11 thoughts on “Roland JD-XA Custom Patches”

      1. Read Roland Clan forums. The limited pattern sequencer is a deal breaker. You can’t even have the sequencer playing, change programs and when it gets at the end of the current pattern it does the other one. Epic fail. Since it has 8 tracks to drive external gear the inability to switch on pattern boundaries like the Xi is totally baffling. The fumbled sequencer really killed the bottomline score. It seems almost incredible that the Xi is vastly superior in terms of sequencing (switching patterns on the fly, drum track). The only two benefits of the XA sequencer compared to the one in the Xi are: more synth tracks and its ability to shuffle. Having no transpose function in the sequencer sucks, too. Roland should go into damage control mode by releasing a 2.0 update, but I guess it would be too little, too late. The digital side sounds good (good samples, direct access), the analog side isn’t that interesting (hardly better than the JP-8000, which is a VA). The keys are a bit too short also. Long story short: a bad board altogether.

        1. I agree! They also, in my opinion, made all the wrong choices in the layout/build. Cheap Plastic feel all around and glossy black background with red lights. Basically you need a box of hand wipes around for the obligatory “every 30 mins” wipe down. Also, the lcd screen is literally a red version of the same on found on my Roland D-110……are you kidding me???
          This would have been acceptable on a sub $1000 board but not for what they are charging.
          Between this and the Integra 7, you’ve got to wonder what Roland has been thinking these past few years in terms of “high end” gear.

          1. > you’ve got to wonder what Roland has
            > been thinking these past few years in
            > terms of “high end” gear.
            Right. Why was there no Fantom G successor? For comparison: Korg came up with three Kronos models so far.

  2. It’s got some major short comings, some unforgivable, but it’s actually a lot of fun. I’ve gotten patches out of my JD-XA that I would never get out of anything else. Weird Skinny Puppy TDP/Last Rights atmospheres. The analog side isn’t amazing on its own but I’ve managed to get a pretty good SH-101 sound, never been able to do that on a JP-8000. The digital side is a lot of fun. I wouldn’t pay 2199 usd, I got mine a lot cheaper. I think if you go into it not thinking of the sequencer as a performance sequencer (unfortunately) but more of patch animating sequencer you won’t feel ripped off. If Roland would fix the damn sequencer, and drop the price, I think they’d attract a lot more buyers. Even if Roland doesn’t fix the sequencer, when they blow these out, I’d recommend grabbing one if you’re into complex atmospheric pad type sounds.

    1. I’m with ya, man! Got my -Xi WITH a case in mint condition for well under 400$ US from a well known and poorly thought of instrument retailer whose 1st name rhymes with “Keytar”, and the thing is BAD! I didnt like the sound bank arrangement at 1st but now i think its sick for live performance, sort of like “super presets.” Who cares about the sequencer, really, it has what, almost 100 arp patterns, most of which are pretty cool, unlike the BassStation2 which has the lamest sequences ive ever heard, and also weighs next to nothing. All shortfalls aside, i had an incredibly SICK gothmosphere style patch dialed in within 3 minutes of diving into the wavetables, and I just busted it out at my Wendsday night Kaoss jam. People were scared. Some limitations, needs to be handles with care and transported in a case, AWESOME soundscape potential, lots of used ones getting let go of, go get one.

      1. > I’m with ya, man! Got my -Xi WITH a
        > case in mint condition for well under 400$ US

        This thread is about the JD-XA!! *Facepalm*
        Paying 350 bucks for a used JD-Xi is nothing special.

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