Audiopilz: *slaps roof of YT channel* Full Tracks, Extended Jams, Sample Packs: www.patreon.com/audiopilz Follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/audio.pilz/
I would love to watch an episode about how you make this show. The sheer volume of funny memes alone is humbling to witness, saying nothing about the killer editing and the (of course) excellent tunes and jams. Without question the most entertaining synth related TH-cam content!
@@AudioPilz Wanna throw one more voice to the ballot saying that a behind-the-scenes episode would be great. The quality of your presentation is as excellent as your content.
Please also test devices in darkness, with a smoke machine nearby, someone pushing against you from time to time, a few units of alcohol consumed and the floor shaking to emulate a sub-optimal gig environment.
Oh...you forgot the rich suburban girl who thinks you're a jukebox, constantly yelling for someone else's tracks. Or adding a shower of rusty bits, dirt, and dried pigeon crap for that illegal warehouse aspect. Plus, plugging it into various ground faults, overvoltage, undervoltage, random power "fluctuations", etc. And for the capper, simultaneously pouring [INSERT COLLEGE FRAT BOY BEVERAGE HERE] on one end of the keybed while someone else throws up on the other. You know..."real world" testing criteria. 🤣
I'm just skeptical that plastic toy looking thing could survive any kind of gigging. But then most of the classic roland gear was pure plastic. And who is gigging? We are heating our bedrooms with these things.
Great work as always Florian. One day there will be a knock at your door and it will be a terminator sent by Roland. I’ve heard a couple of people say the black background and bright red lights makes it impossible to use at a gig.
Another absolute banger of a video, and music as well! The only channel on TH-cam that has me hovering over the pause button to catch all the greatness. Hope you're well.
I do the exact same thing! It's hard to keep up with the memes if they are only there for a frame or so. I find myself scrubbing backwards and forwards. Maybe the top tier Paterons get the Premiere File?
I think it has a very particular sound, very 90s Roland but in a bombastic way and it comes out clearly in the video. Thanks for yet another great episode!
90s roland made in 2015. That comes from the same self-proclaimed, head up its ass, let's sue Behringer for stealing "trade dress", "future looking" Roland. Lulz. I'd argue the shit they released in 90s was probably less trash than this. Some of it was even great (8080). This? An utter piece of sh!t. It actually makes me angry how bad it is.
@@karlu.5904 I agree, this range sound 90's but worse than their romplers and grooveboxes from that era. The JDXA is more versatile tho so I guess you can squeeze out a few usable patches despite its quite bad overall sound.
When I realised the JD-XA's real strength is for expressive performance and added in an extra pedal, it captured me once again. The Hybrid nature of the synth really shines when you're being expressive with it, layering the Supernatural & Analog section together. You're right the Analog voices can be a little dry and flat in the raw, but when combined with the digital voices and a tasteful helping of fx, it can really blow me away. This is why I could never flip this one. I'm going to be buried with it.
Okay. The memes and clips were ridiculously clever; so on point , yet so obscure. It takes me 30 minutes to get through a ten minute video, constantly hitting my computer spacebar to pause to read the micro edits. (Yes I'm watching this on my pc. And yes. It's my DAW)
Be still my beating heart, that's an An0nymoose synthwave music video. I didn't think it was possible for me to love Bad Gear more than I already did but DAMMMMMMN
Thankfully Roland gave out free overlay panels to fix the shiny black finish.. surprised your mate doesn't have them applied to this one! There was a white JD-XA we've only seen pictures of, given to some musician, that suited the shiny finish much better. The sequencer was never really finished and there's digital noise with the lights running (you can turn them off) but it's a very interesting and quirky synth. First poly analogue from Roland in forever, too. Personally I love filter type 3.. it's some fun that gives a hint of what Roland engineers get up to when they're not constrained (like the cowbell oscillator in Sys-8) It just feels like Christmas with the JD-XA and System-8 running next to each other 🎅🎄
@@AudioPilz If you use one these classic red-green 3D glasses with System 8 and JD-Xa left and right it magically merges both into one jupiter 8. Solved.
@@BrunodeSouzaLino yeah but like I said, I don't think these were ever available in retail (like the white version of the JD-Xi).. they were one off customs made for a few musicians
It was a gas tank when it was built during the reign of the Austrian Emperor, James Bond "The Living Daylights" used it as a set piece and super epic raves were held there in the 90s
Not much time to watch TH-cam at the moment, but managing to find some to get my 'Bad Gear' dose as soon as I can! Definitely worth it! Thank you for those moments
Great video! I almost returned mine when I got it. After spending time with it it became a favorite of mine. I'm not surprised it's hated though. You can skip through UI sections by holding shift. Makes programming a lot easier. Love to see you cover the Cheetah MS800!
I always thought this synth was special! Never played on it, doubt I'll ever be in a room with one, but my name was once vocoded through one, and I'm telling you, it was splendid :)
I look through all analog synthesizers and I think that JD-XA has a very saturated, warm analog sound and is great for producing your own sounds from scratch i can make any sound with it
Thank you for this even-handed overview of the JD-Xa. I've got a sort of love-hate relationship with this synthesizer. I probably won't part with mine, especially after having covered its fingerprint magnet top surface with a nice set of "Polar" overlays!
Excited to see this one. This was my first big hardware synthesizer (after a Reface DX), and I always find new and interesting things to do with it, but I am not a normal music producer, so I am after different sounds than a lot of people.
