Roland JX-305 User reviews -Page 56

Synth Site: Roland: JX-305: User reviews Add review

Average rating: 4.3 out of 5

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Gary M a professional user from England writes:

Hi people, ok getting (right) down to the point, I am going to give this baby a TRUE review cutting out the bias side etc. The JX-305 is getting on abit now, 3-4 years old, But please do not let all these bad reviews or that fact put you off. This synthesizer has an 8-track sequencer, patches, and HUGE control. This means that musicians can put there idea's down and base around them. Anything with a sequencer is enough, u know what I mean. 8 tracks is fine to create a smashing dance track, esp if your using more than 2 songs. The patches are OK and amazing for presets. But come on guys, who uses presets?, this seems to be what everyone goes for. The patches offered are huge, pick any random one out of hundreds, program it, do your thing, and you have your own patch. You see, the problem is, people expect it to be way too easy. WAKE UP GUYS!!!!, you don't get something for nothing. This machine has no drawbacks as far as production goes, infact it has more than the scopes worth. Dance is not everyones cuppa, but if you like trance / techno, this is for you. Compared to every other dance synthesizer ive used, nothing comes close to the 305. Why?, ok there good, but the JX-305 is complicated. It's all about who you are and who's using it. If your a musician with talent, potential and lots of groovy idea's, this synthesizer is 110% for you. If your someone who likes to instatly push buttons and make professional tracks in just 2 minutes of turning it on, fair enougb but your looking in the wrong place. The JX-305 is unique, its catch, and a great synth to use for professional track's. There's a hidden side to the 305 which only proper producers can understand (no offence). It's all about self feel really. Ok the bad sides, it's very complicated to use, uses flash rom, the sequencer can be very hard to use, and the bios settings are hard to get to. Like I said, this is all part of being a professional. Ive gone abit right?, heh, this aint even the start. I hope my review has made you wonder about this machine, I know what I'm on about, this aint just coz im bias about my equipment etc. For all you bad guys who diss different synthesizers, just remember one thing, its the musician who control's the synth, not the synth who control's the musician. Im expecing those type of guys to be instant wannabe's, but then again, the music industry's hard isen't it?

cheers

Nuff said

posted Friday-Feb-14-2003 at 17:36

writes:

In other words, be prepared to spend a bloody fortune for your memory cards. Ebay is the only place you can find them and they aint cheap! This is one serious drawback for the JX305. Too bad, otherwise cool machine.

posted Tuesday-Nov-19-2002 at 16:49

BJ a hobbyist user from USA writes:

I managed to pick up a used JX-305 at a music store for around $450 bucks over this past summer. In my opinon, I would not pay any more than that for it. As we all know, the presets are CRAP and a waste of memory which would have better been used for more user memory slots. However, you CAN program some nice sounds in this little blue board if you put your mind to it and know which waveforms to stay away from (such as those so-called "realistic" samples). I've programmed some VERY concincing D-50ish pads with it. I also own a D series synth, so I know from first hand experience that this is true. You simply take a PCM sound, program it so that you hear only the initial attack transient and a very short decay. Then, use the "D-50 saw" waveform, a sguare waveform (a mellow one), and/or a pulse waveform and manipulate those sythetic waveforms in any way you wish...viola! You can emulate a D-50 with the JX-305 (or any other roland synth for that matter). Also, this syth does quite well for virtual analog sounds...duhhhh, that's what's in dance music so it does not suprise me. This board was designed for dance music such as techno, rap, jungle, drum 'n' bass and such-- not for jazz, classical, rock, country or anything else of that sort. Given that, I say this synth preforms well. For other styles of music, I use my Roland XP-30. I bought the JX-305 because I still thought my XP model was a little dull in the dance music area. With the JX-305, I now have access to much more drum sounds, a few more sound effects, MUCH EASIER REALTIME CONTROL OVER SEVERAL PARAMETERS, and lastly, a PATTERN STYLE SEQUENCER, which is perfect for dance music and for sketching out ideas (which are later fleshed out via an external, linear sequencer). My advise to anyone buying this synth is this: If you do not play dance music, then, stay away from this one. If you are looking for a real virtual analog synth, buy a JP-8000. If you like dance music, are looking for a synth with a built in patter sequencer, and you don't have the money to buy the really, really good stuff, buy a JX-305. Hnmmm...one more interesting note: I understand that these synths are getting harder to find and the bidding wars for them on ebay are downright nuclear. Perhaps in 10 or 15 years it will be up there with the JP-8's, DX-7's and other vitage gear? Only time will tell, so I'm hanging onto mine.

Rating: 3 out of 5 posted Tuesday-Nov-12-2002 at 15:45

Karlos a hobbyist user from Finland writes:

I bought this thing second-hand as my first HW synth a month or two ago. I've been into making music for about ten years, but now I had the time to bring it one step forward.

So far my experiences with JX-305 have been quite similar to what other persons have told here.

The use of this synth is very straight-forward, with practically no experience on HW-synths so far, I managed to reach a decent knowledge of the synth in a few days. The manual is very helpful and gets deep enough to get to know the insights.

There's not much use for the presets, which means that you'll have to dig into the manual about how to create your own instruments. So far, the most limiting factor has been my own ability of modifying and tweaking the sounds, but the patches there are available give some hint about how original-sounding and high-quality sounds this machine can produce.

The arpeggiator is excellent, and the possibilities to modify arp patterns are very vast.

Sequencing on JX-305 is made easy: You can play your stuff in real-time and then modify it on a microscope level. For drum parts the step-sequencing option is extremely useful.

And the most essential thing: The real-time tweaking-enabling knob arsenal is so cool!

To conclude, JX-305 is an excellent all-round synth tailor-built for electronica. I've been very impressed of the potential it has, and definitely can recommend one for persons like me who are entering the HW side of creating music.

Rating: 5 out of 5 posted Thursday-Sep-26-2002 at 03:59

James Munday a professional user from england writes:

The JX-305 is with out a doubt the best synthesizer in the world today for any dance creation. Roland have made sure of that, its awesome. I know every synth owner would be bios of there synths and say good things about them, but cutting out all the soft putty, this is a geniune review. The JX-305 cannot be faulted because it has everything for slamming original tracks. The best soundset you could wish for, 16 track sequencer which comes across as being (8)but including every track you need it adds up. People may deduct marks from this synth, coz its not the most easy synth to work with. To create any song / track / pattern, you have to work with the sequencer, and then of course take your tracks above the limits with edit / realtime tweaking. Presets are there for backup or tweaking, remember that people. The JX-305 is aimed at the professional music market with more than everything. To many advancements to talk about here, and I can't wait any longer to play mine again, so im off now...

I tell you this...for anyone in a professional situation looking for the best synth for dance & electronic music...get the JX-305 if you can, coz even though its not made anymore, its a ground breaking engine, still top of the range and all that..

Rating: 5 out of 5 posted Wednesday-Sep-25-2002 at 18:59

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