Roland

Reviews | Roland JD-Xi
86
main downside is that you can’t route
the digital parts through the analogue
fi lter or layer them with the analogue
synth except when sequencing; but still,
when you add in the sequencer and
audio/MIDI interface you realise that the
JD-Xi is surely the most fully featured
synth in the sub
£500 bracket.
The JD-Xi has
just turned the
synth world upside
down! It has just
about everything
live performers,
beat makers,
analogue heads and studio producers
desire for very little outlay in a sturdy
and portable form factor. Although there
are minor downsides, most are likely
tweakable in OS updates and the
bottom line is that the JD-Xi’s feature
set, versatility and sound quality are
wholly unrivalled at this price. The JD-Xi
is inspiring to perform and compose
with, all the basic controls you need for
live/studio tweaking are onboard and the
‘crossover’ concept is ingenious. Roland
surely have a hit on their hands – now
bring on the JD-XA!
Now the analogue part! The Roland
boffi ns have informed me that there’s
“one DCO analogue oscillator (plus Sub
Osc), one TVF analogue fi lter (LPF) and
one TVA analogue amplifi er (similar
structure as Juno-60, 106, Alpha
Juno/JX-3P/JX-8P/JX-10), whilst the
envelopes and LFOs are digital”.
Importantly, the analogue engine
sounds classy and modern, yet
unmistakably Roland-y, which bodes
extremely well for the upcoming JD-XA
poly. You can hear some stepping when
turning the fi lter cutoff slowly (though
only at extreme high resonance settings)
but the saw, triangle and variable pulse
waves are rich, full and punchy and the
general character is precise, warm and
present (even rivalling the quality of
some more expensive analogue monos)
– the JD-Xi certainly reminds me of my
old Juno-106 sonically, which is a good
thing too. Also, you can’t detune the
main analogue osc against the sub
oscillator but there’s PWM available via
the LFO for adding movement/detuning.
The ladder-based analogue LPF
sounds great and can produce
speaker-shaking subs, refi ned lows,
juicy squelches and sizzling highs. Like
the digital and drum parts, the analogue
part can be routed through the effects
and it’s a godsend having everything so
fully self-contained for gigging. The
ALTERNATIVES
Korg microKorg XL
£339
The original microKorg’s
success still inspires other
manufacturers today and
its more powerful successor,
the microKorg XL+, still
offers some great sounds,
effects, arpeggiator and
a vocoder.
www.korg.com
Novation MiniNova
£249
Another microKorg inspired
synth, the MiniNova offers
plenty of Dance-orientated
sounds with a vocoder and
VocalTune, plus effects and
arpeggiator. Has a pretty
deep synth engine too.
www.novationmusic.com
Yamaha DX100
£used
One of the fi rst minikey
synths, the classic DX100 is
a portable DX21 offering
dirty 4-op FM sounds,
though it can do great
analogue impersonations
too with some careful
programming.
eBay, Gumtree etc
VERDICT
BUILD
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VALUE
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EASE OF USE
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VERSATILITY
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RESULTS
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The JD-Xi’s feature-set, versatility
and sound quality are unrivalled at
this price point. What’s not to like!
Inspiring to perform and compose
with, all the controls you need for
live/studio tweaking are onboard
The MIDI-syncable
arpeggiator is another
powerful tool in the
JD-Xi’s already well
spec’d arsenal. Simply
switch it on, press hold to
latch the arp and then
scroll through the 128
onboard patterns which
offer loads of different
styles and feels. It’s a
very quick way to get
ideas going or for
jamming along to.
Effects-wise, there are
two multi-effect blocks
plus a delay unit with
standard and panning
modes and a reverb unit
with two room, two stage
and two hall reverbs.
Effect 1 includes
distortion and fuzz plus a
compressor and
bitcrusher, whilst Effect 2
includes fl anger, phaser,
ring mod and a slicer.
The reverbs and delays
sound good, the
distortions and bitcrusher
are great for adding
general grit or for
dirtying up sounds, the
compressor is handy for
beefi ng up beats/basses,
and the phaser, fl anger
and ring mod can all be
used to subtly enhance or
destroy sounds! The slicer
is notable as it can be
used as a roll-like
function on all parts –
you can also tweak effect
level per key/drum in
drum mode and use the
slicer to create fi lls on
just the snare, hats or
entire beat.
Arpeggiator And Effects
The drum part allows
you to build kits from
classic Roland
samples and effect/
fi lter each drum
sound separately.
The analogue
monosynth features
three waves with
PWM and a dual
octave sub oscillator.
Drum And
Analogue Parts
The two 64-note
polyphonic digital
parts use
SuperNatural and
PCM waves. You can
have three partials
per Tone with
separate envelopes,
LFOs and more. Deep
and powerful!
Digital Parts
FMU290.rev_roland.indd 86 2/25/15 2:40 PM