Well, nothing wrong with developing your own methods these days. A few decades ago, you still had a lot of tech fiddliness and learning curves, sometimes like you wouldn't believe! For example, the fun of using Finale prior to v.2. That was...just hideous. OTOH, you actually could run DAWs of that era on some of the then-new "box" Macs. I had a IIcx that I'd accelerated to a BLINDING 60 MHz. Wooooooo! But again, learning curves. The tech is a lot more user-friendly now. Plus, there's a lot of stuff we don't have to do anymore...aligning and biasing various tape machines, for example. I don't miss that for a hot minute. Anyway, given that fact, I feel like there's far more area to explore sonically so that someone really DOES have a shot at creating their own, independent methods and techniques via pure exploration. Plus, you have Eno's observations as a bit of a guidepost. He's stated several times that when you're dealing with new synths, the first thing to do is to get rid of the manuals. That way, you explore the instruments, processors, software, etcetc and _your voice_ emerges as a result of learning them in _your way._ Not really something you get to do outside of electronic music. And even though we've had electronic music since c. 1900 and Thaddeus Cahill's telharmonium, it STILL remains a frontier. Hopefully now that this has become the only musical form that's truly harnessed itself to Moore's Law, that'll be the same for quite some time to come.
@@daccrowell4776 the manuals are sometimes rather necessary to find what you missed after getting to know the instrument And then with Yamaha workstations, the manual is necessary to even learn much as their UIs are terrible and unintuitive, unlike Korg and Roland gear, ignoring Roland gear with terrible UIs that depend on 4-character LCDs and such absurdities. I think Eno's approach is more about learning how the EGs, filter, and oscillators of a given synth work together and independently of each other, as all subtractive synths are otherwise the bloody same in structure.
@@Jason75913 Right...a more intuitive approach to understanding how an instrument works for each given player. I saw this clip about Deleuze the other night, about eliminating strict codifications by way of an analogy about drum machines. If you follow codified, hierarchical orders, you accept the drum machine as a MACHINE that DRUMS...preset (sometimes not) patterns for specific styles, intended to stand in for a drummer when performing or practicing. But with Deleuze's way of viewing the drum machine, he would reject these rigid definition "guardrails" as being counter to creative thought. His "rhizomatic" approach allows for new directions and explorations while rejecting constraints on intuition and creativity. The example given was how this NYC duo used one of these (a Seeburg Select-a-rhythm, which I have one of as well) not to make pop beats by ignoring the "norms" of how it's "supposed to" work. Instead, the instrumentalist DIMED the tempo control and fed this into some rather stygian processing to underpin this riot-causing track known as "Frankie Teardrop". Yep, we're talking about Suicide...definitely one of those proverbial "only band that matters"s. But had Martin Rev followed the hierarchical approach, that massively-important track probably would never have happened. Of course, when it came to Yamaha's FM stuff, one dirty secret was that Eno "cheated". 20-ish or so ago, there was a VEMIA auction in which several Eno devices were on the block, and one of these was a Jellinghausen DX-Programmer. Basically, a mammoth SYSEX beast with all of the knobs and switches and so on that Yamaha opted to substitute a single data slider and alpha display for, figuring...uh...hey, doesn't that Rhodes patch sound GREAT? 😆
@@daccrowell4776 Alright, you want to dodge "strict codifications" with common synthesizers? Time to go _modular_ , buddy. It's the only way. Otherwise, you are sticking to osc->filter->amp structures with modulators like key velocity and LFOs and EGs, end of story. Every non-modular subtractive synth ever right there. But knowing how the EGs and filters interact with the oscillators is where there's room for creativity, manuals don't even give any kind of strict structure to stick to, the synth itself does, so to speak. That aside, you want more freedom without splurging on a wall of Eurorack? Korg and Roland ROMpler workstation keyboards are closer to modular than 99% of non-modular synths. But 99% of synthesists _do_ want simpler, more restrictive approaches to synthesis. Or just sweet presets made by someone else.
Another great video - thanks. I'm a big fan of the jd-xa. The analog filter mode LPF3 which, as you said, sounds broken when treated like the other filter modes is my favourite thing about the synth, but only when it's gain staged so that it doesn't fall apart with resonance. Used that way, it is a thing of beauty.
No matter how critical you are of gear, I always want to pick one up because you make the best of each device. And your video production is ridiculously good.
@@AudioPilz is ja auch das badgear schlachtschiff.... konnte meinen nie verkaufen und dann wurde er noch auf der rückseite verkratzt und hatte dann noch einen wasserschaden... werden den wohl mit ins grab nehmen denn wer will sowas in diesem zustand kaufen 😭 manchmal aber entpuppt er sich als guter synth für sound design aber das wars dann auch.... ach welch hassliebe 🥰🤯
If I had one of these I’m sure it would be like one of those terrible relationships you just can’t end. You’re terrible, JDXA, but I just can’t quit you.
VST version is basically the Jupiter80 VST, if there is one of that one yet. That's where JDXA's badass digital engine comes from. The Zen-core engine melds that Jupiter80 engine with the JV1080, so Zenology is another "JDXA VST" of sorts. Same sound and capacity for duplicating any JDXA/Jupiter80 patch, though the digital filters are better, EGs more capable, and Zenology/Zen-core even includes a neat VCF emulator (at the cost of polyphony). Modulation options on Jupiter80/JDXA are fairly limited versus Zen-Core/Zenology's mod matrices, too.
I have always loved the almost Cyberpunk-esque aesthetics that Roland has provided with both this and other red-coloured synths as well as the more greenish synths.
Thank you for covering the JDXA. It is an exemplar of instruments that have good points but are unmistakably bad gear! That 12db analog filter and the noise from the analog circuitry though…😂
@@AudioPilz how the heck did it not occur to _anyone_ at Roland to add a Data entry wheel. Why have they never released a firmware update to let us optionally use one of the wheels for data entry. There's 400+ waveforms to select from... with buttons! 🤦♂
@@TheRealWinsletFan Engineering: “Should we give them a wheel?” Executives: “This is Roland, not Rolland, give them buttons and ship it now!” Dollars over sense, all day everyday.
