Roland JDXi as first ever synth?

[Coffeecup]

Hi,

I recently went to a music festival and fell in love with what synthesisers can do. I want to buy one for myself but I have never used one before, and do not make music.

A guy in a music shop recommended me the Roland JDXi, £440, as my first synth. I thought it was a bit much for a complete beginner. Was wondering what people think of this.

Any opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[lectropunk]

It's really crap ! I had one a while ago
Hated it its more like a childs toy
If i was you id go for a korg minilouge if you wanted to go thè hardware road
But its better to start small first . I'm not telling you what to do but if i was you id get some soft synth like uhe diva or uhe repro or sylent 1
Hope this helps

[Coffeecup]

Hey yeah thanks man. It's honestly crap? For £440 I thought it would be great! Under £100 I'd understand but that things quite pricey to me.

[fladd]

It's not crap. It is a very powerful synth for the money. Especially if you like the classical Roland sounds. The user interface, however, is very limited, which makes the thing difficult to programme. I think there are third-party editors for PC and Mac, though, that will help with this. It all depends on what you want from it. If you like more modern (EDM-style) synth sounds then I would probably also go for one of the thousands of VSTi available.

[RichieWitch]

Think about going out on eBay or Reverb.com and buy something used. Generally, you'll be able to resell it for what you paid if it turns out you don't like it.

My first synth was a used Korg MS2000R. I got it cheap and I learned so much about synthesis from it. Years later, I'm still really fond of the sound, and use it pretty regularly to layer up with the other synths.

Take a look on websites like Vintage Synth Explorer and see what kind of old gear sounds good that you can pick up cheap, then head over to eBay and Reverb and shop around.

[Distorted Horizon]

It depends what you need really. It's a great tool but if you have a decent computer, I'd maybe pick some cheap midi keyboard instead and start with freeware synths and samples.

If you decide to go that way, I'm sure that if you change your topic to "newbie here, what do I need for low budget", you'll receive a lot of opinions, tips and stuff from friendly people of kvr

[Zexila]

Which music festival, what kind of music?

Asking this because plenty of people don't use hardware synths anymore and are all in the box, especially ones that are gigging and doing half of the work on a laptop on the go.

Also agree to start small, for example download free Cakewalk by Bandlab, get nice cheap MIDI controller like Nektar Impact LX61+ and rent-to-own virtual software synth Sylenth1 for starters, see how far you will go with it and do you really need hardware synth.

https://cakewalk.bandlab.com/
http://www.nektartech.com/impact-lx49-61-plus.html
https://www.lennardigital.com

[Distorted Horizon]

Asking this because plenty of people don't use hardware synths anymore

And there are plenty of people who do use. Personally I use both hard and soft.

AFAIK jdxi transmits audio through usb, so it's possible to record stuff you do without buying external audio interface (yet).
But it's a bit limited. You can only record one thing at a time.

If you go software way, you can use multiple instances of synths to cover the whole spectrum with noise.

[Zexila]

Asking this because plenty of people don't use hardware synths anymore

And there are plenty of people who do use. Personally I use both hard and soft.

Your personal preference, still there are more people that don't, especially ones that started music making last 5 years and are into popular EDM genres (especially ones that are made with Massive mainly), mostly folks with strong preference are choosing hardware in 2018, if the year was 1998 sure, but today, no, so let's wait until OP gave us info about what kind of thing he is into, if he's into "Massive made genre", we should give him straight answer.

[Distorted Horizon]

Asking this because plenty of people don't use hardware synths anymore

And there are plenty of people who do use. Personally I use both hard and soft.

Your personal preference, still there are more people that don't, especially ones that started music making last 5 years and are into popular EDM genres (especially ones that are made with Massive mainly), mostly folks with strong preference are choosing hardware in 2018, if the year was 1998 sure, but today, no, so let's wait until OP gave us info about what kind of thing he is into, if he's into "Massive made genre", we should give him straight answer.

Okaaaay you're right

[musicartist]

Did you try the novation products ?

They're quite affordable.

[nix808]

Yeah-hi!
What style of electronic music was the festival?
mmm- u have 2 choices of synths, and both are nice
Hardware and software- u can take both if like
hardware has 2 types- digital and analog
software is essentially like digital hardware
Analog hardware does not use numerals, it is made of electrical components purely

If ur after a modern style like psy(ie. a rave)-
the sounds are more likely to be digital

the analog is fat saws and such. It can contain frequencies unreproducible by the human ear
It's more a vintage vibe, but is of course more versatile than that and can be suited to all Techno styles. The forms are imperfect, where in digital they are(if programmed so) more clinically correct

U will be assimilated -- 8D

[sjm]

Doesn't the Roland have mini-keys? If you don't already have a normal sized MIDI keyboard, and don't have hands the size of a child, you might want something that's more playable.

If your hands are like mine (which are admittedly pretty big, I can do ~1.5 octave spread on a standard piano), then mini keys are absolutely unplayable.

For that price range you could pick up an Ultranova, which has proper sized keys with aftertouch. No anologue voices of course. Also doubles as a USB audio interface, but don't almost all of the newer digital synths do that?

Anyway, you'll get much more helpful responses if you give people an idea of:
a) Your skill level - have you ever played keys or another instrument, e.g. at school?
b) Your musical intentions - JMJ or Acivii?
c) Your intentions with the synth - sound module/gigging/MIDI controller

With no information to go on other than you decided you want a synth, there's not much to say that will be of any use to you.

[fluffy_little_something]

Doesn't the Roland have mini-keys? If you don't already have a normal sized MIDI keyboard, and don't have hands the size of a child, you might want something that's more playable.

If your hands are like mine (which are admittedly pretty big, I can do ~1.5 octave spread on a standard piano), then mini keys are absolutely unplayable.

Hm, I also have big hands, they also span 1.5 octaves each, yet I adapted to my new MicroKey 2 controller pretty fast. I think it has more to do with one's fine motor skills, not the size as such. Luckily my fingers are long, but slender, not the sausage type

[fluffy_little_something]

An alternative to the Roland JD-Xi might be an arranger keyboard.
But frankly, before I spend hundreds of pounds on hardware, I would download a free/light DAW and a free or cheap software synth (e.g. Hybrid 3 for $5 on KVR) and make sure I am interested in synthesis in the longer term. Another advantage is that you can load dozens of instances of a plugin and thus make complete songs.