Seeking trouble... Jupiter Xm into a module.

[dalpozlead]

My new setup is ergonomically perfect… a new chair, new controller and a synth drawer with the best cable management I’ve ever done…, but: No perfect space for the Jupiter Xm.

I’ve never (and will never) use the mini keys… in fact its existence annoys me, so I’ve been thinking about converting it into a module, removing the keys and thinking about a solution to close it “professionally”.

Completely stupid idea? Anything that should stop this thought process before it progresses…?

[AUSSIEKEYS]

59 minutes ago, dalpozlead said:

 Anything that should stop this thought process before it progresses…?

 

No!

 

i love conversions of keyboards. Following youre thread intently.

 

Please continue........

[ProfD]

58 minutes ago, dalpozlead said:

Completely stupid idea? Anything that should stop this thought process before it progresses…?

Not a completely stupid idea *if* you plan to keep the hack job forever. 

 

OTOH, depending on how the Jupiter Xm is being utilized in term sounds and from a tactile perspective, maybe consider selling and replacing it with Roland JD-08 or Roland Integra.😎

[Baldwin Funster]

How about clear resin. Just build a reservoir with tape or something around the keybed and pour in some clear epoxy or whatever. Then you'll have the keys under glass.

Then someday in the future somebody will aquire it and go.. WTF?

[CyberGene]

Jupiter Xm is a VST in a box which is hard to program and has too few controls to be worth the hassle. IMO. What I like about it is the fact it’s a portable synth that runs on batteries and has decent speakers. You’re basically amputating these three advantages.  

[ABECK]

Sell it and get a module.  Plenty to choose from.  Ultimately a chop job could be more of a headache than it is worth.  (and as ProfD said, you should probably plan on keeping it forever at that point.)

[AnotherScott]

Picking up from ABECK and ProfD's thoughts about possibly replacing it with a module, and CyberGene's thought about it being basically a VST in a box anyway... Assuming you have a computer as part of the setup, I think you can get most if not all the Xm's functionality from Roland Cloud (with, as Gene said, the main advantages of the Xm over the Cloud being the self-contained portability with its keys/batteries/speakers, none of which you'd have anymore anyway). You could even have a separate small tablet computer (i.e. Surface Pro) which could be treated as a dedicated Roland Cloud Sound Module, if there's no computer there or it's tied up with other things or otherwise inconvenient to use for this purpose. Rather than likely de-valuing your Xm, you could probably sell it, use that money to buy a Surface and some "lifetime" Roland keys, and still be financially ahead.

[Konnector]

It's a pricey little synth to butcher. If it was a cheap MicroKorg or something along those lines then sure - chop it up. It's not though, so I'd say leave it be and sell it for something that fits your needs better.

[RABid]

People who do not own a Jupiter X(m) don't understand how good it sounds, how handy it is to choose other synth models to load in, how easy it is to program and/or load sounds into when connected to the computer, and how nice it is to have 256 voice polyphony. If you cut the keys off you will be missing out on one of the best features, the multi-channel arp. You don't really need full size keys for that, or for the wonderful vocoder. If mini keys are so into your head that you cannot or will not play them, upgrade to the full size Jupiter X, or at least to the Juno X. I'm quite happy with my Jupiter Xm sitting next to my Korg Wavestate. But, I'm also planning to grab a full size Jupiter X some day soon.

[David Emm]

2 hours ago, RABid said:

People who do not own a Jupiter X(m) don't understand how good it sounds, how handy it is to choose other synth models to load in, how easy it is to program and/or load sounds into when connected to the computer, and how nice it is to have 256 voice polyphony. If you cut the keys off you will be missing out on one of the best features, the multi-channel arp. You don't really need full size keys for that, or for the wonderful vocoder. If mini keys are so into your head that you cannot or will not play them, upgrade to the full size Jupiter X, or at least to the Juno X. I'm quite happy with my Jupiter Xm sitting next to my Korg Wavestate. But, I'm also planning to grab a full size Jupiter X some day soon.

 

The complaints I've read hold little water. The thing is most of Roland in a box, which is a potent asset. The GUI could have used a few tweaks, like adding color to the all-white buttons when editing, but we've all used far worse. Plug a decent controller into it that has zoning means and it becomes a DEVO pipe organ. C'mon, it even offers several RD pianos on top of the synth overload. I know its always subjective and that's fine, but the Xm is like an entire planet unto itself. 

I'm happy to live within Logic now, but you don't know how big a deal it is for ME to say I could make this my main voice if I was still into hardware.

 

[dalpozlead]

point of no return 😁

Next step: adapt to mount in a rack

[David Emm]

Nice work! Now that its chopped, its a family heirloom, resale value on Reverb be damned!