Duuude excellent episode! This really isn't much of a bad synth, I've played with it a couple of times. It's got great sounds, and you can definitely make interesting sounds out of it. It just would've been great if did it had 5 octaves, and at least 6 voices of analog. It does suck that they totally cheap out and half-assed it, i.e. wasted a better potential that could've made it into a future classic. Or would've been legendary if they went all in for 8 analog voices. Build-wise, I do love the black and red aesthetic. But they should've went for a metal build, and avoided the glossy frame. So much potential this could've had... P.S. you should do the *Prophet 12* ! Another synth with mixed reviews and opinions!
No, the analog synthesis on the JD-XA is absolutely not a four-voice version of the monophonic analog part on the JD-Xi. For instance, the JD-xi's analog filter has just a single LPF mode, not the six modes of the VCFs on the JD-XA as well as the capability to mix in a digital superNATURAL part, and other differences like the ring modulation and cross modulation. I get why you would assume that. I'm an avid fan, but also a JD-XA owner, so of course the idea that my baby has just four instances of the few "analog circuits floating in a sea of digital synthesis" as one review characterized the JD-Xi's analog part, gets me all hot & bothered.
2:38 Yeah. The display from hell is now in its correct color scheme. To me, the best part of the UI. Demons from all planes of the underworld got to love this thing. After all, it raises the undead sample library of the U110 from the grave. And some more. I rate the JDXA the #1 on the list of current Roland synths that are to consider when replacing my 90s Roland stuff.
I've always been enamored with this synth, mainly because of the Gattobus vids where he makes magic with them. After cutting my teeth on a Roland FA-08 for years this almost became my first "real" synth but someone offered me a basically new Korg Minilogue for $300 USD so I couldn't refuse that. One day I may yet pull the trigger on this since the combination of analog and digital sounds are a real powerhouse... or I'll go to the dark side and slowly build a Eurorack module. But I'm still a piano player and need sounds there... so hard to choose. lol Terrific video as always, loved the jams, the Gmod video, and those vocoder sounds at the end were fantastic. Btw you can be proud knowing that your videos have gotten my gf interested in learning about synths and how to play them. Cheers! :D
As a JD-XA owner that can't give it up, I was really drawn to the Werner Herzog meme I saw in the Synth Memes group a few weeks ago. Werner Herzog for ROLAND: "I have sat in front of many synthesizers during my short time upon this planet, but none compelled me to press buttons and keys in the way Roland has. With their cryptic, almost mystical displays and inability to contemplate the needs of the novice or dilettante, they illuminate the path to madness and despair in ways other manufacturers dare not imagine. To play anything else would be an obscenity, a baseness and vulgarity too terrible for the mortal mind to address. Roland haunts my dreams and waking days.
I remember looking up reviews of it fully assuming it was going to be the exact same thing as the JD-XI only with eight separate tracks to sequence instead of four. I'm really still waiting for that JD-XXL-I :(
That would have been a half decent synth if they'd put all good bits of jdxi and jdxa into one synth they could have pulled off a half decent synth rather then what we got and out of the 2 the jdxi was best one
What killed it for me was the global arp thing and Roland's modulation matrix or rather lack off and the keybed was awful just felt like big plastic pegs and played same way as well and to be honest some of the patches I've heard on it are some of the worst presets ever in the entire history of the known universe ever yo be put on a synth it's a shame really cause of what it could have been to what we got
4:28 dammit, fairlight orch burst my second biggest weakness is revealed…. I have no choice but to love it now no matter the cost 😁. Double dammit, it’s got a great sounding vocoder too! My biggest weakness is revealed…. 😂😂. Great demo 👏👏👏, “insert Robocop meme-I LIKE IT!” Same as usual here, I wanna see the PWM Malevolent and Gamechanger Audio Motor Synth 🙏.
You nearly can kill aliens with that synth, just need to switch it on! I like synths with a kill factor, would have bought one 3 or 4 times, but anything unknown stopped me every time. Perhaps the red glow… the vocoder is great imho, great vocoding !
The show I’ve been waiting for!! I have the JD-Xi. Everything it does is either un-amazing or just bad. But each time I tell myself I wasted my money, another piece of gear fails, or I have a connectivity challenge, and the JD-Xi saves the day. It’s like a cheap knock-off of a Swiss army knife.
@@yzimsx No, I’m an OS X user. I probably would to re-explore it with this menu-diving solution otherwise. If it somehow enabled pattern chaining and shuffle (on all channels, not just drums), it would be great.
I've always loved the look of the JDXA, the price is just a lot for only 4 oscilliators for digital or analog, but it can be manageable though. i will get it at some point. I already have the Integra-& and Jupiter-Xm. Love Roland
Congratz on the 100k milestone. I, unfortunately, don't have too much time for music nowadays, but still, from time to time, I check on Warren from Produce Like A Pro and your channel. Good luck and keep having fun.
I own a Roland System-1. The lights are even more annoying than the horrible keybed. It honestly hurts my eyes, when I play it in a darkened room. I have too many ugly green Rolands, and no orange. For me they have a bit more charm. Congrats on the 100k!!
I was hoping to see this dust and fingerprint collecting bad boy on here soon! If only Roland had given it two extra analog voices instead of just the 4...
It's been a busy few weeks for me, so it's been a great surprise each Friday to be reminded that it is Bad Gear Day. :) Great video, this synth sounds awesome. I'd buy it just for the color scheme though.
another great video. I would have liked a lot more time focused on filter 3 as it imho is one of the main reasons I bought it. Its broken but sounds like nothing else including filters in my modular. it can create very strange sounds and the way the digital lines bleed into the analog section create all kinds of glitchy sounds. If buying... buy it because its flaws not in spite of and will find your self having a blast. That filter is clearly a screw up of some sort , I would bet that it just wasn't caught before a bunch got out the building so they stuck with that design rather than try to fix the voicing. I have seen the interviews on the subject at time of release... If anyone has a line on one of the designers I would love to interview em for a retrospective. Again, great video as always.
It's only bad gear because you are horrible at sound design and can't program great sounds on it like a superior sound designer such as myself. Don't blame the gear. Blame your inability to sound design.
