Released in 1985 the JX-10 (Super JX) combines two individual JX-8P's for an outstandingly warm, rich and analog sound which is still used in many modern studios all over the world. This synth was the first Roland Synth to be fitted with a quality 76 note keyboard with velocity and aftertouch. Two DCO's per voice, two ADSR envelope generators per voice, and a resonant lowpass & non-resonant highpass filters are only the beginning. It has a 12 voice polyphony for a total of 24 oscillators and it is by far one of the most programmable synths of its time! However, as on the JX-8P, knobs and sliders have been replaced by low-profile buttons and a nice LCD display. Although this may look sleek and elegant, it makes editing a chore. Assign parameters to the alpha dial for tweaking, one at a time, or get the optional PG-800 Programmer to provide traditional, hands-on, dedicated sliders for editing the JX-10's parameters.

The JX10 has a Chorus effect and a chase-play Delay function. The chase-play function allows programmable delayed repeats of voices by alternating patches of the upper and lower modules. The simple chorus effect is either off, slow or fast. It has two programmable sliders (if you don't use the PG-800) for some real-time control which can be recorded along with other effects and keyboard modes into one of the 64 Program Patches. This is in addition to its standard 50 preset and 50 user patch memory. A simple sketch-pad 1-track real-time sequencer is also on-board. It stores sequence data directly to an M16C card, or an M64C card for Patch/Tone OR sequence data. The M16C has a capacity of 400 notes, the M64C 1440, according to the manual.

The JX-10 also comes in a rack-mount version known as the MKS-70. It's worth noting that the JX-10 can not be edited via SysEx, however the MKS-70 can which is one reason many have chosen the rack version of the keyboard. The JX-10 can make bulk dumps of its sounds over sysex, but only with (discontinued) Roland M64C RAM cartridges. The JX-10 has been used by Jane Child, Pink Floyd, Duran Duran, Angelo Badalamenti, Yellow Jackets and The Cure.

Keith Canisius

April 1, 2013 @ 10:30 am

Just got this monster with the Pg-800 controller and two M64-C Cartridges. It's seems capable of quite a bit. It has the nice lush pads you been reading about, but you can create some monster Oberheim like bas sounds as well as crazy effects. It has some lovely semi dirty piano sounds as well. But forget about the presets. You can make way better sounds on your own.
I'm glad I have the controller though! Very underrated and cheap for it's quality. Love it already!

Matt N

February 16, 2013 @ 5:59 pm

I have to agree with both the "Lvrs" and the "H8trs" of this synth. But in the end, I absolutely love the sound of this board! I have had mine now for over a year, having always wanted one. There are some great patch voicing facilities, like fatness of the Unison. I have overcome some of the tone and patch programming peculiarities. I found the largest learning curve, at least for me, was effectively creating dual mode patches. Took a while to be able to stack two tones in unique and meaningful ways. Would I like better MIDI implementation? Yes. But the refined sonics keeps me coming back!!

Tom

February 13, 2013 @ 8:35 pm

Roland flagship before the D50. A very rich and thick (sometimes too thick!) sounding instrument with lots of low end. Not at all bright and metallic like the jx-3p. A bit slower env wise, but not as slow as the matrix-12. Great 76 key keyboard. Like two JX-8P's but with slight differences sound wise - at least the early JX-8P's seemed to have a darker character. Very easy to program with the pg800. Why the Super JX is still so cheap, is a bit of a mystery, for me this is up there with the OB-8 and jupiter 6. I got myself another one this winter.

Ronald Ruepert

January 31, 2013 @ 9:00 am

I bought mine in the Eighties , when new , it's a stunning synth with very warm sounds .
It's really analog , great !!

Alex

January 26, 2013 @ 11:27 pm

I have one of these, I have a JX-8P and a JX-3P also all with programmers. The JX-8P is one of my favorite synths, it is just perfect, the JX-10 sounds identical but the way that the patches are structured is a bit different than on the JX-8 and it turned some people off. Essentially you have 2 JX-8P's working together here and that leads to some very thick and fat sounds, this thing is WARM and can also sound digital. I love it, but it does have some short falls - midi and the way that the tone architecture is set up - its just annoying, however the sound is amazing, and that's what counts.

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