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Roland JX-03 review


Phil O'Keefe

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...
Love it but why only 4 voices :deadhorse:

 

That's certainly a common (and IMHO valid) criticism of the JX-03. Especially considering the JX-3P that it's based on had six voices.

 

And I really can't say why they went with only four voices. :idk: Many of the Roland Boutique series modules are limited to only four voices, regardless of what the original synth had. The JP-08 only has four, while a Jupiter 8 had eight voices, and the JU-06 also has only four instead of a Juno 60's / 106's six. I suspect that it has something to do with lack of sufficient computational power to implement the full six (or eight) voices, but I don't know that for certain and Roland has been rather tight-lipped on the subject.

 

Fortunately you can chain two of them together for a 8 voice synth (two more than a vintage JX-3P), which is what I usually do. You can also run them as two 4 note synths; bi-timbral operation is something else that a vintage JX-3P couldn't do. And the cost of two modules is less than the cost of a vintage JX-3P, and way less than the cost of a JX-3P and PG-200 knob box.

 

BTW welcome to Harmony Central! :wave:

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Great Review! I have the vintage rack version of the JX3P, the MKS 30. That and my (unfortunately stolen) PG200 were fully refurb'd by Advanced Electronics. I like the sound of the JX-03, esp 2 layered! It's of course different than the vintage unit, but still good. I'm not a hater of ACB, and I really like the System 8. Although what I don't like about the JX-03, JU-06, and the JP-08, is the midi implementation. Although like all the Boutique series, they are cool little boxes, on the 1st run of the boutiques, they screwed up the buffering, and the latency screws up the feel for any funk or syncopated parts where timing and feel are crucial. Roland recently, reluctantly, admitted this. Although for pads, strings, drones, etc they're golden.

I was going to buy a VP-03 until I heard about the Behringer clone. But the D-05 is freaking FIRE!

 

https://ru-clip.com/video/FmnXzoCktOY/roland-boutique-ju-06-and-jp-08-proof-of-latency-issues.html

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