Get an FA-06. JD-Xi/JD-XA on steroids, basically. And the sequencer is light-years better. But no analogue poly. If you want one, then add a Minilogue XD, far better choice over JDXA's.
Thanks 🙏 Your uploads always makes my day 😃 Maybe this one is “Bad gear” but the low end sounds amazing - definitely not what I expected ( could be your production that makes it so good 🤔 ) 😃
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Audiopilz: *slaps roof of YT channel*
Full Tracks, Extended Jams, Sample Packs: www.patreon.com/audiopilz
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congratulations on 100K subs, long, long overdue!
Yet another synthesizer to satisfy our need to see some bad gear.
Congrats on 100k subs!
Yesss that last one was perfection
I would love to watch an episode about how you make this show. The sheer volume of funny memes alone is humbling to witness, saying nothing about the killer editing and the (of course) excellent tunes and jams. Without question the most entertaining synth related TH-cam content!
Thank you so much!!! Great idea!!!
@@AudioPilz Wanna throw one more voice to the ballot saying that a behind-the-scenes episode would be great. The quality of your presentation is as excellent as your content.
Me too 👍
Same. I really wondered how much time it takes you to put together one of these videos time and again
@@flow6156 I once spent 14 hours editing a 10 minute video... that got CR blocked by YT. No idea how he gets around the algo
Had a JD-XA & Xi since 2016.
Used them both for several thousand hours.
Never had any issues & still really enjoy working them.
👍👍👍
It's a pretty stable system I will admit
Please also test devices in darkness, with a smoke machine nearby, someone pushing against you from time to time, a few units of alcohol consumed and the floor shaking to emulate a sub-optimal gig environment.
Thanks, I've had that for decades ;)
…[optimal] gig environment…
Don’t forget the lava lamp and a Sturtzer cat.
Oh...you forgot the rich suburban girl who thinks you're a jukebox, constantly yelling for someone else's tracks. Or adding a shower of rusty bits, dirt, and dried pigeon crap for that illegal warehouse aspect. Plus, plugging it into various ground faults, overvoltage, undervoltage, random power "fluctuations", etc. And for the capper, simultaneously pouring [INSERT COLLEGE FRAT BOY BEVERAGE HERE] on one end of the keybed while someone else throws up on the other.
You know..."real world" testing criteria. 🤣
I'm just skeptical that plastic toy looking thing could survive any kind of gigging.
But then most of the classic roland gear was pure plastic. And who is gigging? We are heating our bedrooms with these things.
Great work as always Florian. One day there will be a knock at your door and it will be a terminator sent by Roland. I’ve heard a couple of people say the black background and bright red lights makes it impossible to use at a gig.
The Terminator is still on my side as I'm Austrian;) Thanks!!!
@@AudioPilz I was a California state employee when the Terminator was our governor. He turned out to be pretty good at that job!
You can turn off the leds :)
A Terminator sent by Roland will have Aira Green eyes
Wrong! Jaming in the dark a dark type music is on another level, especially on a good night with some beer on the counter
Another absolute banger of a video, and music as well! The only channel on TH-cam that has me hovering over the pause button to catch all the greatness. Hope you're well.
Thank you so much!!!
I do the exact same thing! It's hard to keep up with the memes if they are only there for a frame or so. I find myself scrubbing backwards and forwards. Maybe the top tier Paterons get the Premiere File?
I generally hover miss the meme. Go back. Miss it again, and then get it on the third go!! :D
I am absolutely amazed by the quality of your tracks. Each one is better than the last. Can't wait for more. 💓
Thank you so much!!!
Congrats on 100k. I can't believe you aren't way past that already. You have the most concise and entertaining synth channel I'm aware of.
Thank you so much!!!
@@AudioPilz101k now, thank U YT algo g-ds!
Congratulations to 100.000 Subscribed Viewers
The JDXA would have been great if it came in green
Thank you so much!!!
I've been waiting on this one since the JDXI vid! This was my first hardware synth, and I'll have it until death do us part!
Hope it was worth the wait!!! Thanks!!!
How long before AudioPilz gets harassed by opportunists to find out what the coming episode will be, so they can hedge the reverb market?
You don't have to, it's a perk for all Patrons;)
I sense there's a way ^_)
@@AudioPilzyou’re just brazenly admitting to insider trading. Have fun in synth prison.
I made a fortune trading synth futures back in the 80s but then I lost it all betting on digital modelling
@@leadenmeresynth prison is where you can only use Teenage Engineering and modern Roland synths. *shudders*
I think it has a very particular sound, very 90s Roland but in a bombastic way and it comes out clearly in the video.
Thanks for yet another great episode!
Thank you!!!
90s roland made in 2015. That comes from the same self-proclaimed, head up its ass, let's sue Behringer for stealing "trade dress", "future looking" Roland. Lulz. I'd argue the shit they released in 90s was probably less trash than this. Some of it was even great (8080). This? An utter piece of sh!t. It actually makes me angry how bad it is.
@@karlu.5904 I agree, this range sound 90's but worse than their romplers and grooveboxes from that era. The JDXA is more versatile tho so I guess you can squeeze out a few usable patches despite its quite bad overall sound.
When I realised the JD-XA's real strength is for expressive performance and added in an extra pedal, it captured me once again. The Hybrid nature of the synth really shines when you're being expressive with it, layering the Supernatural & Analog section together. You're right the Analog voices can be a little dry and flat in the raw, but when combined with the digital voices and a tasteful helping of fx, it can really blow me away. This is why I could never flip this one. I'm going to be buried with it.
Agreed!!!
Okay. The memes and clips were ridiculously clever; so on point , yet so obscure. It takes me 30 minutes to get through a ten minute video, constantly hitting my computer spacebar to pause to read the micro edits. (Yes I'm watching this on my pc. And yes. It's my DAW)
Thank you!!!
