Roland JX-08 is a DAWless MONSTER! Review & demo of pro synth features mobile MIDI music creators

[@Tetrad10]

Also, check this story from MusicRadar describing more 'hidden' features of the JX-08 and JD-08 modules: www.musicradar.com/news/9-ways-get-more-out-of-roland-jx-08-jd-08 Cheers 🌿

[@funnzie]

Great tips, thank you! Tip: design your patch in PART-A, then select PART-B, then use the manual button to bring in your panel settings sound design from PART-A. Set slightly different parameters, such as filter, LFO speed, envelopes and then save in PART-B. Now go into the PART menu and pan PART-A to the left and PART-B to the right for a true stereo image in dual mode.

[@Tetrad10]

Thanks for watching! And that is a great tip, too - I see that the CH.A and CH.b MIDI settings can share the same channel... I gotta play with this some more! Cheers ⚡

[@kinetic-cybernetic]

Tip: if you use the Unison, the Conditional deterioration effectively works as Unison Detune, which many think this synth lacks

[@Tetrad10]

Nice - I'm going to have to try that...

[@huli8557]

Thanx : it works!

[@ag3ntorange164]

If you can put up with the comments from the purists who say it isn't as warm as the JX-8P (YAWN) This is an incredible instrument to own. It has to be the best value synth Roland have ever put out. Lavishly generous in it's features. And it sounds absolutely bloody fantastic for an analogue emulator. Prize it from my cold dead hands. Wish they would do a full size keyboard version.

[@symbiosis07]

You really figured out this synth. Great compact tutorial, and effective teaching! Thanks!

[@vinnieirvine1365]

I agree. The intuitive interface, ease of use, bitimbral, split and layers, separate midi if you want for part an and part b. 20 note polyphony, the sound. I do marginally prefer the JU-06a sound but it can’t match the features of the JX-08. This with Keystep pro, JU-06a is everything i need .

[@Benutzer101]

I got JX-08, JD-08 and SE-02. They are all very good. For me the JX-08 is the most straight forward of the 3 in terms of usage, i like its slow envelopes.

[@Sandelec-gm2cl]

I have JD-08...it's superb..✌🏻😅 You can split the keyboard in 4 parts and use two layers for Seq A and others layers for Seq B. Like if you have 4 tracks. (but only with one osc eachone)

[@SemtêxČØŴv2.0]

Happy noodling dude, sounds nice man

[@kinetic-cybernetic]

Up there with the microfreak yes this is the best synth i have. What it lacks in uniqueness it compensates with raw possibilities. A conventional all terrain that was created to make music. Not to have fun, not to explore, but to brutally solve music needs.

[@Tetrad10]

Agreed, although I haven't had the pleasure of trying a microfreak yet.. I really love just dialing up a new sound on the JX, though. super fun. Cheers 🌿

[@AC-wq7fo]

@@Tetrad10 As a minifreak owner - this synth fits right in, and I really enjoyed the video...might have to get one.

[@geminidefect]

it made it to an episode of "Bad Gear" on KZbin... so, has to be wonderful!

[@JoeJohnston-taskboy]

I dig mine. Pairs well with the JD08 too. Both are bitimbral, so that four parts together from two units. through a keystep pro or launchpad pro along and you get a flexible synthwave DAWless rig.

[@radddch3293]

Fantastic video and channel mate. Some really nice music.

[@Tetrad10]

Thanks, I appreciate it! 🌿

[@romanyel]

I double b-17 and use it for bass in most of my songs. I integrate it into my dawless set-up and program/trigger it with Keystep Pro or SQ-64. The dual sequencer opens up a lot of possibilities like giving each one a different channel so it can play 2 totally different parts.

[@PeterKiMusic]

As JX-08 is good for DAW less it is good for DAW too. I used it with internal FX for a long time, but as I grew closer to DAW - turned off the FX and now using it's beautiful audio over USB. Not many people realize that you can capture parts A and B and mix in separately using the audio over USB.

