Roland JX-10 (Super JX)

JX10-2-700px

Features

Interface
(w/ PG-800)

Sound

Programmability
(w/ PG-800)

Construction

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Overview

Manufacturer: Roland Corporation

Release Date: 1986

Type: Analog / Subtractive Synthesis

Reviews: Sound on Sound | Vintage Synth | Sonic State | Wikipedia


 

Comments

Released in 1986, the JX-10 / Super JX was Roland’s last true analog synthesizer.

The sleek grey exterior and minimalist interface belies the true power inside this machine: essentially two JX-8P boards in one synth for 12 voices of pure analog polyphony (which can be layered, split or used all at once), a 76-note velocity and aftertouch sensitive keyboard, and a flexible (albeit somewhat complicated) synth engine.

In order to wield that power effectively you definitely need to obtain the accompanying PG-800 controller, which gives you true knob-per-function access to most parameters via its sliders.

With the PG800 you get access to a variety of editing parameters including oscillator pitch control, tuning, waveform selection (sawtooth, pulse, square, noise), a mixer between oscillator 1 and 2, a non resonant high-pass filter and resonant low-pass filter, 1 LFO (sine, square or random)  which can be routed to various destinations including filter and osc pitch, polarity and dynamics toggles, key follow, 2 ADSR envelope generators (each with key follow), 3 levels of cross modulation/sync and of course the classic Roland chorus effect (3 adjustable levels).

 

pg800-largeRoland PG-800 Controller

 

Probably due to the rarity (and expense) of the PG800, a lot of people may not have had the chance to dabble with the JX-10 — a blessing in disguise really, which has kept its prices lower on the second-hand market, even though this was once Roland’s flagship (and last) fully analog synthesizer.

I myself was lucky enough to pick up a JX-10 + PG800 controller for a decent price, and the first thing that struck me about the synth was its impressive size and weight. This thing is built like a tank and made to last, heavy, and takes up a lot of room due to 76-note keyboard.

Many presets have an 80s-type sound, but they also give a hint at the synthesis power under the hood. With the PG800 controller, initializing a patch and starting from scratch is easy, and gives you access to build from the ground up. This is where things can get interesting, sonically speaking.

The overall sound of the JX-10, its filters and envelopes has often been described online as “soft”, “muted”, or having a “sheen”. Personally, I accept each synth has its own personality and if those qualities are integral to a synth’s sound, so be it — I don’t find them to be detriments, just character traits.

In this case, I do tend to agree that the JX-10 synth has a “soft” overall tone to it, which makes it great for 12-voice monster pads and ambient music. On the other hand, it can also do some amazing hard sync/cross modulation metallic sounds which I have yet to emulate on any other synth I have tried. Unfortunately there is no on-board arpeggiator, but there is a sequencer (which requires either an M16 or M64 cartridge to record notes).

The envelopes are software generated (not hardware) and the filter uses a different chip compared to earlier Roland Jupiters like the 6 or 8. The DCOs do give a certain precision to the sound (little to no drift) but there is also a timeless quality to the JX-10’s tone that I can’t quite put my finger on — it instantly transports you to another era, one of nostalgia. It has that classic “Roland” sound in a modernish analog way — not too bright or clean (ie, MKS-80 Super Jupiter), but also not too brash — it is definitely very smooth. In addition, the low-end on this synth can be  massive.

Nonetheless, there are also some caveats: the JX-10 has limited factory MIDI/sysex capabilities if you’re trying to integrate it into a home studio. That said, there are aftermarket upgrades to make the JX-10 fully MIDI operational (such as Colin Fraser’s ROM) and the even more exciting JX10 ePROM and voice board OS upgrade from Fred Vecoven, which adds an arpeggiator, extra LFOs, new (snappy!) envelopes, adjustable pulsewidth modulation (coming soon via daughterboard) and many other features and enhancements.

Overall, the JX-10 is a great synth if you are looking for a lush DCO-based sound in a modern context, with 12 voices of analog polyphony. A full 76 note keyboard with velocity sensitivity and aftertouch is also nothing to sneeze at on an analog polysynth. The JX-10 can require some deep diving to understand the minimalist interface and synth engine, but that can make it all the more rewarding once you learn to master it. That said, a PG800 controller  is almost essential to gain real-time tweakability of this machine, as without it editing parameters is a much slower process.

Even though current market value of this synth is quite affordable, that may change. With new aftermarket ePROM upgrades from Fred Vercoven, the true power of the JX-10 is being unlocked and enhanced, which could certainly makes this a hot item for many synth enthusiasts down the road.

 


Specifications

Interface   42 buttons, 1 keypad, 6 sliders, 1 pitch bender, 1 memory card slot
Polyphony   12 voices
Oscillators   2 DCOs per voice (24 oscillators). Saw, pulse, square or noise.
LFO   1 LFO routed to DCO and VCF with rate and delay (sine, square or random waveform)
Filter   2 filters; 1 resonant low-pass filter and 1 non-resonant high-pass filter
VCA   2 ADSR envelope generators.
ADSR (i.e. 1 level, 3 rates) routed to DCO (with polarity), VCF (with polarity), VCA 2
ModMatrix   LFO and envelope modulation; Osc sync & cross modulation.
Arpeggiator   No arpeggiator. 1-track real-time sequencer, 400 note memory (M-32 card), 800 note memory (M-64 card)
Vocoder   None
Effects   Portamento, chorus (3 levels), chase-play
Keyboard   76 keys with velocity and aftertouch
Memory   50 preset, 50 user patches, 64 Program Patches, External memory cartridges
Control   MIDI (2 multitimbral parts)

Demos

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4 Comments

  1. Agree , this is certainly a synth that will gain further apreciation in the near future , nowadays there is nothing on the market with the same sound-character , but a PG-800 is live-essential’. Have 2 JX’s one pristine and the other a bit lame , but came as a bargain. The virtual stuff from now don’t give you the same gut-feeling as this old JX10 does.
    Play it almost a couple of times in the week.
    Good luck to you.

    • Thanks for your comment Ronald. Yes, I agree JX-10 has a certain sound to it, very lush and nostalgic. Its not for everyone but those that can enjoy its sound and quirks can find good deals on the market. 12 voices of analog is nothing to sneeze at, either… but sounds like you’ve got 24 voices at your fingertips with 2x JX-10s! 🙂

  2. My buddy lent me a JX-8P with an iPad, iPad-MIDI interface, and the iPG800 app – I think it’s even better than the PG-800 because when you load sounds on the JX-8P, iPG800’s (virtual) sliders/knobs snap to place to reflect the newly-loaded patch’s parameter settings – studying the preset patches was the best education ever for how to program it, Eric Persing did some very cool things with it. As you very accurately state on this page, it’s a shame that the JX-10 model is crippled in this way, it doesn’t spit out the sysex data for the patch when loading – but fortunately it’s rackmounted cousin the MKS-80 does do that properly. I would love to be able to purchase a new JX-10, I know Roland doesnt’ even consider doing analog re-releases but nothing else quite hits that spot.

    • Thanks for the comment. Yes, the JX-10 when released suffered from some shortcomings but since then there have been various upgrades (ie Vecoven mod) that bring it up to modern times. The iPad control is a nice substitute for the PG-800. Thankfully JX-10s still seem to be decently priced on the 2nd hand market if you can find them. I sold mine and the PG-800 recently… as much as I enjoyed it, it was time to let someone else have a try.

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