Next up on Bad Gear. The silver play button. It’s ticking all the metallicky buttons.
Congratulations.
Hell yeah!!! Thanks!!!
Holy shit I love that you included Anonymoose videos. This is the merging of two worlds I didn't expect or know that I needed.
Classic!!!
Be still my beating heart, that's an An0nymoose synthwave music video. I didn't think it was possible for me to love Bad Gear more than I already did but DAMMMMMMN
Thank you!!! An0nymoose - freaking legend!!!
Woah, your accurate pronounciation of Gouda took me off guard 😅Great video as always!
Bedankt!
Thankfully Roland gave out free overlay panels to fix the shiny black finish.. surprised your mate doesn't have them applied to this one! There was a white JD-XA we've only seen pictures of, given to some musician, that suited the shiny finish much better. The sequencer was never really finished and there's digital noise with the lights running (you can turn them off) but it's a very interesting and quirky synth. First poly analogue from Roland in forever, too. Personally I love filter type 3.. it's some fun that gives a hint of what Roland engineers get up to when they're not constrained (like the cowbell oscillator in Sys-8)
It just feels like Christmas with the JD-XA and System-8 running next to each other 🎅🎄
JD-XA and System-8 next to each other is quite a challenge;)
@@AudioPilz If you use one these classic red-green 3D glasses with System 8 and JD-Xa left and right it magically merges both into one jupiter 8. Solved.
At least colour blind people won’t be offended.
The best solution to the problem came in a limited version of the JD-XA which was white.
@@BrunodeSouzaLino yeah but like I said, I don't think these were ever available in retail (like the white version of the JD-Xi).. they were one off customs made for a few musicians
Klangfarbe's building is the coolest thing ever. I love it and would love to know its history.
It was a gas tank when it was built during the reign of the Austrian Emperor, James Bond "The Living Daylights" used it as a set piece and super epic raves were held there in the 90s
Not much time to watch TH-cam at the moment, but managing to find some to get my 'Bad Gear' dose as soon as I can! Definitely worth it! Thank you for those moments
Thank you so much!!!
Great video! I almost returned mine when I got it. After spending time with it it became a favorite of mine. I'm not surprised it's hated though. You can skip through UI sections by holding shift. Makes programming a lot easier.
Love to see you cover the Cheetah MS800!
Great suggestion, thanks!!!
I always thought this synth was special! Never played on it, doubt I'll ever be in a room with one, but my name was once vocoded through one, and I'm telling you, it was splendid :)
Happy to hear that!!! Thanks!!!
Congratulations! Eagerly awaiting the 100k special.
Thank you so much!!! Working on it!!!
I look through all analog synthesizers and I think that JD-XA has a very saturated, warm analog sound and is great for producing your own sounds from scratch i can make any sound with it
Thank you for this even-handed overview of the JD-Xa. I've got a sort of love-hate relationship with this synthesizer. I probably won't part with mine, especially after having covered its fingerprint magnet top surface with a nice set of "Polar" overlays!
Thanks!!! Ah, the polar ones, nice!
@@AudioPilz-- Makes it look like the Gaia's big brother! 🤣🤣
Excited to see this one. This was my first big hardware synthesizer (after a Reface DX), and I always find new and interesting things to do with it, but I am not a normal music producer, so I am after different sounds than a lot of people.
Nice!!!
Well, nothing wrong with developing your own methods these days. A few decades ago, you still had a lot of tech fiddliness and learning curves, sometimes like you wouldn't believe! For example, the fun of using Finale prior to v.2. That was...just hideous. OTOH, you actually could run DAWs of that era on some of the then-new "box" Macs. I had a IIcx that I'd accelerated to a BLINDING 60 MHz. Wooooooo! But again, learning curves.
The tech is a lot more user-friendly now. Plus, there's a lot of stuff we don't have to do anymore...aligning and biasing various tape machines, for example. I don't miss that for a hot minute. Anyway, given that fact, I feel like there's far more area to explore sonically so that someone really DOES have a shot at creating their own, independent methods and techniques via pure exploration.
Plus, you have Eno's observations as a bit of a guidepost. He's stated several times that when you're dealing with new synths, the first thing to do is to get rid of the manuals. That way, you explore the instruments, processors, software, etcetc and _your voice_ emerges as a result of learning them in _your way._ Not really something you get to do outside of electronic music. And even though we've had electronic music since c. 1900 and Thaddeus Cahill's telharmonium, it STILL remains a frontier. Hopefully now that this has become the only musical form that's truly harnessed itself to Moore's Law, that'll be the same for quite some time to come.
@@daccrowell4776 the manuals are sometimes rather necessary to find what you missed after getting to know the instrument
And then with Yamaha workstations, the manual is necessary to even learn much as their UIs are terrible and unintuitive, unlike Korg and Roland gear, ignoring Roland gear with terrible UIs that depend on 4-character LCDs and such absurdities.
I think Eno's approach is more about learning how the EGs, filter, and oscillators of a given synth work together and independently of each other, as all subtractive synths are otherwise the bloody same in structure.
@@Jason75913 Right...a more intuitive approach to understanding how an instrument works for each given player. I saw this clip about Deleuze the other night, about eliminating strict codifications by way of an analogy about drum machines. If you follow codified, hierarchical orders, you accept the drum machine as a MACHINE that DRUMS...preset (sometimes not) patterns for specific styles, intended to stand in for a drummer when performing or practicing.
But with Deleuze's way of viewing the drum machine, he would reject these rigid definition "guardrails" as being counter to creative thought. His "rhizomatic" approach allows for new directions and explorations while rejecting constraints on intuition and creativity. The example given was how this NYC duo used one of these (a Seeburg Select-a-rhythm, which I have one of as well) not to make pop beats by ignoring the "norms" of how it's "supposed to" work. Instead, the instrumentalist DIMED the tempo control and fed this into some rather stygian processing to underpin this riot-causing track known as "Frankie Teardrop". Yep, we're talking about Suicide...definitely one of those proverbial "only band that matters"s. But had Martin Rev followed the hierarchical approach, that massively-important track probably would never have happened.
