A look inside the Roland JD-XA crossover synthesizer. I have to buy most items myself to make these video's so any help would be greatly appreciated "become a Patreon" / markusfuller High Res images on my Google+ page (collections)
Have you considered doing vids on basic Synthesizer creation? With all this ripping apart, would be great to do very simple projects to create something from all this knowledge!
I love watching your videos. I'm going to be getting the synthesizer this weekend so I'm kind of excited about that. Keep up the good work. Take care Sam.
+fnersch Hello. there is a FREE download from Nick Rhodes _duran duran . and also a free download called JUPITER-8 / JUNO-60 crossover impressions. they sound quite good. goto aira.roland.com best wishes from markus
Hi Mark, again another very interesting video. Nice looking piece of kit and nice sounding. Look forward to hearing you play it in more detail. Regards Nigel
+CONCERTSEC Hi Nigel. This is quite confusing to use ( I'm getting old ) but I am starting to get some interesting sounds from it now. I hope all is well :-)
Thanks. I've always been impressed by Rolland keyboards. There was one back in the mid 80s which had a really beautiful choir sound. Haven't found that voice ever since. It was about a $2000 keyboard back in the day.
+ThomasGrillo Hi Thomas. I have had many Roland keyboards over the years and some are better than others (as with all the major players). This JD-XA is a bit confusing to get my head around but some of the sounds are really quite amazing. Im quite pleased with this one.
+ThomasGrillo The only GREAT Roland Digitals have been D-50 (their first), JD-800 (Amazing and beautiful sounding and looks) and The V-Synth (if it's main power is to your taste). The JP-8000 was a run of the mill VA, and every other digital was lower end or super expensive (and boring) rompler. Have had them all, and most roland analogs and they make great synths (well they used to), I'm still not sure about the Xa though.
@@quarkyzarky The D-70 has great sounds, too. It has the DLM for excellent Moog-style bass sounds. JD-800 is fantastic, but it doesn't offer any oscillator cross modulation. JD-800 is a strict sample playback synthesizer. JD-990 rack module offers the cross-modulation like the oscillator sync.
I love your videos - have you considered doing any videos on guitar pedals? In many cases the circuits are relatively simple, but I'd be interested to get your take on some of the designs.
+Mike Case Hi Mike, I have the old small stone phaser, the electro harmonix talking machine and several other pedals that I keep moving from place to place waiting for their teardown date. so hopefully when i get some time I will start on the guitars and pedals. Many thanks form Markus
Interesting inside. Does it somehow tie in with the AIRA mixer as well? I think that the AIRA products can be hooked to the MX1 via USB which would be handy for this.
+slider2732 Hi, Yes that knob has a chrome top and fits perfectly. I must have taken that off something 10 years ago thinking it would be useful one day :-)
Thanks Markus - great video! Woah, there is a lot more in there than I thought would be (I was thinking along the lines of your TB-3 teardown)! Common Roland - bung 4 of those red boards in a 19inch rack and sell it to me for under a grand willya? :-)
+mCKENIC Yes I was not expecting quite so many components, I think there are 10 boards in total (if you count the tiny raised rotary switch boards). But yes it could all fit into a rack mount system without having to blend it first :-)
Good evening, Mr. Markus i have a problem with my Roland JD-X when I turn it on, nothing works, only a red display appears nothing works and I don't know what happened to it.Any advice please ? Thank you
Really nice boards inside. Would love to own one of these one day. How do you rate it compared to say the Juno or some other analog Roland you've used?
+fkthewhat I really like it. Its a bit confusing in some respects but it just needs some time to get over the learning curve. I cannot compare it with the Juno as the Juno was a wonderful machine in its own right. this is a different beast.
On the left side of the green digital board inside the synthesizer, I saw what looked like 2 coin batteries. Does the JD-XA have battery backed patch storage or is it flash RAM?
+Raul Altoja Hello Raul there are no batteries inside the JD-XA the 2 blue components marked .100 & .470 are inductors. and the metal looking devices are capacitors. the memory in the JD-XA is flash memory so no need for batteries anymore. Best wishes from Markus
The reason it's sending pitch bend data on 8 MIDI channels, it's probably because it's an 8-part multi-timbral synthesizer, having 4 analog parts and 4 digital parts.
Do you still have a JD-XA? I was wondering if you have any ideas about reducing/fixing the (sometimes rather prominent) digital interference in the Analog part. It's at least partly reduced by turning the LEDs off, so I wondered if something could be done to the power rail to clean it up. Or maybe it needs some additional shielding.