[@Tetrad10]

That is a good point, which I often forget about. It's effectively an audio interface, especially with the MIX through inputs. And the sound is noise-free if you use the USB audio as a source. Cheers ⚡

[@glencromusic]

Love your little music interludes! 🙌 I had a jx8p for a little while but had to sell it on purely coz of the size of the beast 🤪 This seems like a good alternative especially with the controls

[@Tetrad10]

Thanks! I had to have a good think last year when I started this hobby - do I want to buy classic old synths, including some I used to own, or try out these new iterations.. I in the end budget and real estate economy won out 😎 Cheers 🌿

[@mihaiad86]

I have the JX and the JD boutiques, and if you look at them as some synths, and not copies of the originals, you can't be disappointed by them. I bought them new for 300 euros each. I don't care about the originals, i wanted polyphony and good sound for cheap. Put it in a mix, and you will understand the power of those little fellas.

[@jdrukman]

I have the MKS-70 which is the original 1980s rack mount version of the JX-8P. This sounds pretty damn good! It's also nicely portable (the 70 is large and heavy) and has a pg-800 style programmer built in. I still think the boutiques are too expensive at list price but $250 is a good deal.

[@huli8557]

This Boutique costs half less than a PG-800 😂

[@christopherfarrell-artist3557]

Than you..pre-purchaser, this has helped.

[@Interdimensions]

You should check out JD-08 too ;) You can play and sequence two patches at once same way like in JX-08 but in JD-08 every patch have 4 different layers ;) so technically You can have 8 different sounds at once, and JD-08 have so called extended ADSR which is wild

[@Tetrad10]

It's on my wishlist this year - seeing new JD-08s for $299 in the US right now...

[@glottis5]

Wait, so you can hard pan each part left and right? If so, that means you can send each part to different mixer channels which is super useful

[@Tetrad10]

That's right - you can also assign the same MIDI channel to each part and use CC controls to adjust both simultaneously. Otherwise you gotta do a little toggle action to control each part parameter as seen in the Cory Hart synth riff jam where you can also hear the hard panning on the JX-08: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lV7LpoVrnrajptk

[@DetroitMicroSound]

I had a JX-3P and a programmer for years. I should buy one of these monsters, since I no longer have my JX. It'll go fabulously with my S-1. ❤

[@djangofett4879]

have you seen the system 8? it has jx3p Jupiter 8 and Juno 106 ACB models and the system 8 ACB model which itself is worth getting a system 8 even if it didn't have the other 3 models.

[@jeffryarchambeau5441]

I found one cheap too! Thanks for the ideas.

[@tblv9300]

solid module for all it can do (dual poly seq)

[@videolabcreators]

Another reviewer I’ve seen gets a richer sound by panning the voices left and right which had a nice effect

[@Tetrad10]

Oooh, another thing I need to try.. thanks!

[@gnthr7992]

Can you send out MIDI from the sequencer to another synth or into a DAW ?

[@Tetrad10]

Yes, the CHA and CHB MIDI set both the receive and send MIDI channel for that part - just tested it out to be sure.

[@JAAPIOJO]

Can you pair it with a sh4d to do great stand alone or music design?

[@Tetrad10]

Absolutely. The JX-08 can fully sync by MIDI or sync cable to other devices and receive MIDI on separate channels, one for each part, or on the main channel which is whatever part you have selected.

[@FattSunny]

I have all the boutiques and they all rock! Haters going to hate. This is the closest normal people will be able to come to owning the sounds that all others are judged by.

[@ironinquisitor3656]

Boutique Gang rise up!

[@saardean4481]

Hi there and thanks for the very useful video! On question i have, what is this noise floor i am hearing . Is it the synth or your voice over? It sounds like a ringing+noise whenever the synth sound decays i hear kind of a noise coming in. It sounds almost like a sidechained noise tto the synth if that makes sense. When the notes get louder id subsides and while they get lower in volume it comes back. Is the the Usb noise? Asking cause some devices suffer from this when powered via usb

[@Tetrad10]

Thanks, glad you liked it! Yes, that is ground-loop noise because I was passing audio through the Focusrite Scarlett audio interface instead of using the direct USB ASIO output of the JX-08 and likely wasn't bypassing the mixer. There are all kinds of reasons for the noise, but usually moving the devices with lots of LEDs to battery power eliminates most of it. Lately, I have been using the direct USB audio source from the JX-08 and the MC-101 to record into Bitwig and they are dead quiet, no noise floor to speak of just clean digital signal.

