Patrick's new baby... TAL- J-8X

[zvenx]

I am sure you have this info already..
So you are looking for Tones: Caliope to Go West correct?
rsp

[seangm]

I had posted a link of a site that seems to have almost everything.
https://llamamusic.com/super-jx/patches.html


rsp

Thanks, is there a way to load the ".syx" patches into the J-8X? I figured there must be a way to do that but I'm having trouble finding it in the plugin UI. All the factory presets are ".talj8x" format.

[beely]

I am sure you have this info already..
So you are looking for Tones: Caliope to Go West correct?

Yes (well, actually it's 51 up, so "Piano 1" up to "GOWESTVOX").

Llamamusic has a nice tool that will take a JX/MKS sysex file and report the names and Tone numbers used, so you can see which patches use which pair of tones, eg:
.

jx.png

The first column of Tones are the 50 RAM tones, which are in the sysex. The second column are the ROM Tones, which we don't currently have.

(Some of them - by name at least - are probably JX8P patches and I've used those where I can, but others are not in the JX8P factory banks.)

[beely]

Thanks, is there a way to load the ".syx" patches into the J-8X? I figured there must be a way to do that but I'm having trouble finding it in the plugin UI. All the factory presets are ".talj8x" format.

Yes, it's in the menu you get when clicking on a patch name. It will even convert whole folders of syx banks - it's really nicely implemented!

[zvenx]

This is pretty boastful I know, but the converting whole folders, I asked him for that feature.
I asked him one day and by the next morning he had it implemented.
He makes it harder for other developers to impress me.. because though platforms/frameworks are different, when you ask Patrick for a feature and he does it the next day and you ask other developers for similar features, it is either a bag of reasons why not, or that it will take weeks to do.. and of course I roll my eyes.
rsp

[EvilDragon]

Obviously can't compare a one man shop with a more structured team that has their own internal cadence of how they go about things.

[himalaya]

Speaking of the 'tones' system as employed by Roland on the JX10 / MKS-70....I truly despise it. I can not stand it due to the way these tones are managed and stored. One of the worst interactions for the user there is, in my view. I'd rather spend my day editing the original DX-7 than go through the brain melting process of storing and managing tones on the JX10! (pheew, got that out of my system now! ).

The Roland method of patch storage here requires you to first store the two edited tones (that can make up one patch). But the way it is done is an example of some of the worst UX constraints that we saw in the early programable synths from the 1980s. The way in which it is done is a total PITA, and at the end of the process you can't even identify your tones, since they are represented by numbers. And God forbid that you edit one by mistake or you forgot that it is shared by other patches, since once edited for one patch, all other patches that use that tone will change the sound too. A total nightmare of patch management. The same system is used on my XP80 but due to the large LCD the process is easier to manage. Still...it is deeply annoying and can lead to real disasters where a previously stored patch can irreversibly change, and you won't know it until you next load it.

So... when I use my MKS-70 I almost never store my patches and instead I tend to use it as a no-memory synth. Edit the sound, play it or record it or sample it and move on. It's a shame since the JX10 / MKS-70 can sound glorious and some patches need finesse and it would be nice to store great patches quickly. Alas, I can't be bothered. Thanks Roland.

[EvilDragon]

It's realistically no different to Korg's Program+Combi system in M1 onwards (I suppose Wavestation also had it similar before M1 as well), and that wasn't such a problem to me ever since my first proper synth (Korg X5D)...

[beely]

It's realistically no different to Korg's Program+Combi system in M1 onwards (I suppose Wavestation also had it similar before M1 as well), and that wasn't such a problem to me ever since my first proper synth (Korg X5D)...

It's significantly more involved on the ol' Wavey, as people complain about often. I never had a problem with it as long as you follow some simple guidelines, but basically one Performance from the Performance bank (which is what you always play) can use/reference up to 8 patches from any of the ROM/RAM/CARD patch banks, and each of those patches can use/reference up to four Wavesequences from any of the ROM/RAM/CARD banks.

So it's link city (thankfully, SoundDiver made dependency management trivial in this regard)...

But we all know why it was implemented this way - it's more complex, but it makes the most flexible use of limited resources. Which was more or less all hardware until memory constraints got relaxed and much cheaper as we headed toward the 2000s...

Wavestation was *after* M1, BTW.

[zvenx]

Obviously can't compare a one man shop with a more structured team that has their own internal cadence of how they go about things.

I wasn't comparing TAL to say NI.
Was more other 'small' shops that I either test for or use their products.
rsp

[zvenx]

Speaking of the 'tones' system as employed by Roland on the JX10 / MKS-70....I truly despise it...... Alas, I can't be bothered. Thanks Roland.

Have never used the JX10, but my JV 2080 and the 1080 I had before.. hell even the S-760 samplers I have, use tones as building blocks to Patches.

Fortunately in all of those, you can name the tones with names not just numbers.
rsp

[beely]

Adding a simple "can you just..?" item is usually more doable if you haven't already got a queue of 63 other "can you just..?" items ahead of your request in the queue, and some of those are turning out to be anything but "just" things to implement...

Different people work differently - some people might implement a quick feature as a distraction from other work they are doing for a quick win, for example. Others have a more "good idea, I'll do it when I get to it" approach. None of these approaches are wrong...

[zvenx]

It's realistically no different to Korg's Program+Combi system in M1 onwards (I suppose Wavestation also had it similar before M1 as well), and that wasn't such a problem to me ever since my first proper synth (Korg X5D)...

Definitely wouldn't think that they are even close to being the same.
The combi was more like a multi (even if they are using the same midi channel)..but you could play programs alone and never ever use Combis and be happy on the Korgs.

Whereas at least in the 2080 and S-760, you can't just use the Tones by themselves if i recall.. They are just building blocks to Patches... its like starting a recipe and not completing it, without putting the tones into a preset/patch.
I think of tones almost like oscillators+..
rsp

[zvenx]

For the S760 (you have to have a sample then make a partial out of it (the equivalent of Tone on their previous synths), then make that into a patch, then make that patch into a performance if you so wish..
The Performance is a Multi ( like Korg's Combi).. can be different midi channels or not.. your call.

AKAI_perform_3.jpg

And for the 2080/5080 etc..

Screen Shot 2026-04-02 at 5.14.52 PM.jpg

Screen Shot 2026-04-02 at 5.14.47 PM.jpg

rsp

[himalaya]

Speaking of the 'tones' system as employed by Roland on the JX10 / MKS-70....I truly despise it...... Alas, I can't be bothered. Thanks Roland.

Have never used the JX10, but my JV 2080 and the 1080 I had before.. hell even the S-760 samplers I have, use tones as building blocks to Patches.

Fortunately in all of those, you can name the tones with names not just numbers.
rsp

Yes, naming is one part of making it more manageable. I can do that on the XP80 (the keyboard version of your JV2080) and my tones reference the name of the main patch. Much easier to keep things in order and prevent accidental overwriting of a tone that is used in several patches. But it's also the manner in which it is done on the MKS-70 that is a PITA. Perhpas I'm too old for the endless button presses and menus.

Patrick, give us that second layer in J-8X to make a JX10!