post about something that lessened the issues for me:

http://forums.rolandclan.com/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=50556&start=30#p299682

that worked for the shorter sessions, but I had crackling again on longer sessions. My guess is it's some kind of sample level sync issue.

I basically stopped using it via usb audio and just bring it in via my sound card instead now. The latency on the roland usb audio was pretty crappy compared to the sound card anyway, so it works for me as a solution.

Thanks, I'll look into that.

I was thinking of this solution as well but if I have the local switch ON and control via MIDI with the signal going from the physical output to my interface I will lose voices.

DonnieJ wrote:

I was thinking of this solution as well but if I have the local switch ON and control via MIDI with the signal going from the physical output to my interface I will lose voices.

You can play all 8 parts either by setting them all to the same midi channel or else sending notes to each of the midi channels of the parts you want to play.

OneOfManyPauls wrote:

DonnieJ wrote:

I was thinking of this solution as well but if I have the local switch ON and control via MIDI with the signal going from the physical output to my interface I will lose voices.

You can play all 8 parts either by setting them all to the same midi channel or else sending notes to each of the midi channels of the parts you want to play.

Ya, I know about changing the channel.

If the local switch is OFF does it still output to the physical out? If so then maybe this can work (at work right now so I can't test immediately).

I know for sure that when you use USB Audio and the Local Switch is ON you lose voices even if your channels are properly defined.

You can only use an external keyboard (or DAW) via DIN MIDI to act like the built in keyboard (ie play all parts at once using the on/off buttons to choose which ones) - there's no support for that via USB.

Any other form of multi-part playing really does need to be done via midi channels if using midi via usb.

added: to be clear, you're not losing voices at an audio level as such - you're simply not triggering the parts.

when you play direct from the jd-xa keyboard, it's like a master midi-controller that is sending midi notes internally to all the midi channels of the parts that are switched on (and sending midi note data out of the jd-xa on those midi channels too).

using remote kbd is just a way to emulate the physical keyboard on an external keyboard/daw - but as I said, that only works for DIN MIDI. Trying it via usb will only trigger the parts that are set to the midi channel being sent from your controller/daw.

just realised, I'm assuming when you are talking about local on/off you are also using remote kbd=on - it's this which is DIN MIDI only.

LOCAL SWITCH = whether the physical keyboard triggers the internal parts.
REMOTE KBD = allow external keyboard/DAW to work the same as the physical jd-xa keyboard (ie play all parts that have their part on/off buttons set to on) - DIN MIDI only.

- -

unless you're running it local switch=off, so the keyboard doesn't play the internal parts, but instead using your DAW to bounce the notes back to the jd-xa.

That will only work if your DAW is receiving/resending on all the midi channels you have parts on, otherwise you'll only trigger the part(s) - and hence audio - on the channels that your DAW is servicing at that moment.

o.durmusoglu wrote:

o.durmusoglu wrote:

len73 wrote:

Have you tried to contact Roland in your country ? They must provide a solution !

I have read that the fix is done within minutes but Roland is keeping it secret (do not ask my why !!)

I know that upgrading to 1.5 or a factory reset do not change anything to the problem (I have tried everything before sending the unit back to my reseller who then send it to Roland in my country...)

Takes some weeks..... but in the end the unit will work great !

The JDXa is a fabulous machine, incredibly deep !

Yes. Tried. Thanks to local vendor, i am promised today to be replaced once again (this will be my 3rd XA, coming/going because of this crackle issue).


It is told that existing Nr2 XA will be taken back and replaced once again not a local replacement but with a brand new one (expected from reach to Turkey in May,2017 from US).
Waiting now for 3rd replacement. Started waiting 2.5 months now.... Until that time i will be keeping Nr2. You are right. It is a great synth indeed.

________________________________________________________
At last, today, after long last waiting (2.5months) i finally received my JD-XA (the 3rd one, i just sent back first two ones to the local one for replacement)

But, now, the issue is why Roland didn't include overlays in the box?????? Why????
I now don't have overlay stickers. Anyone can tell me how to ask outside the Us?
Bye,
Ozcan

I just mailed them via the contact email from the german homepage. In general write the local distributor.

The XA came back repaired and is flawless now. :)

So I finally picked up my JD XA today and to my dismay had severe crackling issues on the 1st patch? it was seriously horrible and I was using headphones. For some reason I had very low levels from both the headphone out put and to my Focusrite audio interface for the synth volume, the crackle persisted in both connections
I was on FW 1.10, then updated to 1.50 after reading about the extra patches available
So that patch no longer exists, but this means I still have a faulty unit? Roland were kind enough to send me my overlay before I picked up the unit as they sent an email confirming where I had purchased this from, getting proof that I had actually bought one. Just meant that I could apply the overlays prior to using the unit

So should I tell them of this issue? I only have 3 weeks left of my holidays and I really want to get into making music, having my unit sent off now would ruin my chance and also waste my overlays

Advice anyone?

yeah had this problem too. i waited like 4 weeks or so for the fix. if youre lucky you get it back within a week but you never know.

I checked it does it on the 1.5 update too but funnily enough only when I 1st turned on the unit, I'll call Roland tomorrow, they're good guys

Interesting information about this issue from GS.

Wait what? ring Roalnd this morning and they were so helpful that I managed to get my JD XA fixed in 30 mins from a service center not even 5 mins from me lol
A capacitor was desoldered as is the known issue, he had it on the bench for 30 mins checking it out as I showed him the initial issue. Roland went out of their way for a same day fix, brilliant is all I can say
I had to head off to Bunnings to get some gear to get my desk ready for the JD XA, the technician said as soon as I had left the problem was fixed.