[@chaoswires2734]

One thing to be aware of when you want to use ext clock input. Clock cable should be MONO, stereo will not work.

[@Tetrad10]

Ahh, figured that was it... thanks for the confirmation.

[@jellycoding]

I have an old JX 8 and a JX 10. They have great sounds but they are hell to work with. My friend who also had a JX 8 had a box you could plug in and edit the sounds. I never got my hands on one...

[@Tetrad10]

Nice! I heard the PG-800 was the most expensive bit to get for the old JX-*p models.. Hope you can find one eventually!

[@rbos36]

I use a dtronics DT-800 programmer, works perfectly

[@neonpop80]

Yes

[@ScoopexUs]

Nice video! The boutiques seem great, but I wish they'd put in a proper display. It would be easier for them as well, not having to make up weird abbreviations to stare at and have to decode, and a thinner manual. It is a really stupid part of the design (this is coming from a big fan of Roland's old synths). We just don't need that anymore.

[@Tetrad10]

Thanks! and I totally agree, an OLED display would be sweet on these...

[@kujumz]

it does sound good. I get bummed every time I remember there’s no pwm.

[@Tetrad10]

Wait - I thought that was the 2nd waveform option on the DCO's 'Pulse' ? Or are you talking about the LFO? Cheers 🌿

[@huli8557]

You can mimic Pwm with Sync and modulate only DCO-2

[@luisonly]

Why "dawless" !?!? synths are by nature dawless. Daws and synths are two different things. Its like saying "appleless pears."

[@wentzr]

It doesnt require a DAW to create multipart sequences. Its a huge differentiator between synths. So, no it is nothing like saying a pearless apple or whatever

[@ropeburn6684]

​@@wentzr It's still silly to call a synth or anything else with a sequencer "dawless". Just doesn't make sense.

[@celsoch]

​@@ropeburn6684it's not just a sequencer. It can sequence different independent patches. It's like a two track recorder

[@ropeburn6684]

@@celsoch That's literally what sequencer means. Since when is that term limited to one channel? 90s grooveboxes already had 8 or 16 track sequencers. Nothing new, no need to change the meaning of words.

[@Tetrad10]

yeah, I didn't like the term much when I heard it a year ago but it has new relevance and its a search term.

[@flamesintheattic]

Boutiques are like Pokemon.. gotta catch 'em all.

[@mrz80]

Roland Boutiques vs. Korg Volcas - Two giant armies of midget synths 😀

[@DaneXbsinthe]

All synths are DAWless. Like 99.9% … even most VSTs have a standalone version. DAWless is a silly redundant term. You don’t see drummers endlessly going on about how their kit is “DAWless” …. Or guitarists….. vocalists….. The DAWless crowd likes to use this term like it makes them better(or something) than all the regular instrument players. Half descent review, custom sounds are good. But just wait until you discover (with a DAW) you can automate slider movements, patch recall and directly record audio over USB…. I mean you want to record , right? Or are you strictly tape / cam uploads? lol

[@Tetrad10]

Well you are right of course, but the term comes from folks like myself who only produced and recorded for years with a DAW. Uninspired is not the word, it's just dull. Yes, I've automated with the DAW - tedious and annoying, even with external controllers. Left me in a stagnant funk. When I discovered 'DAWless' synths it made no sense at first but then I got perspective. They can do *some* of the things of a DAW likes effects, looping and sequences, but these features are limited in most modules. And I guess that is the point: less options can drive more creativity. Plus, it's great for live, mobile performing - without a laptop! It works for me anyway, I have come up with more fun grooves and sequences with these synths in the last year than stuff I made with Garageband, Logic and Ableton over a 10 year period. It's more dynamic, random and I feel energized when playing / composing this way. I do have plans to record more pro compositions with these synths with Bitwig at some point, but don't think I would bother with automation. I would rather apply expression manually during the recording session and capture original live audio. Cheers 🌿

[@Heathcliff_hensel]

I agree, the term "Dawless" is completely unnecessary. But do you want to hear my Dawless Tuba?? It sounds amazing.

[@Tetrad10]

@@Heathcliff_hensel It ranks surprisingly well in KZbin searches. If you put up a 'Dawless Tuba' video ( and you actually played the Tuba ) I bet you'd get more hits... But yeah, I wanna hear your tuba in a jam for real! Lay it on me. Cheers 🌿

[@heavysystemsinc.]

