Roland JX-305

This is a nice machine, easy enough to use, but you do need to read the manual for the more involved settings. The manual is reasonably easy to understand if you have some background in synthesis. You can tweak the sounds easily just by messing with the knobs though.
Presets are a mixed bunch, some of them are great, others kinda boring. But they are easy to improve upon. I haven't used an editor with it yet, there's one for the 505 that should work reasonably well...

Polyphony is 64 notes, but that's with patches using only one sound out of a possible 4 at a time, so realistically its probably around 32 or less using pads and such. The keyboard itself is somewhat plasticky feeling, not too great but gets the job done. The effects are both very much fun and easy to use. There's 3 of them and you can use just one, 2 or all three on each track. You can use 2 or 4 meg smartmedia cards for patch and pattern storage which is handy.
The keyboard is pressure sensitive. The "joystick" has a rather large dead area at center which makes it less than ideal for pitch control. The onboard sequencer is good enough for making cool patterns but the song feature is very limited, I would advise using an external sequencer for anything serious.
The RPS (realtime phrase system(?)) is great fun and very useful live, the arpeggiator is full featured and programmable.

Most instruments are not realistic, as far as acoustical instruments go, with the few exceptions of some guitars and organs.
But this instrument is decidedly an electronic sounding synth, so this is to be expected. It works very well for techno, dance, electronica etc.
It seems that it was also aimed at hip-hop but I don't believe it would be too good for that. The standard reverb and delay effects are workable, not spectacular though. But one neat feature is that everything can be synced together, like delay, arpeggio, RPS can be all synced to the tempo of the sequencer which makes things a lot easier.
The insert effects are very cool and can add a lot to the originality of the patches. Velocity and aftertouch react the way one would expect, not a lot of feeling but that's because most of the presets don't even react to aftertouch! Which is a shame. The filters are versatile but not as cutting as one would hope. You can increase the resonance limit in the setup though to make it rougher.

Seems very reliable, never failed me in 3 weeks. It seems bulletproof although mine had several plastic support parts on the inside broken when I got it. It was a b-stock item and Roland did not do a great job in refurbishing it... So watch out. But now it's glued back together, better than new :-)

Never contacted them. But they have very little info on their website, so I don't think they're doing a good job.

I would definitely get another one if it was stolen. For the price it is unbeatable, and just plain a lot of fun.
Maybe I'd get an RM1X instead but I'm not sure. The best would be to have both. The reason I bought this synth was mainly to use it as a drum machine, and it is worth the price for that alone. I have a sampler and a QS7 plus a pc and other stuff so this was just to make the setup a bit more colorful.
The only drawback is that it's so easy and fun to play with it, you have to be really disciplined to get any real work done. It is positively crammed with features. One little annoyance is that when you put it in "part mute" mode, it hisses ever so quietly. You'll never hear it if the music is going, but nevertheless...

Without a manual, all the pretty buttons are kind of confusing. It's actually very easy to just find a patch and play it. The patch editor is a little difficult to use with the small display, it just takes some getting-used-to. FX are brainlessly easy, the big knobs help.

64-voice multi-timbral bla bla bla. Go to www.rolandus.com if you want the details. There is NO expansion on this machine... but with the massive amounts of patches and damn-near unlimited FX, you probably won't need to. The onboard memory is pretty good (about 8 song's worth).. get an SM2 or SM4 card for extra memory ASAP. Outside of Techno/industrial, this machine does not have much to offer, but I still use it for classical performances with a dirty kick (I guess that's still industrial, huh?).

It's basically an MC-505 ($1000), and an XP-30 ($1500) all in one. So you get $2500 worth of equipment for about $600... sounds like a bargain at twice the price.

I have yet to hear a Synth realistically reproduce a brass sound, so the JX-305s lame brass doesn't suprise me. The strings are excellent, as are the pads. (TIP: Try the Piano/Str stack tuned down two octaves with reverb... oh so evil!). I do find that it overloads at times, giving off some really bad background humming... but you have to TRY (like hitting 60 keys with your hold pedal down). The arepeggiator is rad, with tons of options.

I'm not hesitant to gig without backup. I have heard of these things locking up in extreme circumstances... but you really shouldn't be playing it in extreme circumstances! GET A CASE FOR IT. The knobs pop off when it get's banged around a bit.

Just say 'Operator'! Don't bother trying to navigate the automated telephone system. The manual (an epic) does a pretty good job of telling you what you need to know, but if you need help, Roland techs are acutally pretty helpful.

