I have the jdxi for about 2 years now using it all the time and I felt like finally leaving a review for it. In short this is probably the best music related purchase I've made in years and has found a permanent place on my desk under the computer screen as my studio centerpiece.
+ The SuperNATURAL engine of the 2 digital parts is very up to my liking. The analog engine even though it is simple and rather limited, it has a very characteful sound to it. The drum kits are are also really good. Even though sound design is not really possible on jdxi without endless menu diving, there is a fantastic unofficial editor that opens up the synth possibilities (even more than whats possible even with the menu diving). Just get that editor and donate to the guy making it.
+ The built in reverb and delay are great (the other effects are not so great though but may find some use case occasionally).
+ 4 parts 64 steps sequencer with step recording, realtime recording, TR style recording, and automation recording with good controls for doing all these stuff is awesome for coming up with ideas and insipiration, or even for a minimalist live gig or a secondary synth intrument as a bandmember for providing some synth tones (which what I've also done with the jdxi as a bass player).
+ The on board vocoder/auto-tune sounds great, even though enabling it sacrifices 1 digital synth and the analog synth (which is kind of a bummer but OK).
+ Using its MIDI OUT I've hooked it up to my other synth modules to play and sequence them when I feel I need some other sounds, essentially replacing the jdxi synth parts (or even drum part) on the spot, while still using all the sequencer features the jdxi has.
= The keys are not that good, but I've come to like them over time for how light they are (I'm probably the minority). They can get the job done in any case when I don't feel like pulling out my full size midi keyboard.
// The only cons I have to say for the jdxi (and my wishlist) are:
- There is no real patterns mode, meaning having different patterns per part and changing them on the fly to create a full song with the same 4 part tones. This is my biggest con. Wish it was possible to just hold down a part button and hit one of the 16 steps to change the pattern for that part.
- When creating up a project (called a pattern in jdxi for some reason) and selecting up the tones/preset you want each part to have using the big categories knob and +/- buttons, it is only possible to select from the presets that jdxi comes stock with. In other words you can't create your own presets (either on board or using that unofficcial editor) and add them to the categories or anywhere else for that matter. A custom preset can only be saved as part of a project and is impossible to select it for use in another project in any easy way. Wish it was possible to save custom presets to those categories and select them just like we do the stock ones.
- There is no way to set different lengths to the 4 parts (eg have drums at 16 steps and everything else at 64).
- Wish there were separate outputs for each part.
// Bottom line: despite the cons, I think this is a fantastic piece of gear that will remain front-center on my studio desk probably up until jdxi 2 comes out (Roland please make it happen).