I too get annoyed at 'dawless' as a term, especially in electronic music because it's all digital audio workstation components, even if you don't have a computer. I wish they'd just say 'hardware' or 'software' because that's the real distinction. Are you gonna have to deal with Windows or MacOS(etc.) or are you dealing with knobs, buttons and obscure menus unique to the piece of kit? That said, it's too late. The culture train left the station and we're left with that term for better or worse (worse, imo).

[@ukbloke28]

You don't need a DAW to do all that. I do it with my Digitakt. I could use my computers but it's where all my work and stress is and I dont enjoy clicking on another spreadsheet looking program, prefer instruments.

[@johnnysamba5443]

Bargain of the century if roland had done another 4 voice i would have lost my mind they have no use i dont know what they were thinking. Got the sounds spot on though

[@Curious_Skeptic]

Not feeling the value of this series of mini-synths! SH-4D does so much more for less than the cost of two boutiques, you have a killer little workstation. I think $400 for these boutiques is nuts. If you are hard up to get ALL the boutiques, just buy the jupiter xm $1600 and done! Need a nice plethora of the boutique sounds? SH-4D. Boutiques were cool when they first came out. At this point? Behringer has cool mini/micro synths for $50-$150! Korg kills the Roland Boutique market as well! Roland banks on fan boys! Continues to be a disappointment IMHO.

[@Tetrad10]

I agree; part of the video discusses how to get these far less than retail price - I picked mine up for $250. I didn't realize the SH-4D also ran on 4xAA!! Always loved the sound and it looks awesome - best price I can see for a pre-owned is $533 USD; very nice! Cheers 🌿

[@------YeahOK------]

I just play dawless guitar. 😂

[@Tetrad10]

🤘⚡

[@mrz80]

It's great fun driving a Boutique (or a Volca for that matter) from the MIDI out on a guitar synth.

[@EliasNStuff]

13:08 B)

[@Tetrad10]

Yeah, there are several things off with this machine, but I wanted to focus on what made me keep it. The random tone generation feature is another miss; literally it gives no sound at all more than half the time - lol. Cheers 🌿

[@ukbloke28]

yeah, snowflake means something else though ... like does this synth need a safe space with a support puppy

[@Tetrad10]

LOL - time to take it back! Cheers 🌿

[@HennieVredeveldt]

THE BEST ROLAND PLASTIC MACHINES ARE TR 909 TB 303 TR 707 TR 727 TR 606 TR 626 😊

[@Tetrad10]

⚡️⚡️⚡️

[@vintagesynthesizers]

It would be an instant buy for me if it could serve as a PG-like controller to a JX-8P, but here again, Roland failed.

[@Tetrad10]

That PG controller is a pain to find. I love the sound on the originals 3p and 8p so much; feel like it's better than the Juno series altogether (for the time period) Too bad the lack of easy patching without the controller and the advent of the DX7 put it in the back seat. Cheers 🌿

[@Station2Station-du2gh]

it's really unfortunate Roland didn't nail the sound of the JX-8P. (plenty of comparisons out there that are disappointing).

[@ironinquisitor3656]

Yeah because it uses ABM which is based on the Zencore engine. ACB is more analog sounding than Zencore.

[@Tetrad10]

I watched and listened all of the comparison videos before buying. They sound different but not painfully so. Must be tough! Cheers 🌿

[@jeremymurray-wakefield8011]

Yeah both the keyboard and the alternative “empty-box“ DK-01 (which is included with some boutiues) are ludicrously expensive add-ons.

[@Tetrad10]

That totally fooled me the first time I saw the boutiques - they always had the keyboard attachment and case, I though they were a single unit - and listing for $500 - $600 at the time - no thanks! Now you can get the JX-08 module alone for $289 new at Thomann USA Cheers ⚡

[@jeremymurray-wakefield8011]

Yes a few retailers offer the choice of a bundle with or without the K-25m keyboard. But I do wish when selling without, they included the “empty box” DK-01 (as they do with the boutique drum machines and the TB-03) because the product looks half-finished without (unless you fit it into a custom stand of some kind) and without it you also can’t angle it towards you - which is how I use the boutique drum machines and TB-03.