If lost/stolen, I would cry on the way over to my music shop and buy another one. It is definately worth every penny I paid for it. Toss in a sampler and *BAM* you have a home dance studio. Get your buddy to man another keyboard live, and *BAM* you have a live band. This is definately a great place to start for anybody who wants to get serious about techno/industrial music.

Presets are great! Gives you an example of just about every song style out there. Patchs are easy to modify. Filters are kinda weak.
Manual is not as everybody was saying it was.

I actually like the effects okay. Check out the Flanger. I don't know if you can assign different effects to different parts though.
I can accept 2 and 4 meg expansion memory cards... Haven't tried that though...nothing to put on them...hehe.
Midi is IOT. Connected to my FZ-10M sampler without much problem. Can't use filters through midi though.

Good for all electronica (i hate using that word). Check out some of the mp3s by Bert on mp3.com. All he has is a JX-305 and a Yamaha rm1x and the sounds he's producing are phenominal!
Brass SUX! Pads are beautiful. Check out the rise pad!!!!

No problems thus far.

I called about the impedence of the out jacks and they were very helpful in helping me connect it to my FZ.

If you know how to get the most out of a keyboard... and want to make dance type music... it's great. Don't listen to the people who rip on it for being a "groove" gear.
In one review of something I read, the person said, "it's not the equipment that counts, but the person using it."
My girlfriend can vouch for me on that...hehe!
Try it out for yourself... Yes there is probably something better out their for the cost. But funk it, it you like it, wanna try it... buy it.

The presets are excellent, and the editing process may be a little confusing at first, but the editing process shows that you can manipulate any sound(s)to your bidding!

The 64voices are more than enough to get any gig going. If you are talanted enough, you can use this as a standalone unit to make sophistocated hits! I am a little disappointed that pattern switch all the mute/patch settings are reterned to pattern default, problem can be corrected by makeing your own patterns to start the way you want them to. I was fond to find that I am running out ofstorage memory durring the first month of haveing this baby, it is wise to upgrade to a 4MG Smart Media card as soon as you can. The internal sequencer can be a bit confusing at time's, make sure your sober whin playing with it. ALWAYS SAVE YOUR WORK AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, sometimes out of pure stupidity, i tend to switch patterns from the temp and play back to temp where my work has vanqwished! Damn kids, their all the same.

If you not the techno/industrial or experimental oriented person, you will find this module vary dissapointing. The EFX settings are koo, but I find most of them useless, and another thing is that you can only have one EFX parimater pet pattern, and that they wont be assign to the RPS. You will find velocoty and aftertouch vary useful for recording/live performance.

This unit is vary dependable but I do recomend gatting a suitable case for it. The manuals was more than helpful, and the only backup you would need is the 4mg Start Media Card, or another seuencer(or both). You wont regret giging with this gear...

I have read from other Roland users that their customer support just sux ass, althogh i never had to deal with them.

If this thing was lost or stolen I wouldnt care, I'd find more techno toys and make my music again in no time. (It's all in my head)
I've ben Dj'ing and playing with techno toys since 1995 and I feel as if it made the genious out of me. All I have for myself s a puter and 305 and a crappy gemini mixer and big phukken PA system in my room and I have 2 mics and sometimes I barrow terntables sometimes i borrow guitars sometimes i barrow efx processors and sometimes I do small gigs. If you are geared tward live act The 305 is for you, if you want to live dj the MC505 is for you, nuff sed.

The "real instrument" presets actually aren't as bad as I thought they would be, with a little customization they work great. If your a techno artist this instrument is a gift from god himself. Although the brass patches suck. The patch editor is a bit confusing at first, since everything is horridly abrieviated to on or 2 characters. But it's capabilities are pretty extensive. As usual, the Roland manual was great until you actually applied it next to the instrument itself, then it makes you feel like an idiot for not understanding what it's directing you to do.

The keyboard has great playability. The touch sensory is amazing. It has more effects than the average person needs. Different types of reverb, flange, delay, distortion, slicers, phasers, compressors, chorus, etc. It's endless. This instrument has NO expansion capabilities! The sequencer is good but it overloads easily, resulting in lags and random dry cuts of the instruments that have lots of decay. Then again, I've never had a sequencer that I didn't overload. One thing that intrigued me was that you can step program in 64th notes! Wow! I had fun with that!

