Roland JX-3P

The presets can be good (Organ 2, Pulsar, Planet) but I find it's primarily the editing that shows off the capabilities of the board.

The editing can be fantastic if done properly. I spent hours just modulating frequency on some of the presets. The sequencer isn't bad, but I can't imagine using it live, without preseting it. The rate slider is ancient, so matching it up with a drum machine is fairly hard.

The organ three, when played with some reverb is a huge, church-like sound. I couldn't see a rock band using it, but a techno dance band could get along quite well with it.

Doesn't brake down, mine is fifteen years old now and still goes strong.

I would totally buy it again. The best space-keyboard I've used. Not to be bought for a piano replacement, but as an electronic instrument.

Easy to program. Old style presets, but what do you expect for an '82 synth?

After cleaning out the keypad activators, it hasn't skipped a beat in two and a half years of battering. Unfortunately MIDI capabilities are limited to program change, note on/off and pitch bend.

Simple sounds are what it creates, but they are still very useable and accommodate well to dance and electronica

You can bounce these things on the floor and they just keep ticking

If it ever breaks down, I fix it. Can't answer this one. Full set of schematics available on request.

If I could by another at the price I would. Easily modified and nice to use to create a quick and nasty sound. For a more analog style sound change the 6 master oscillator pots (slightly) to create an slightly uneven scale across the six voices

Most of the presets are pretty lousy. But what can you expect with a 2 DCO synth in the are of realistic sounds. Some are pretty cool though like the harpsichord, organ 3, juicy funk and voice. The synth consists of 2 DCOs with saw,narrow pulse, square and noise on osc. 2 at 16',8', and 4'. Both DCOs can be altered with the LFO (sine,square,random,rate,delay), or the single ADSR envelope generator. The DCO's are also syncable and cross-moddable. DCO 2 has tune and fine knobs. The tune knob is odd though, it goes an ocatve down but only a seventh (11 notes) up. I don't know if they're all this way or if mine is just weird. The filter I think is 12db per ocatve and has the usual controls and can be modified by the eg or LFO, there is also a highpass filter knob. The VCA has only a volume knob and can be switched between the ADSR or gate. Editing presets is tedious and time consuming without the PG-200 programmer. Fortunately I have one so editing sounds is just like any old analog, knobs and switches. I didn't get a manual so I can't comment on it. Everything is pretty easy to figure out though.

Polyphony is just 6 notes but transmits total polyphony over MIDI. The 61 key keyboard is a little springy but decent. The only built in effect is chorus which simply has an on/off switch. The is a pitch wheel which is selectable range between 2,4 or 7 notes. There is no mod wheel but there is an LFO trigger button above the pitch wheel. There are 32 presets and 32 memory locations ans 32 hidden memory locations. A 256 step sequencer that does not work with MIDI and has a rate slider and a trigger input. Patches and sequnces can be sent to and retrieved from cassettes. The is a sustain pedal jack as well as hold button, stereo outputs with selectable output and a headphone jack. MIDI is limited to note on/off, pitch bend, and program chnage I think. There are jacks for MIDI in/out and thru. There's a switch near the MIDI jacks for MIDI mode, programmer and mem. prtect. The programmer does not work in the MIDI mode, but the MIDI out works in the programmer mode. So I guess you can't tweak the knobs on the programmer if you're using the MIDI in with a sequencer or whatever.

None of the preset instruments are really realistic. Unless maybe you come from the Moog Cookbooks's homeworld. The used a JX-3P on their album by the way. It's really good for TechNot, but I hate TechNot. I like it for the cheeze factor and the unrealism of the sounds. It's nice for leads and synth string sounds too, or for just tweaking away and getting far out space nut sounds. Atari (not ARP) 2600 (anyone remember those? Not of course you don't.) sounds are also just a few knob twirls away.

Well, yeah I'd depend on it, it's all metal apart from the sides, all the jacks are recessed behing the metal of the back panel. The switches are all low profine and the are minimal knobs and sliders on the front, apart from the PG-200 which is loaded with knobs.

Never dealt with roland about anything other than product lit.

I would definitly buy it again. I got a good deal on mine cause it was/is dented on the back panel and the right output jack doesn't work. The only thing I could ask for is portamento and a velocity sensitive keyboard. Ok, maybe a second ADSR too, but not much else. The only other boards I compared it with was the Juno 106 and JX-8P, but the Juno only has 1 DCO per voice and the 8P has no sawtooth waveform. They both have portamento though. Oh well, you can't and usually don't get everything you want.

II diskike most of the presets although the organs and voice are pretty neat. At first, before I Figured it out, programing this lady was easy but stoing it was a real bitch. (Iscrewed up and lost some killer sounds.) No manuel with mine...but I found alot of valuable information on secret key presses etc. via Hyperreal.

Again, Midi on this thing sucks. Ive gotten midi in but not out of it.Help!

You can create some pretty sweet sounds on her. In combination with a good analog/digital delay like the Ibanez DM1100 makes her into a really nice ambient synth.

This thing is a rock. It has a mettal case and seems to take abuse pretty well.

Ive herd tell of upgrades but theyre a bitch to find on the net and noone else knows what Im talkin about.

This is a nice cheap keyboard for someone just getting interested in synths I think. But dont count on its midi capacities or your screwed. I bought this and a Korg DW8000 because they had a sort of analog sound (or are capable of making) were stable, programable and I thought midi compatible. I dont like having to set the voice before each song. Tthis thig only has midi control for notes. Its not velocity sesitive.................well mine sort of is but its not very good in that respect............and I suspect this one is slightly modified since they arn't suposed to be. I dont regret buying her, I just want more, more, more. For my first synth she certainly has caused my synth habit.

The presets are really worthless. Once you start tweaking the filter and make some really weird patches, this thing comes to life!. It is a very 'cheesy' synth. I own both th 3P and the 8P. The 8P is more of a complex space synth (see other review) but it's little brother the 3P is far more 'cheesy'. (Bass lines, bleepy leads and stuff).
To edit your patches you can use either a programmar, or via the front panel with a data slider. Since I do not have a programmar, I cannot judge the quality of that. Editting with the data slider is relatively easy but with the ussual drawbacks.
Manual is a manual. Nothing more and nothing less.

Polophony: 6 with 2 DCO's per voice. Keyboard is a bit rubbery. I had mine upgraded with a 'velocity chip' that made the synth respond to Midi velocity, so I don't use the keyboard and I am happy with it. By the way: This synth has *the* best pitch bender I have ever seen!
Midi is crap!. There are a few versions of the midi implementation. The first one is version 1.0 Very buggy (You had to do weird stuff to get this thing out of omni mode (plug midi-in in midi-out and press 6 keys at once)) The next version 1.1 solved this problem by receiving the 'omni off' command. And there is the velocity upgrade I mentioned.
It has a cute buikt in sequencer. This sequencer can not be used in combination with Midi.

Presets are crap. You can make some cool sounds though. It all depends on your will to fiddle with the buttons. (But hey! that is the fun of analogue)

It is very reliable. Keyboard needs some cleaning once in a while. No problems whatsoever! Never....

Zero

I love this synth. When I route it through my effect processor and get some cheesy bass-lines rolling with LFO filters going up and down, heaven touches earth. I would buy it again, but prices of these thing are really getting out of control. (I paid a lot for it). Of course, if you can get the programmar, get it, it's cool. One mayor drawback is, that you cannot use the programmar in combination with Midi, that's why I never spilled any tears on not having it.