The core presets for this instrument are handy for lead and arpeggios, and a little distortion can throw it into a huge Trent Reznor bass sound. The filters are weak, but this may be because they sound like they operate early in the signal chain. Cutoff sweeps don't have the effect they would if occuring at the very end of the signal chain (like on Rainbow). Kepp this synth in regular roation and you will never be disappointed. I use it often.

I almost use no freebies now, and JX-220 was the last one taken out of my list (I still use JX-16, Cheeze Machine and Triangle). That said it is an excellent instrument. The GUI is quite intuitive. While the presets themselves don't tickle my fancy, just a little tweaking makes this thing growl a whole lot better. For someone newly into VSTi-based recording, this is certainly one of the top 6-7 free VSTi's available.

Reminds me of the Roland Juno-60 I paid $2600 Cdn. for in 1982 except without the beautiful built-in two preset chorus effect. Put Big Tick's Hexaline and Dual Delay f/x in series behind it and it almost sounds like a composite Juno. The simplicity of programming makes this a great foot-wetter not only for synth novices but also for hardware synth programming virtuosos who find themselves back at square one learning the virtual equivalent. Actually useable freeware is a work of love, and I can only show my appreciation by spending time on it and programming my own sounds into it to justify the developer's hard work and faith. I can't guarantee that this will convince me to buy JX-Synth, but it has already convinced me to download and try out the demo. Thanks again for fixing the W98 problem in 1/2 hour on version 1.1 last Saturday. Most commercial programs don't offer that kind of customer service response. Thanks, John@JXPlugins!

I have a lot of commercial or shareware synths but it always amazes my when a synth like the JX220 comes along and makes some great sonic noise.
Smooth filters, fat sounding and good filters that make the JX220 useufl for pads, leads an bass.
Lacking in programming features but good for basic building block type sounds.

Pros: free and a GUI, creamy high quality sounding timbres, low processor resouces
Cons: limited feature set

This won't make you sorry you bought a Pro-52 but great for quick sounds that work in mixes.

Excerpt from the Orion-central review:

Do you need it? If you like to use all kinds of different synths then you can't beat the price on this one. If you are the not so patient kind that like to load a synth, grab a preset or quickly patch up a nice impressive sound, pass on this one. The JX220 certainly has a distinct sound of it's own and can be a nice addition to your synths, if you take the time to program it properly. If you do, it can be a gem. This is clearly a synth for real men, persistence is the word here. But it being free, you can't go wrong in trying, now can you.

Read the full review on Orion-central:
http://www.orion-central.com/reviewjx220.shtml

The user interface is well done, but it sounds somehow like "plastic". Sometimes useful...