Hi Bradley. sorry I got rid of the JD-Xa quite a while ago. It was a great synth but but I had to move some gear on to get the cash for other synths. I should have kept it really.
appreciate your videos mate. they are a treat and i so look forward to them. i wish i could afford to send my juno 60 to you so you could tear into it and make a video on it. ive had this keyboard since 1987 and have kept very good care of it, but still would like to see its guts.. :p HEY! you should get into social media and post up a periscope or instagram!!!
+Marc Abernathy Hi Marc, with a bit of care you could make the teardown video of the Juno 60, I would certainly watch that one. But I do appreciate your offer but would rather not take anything apart that belongs to someone else though I do a few minor repairs for some musicians I mainly do my own gear. that way if I break it then its my problem. But truly thanks for the offer, much appreciated.
Hey Marcus, great vid as ever. But even more poignant as I just bought one of these last week! Still getting my head round its many functions. Nice to see what's going on under the hood. ☺️
Hi, did you manage to tear apart the JD-Xi? I was wondering if it is possible to make a simple sustain pedal input that connects directly to the Hold Button, would it work? Would it need some special circuitry? Thanks.
+Daniel Raizer Hello. If you find the tracks that lead under the Hold button I guess you could solder wires onto them and place a jack socket on the back for a footswitch. I have not taken a JD-Xi apart yet as I only get on my desk what I actually purchase myself or repair for friends. If one comes along I will do the teardown.
Thank you for the nice video, Marcus. Love them all. Really interesting and it helps me improve my technical English too) Huh.. I just can`t understand - this uses really analog parts, but why this synth sounds so ''pure VST''-like for me?? Not great DACs or OA? Why it sounds so digitally, so flat (a bit). I tried to play on the JD-XA in a different shops with my headphones and without one and always I heard too "ideal' boring sound... I even tried some of deep programming it and I heard the flat digital sound again... I know very well what analog sound is and can say that NI Reaktor VA-synth ensembles are sounds more natural and pleasing for me, as like a super cool U-he Diva and old but really nice Pentagon I and Square by RgcAudio. Is it magic? No I think. And then I decided to found the JP-8000 in a very good condition which amazes me always by it`s sound. Strange story about modern synths with a high-tech technologies. And another one strange thing - the Boutique series also sounds very nice, even more alive than the flagship hybrid JD-XA (for my ears again).
Very entertaining as always! I was hoping to hear "Actually the same components as in the Alpha Juno 2!" or something like that but I guess those bits and pieces aren't around anymore. Anyway; and most importantly - the JD-XA is a very fun instrument. I also estimate that its price is about the same as the price for the Alpha Juno 1 back in the day, if calculated in respect to the overall market index. In 1985 / 86 / 87, the Juno 1 was Roland's smallest and cheapest synth. I've made a few JD-XA demos btw, feel free to check them out.
Looking at both boards i see metal silicon and plastic and it makes me wonder why digital cost less.. add to the development cost of programming the digital side that the analog side does not need and it makes me think digital should be more expensive.
doesn't the midi part/channel thing simply mean that there are separate channels for each part and it "should" be possible to say, modulate/automate each part's pitchbend through midi/daws?
+Em0killer13 Yes you can access each part individually. Im still experimenting with it at the moment but its quite a powerful synth (once you get your head around the awkward operating system)
There is crackling pop sounds while playing. It is not fully designed and released. I got one and suffering with it. Asked for one and got the problem and asked for a replacement. The other one has the issue too. Unfortunately, i am in TR not in US. :( Idea was great with the system but it is a shame to release such costly machine with such defect. Disappointed. Not thinking to send the 2nd one back or not. Vendor told they had only these two only. But, it is still a great synth against all this.
+Stulle63 Yes it is sounding much better now I am starting to make my own sounds on it. some of the factory sounds are really good and some are pretty terrible. but you can overwrite them.
Cut off knob is fine, yeah could have been bigger (like on my moog sub 37) can't say it's at all a problem here. And swapping the knob like that could put strain on the pot, also it looks bad with that knob on it ;) - it covers the light and may even scratch the plastic. I know you've sold this now so ... a bit pointless saying it but there you go. :)
YAVAMAYstudio Hello its called the studiomaster MA36 midi analyser. thing is i have had this over ten years and im not sure if they are still available or maybe they have been updated.
was looking forward to looking onside the JDXA and surprise surprise.. its like most new gear these days. I am surprised at the analogue board though, off the shelf chips and so little on there. i would expect Roland to have had some bespoke chips of their own on there. whos to stop some rival copying it?? The digital board was as i expected, ot seems that Toland have invested heavily in the new reprogrammable chip they use in most of their new gear such as Aira and the like. they can just invent new software instead of hardware these days and put it in a new fancy box. Strange the way musical instruments have evolved. i think the spark has gone.. the beauty of internals has gone with it.. sad teally :-(
+muzikman2008 Hi Muzikman2008, I think the analog section is controlled from the digital board as in it is using Digitally controlled oscillators rather than voltage controlled oscillators, though I am not 100% sure so please don't quote me on that. but yes lots of standard chips on the analog voice board.
