Article Preview :: Synthesizer Upgrade
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The clever chaps at Kiwi Technics have rebuilt a lesser-known Roland classic from the inside out.
Occasionally, a synth slips through the net and recedes into obscurity while lesser instruments achieve cult status. One example of this is the Roland JX3P. Based upon similar oscillators as those in the Juno series, and using the same IR3109 filters and BA662 amplifiers as the Jupiter 4, Jupiter 8, Juno 6 and Juno 60, it was an instrument possessing much greater depth than common wisdom suggested. Unfortunately, it was far less flexible than it might have been. With a single CPU-generated contour generator, a single CPU-generated LFO, and just 32 parameters per sound, it could never produce the breadth of sounds obtained from better-endowed competitors.
Today, however, the JX3P is experiencing a renaissance,
thanks to the efforts of Kiwi Technics, whose Patch Editor I reviewed
in July 2011. At the time, I mentioned that the company had developed
a JX3P upgrade and, although this is still benefiting from ongoing
development, I decided that it was finally time to take the plunge, buy
a JX3P, and attack it mercilessly with a pair of side-cutters and
a soldering iron.
Supplied in a small box that pops easily through your
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