[@9-mastering]

Is that synth really so noisy?

[@Tetrad10]

No, that was ground loop noise from my mixer setup at the time. If you use the USB MIX-IN source in on a computer it is perfectly clean.

[@espacemaxim]

What's a dawless synth? Is there no Daw in this synth?

[@inversion66]

DAW means digital audio workstation. Recording software on a computer that includes software music instruments and effects.

[@espacemaxim]

@@inversion66 That's what I thought. So there's no Daw in this synth? Just oscillators, filters and stuff?

[@electrosonicnebula]

Yeah it's a weird way to say hardware synth, which is what he means. Synths "containing" daws or vice versa could maybe be thought of as multi tracking groove boxes and samplers with synths insides

[@Tetrad10]

There are some DAW-like features on this unit (sequencer, looping, effects) but they have limited range. This makes it usable in a 'DAW-less' setup without needing constant tending by a DAW or manual play, like a traditional, old-school synth might. Cheers 🌿

[@matthewgaines10]

The term DAWless is way overused. All synths are DAWless unless they are a software synth inside of a DAW. Thus, all hardware synths are DAWless. Why at that point make the distinction? DAWless seems to be a hipster term for an electronic instrument.

[@shamimmiah2234]

maybe its because it contains a step sequencer?

[@Tetrad10]

Yeah, I didn't get it or care for it much a year ago when I first heard of it, but as discussed in other comments it's now an abbreviation of 'for dawless' etc.. It's the new economy of words and terms. Remember serverless? I hated that one so much... Cheers 🌿

[@keplerfinn]

Don´t forget your tweezers!

[@Tetrad10]

🔎

[@mrz80]

The JX-08 doesn't really need tweezers. The JD and the why-o-why-was-it-just-four-voices JP-08 have much tinier faders than the JX.

[@Xanaduum]

The SH-4D is much better for Dawless.

[@Tetrad10]

Really like the sounds from that so far. The D-motion looks awesome and ability to do sub-beats is sweet. Definitely added to my wish list. Cheers 🌿

[@Xanaduum]

@@Tetrad10 practically I don't use the D-motion much, but that's probably because I have the unit connected by midi to other devices on a rack. I need to see if I can record the D-motion changes to the sequencer when I use it on its own. It's an amazing little synth., basically a whole bunch of synths crammed into one.

[@PeresD]

This is bad ass. Oh well another synth purchase ,sigh…

[@mr_don_key]

i dislike these small form factor devices (same for eurorack). I'ts hard to operate in a precise manner (values on knobs/sliders), it's hard to read the texts. I long back to the 19 inch form factor when going modules, or any other factor where it actually makes sense workflow wise.

[@Tetrad10]

You're not alone there. Keep an eye on Behringer - they have several full rack models now and more coming soon with more space to maneuver and craft the sounds. Cheers 🌿

[@sturdyblock]

Apart from the SE02. Roland's boutiques are toys.

[@Tetrad10]

Contender!

[@alexwestconsulting]

Meh, the acb ones sound good. The SE-02 is a future classic, but some of the others are totally usable. Even this one is good for bread and butter sounds, has tons of them (but then, why not just get an mc-101 instead?).

[@ironinquisitor3656]

@@alexwestconsulting Yeah i love my JP-08 and the way it sounds aside from the 4 voice limitations and lack of split and arpeggio.

[@alexwestconsulting]

@@ironinquisitor3656 JP-08 got unfairly maligned. 5 notes would have been way more useful than 4 notes, but other than that the thing sounds awesome and is totally easy to program. I LIKE the small footprint and small controls.

[@ironinquisitor3656]

@@alexwestconsulting I hope we get an updated JP-08 module that includes the Jupiter 6 to switch to and 8 voices and all the original features.

[@NullStaticVoid]

Still sounds like shit. How can nobody hear how stiff and digital these things sound? Check out the SE02 its the only analog boutique and its unmistakeably better.

[@alexwestconsulting]

Come on, it sounds pretty good. "How can nobody hear how stiff and digital these things sound?" You just answered your own question: MOST people don't notice, don't care. And the acb ones sound great. For Dawless bread and butter sounds, the JX-08 easily sounds good enough, and has tons of them.