Interesting video - something more to see, with that analog board, than the usual dsp. Oh, and I'm so glad you're using that dayglo baton... I cringe when you bash your sharpened screwdriver on a board ;-) Smaller and smaller... yes. Tiny tolerances, with lead-free solder making sure the product lasts no longer than a few years. I just saw an eBay listing for an old Roland synth, where the seller says "through hole components and leaded solder means this 20 year old synth will outlive anything you can buy today". I think he's probably right. And like your semblance of the mysterious at the end there :-)
I've come across plenty of anecdotal evidence, both from engineers I know, and from online comments in various groups, and there is a plausible pathology: lead free solder develops micro-cracks (which the lead prevents) with normal temperature variations, which on the SMD scale causes random failures. The temporary solution is to re-flow the whole board.
+mickey thompson I have had to rebake a couple of modern apple laptops for people and they worked after cooking. they used RoHS solder. you should have seen their faces when i tinfoiled one board and baked it in my kitchen oven. I should have filmed that.
Ha ha! You should have! I first saw this problem with the Toshiba Qosimo, but I've not personally put any in the oven yet, but I've mentioned the technique to people who didn't believe it either!
+Coolkeys2009 Hello Coolkeys2009, It is quite lightweight but the 2 metal strips give it a bit of rigidity although if you were gigging I would recommend a flightcase and the shiny plastic top looks like it would be very easy to scratch. other than that it does not feel cheap (to me anyway)
When I saw the images of the prototype, I thought those strips, with the obvious screws, were temporary things due to it being a prototype... Then photos of the production model appeared, and the strips were the same... While the architecture and sound possibilities may be interesting, the visual design aspect of the unit is (IMHO, of course) terrible. Anyway... Might there not be some interesting stuff on the back of the two main boards in the bottom?
Hi I looked as best as i could at the back using a dentist mirror and I could not see any components so I did not bother removing it. same as the Aira gear the main boards seem to be single sided.
markusfuller Don't blame you for not taking it apart further. No point in taking extra risks/work for little additional benefits. Wouldn't have minded or tour of the connectors though :-) Mind you can watch other people review videos to.
+dj manix Hi yes I have used it as a daw controller but am still trying to get my head around the complexities. there is a dedicated midi button on there so you can use it as a controller but Im having problems getting it to sound correctly when sending simple note data midi back to it. Im sure in time things will start to make more sense (i hope)
What DAW you using ... it might not need to be set up for receive, just send. but control normally( if im right) runs on mackie hui etc .. my new axiom air 49 gets here in like hours.. cant wait, you know you need your keyboard when you sell one and its not there .. lol
i use a little software called VSTHOST its free i use it for testing audio plugins before loading in DAW (crash) you can do stuff with midi in the program too ..
looks like an 80s getto blaster,have u seen in side a jdxi its just a sound card,if one of the nob break they all break,u must clean the point.i got one on the last legs,forever on a repair now,i
+Dmitry Panfilov Hello, I have not had much playing time with it but at the moment I find there are some useless (to me ) sounds and there are some very interesting useful sounds. It is a strange beast but I am quite happy with the quality of sound it produces. This may not be for everyone but there may be something for most peoples taste.
+markusfuller I think the true point of this instrument is that you should make your own sounds with it rather than judge it by the few factory soundbanks (that aren't actually showing the true potential of this synthesizer) that come with it. Of course you can fill the banks with sounds downloadable from the Roland's Axial site if you want.
Hi jarsamo, Yes I have been playing around with it for a few days now and started making my own sound banks with it, true we sometimes judge a synth by its factory settings but with a little digging around and reading the manual its actually quite amazing what i'm getting out of it.
+Phil Jones Hmmm Thats a difficult question as it depends on what you need and what is worth paying for. It does have some amazing sounds, Lots of control, loads of midi control that you can send to your DAW or other instruments, CV & GATE outputs and its 4 voice analog as well as digital which you can blend in many ways. However I have not had much time getting to know it yet and I must say just trying to get midi data to play the keyboard is a bit confusing, the analog works on midi channel 1-2-3-4 then the digital on 5-6-7-8 then other parameters on the rest of the channels. I still need time on this thing. there are other great synths out there at lower prices and they all have their positive and negative qualities. to be honest me personally I'm happy with it though I wish it was a bit cheaper.
