Roland JX-305

I for the life of me can't understand why Roland wouldn't make it
so you could accompany the preset patterns with playing the keyboard.
The levels are so grossly unbalanced that it appears that this is one very simple and desirable feature that someone at Roland brain farted on. I got this for writing and composing when my drummer is away.

Sounds GREAT

No I wouldn't buy another. I get something else.

Presets average from sh*te to brilliant. Lots of bass, drums. Not great for leads though (bought an MS2000R for that). Plenty to choose from. Nothing a little tweaking cant fix anyway. Editing patches is easy using the frontpanel knobs. More detailled changes can be made in Editmode. Manuals fine, only used it to look certain things up. The Quickstart manual is handy though (was me first synth).

Polyphonys plenty. Memory can be expanded with a Smartmedia card, only Roland gear apparantly only accepts the hard to find 5volt ones. I got a laptop instead, using Cubase. MIDI functions are fine, though i can only use 8 Midichannels in Cubase. The on-board sequenser...i only use it as a rhythmcomposer, recording an entire song would be hard on your nerves...

Drumsounds are great, so are most of the basses. Some nice effects/ choir AAA sounds. Couple of brasses. Only a few strings though. Works well for any type of music really, though since its pretty much a 505groovebox with keys i suppose its best suited for dance/electro music. I enjoy playing it, keyboard actions good. Always prefer Roland to Korg keys.

Never let me down. Defenitely would gig without back-up using this fine synth.

Only dealt with Roland once. I got my 305 used, and one of the frontpanel knobs was missing. Emailed Roland, and they sent me one free of charge. So thats all positive.

Id definitely replace mine if it were nicked. Worth the 300 euros i paid for it. Havent been playing for that long, own a Korg MS2000R and Alesis Midiverb4 effect unit too. I mostly use the 305 for its drums and basses, composing songs in Cubase. Its a wonderful machine.

everything goes easily when you have the manual

polyphony is enough,keyboard action's a bit spongy but not bad, effects are easy to use, expansion cards smart media 5v! argh!...midi implementation is full..godd on board sequencer

sounds are for dance, techno rave and all that

its on the way to the shop...i accidentally dropped my mc 50 on the keyboard and now the sounds really messed up..like as if the portament got f2#kd up...id recommend it for studio use..the damn thing is soft as a sponge

roland here is good..but i dunno how much this will cost me..we shall see in a week or so

--id buy something better..something built like a freaking tank...

My OS is 1.06 I am looking for the version Information, but i didn't find that anywhere on the web.
The presets sounds ok, some sounds look real, but others (trumpet... are nasty) Editing patches are difficult, because of the little screen, i recommend you to edit patches and song in your PC and then send the data trough midi ports

The keyboard is very thin, i can put a finger between two sharps, obviously is not a professional keyboard (Only the keys)
The midi is very good, you can send all knobs values trough the midi cable to the computer, and control midi parameters. (Cutoff, velocity)

This keyboard is ok to make dance music, i am actually playing with an acid jazz group, the knobs are very usefull to perform live!!! imagine the triton only have four!!!

It looks very hard...

The sequencer is difficult to use but the quantize is very good, you can play a phrase out of tempo, and the JX 305 places it in the right time, amazing, the songs i am doing with this little beast, a good complement for this would be a sampler, and it's done!!!!

Its quite easy to use. Manual is obviosly converted from another language before it was released in English. I use OS ver. 1.06

64 note polyphony, action is standard synth with aftertouch.
Has built in effects, pretty easy to use. 8 part sequencer is pretty good, but i mainly use with computer.

Sounds are great for certin kinds of music. I usually use effects from other sources. Action and everything is pretty good.

FUCKING LEMON! The unit has always been a little buggy, then recently dumped completley.. And i pamper it like all my gear. I recently found threads all over the net that almost everybody that has bought one is running into this same problem i have, about 4-5 years after their release, the wont start-up and the whole harware "mother board" needs to be replaced (basically the brain). This is either a Roland design fuck-up, or strategic maneuver.. whatever it is this board wasnt built to last.. at all. Thats probably why they were packed with features at a low price. At this point in time, I WOULD NOT RECOMEND BUYING ONE, THEIR DROPPING LIKE FLIES! google search for threads of owners of them. I used to like Roland, As I got to deal with them more, I've been forced to utterly despise them! they suck!

whatever...

allthough not as cool, a $99 casio is more reliable than a Roland JX-305

This synth is not the easiest but certainly not the hardest. You gotta read the manual a bit for full ease of use.

This synth has tons of features. ITs great to have the storage card too however the type of card it uses is an obsolete older type 5v smartmedia card. Regular readily available 3.3v smartmedia will not work at all, so you have to hunt down the 5v cards NOW before they are gone forever. You can still find them on eBay but probably not for too much longer. That is the only place to get them and when they are gone, that's it. the old 5v smartmedia cards have been out of production since 1999. So you might want to get right on it and GET SOME CARDs NOW!!
The RPS feature is killler and the mute buttons are very useful in live applications.