[@matthiasstock9620]

I can hear how shitty it sounds. Nothing to do with an original JX8P.

[@NullStaticVoid]

@@alexwestconsulting the ACB models dont sound great. I've played a lot of Jx3p and Jx8p and they just don't have the vibe of those at all. Irony is the JX8p and JX3p were the cheap 'bad' Rolands that all the synth punk bands would buy because the real synth folks disowned those models. "DCO bad, slow envelope" etc. I was looking forward to the boutiques when they came out. But when I tried them out in person they all sounded nothing like the real ones. Are these digital or something? I actually thought they were analog when I heard about them. I had no idea they were ACB until AFTER I heard them in person and researched why they sounded so bad. That said, yeah, that is really cool the number of features it has, and the music is more important than being a perfect replica. Just wish they had worked harder at nailing the sound.

[@NullStaticVoid]

@@matthiasstock9620 Yeah if they had just called it the Retromatic it would be fine. But they tried to cast it as similar to one of their old synths, not even one of the glory models, and it's just not there. The Jx8p and JX3p were both softer sounding from slow envelopes and kind of lo fi output stage. And they were really thin with no chorus/ensemble. But thin in an analog way.

[@alexwestconsulting]

@@NullStaticVoid I have 3 JX-3P's (stock, kiwi,organix), and 2 JX-03's, so I am an expert willing and able to go toe to toe on anyone on this The JX-3P has the same filter as the venerable Jupiter 8, so to lead off calling it but a "cheap 'bad' Roland" is way off the mark. Anyone who understands the JX-03 understands this. And you inferered that there is JX-8P ACB emulation, which there isn't, so it's rather difficult to take your position seriously. Everyone (and I mean everyone) who has actually played a JX-3P will be immeditaely put off by the dated presets. Hell, the presets were dated when the thing came out. The thing requires programming to get usable sounds. See above how I have so many versions of the OG JX-3P? That's because the thing is useless stock with CC control (cough, it doesn't have CC) and the Sys-Ex is as bad as can be imagined. So, as an absolute afficionado of the JX-3P, I wanted all incarnations. Anyone who picks up a JX-03 and says "this doesn't sound very good" doesn't understand the JX-3P to begin with. Neither are preset machines and they never produce mind-boggling, complex sounds in the best of curcumstaces. That's not what either is. They do both produce warm sounds, and the JX-03 can sound extemely analog (I just spent the last week trying to get the Hydrasynth to sound as warm and can't do it). The JX-08 is an entirely different beast, hence my comment.

[@dstorfer]

What in God's name is a DAWless synth? You mean a synth module? That's the dumbest phrase I've heard in a while. That's like saying a bicycle is an engineless motorcycle.

[@Tetrad10]

Yeah, it's a lot like saying 'organic vegetables' but I've found it does have meaning these days. Many synth modules: Don't run on batteries, don't have a sequencer or arp mode, don't have a note entry interface and don't have extra effects processing, let alone multi-timbral track and processing abilities. But some do all these things and they are great for DAWless music creation. This is one of them. Cheers 🌿

[@PrismaticSpray]

lol best dawless synth module ... stfu with that shiiiiiii

[@PrismaticSpray]

calling a desktop synth "dawless" is like calling a straight person 'cis'

[@Tetrad10]

hehe - booya!

[@matthiasstock9620]

Worst sounding synth I have ever heard. I have an original JX8P and that's the opposite in sound quality to this one.

[@johnnysamba5443]

Over the top bro does all the classic 80's sounds people like you go so over the top as if it sounds like a stylophone come on bro if was that bad then people like me who were on all the synths in the 80's wouldnt buy one what are you looking for bro dont wanna lay into you geez but your insane

[@chaoswires2734]

In therms of features for this price and compact size/portability - one of the best choices. It can sound great if you spend some time with it. It will never sound like JX8P , but it doesn't have to. It's nice by it's own

[@ktreier]

I think it’s the recording chain he’s using.

[@markusi_wagner]

Sometimes it is hard when a small Piece of Gear is nearly so goid as an absolute overpriced oversized Retro Synth. Sorry, but this small synth is a no brainer

[@CrowdContr0l]

You haven’t heard many synths eh? 😂