Surprising. Why not make a JD-XA with the System 1's analog emulator and it's extra set of ECS 2 chips? I haven't compared the synthesis engine architectures but one would almost think that the System 1 contains a digitized version of this analog board. If I remember correctly the System 1 was however released earlier! It's all speculation of course but maybe the System 1's success gave them the confidence to release a modified JD-XA precurser after all. It could even be the reason why a System 8-voice does not yet exist! A suggestion: Why not do a Yamaha Reface CS vid as well? It looks deceptively simple but is much more flexible and powerful then it seems. Ah, I just got it. You still have to buy them yourself.
The system 1/Aira products are made by an entirely different dept to the XA stuff. Roland have often had different departments making different lines. XA is a great synth, it's one of those you HAVE to own *AND* give more than a few days to (do not base it on presets or others shitty vids) then it'll hit you what a powerful, and great sounding, unique synth it is. Their best synth since the V-Synth (which also suffered from mis-understanding yet is STILL one of the most unique and powerful synths ever made). JD-XA or V-Synth make a great combo synth alongside some VCO analog poly(s).
Ah, got it. So one should simply not expect too much development logic because of "conflicting fractions". I completely agree with what you say about isntruments needing propper attention to show their best. That's true of a lot of stuff out there, including many instruments that do not have the "classic" label pinted all over them. Ah well, at least the lack of recognition keeps them affordable. I'd love to own a V-synth and really delve into it but always found it too expensive for my budget, even second hand.
My friend has the V-Synth , I have heard it and it sounds very impressive indeed. I would not mind owning one myself but as you say it is quite expensive to get hold of one at the moment.
+Дмитрий Шаповал Hello, I think you may have been the first person to see this while it was still being rendered by RU-vid, It has appeared in better quality now the rendering has completed. Many thanks from Markus
had they not gone for the glossy look and red lettering and lights then it would be killer it doesn't detract from the sound which is stellar (as always from roland )but alot of people buy things down to the way it looks its just the way it is.
James Reeno lol - anything that isn't your prophet 5 gets very short change in your comments on YT. You're all over the place saying synths don't sound as good as X, with X usually being your Prophet 5. Hey, am jealous, wish I had a prophet 5 too but I also appreciate everything the XA can do that the P5 can't touch.
Yeah, I buy thing on looks, feel, build quality, aesthetics, etc. I mean all of them sound good, so the purchase decision comes down to the overall look and feel. I'd very much prefer Roland JD-800 to this. That thing really looked serious back in 1991. The wow factor was unbelievable. I am not getting much of the wow factor from JD-XA. I tried it in store, and I don't find it desirable. And there's so little to change to make it desirable. Add an octave on the keyboard, put it in the JD-800 quality casing and front panel, and it would make a world of difference.
+Дмитрий Шаповал Hello, Please re-watch as it may have been still remdering by youtube when you watched it, I have rewatched and it is better quality now. My apologies from Markus
That glossy, cheap plastic all over the front is the death of this thing, at least for me. It's a magnet for fingerprint oil smudges and it shows the tiniest spec of dust.
Ahhh, no thru hole components, all surface mount! Good luck trying to fix it when it breaks....and all things break. I only want kit that I can keep running, which means older thru hole technology and a soldering iron.
Can't have the cake at eat it too. anytime companies release a product people start the same old bitching routine about its price (oblivious to the realities of inflation). and then there are folks who want through whole componentry and hell, some even demand super expensive full discrete designs! allegedly they have an unexplainably superior tone that's impossible to replicate (which isn't true by the way).
+sothc303 Hi Sorry but I don't have enough time to do other repairs as I am full time working already. these video's are normally my own gear and are generally made on sundays (my day off). My apologies.
The only thing that bothers me about this synth is that cheapy glossy look... looks like a 80's telephone... those digital phones with a neon light surrounding the edges... anyone remembers those?
+TheMetalMusicMachine Yeah back when everyone wanted to make things with clear plastic. Yeah I'd be annoyed with having fingerprints on it, and small scratches, etc...a matte surface would probably be better. My guess is with the red-they were looking for something that would look good in a low light club atmosphere (variable color/lighting would have been much better....and cooler). But hey I'd still take one.
+Nicholas Michels those backlited pots and faders are fine and useful but all the Aira line looks like a wrong interpretation of Tron/Daft Punk trend mixed with the too much hyped Dubstep trend... Oh Roland, I know you are facing your eyed into the future but... this? Retrofuturistic aesthetic fail.