Of course, when it came to Yamaha's FM stuff, one dirty secret was that Eno "cheated". 20-ish or so ago, there was a VEMIA auction in which several Eno devices were on the block, and one of these was a Jellinghausen DX-Programmer. Basically, a mammoth SYSEX beast with all of the knobs and switches and so on that Yamaha opted to substitute a single data slider and alpha display for, figuring...uh...hey, doesn't that Rhodes patch sound GREAT? 😆
@@daccrowell4776 Alright, you want to dodge "strict codifications" with common synthesizers? Time to go _modular_ , buddy. It's the only way.
Otherwise, you are sticking to osc->filter->amp structures with modulators like key velocity and LFOs and EGs, end of story. Every non-modular subtractive synth ever right there. But knowing how the EGs and filters interact with the oscillators is where there's room for creativity, manuals don't even give any kind of strict structure to stick to, the synth itself does, so to speak.
That aside, you want more freedom without splurging on a wall of Eurorack? Korg and Roland ROMpler workstation keyboards are closer to modular than 99% of non-modular synths. But 99% of synthesists _do_ want simpler, more restrictive approaches to synthesis. Or just sweet presets made by someone else.
Another great video - thanks. I'm a big fan of the jd-xa. The analog filter mode LPF3 which, as you said, sounds broken when treated like the other filter modes is my favourite thing about the synth, but only when it's gain staged so that it doesn't fall apart with resonance. Used that way, it is a thing of beauty.
Thank you!!!
No matter how critical you are of gear, I always want to pick one up because you make the best of each device. And your video production is ridiculously good.
Thank you so much!!!
Congrats on 100K subs buddy!
Thank you so much!!!
from one legend to another.
Honesty,this is my holy grail of synths. Especially for the type of music that I want to do.
Synthwave? EDM?
👍👍👍
woooow 100k !!! Congratulation and thank you so much for the consistency and all the awesome episodes and vocoder shoutouts over the years
Thank you so much!!!
Jaaaa endlich 😁 hab so gewartet auf dieses video 🥰
War ja auch Zeit!!!
@@AudioPilz is ja auch das badgear schlachtschiff.... konnte meinen nie verkaufen und dann wurde er noch auf der rückseite verkratzt und hatte dann noch einen wasserschaden... werden den wohl mit ins grab nehmen denn wer will sowas in diesem zustand kaufen 😭 manchmal aber entpuppt er sich als guter synth für sound design aber das wars dann auch.... ach welch hassliebe 🥰🤯
This is underrated gear, not bad gear imo
Can't it be both?
If I had one of these I’m sure it would be like one of those terrible relationships you just can’t end. You’re terrible, JDXA, but I just can’t quit you.
I just gave you a like because even I don't want a VST version of this synth ever, you did your best. Hat off to my dear sir.
VST version is basically the Jupiter80 VST, if there is one of that one yet. That's where JDXA's badass digital engine comes from.
The Zen-core engine melds that Jupiter80 engine with the JV1080, so Zenology is another "JDXA VST" of sorts. Same sound and capacity for duplicating any JDXA/Jupiter80 patch, though the digital filters are better, EGs more capable, and Zenology/Zen-core even includes a neat VCF emulator (at the cost of polyphony).
Modulation options on Jupiter80/JDXA are fairly limited versus Zen-Core/Zenology's mod matrices, too.
Thank you!!!
I love seeing your reflection on the synth panel. I can imagine that would be distracting during gigs. With lights, etc.
It's a bit irritating even when jamming at home😂😂😂
nice cameo by Theremin virtuoso Caroline Eyck! (she's a wonderful person too!)
Legend!!!
I have always loved the almost Cyberpunk-esque aesthetics that Roland has provided with both this and other red-coloured synths as well as the more greenish synths.
Same here, up to a point.
@@Jason75913 it can become too much?
@@needfortweed8734 they would have benefitted from more colors.
@@Jason75913 yeah, it could have been interesting to see what they would be up to then...
Have you seen the V-Synth?
7:35 Nice use of the "elevated" 4kb intro by TBC and rgba from Breakpoint 2009. And you also mentioned the Hydrasynth! :D
Big demo scene fan here! Thank you!
Congrats on making a 100k subs. Can’t wait for the Jam Episode!!
Thank you so much!!!
I mentioned the JDXA when you reviewed the Vsynth. Still have both of mine . The end of the old era roland.
Nice, thanks again for the input!
Thank you for covering the JDXA. It is an exemplar of instruments that have good points but are unmistakably bad gear! That 12db analog filter and the noise from the analog circuitry though…😂
Thanks for watching!!! Plenty of weird design omissions...
@@AudioPilz how the heck did it not occur to _anyone_ at Roland to add a Data entry wheel. Why have they never released a firmware update to let us optionally use one of the wheels for data entry. There's 400+ waveforms to select from... with buttons! 🤦♂
@@TheRealWinsletFan same goes for JD-Xi
@@TheRealWinsletFan
Engineering: “Should we give them a wheel?”
Executives: “This is Roland, not Rolland, give them buttons and ship it now!”
Dollars over sense, all day everyday.
Congrats on 100K subs. I'm hoping you keep it up. I'm sure making this content is laborious.
Thank you so much!!!
One of my little pleasures of the week! Thank you Sir ! 😊
Thank you!!! Have a nice weekend!!!
Duuude excellent episode! This really isn't much of a bad synth, I've played with it a couple of times. It's got great sounds, and you can definitely make interesting sounds out of it. It just would've been great if did it had 5 octaves, and at least 6 voices of analog. It does suck that they totally cheap out and half-assed it, i.e. wasted a better potential that could've made it into a future classic. Or would've been legendary if they went all in for 8 analog voices. Build-wise, I do love the black and red aesthetic. But they should've went for a metal build, and avoided the glossy frame. So much potential this could've had... P.S. you should do the *Prophet 12* ! Another synth with mixed reviews and opinions!
