No MIDI (Sequence) Start/Stop??

20 Aug 2022, 14:38

Hey folks, just got my Juno-X yesterday, great fun on its own.

However, when I hook it up to my DAW and send MIDI clock to it (through USB), it receives the clock and sets its tempo accordingly, however, the Juno-X doesn't respond to MIDI start/stop (to start/stop its sequence like pretty much every modern sequencer out there, including Roland's other gear like the TR-8s, MC707 to name a couple).

Also, there doesn't seem to be any way to actually sync the start of the i-Arp, meaning in order for it to be in sync with the clock you need to manually start it right on beat. Even then it seems to drift and get out of sync after a bit (it doesn't seem to ever try to actually lock to the clock, just sets the tempo).

Please tell me I'm missing something here; I don't see how Roland could release a "flagship" type synth without these fundamental things...

Re: No MIDI (Sequence) Start/Stop??

19 Sep 2022, 15:26

But there is no real sequencer to start, just the Arpeggiator.

With Remote Keyboard enabled, the Arp will respond to notes.

If you are using only step edit sequences, you only need one note to get it running.

If you are using the Arp or iArp, it needs to get stimulated by a note pattern to do anything useful.

So just put your one note (step edit) or Arp driving pattern into the DAW.

Re: No MIDI (Sequence) Start/Stop??

16 Oct 2022, 16:06

Yeah, I believe that is what they were thinking when designing the Juno-X arp, however it's gone quite beyond just a simple arp at this point, getting to be much more like a sequencer in many ways and to not allow the arp to start with MIDI start, then yes you are forced to use a note to trigger it.

However, the really big problem is that even when started with a note on the first step of a sequence in your DAW and of cource using the DAWs clock as the clock for the Juno, the Juno's arp will go off the clock after a bit. So, you can't rely on it sticking to the clock that everything else is running off (in my setup, I have a PolyBrute, TR-8s, Pro-3 and Prophet Rev2 all running their sequencers on the same DAW clock and never drift). So, it seems like the Juno isn't truly syncing to the external clock, meaning it doesn't actively offset the arp/sequencer timing to stick to the external clock.

I have a support ticket with Roland on this issue, but not seeing any action there. :(

Re: No MIDI (Sequence) Start/Stop??

8 Apr 2023, 12:36

I'm about 10 days into Juno-X ownership, and I've already found the clock drift on the Arp in step sequence mode is pretty annoying. Amazing synth but I'm trying to Midi clock-sync it from my TR-8s is not too great after a couple minutes playing. I'm not particularly attempting to use my DAW in this setup; just the Juno & drums together.
As a temporary solution I'll try clock-syncing the TR-8s from the Juno; maybe that will cope better.