This unit sounds awesome! The drums are hard and crisp and that's what's important to me. the synth sounds are endless and flavorful.

you can count on Roland gear usually 100%

they can be helpful

I bought this puppy new in 1999 and have loved using it ever since. My only complaint is that the memory cards are out of production for some time now and that's kind of a bitch. You can still get these 5v cards on eBay but i'll bet they wont last for long.
Once all the "old stock" 5v smartmedia has been sold, then all us owners of the JX305 will simply be out of luck when it comes to storage. If you own this machine, get some cards now before its too late. They cost about $45 a piece but they are way worth it. Get em now people before its too late-- Dont procrastinate!!!!
There is really no keyboard on the market tin this price range that even comes close to the JX-305. That's why i simply must give it a FULL 10 for fantastic value even in spite of the memory card thang.

I havent got into editing patches yet the manual is good but the editing patches part i have trouble understanding.

the sequencer is quite easy to use i have trouble copying setup information to different patches ? but that is probally me being dumb.

good sounds a whole general midi type set a wicked strings patch called film octaves.The piano sound isnt great but the electric piano sound is very good

yes

they were helpful,
memory card are #30 a hit !! pretty expensive

I love this machine i would consider replacing it were it stolen.
This is the only piece of midi gear i have.I love the filters twiddly knobs the drum sounds.it is easiest to make repeating loops not very easy to verse chorus type songs
i wish it could make the tea it hepls me make muisc specially anything dancey.
thanks roland

I get annoyed with people saying this keyboard isn't all that, its a gift for the dance music composer and so easy to use.

This really is the best all in one dance music solution that sub $1000 dollars can buy.

This keyboard isn't about realistic sounds, if you want that then only a sampler will really get the job done. For the type of music I compose (ELECTRO, BREAKBEAT) this keyboard is second to none. Again in its price range it leaves them standing.

I have had this keyboard for over 2 years with no technical problems whatsoever. I am not a gigging musician but see no reson why you couldn't use this beast live.

No contact with company ever.

This is going to sound crazy, but trust me if you know this keyboard like I do now. And the killer sounds & grooves it is capable of you would understand my opinion. I will always own the Roland JX305 ALWAYS. Yes there are better keyboards out there (Korg triton etc) But you'll pay for them. In its price range the JX305 is the business, killer sounds easy composition & GREAT FUN TO USE.

the presets are pretty cheesey, and sound flat. there really isn't to many presets that are ready for radio. however it is quite simple to use, once you've explored it a little bit. i can't stand the editing on it, the screen is way to small. the manual is the same as any other roland manual.

the onboard pattern sequencer is good. this is what i like the most about it. nothing good for finnal mix downs at all, but very good and fast for pre-production. you can spit out a good structure for a song, or part of a song, within seconds. but the editing sucks. i usual just keep input quantization on will recording and then make any other edits to it in an external sequencer.

i never really got into patch editing on this thing cause there is to much thought and memory involed (very difficult and de-motivating when you are high). screens way too small to do any major synthesis without jumping back and forth through different pages.
some presets are okay. the rest are kinda lifeless and sound like they was made by roland.

i probably wouldn't ever bring this to a gig.
for some reason when its been on for a long time it always gets an overwhelming ground loop hum and all of the midi controlers will fluxuate data values. customer support didn't know what was wrong, or know how to fix it...

personaly i think its from the crappy wallwart, it gets lots of interfierence from other devices.

very nice for all of the many calls i made for this piece. but there seems to be a lack of people that know what they are talking about at roland.
basicly if it goes beyond the OS your screwed.

if it were lost or stolen, i would be hurt, but i'm sure i'd eventually get over it and replace my loss with something better and more impressive.
but i think it was well worth what i paid cause it really introduced me to producing, and electronica.
i wish it had more knobs and a bigger screen.

i've been playing/producing for almost 5 years now. currently i have a krog er-1, tascam us-428, slow iMac OC'ed 450G3 w/ DP3, 2 Technics 1200's, Rane Mp-24z dj mixer, some numark 2 ch. mixer, an audio tech mic, motu 2x2 midi interface, kurzwiel k2000s, roland sp-808, electrix filter factory, and roland jx-305. (the jx305 is the worst of them all, well right after the mic i guess)

if you or any of your friends are thinking about this one, just keep on walking to something a little more non-rolandish.

I borrowed this synth from a friend. It's a GREAT synth, with great sounds.
However, his particular keyboard went out of tune like a guitar in a desert. Hit it, shake it, change sounds, play it hard, and it goes disgustingly out of tune. It's digital. It doesn't make sense. Has anyone had this experience?