Thank you!!! Great suggestion!!!!
No, the analog synthesis on the JD-XA is absolutely not a four-voice version of the monophonic analog part on the JD-Xi. For instance, the JD-xi's analog filter has just a single LPF mode, not the six modes of the VCFs on the JD-XA as well as the capability to mix in a digital superNATURAL part, and other differences like the ring modulation and cross modulation. I get why you would assume that. I'm an avid fan, but also a JD-XA owner, so of course the idea that my baby has just four instances of the few "analog circuits floating in a sea of digital synthesis" as one review characterized the JD-Xi's analog part, gets me all hot & bothered.
Thanks for the heads up!!!
At this point I’m just in dire need to see my FA here as bad gear :))))
Awesome as always, Florian!
Thank you!!! Great suggestion!!!
😂😂😂 that worf wavetable was worth the admission price alone. 👏👏👏👏
Lol, thanks!!!
2:38 Yeah. The display from hell is now in its correct color scheme. To me, the best part of the UI. Demons from all planes of the underworld got to love this thing. After all, it raises the undead sample library of the U110 from the grave. And some more. I rate the JDXA the #1 on the list of current Roland synths that are to consider when replacing my 90s Roland stuff.
Even the devil is afraid of it;)
@@AudioPilz So - if DIAMANDA GALAS uses it on stage - I am safe in the audience ;)
I knew it would come!
It was about time!
I've always been enamored with this synth, mainly because of the Gattobus vids where he makes magic with them. After cutting my teeth on a Roland FA-08 for years this almost became my first "real" synth but someone offered me a basically new Korg Minilogue for $300 USD so I couldn't refuse that. One day I may yet pull the trigger on this since the combination of analog and digital sounds are a real powerhouse... or I'll go to the dark side and slowly build a Eurorack module. But I'm still a piano player and need sounds there... so hard to choose. lol
Terrific video as always, loved the jams, the Gmod video, and those vocoder sounds at the end were fantastic. Btw you can be proud knowing that your videos have gotten my gf interested in learning about synths and how to play them. Cheers! :D
Thank you so much!!!
As a JD-XA owner that can't give it up, I was really drawn to the Werner Herzog meme I saw in the Synth Memes group a few weeks ago.
Werner Herzog for ROLAND:
"I have sat in front of many
synthesizers during my short
time upon this planet, but none
compelled me to press buttons
and keys in the way Roland has.
With their cryptic, almost mystical
displays and inability to contemplate
the needs of the novice or dilettante,
they illuminate the path to madness
and despair in ways other
manufacturers dare not imagine.
To play anything else would be an
obscenity, a baseness and vulgarity
too terrible for the mortal mind to
address. Roland haunts my
dreams and waking days.
This meme is the stuff of legends!!!
@@AudioPilz it talks to me!
Love that quote and I love my JD-XA. The only problem was I missed out on getting the dull styled overlays, so I get blinded every time I use it.
@@anthonybrett that's a shame, the overlays do help
@@anthonybrett i managed to get a second hand set of overlays on ebay a few years back
I remember looking up reviews of it fully assuming it was going to be the exact same thing as the JD-XI only with eight separate tracks to sequence instead of four. I'm really still waiting for that JD-XXL-I :(
I'd love to see a "real" synthesizer based on these technologies
That would have been a half decent synth if they'd put all good bits of jdxi and jdxa into one synth they could have pulled off a half decent synth rather then what we got and out of the 2 the jdxi was best one
What killed it for me was the global arp thing and Roland's modulation matrix or rather lack off and the keybed was awful just felt like big plastic pegs and played same way as well and to be honest some of the patches I've heard on it are some of the worst presets ever in the entire history of the known universe ever yo be put on a synth it's a shame really cause of what it could have been to what we got
this is one that truly had it coming
It was just a matter of time
Until today, I had never heard of this thing - or maybe I never wanted to look for something like it? Hmmm. Thanks for rolling it out, Florian.
Always a pleasure! Thanks!
4:28 dammit, fairlight orch burst my second biggest weakness is revealed….
I have no choice but to love it now no matter the cost 😁.
Double dammit, it’s got a great sounding vocoder too!
My biggest weakness is revealed…. 😂😂.
Great demo 👏👏👏, “insert Robocop meme-I LIKE IT!”
Same as usual here, I wanna see the PWM Malevolent and Gamechanger Audio Motor Synth 🙏.
Great suggestions, thank you!!!
You nearly can kill aliens with that synth, just need to switch it on! I like synths with a kill factor, would have bought one 3 or 4 times, but anything unknown stopped me every time. Perhaps the red glow…
the vocoder is great imho, great vocoding !
More needed than ever;)
Thank you Klank Father!
👍👍👍
Congrats for the 100k!, see you in the next week
Thank you so much!!!
I swear it appears Roland can no longer make good synths and refuse to reissue the synths that everyone wants yet wonders what went wrong 😢😮😂
Another fantom anyone? Cmon roland ffs. Good machines maybe but just not exciting at all
van halen toilet seat bit was well good
That one had me rofling too;)
I really can't express how much I
Thank you!!!
never thought i would see Dean Winchester in this place - nice one!
Thanks!!!
The show I’ve been waiting for!! I have the JD-Xi. Everything it does is either un-amazing or just bad. But each time I tell myself I wasted my money, another piece of gear fails, or I have a connectivity challenge, and the JD-Xi saves the day. It’s like a cheap knock-off of a Swiss army knife.
Probably the cheapest way to get hold of a Supernatural engine...
Have you tried the JD-Xi Manager editor software? In my opinion, it pretty much completely changes using the device.