Like I mention above, the live instruments are pretty realistic, they just need to be edited to suit the atmoshpere. I hear a lot of people bitching about how the string instruments aren't the least bit impressive on the 305, but they have real sampled strings instead of synthesised combos. If you like the actual sound of a cello or violin, this is about a close as your going to get, but like I said, customise it to your needs. The distortion effect is a bit cheesy, but how many keyboards have onboard distortion? The velocity and aftertouch is nice, I find myself practicing classical and jazz piano pieces a lot on this machine. The techno sounds are the best I've seen, but then again, keep in mind every techno artist that has a 305 is going to be using them. Before I used this board in any tracks I made a couple hundred of my own patches. For some reason the drums don't do it for me, but they have a lot of impressive sounds that most people would enjoy.

At 72 degrees in a clean studio atmosphere it is fool proof. On a really hot/cold stage after being slammed around a bit it tends to lock up or give out weird messages on the display. The knobs fall of with the slightest bump, but they can be snapped back on. To be honest I wouldn't bring this on tour, but for one show I'd use it with proper backup.

I'm pretty much the "fix it yourself" type so I haven't had the wonderful honor of dealing with Roland. The instruction book smells like burnt chocolate-chip cookies when it's set on fire!

If it were stolen, I'd probably buy it again since the price is now a fraction of what I paid for it ($600-). I've been using synth extensively for about 8 years and this is pretty different from anything I've seen before. Go out and buy it if your a techno/rap/jungle/rave artist, but if your doing something more organic or origional just skip by any of Roland's products and buy a Kurzweil or Korg. If your an MC303 or MC505 user this would be a wise investment. I hear it can play the patterns of a 505 through a memory card. It has a lot of different features, but is a tad bit cheesy.

The presets are good but really nothing special. In order to do anything except cheesy rave music you're gonna have to edit them. The patch editor in itself is very easy to use with lotsa effects and the such. THE MANUAL IS AWFUL! And as such I will surely mention it again later in this review. It's all these long winded explanations that, for a musician and not someone who spends there entire life programming, are just a royal pain to plow through. If they'd just be more straightforward about things I wouldn't have a single complaint.

Whole buncha built in effects here. The sequencer is very straight forward and easy to use, that is, if you can comprehend the manual. It has the usual MIDI In Out Through and can handle memory cards for storing sequences, patches, etc. The arpeggiator is useful and the knobs on it for quantizing are a nice feature.

For techno the sounds on this thing are a godsend, for industrial it works, as far as "real" instrument sounds go it sorta sucks. The brass presets are all (in my opinion) fairly unrealistic but I'm sure that if someone were to put there mind to it and take the time to edit them they might come out with something very close to the real thing. The lead synth abilities of the JX surprised me as I wasn't expecting the full sounds that I got out of it after hearing the many rather hollow dance patches that it has.

Haven't had a problem with it yet and I bought it last year. I'd use it live without a backup any day.

Never had a problem that needed solving. Except the manual. Roland simply cannot write manuals.

I've only been using MIDI equipment for a year now and this was the first purchase I made. The only problem I've ever had was with learning how to use it. Without any previous experience in the field of synths I was left hanging since the manual is just a buncha the usual cryptic Roland style stuff. Since then I've taught myself how to use it and now find it to be extremely useful in making music (I do electro- industrial stuff). If it were lost or stolen I'd probably purchase it again though I might think twice about it.

Okay. Presets sound good, sequencer is easy to use especially if you are familiar with other recent "groove gear". Manual is okay, however I have yet to find the correct procedure for finding out its OS version.

64 notes polyphony. Keyboard is good: velo, aftertouch, split, etc. Mondo builtin effects. Sound good, easy to use. Accepts "smart memory" cards to store sequences, patches. MIDI In/Out/Thru, knobs send continuous controllers and/or sysex. Sequencer is almost identical to MC-303/MC-505. Pattern based, 8 part.

Synth patches: good "real instruments": good luck -- nice pianos, really bad woodwinds, okay brass. Use this synth for techno/industrial/hiphop. Effects sound fine. Velo and aftertouch are well implemented.

Too early to say, I just brought it home this afternoon. Haven't managed to lock it up or crash it though. No reason not to use it on a gig as far as I can tell.

Roland customer support is good if you can ever get hold of them. No experience yet with this board, but I *do* want to know why the "bender assign" feature does not seem to work as documented.

If I lost it, sure I'd buy it again. Worth what I paid? Sure. Playing synths about 3 years, piano since I was a kid. Other gear: MC-303, Yamaha QY-70, Alpha Juno 1, mixer, effects, etc. Compares well with MC-505 (has keyboard, whoopee!). Good all-round dance music production machine, plus it's a nice MIDI controller as well. Wish it had serial MIDI port so I could use it with my laptop.