System-8 and JD-XA annoyances!

GilgaFrank wrote:

Considering these synths were developed around the same time, I just can't understand why they're so infuriatingly different.

Two different engineering groups, two entirely different divisions at Roland. Not an excuse, just the most likely explanation.

Which, sadly, is why I sold the XA.

runningman67 wrote:

Which, sadly, is why I sold the XA.

On a positive though GilgaFrank.

There were sweet spots achieved on the XA that gave me goose bumps. Mixing the analogue and digital sides on one machine was a truly unique experience.

If I had the space and finances I would have kept it.

There's no chance of me selling either synth, individually they are utterly stunning and the sounds complement each other very well indeed. My only gripe is the physical layout of controls and connectors being so different across the two machines.

They both appear to be equally ignored by Roland. The JD-XA really is crying out for a decent editor with the lack of data entry knob on the keyboard. Hence I got fed up menu diving and sold it......

The system-8. Last year we were promised additional plug-outs. We have been given squat. Yes the mono system1 plug-outs now run on a system 8. But no NEW plugouts. And if you want to use the 106 and Jupiter 8 plugouts as patch/librarians to compliment your expensive system-8 - Guess what - yep pay monthly subscription to use software you have effectively already paid for.

Got to agree that the lack of dedicated polyphonic plugouts for the System-8 is a concern, as is Roland's move towards making us pay for a subscription to Roland Cloud. In an ideal world, the plugout protocol would be open source, allowing third party development of plugouts but there isn't a snowball's chance in Hell of that ever happening.

Clearly Roland have concentrated their efforts on monophonic plugouts that will sell to System-1 owners rather than polyphonic ones for the System-8. While this probably makes economic sense for Roland in terms of sales, it punishes owners of the more expensive synth. If this is how Roland intend to license products to us in future then they really will find people jumping ship at an alarming rate. I'm not about to pay a subscription fee for a hardware synth then wait for Roland to abandon the product and discontinue support.

Having said that, I do love both synths. The only real menu-diving I do is to switch the JD-XA sync mode from Master to Slave when I use it with my DAW. But I love my DSI Prophet 08 even more - that has a library program, a VST editor and despite the lack of plugouts, I know it'll never cost me any more money than I already paid for it.

I have to agree, my love for the System 8 isn't what it was I'm now at a stage of needing a librarian to really get the full uses out of it. In this day and age to only have 64 preset locations is beyond belief!

I was expecting more Plugouts and the JX8 was to be one of them but Roland seem to be focusing all their efforts on an expensive service that you pay monthly for! I also agree the JP8 and Juno106 Plug-outs should be free to System 8 users we've invested heavily and the System 8 was overpriced as it was but I always thought adding more polyphonic plug-outs to it over time would compensate the layout.

I mainly use the Juno 106 plugout and I've discovered TAL which is an excellent Juno 106 plugin for £40! there are videos online of A/B tests with this plugin and it certainly holds up to the real thing. So my thinking at the moment is I could sell my System 8 for the DSI REV 2. The System 8 synth engine I can get from my V-Synth XT fairly easily, the Jupiter 8 the sounds I use I can get from the SNS engine of the Integra 7 so I would be covered.

runningman67 wrote:

runningman67 wrote:

Which, sadly, is why I sold the XA.

On a positive though GilgaFrank.

There were sweet spots achieved on the XA that gave me goose bumps. Mixing the analogue and digital sides on one machine was a truly unique experience.

If I had the space and finances I would have kept it.

It's not that unique though is it really?

Arguably if it's your only synth then possibly, but most buying a synth as expensive as a JD-XA will already likely have more than one, I mean look how many synths come with DAWs these days!

So most of us have digital synths that we could combine with analogue sound sources, so all we really need is an analogue synth! :)

So the claim that the JD-XA is unique is really only true on paper. In reality you can get a similar combination of analogue and digital very easily.

With only 4 voices of analogue, you notice the note stealing on pads, so the analogue section on the JD-XA was really only useful for bass & lead sounds. 4 voices is just far too limiting on a poly synth.

For the price of a JDXA, you can get an 8 voice REV2 with a 5 octave keyboard and blend it with any of your digital synths be they soft synths or hardware easily enough.

A VERY disappointing synth IMO, but then that goes for Roland's gear generally these days sadly - and don't get me started on their product support!!! :(

I owned my JD-XA for less than a month.

System 8 annoyances = 0
JD-XA annoyances = too many to discuss. Sold mine and no regrets.

GilgaFrank wrote:

... It's like there was no coherent design parameters between these synths.
...
Considering these synths were developed around the same time, I just can't understand why they're so infuriatingly different.

Why would you assume that two instruments, designed with completely different feature sets in mind, share design coherency based upon the schedule of their time and/or manufacture?

Consider the difference between the Prophet-6 and OB-6 as an example ... both made by the same company, and built upon the same underlying platform ... but very different panel layouts, because the represent two different philosophies towards sound design.

You seem to have adopted a set of assumptions without really thinking it through.

jerry_merry wrote:

System 8 annoyances = 0
JD-XA annoyances = too many to discuss. Sold mine and no regrets.

Interesting, I went the exact opposite direction, sold my System-8 and kept my JD-XA. While the XA definitely has some quirks and annoyances (mainly the lack of a data wheel), it sounds truly unique. With the System-8, there just wasn't much that I couldn't do with my other synths. Also it is perfectly represented ITB with Roland Cloud. If the JD-XA would appear as a soft synth, well, I just might consider selling it too, but for now I intend to keep it.