Got one here, it's fine. Had it months and no scratches, no fingerprints (you can wipe them off ONCE a week with a lens cloth - no problem). What you are seeing are other people's badly handled synths with harsh light on videos/photos and jumping to conclusions. I have a whole room full of synths and the XA stands out as looking very cool/interesting.. even beautiful (in a future looking way). No 80s phone looked like this, nothing like the clear neon phones. In a typical studio/room the gloss is barely apparent, it just makes it look super jet black and crisp.
Nah the gloss look is gash, and gets filthy so quick - see the feedback on Roland Clan forum everyone complains about this. Best get the overlay system (free from roland) to fix the horrible gloss! How's yours looking after a year now? Scratched to bits I guess!
The digital side has a lot of similarities with the integra 7, which alsohas the fpga for the supernatural synth voices. I love my integra . Here's a linkt to the integra 7breakdown adriangin.wordpress.com/2016/10/25/roland-integra-7-hardware-review/
+marco scooter I have changed that cutoff knob again. it has a heavy chrome metal pot cap from a Bass guitar with knurled grip and is much nicer and smoother to use now.
I use knobs from a guitar pedal on my handmade 808 kick drum for better grip on the potentiometers. Still have a bug in the code regarding control from the Roland R5 via midi, but works perfect in Ableton, than i make a video a show it!
So why not just make a 8 voice analog synth with two boards and dump the digital? I guess that would be giving everyone what they've been asking for for decades now. Roland just can't seem to get it.
+TotallyNuss Ih happy with the way it is. but also Yes I would like the analog 8 voices but blending the digital side with the Analog makes some very interesting sounds. though Im still trying to get my head around how the whole thing works.
+markusfuller Yeah. It's definitely cool. I've just seen post after post for decades now with people asking for another Jupiter 8. We'll see. This is the closest they've gotten and I didn't think they would ever do you analog again much less a 4 analog voice poly.
I really like my JD-XA more and more. at first I found a lot of it confusing and too complex but the more I play the more I learn and Im starting to get deeper into it. Its a pretty powerful machine. axial.roland.com have released 2 free downloads. JUPITER-8/JUNO-60 crossover impressions and Nick Rhodes (duran-duran) signature collection.
+Babyblue57 Why do you say this? I don't own any Roland products, but they seem quite popular. The 80s was pretty much linked to the D50 I think. And while clever, that was just very small samples coupled with digital waveforms. Seeing how this is analog + digital, it's sort of like a D50 in that it's a hybrid approach of sorts. And obviously Yamaha nor Roland innovate much and have not done so for a long time. For innovation I suppose you turn to either software or smaller companies. But what's new in hardware synths these days, in general? What's old is new, with modular synthesis making a small comeback, and lots of cheap analog gear.
+Michael Bauers D50 was never an icon of the 80s. Your are totally wrong there. 80s belonged to Jupiters, Junos and Jxps. Warm sounds and sweet landscapes. This beast sounds sterile to my ears. I guess somehow between the 90s the synth companies totally lost the character they were putting into their synths. Nowadays you still have very good examples like Sequential releasing a Prophet 6. Moog still releasing wonderful and sweet sounding gear. Etc.
D-50 not an icon? lol, it was the most popular Roland synth ever made (and sold). It was the second best selling synth of ALL TIME (after the M1 and in front of the DX7), not that sales alone means something is 'good', but it was used a lot in the late 80s and is all over many big albums (BAD and others). There was a distinct two halfs of the 80s, the early 80s was indeed Jupiters, Junos (and Prophet 5, Obies etc), then Digital took over by 87 (D-50), DX7 was probably the most iconic synth of the decade (for better or worse) and came out in 83. Either way, the Digital stuff of the 80s was just as iconic as the analog, in fact more so as most normal people would recognize a D-50 or DX7 but probably not a jupiter 8 (as great as it may be). As for the XA, it's a great synth, got one here and also got loads of old analogs (VCO and DCO) inc all the rolands (Juno 60/106/JX-3P) they do sound different sure, the 80s ones have more weight and character BUT they are far simpler, the JD-XA is a beast in its own right, it sounds proper analog when programmed so (ignore the presets or other's demos - whos to say they know wtf they are doing?) I've cloned Juno and JX-3P sounds on mine and it's 99% the same but also does far more. XA is a bargain if you buy one used not at full price. They all have a different tone but the XA is a very nice instrument with great sound, vast range, huge sweet spot and every control and feature you could wish for on a modern synth (unlike the DSI stuff that's very lacking in even the basics - Prophet 6/OB-6 etc).