@@yzimsx No, I’m an OS X user. I probably would to re-explore it with this menu-diving solution otherwise. If it somehow enabled pattern chaining and shuffle (on all channels, not just drums), it would be great.
8:35 That strictly Rolandian and slightly dated worst of both worlds synth waving contest, its pure 🔥
Thank you!!!
I've always loved the look of the JDXA, the price is just a lot for only 4 oscilliators for digital or analog, but it can be manageable though. i will get it at some point. I already have the Integra-& and Jupiter-Xm. Love Roland
Congratz on the 100k milestone. I, unfortunately, don't have too much time for music nowadays, but still, from time to time, I check on Warren from Produce Like A Pro and your channel. Good luck and keep having fun.
Thank you so much!!!
There is nothing wrong with the specs. It’s the UI, build feel, and presentation that is a hard sale.
Agreed!!!
I like digital synthesis just fine, but Roland's product design team was truly crack-addicted.
Don't do drugs!!!
PWM explained with Klingon skull patterns really helped my understanding! Hilarious as always!
Thank you!!!
I'm like a proud dad watching his only son walk across the graduation stage right now! I love/hate the JDXA but I just can't let it go.
❤️❤️❤️❤️
I own a Roland System-1. The lights are even more annoying than the horrible keybed. It honestly hurts my eyes, when I play it in a darkened room. I have too many ugly green Rolands, and no orange. For me they have a bit more charm. Congrats on the 100k!!
Thank you!!! Big fan of the Sys1
I was hoping to see this dust and fingerprint collecting bad boy on here soon! If only Roland had given it two extra analog voices instead of just the 4...
Yeah, they really like the number 4
@@AudioPilz The Boutiques are proof of that lol.
It's been a busy few weeks for me, so it's been a great surprise each Friday to be reminded that it is Bad Gear Day. :) Great video, this synth sounds awesome. I'd buy it just for the color scheme though.
Thank you!!!
Just fantastically put together!
Thanks!!!
It's so ironic how you can get objectively bad gear in your videos and still crank out bangers! That's talent!
JDXA isn't bad gear, just overpriced - its excellent digital engine comes from the Jupiter80. Post FX are decent.
Thank you!!!
@@Jason75913 I got one for like half MSRP a few years ago and I can't complain tbh it's a fun bit of kit
Looks like a Klingon synth to me.
🤣👍
Qapla'
Recommend everyone to watch Jexus videos of this, they are awe inspiring it makes me yearn for a Roland JDXA.
Jexus is the GOAT!!!
@@AudioPilz The 4 jam of his first JDXA makes me squee, hes truly something else. companies gotta start paying him to make presets for them honestly.
another great video. I would have liked a lot more time focused on filter 3 as it imho is one of the main reasons I bought it. Its broken but sounds like nothing else including filters in my modular. it can create very strange sounds and the way the digital lines bleed into the analog section create all kinds of glitchy sounds. If buying... buy it because its flaws not in spite of and will find your self having a blast. That filter is clearly a screw up of some sort , I would bet that it just wasn't caught before a bunch got out the building so they stuck with that design rather than try to fix the voicing. I have seen the interviews on the subject at time of release... If anyone has a line on one of the designers I would love to interview em for a retrospective. Again, great video as always.
Thank you!!! I know there are quite a few people who really like it but I had to fit a lot of synth into the episode;)
1st lol, watching SS atm, brb
;)
Nobody understands Roland nowadays
Constantine intro was epic. Best one yet!
Thank you!!!
That final jam was VERY ILLEGAL
Most of them are;)
It's only bad gear because you are horrible at sound design and can't program great sounds on it like a superior sound designer such as myself. Don't blame the gear. Blame your inability to sound design.
Thank you for the feedback
ahahahaha the money shot with all the gear on the table is SO good
😀😀😀
I've always wanted one of these.. they seem pretty useful and fun. But i live my music life in DAW's.. love this episode! 😎👍👍🤜🤛
Thank you!!!
Congratulations Florian on 100k subscribers!
Thank you so much!!!
Man, I bought a jd-xi and love it, and was thinking about getting a JD-XA as my next synth, but this video honestly has me reconsidering...
Get an FA-06.
JD-Xi/JD-XA on steroids, basically. And the sequencer is light-years better. But no analogue poly. If you want one, then add a Minilogue XD, far better choice over JDXA's.
@@Jason75913 thanks for the recommendation! I'll have to look into it
Thank you!!!
Assault me with your lightening fast use of memes! I love it! As per your advice, I watch it twice!
Thank you!!!
Thanks 🙏 Your uploads always makes my day 😃 Maybe this one is “Bad gear” but the low end sounds amazing - definitely not what I expected ( could be your production that makes it so good 🤔 ) 😃
Thank you!!!
Your videos are an inspiration. I love the reviews but the editing is amazing! keep up the great work!
Thank you so much!!!
@@AudioPilz No problem, a behind the scenes would be amazing, Patreon even?
*slaps roof of YT channel*
this bad boy can fit 100k subscribers in it
Thank you!!!
You looked overjoyed with the JDXA vocoder shout-outs. 🙂
That was super fun!!!
Great video, love your work. I have a suggestion a Studiologic Sledge.
Thank you!!! Great suggestion!!!
never thought i would see this one on here..
It just materialized in my area;)
@@AudioPilz its another perfect one.tanks.
I drive a Porsche not a BMW. This also sums up my feelings on the JDXA.
Now the Roland INTEGRA-7 is where it's at.
Classic!
5:44 Being you from Vienna I thought you were going to say Pungent Stench. Roland is always motivational
PS is such a legendary band!!!
Huge beast of an instrument, same tiny Roland screen 🥀
As is of course tradition 😂😂😂
Holy shit that TF2 SFM sequenca caught me completely off guard but I‘m living for it
Nice, thanks!!!
Didn't expect to see an an0nymooose compilation in bad gear, but I'm all for it
Classic!!!