 

In my view, Roland could sell a healthy number of "X-m/r"s in this form. Roland offers a free editor for it, so you can program it to the hilt and then have it play self-contained. That feels like a big win for a live rig. Trolls deride some instruments as a "VST in a box," but this is what it looks like when done right.         

[Finale]

On 10/20/2022 at 4:43 PM, dalpozlead said:

Anything that should stop this thought process before it progresses…?

 

I'm very late to the party, but I think it is a little cutie.

 

I enjoy modifying keyboards too and to answer your original question, I always start by asking myself if it's OK I might never sell the unit in the future, then if fine before doing anything I make sure what I want to do is actually possible and then define the main steps and possible material I will need, etc. Of course, mods don't come with instruction manuals so there are always additional steps or problems that come along, but I think it is always interesting and fun challenges. Congrats !

 

P. S. : Hope this will be added to the new Repairs and Mods section, it's always interesting to see what others work on.

[AUSSIEKEYS]

13 hours ago, dalpozlead said:

point of no return 😁

Next step: adapt to mount in a rack

This is brilliant. Love to know more

[dalpozlead]

Thanks for the positive feedback, this was a medium difficulty job, plenty of space and not that much cables to handle. The keybed is packed nicely so after removing  2 internal screws its loose.

The "messy" job was to cut the plastic..., in this case having the right tool was key. A small rotary saw (and a vacuum cleaner attached) helped to reduce the mess, avoiding the plastic particles to be inside.

I'm still deciding if this will be a single rack of if I'll add another Roland gear (JV-1080, JD-08 and JD-990) into a super Roland Monster Rack. Unfortunatelly the Jupiter Xm is wider than the rack standard measure, so I'm not completely certain.

More pictures to come when ready.

Tks!

 

[AUSSIEKEYS]

It looks like a quality desktop module

 

From photos it could definitely pass as factory made.

[Husker]

On 1/4/2024 at 8:24 PM, David Emm said:

 

 

In my view, Roland could sell a healthy number of "X-m/r"s in this form.  

I'd buy one in a microsecond. 

[dalpozlead]

Adding some wood work. 

[nursers]

Seriously this is amazing and I too would buy one in a heartbeat. Great work!

[dalpozlead]

13 minutes ago, Dr Nursers said:

Seriously this is amazing and I too would buy one in a heartbeat. Great work!

tks!, this was a fun project.

[Paul Woodward]

Dont want to criticise anyone's efforts, and I loved the way this was going as a module, just think the woodwork lets it down a bit. Im a furniture designer by trade so probably being a bit picky, but that's if I were doing this for myself. Takes nothing away from the work done on this so well done.

[dalpozlead]

4 hours ago, Paul Woodward said:

Dont want to criticise anyone's efforts, and I loved the way this was going as a module, just think the woodwork lets it down a bit. Im a furniture designer by trade so probably being a bit picky, but that's if I were doing this for myself. Takes nothing away from the work done on this so well done.

Thanks for the comment Paul. I wonder if you found someting specific about the construction (I did with practically no experience with wood... home made :-), or with the design itself? I'd really love to hear ideas. tks!

[zeronyne]

Nice work! And I wouldn't be so quick to relegate this conversion to the "it will never have resale value" bin. I've seen Microfreaks and Minilogues with amputated keyboards sell very quickly on Reverb.

[CEB]

I would personally place a higher price on this than I would the original.  

[Paul Woodward]

3 hours ago, dalpozlead said:

Thanks for the comment Paul. I wonder if you found someting specific about the construction (I did with practically no experience with wood... home made :-), or with the design itself? I'd really love to hear ideas. tks!

Again, it’s a labour of love and you are happy with it. I would have matched the end cheek to the shape of the metal case (it protrudes) and formed that front lip into the casing a bit cleaner. Works for you, and that is what matters.

[dalpozlead]

25 minutes ago, Paul Woodward said:

Again, it’s a labour of love and you are happy with it. I would have matched the end cheek to the shape of the metal case (it protrudes) and formed that front lip into the casing a bit cleaner. Works for you, and that is what matters.

got it! sure, one of my plan (so far a dream...,) is to have a dedicated space, and machinery so I can dedicate to those kind of detailing on wood and metal.

 

tks buddy!

[Threadslayer]

57 minutes ago, Paul Woodward said:

I would have matched the end cheek to the shape of the metal case (it protrudes) and formed that front lip into the casing a bit cleaner.

Doesn't look any rougher than this... And they sold pretty well

[dalpozlead]

if the Xm was closer to a rack dimension I'd have done a "monster roland rack" with the Xm, JD-08, JV-1080 and JD-990... but as it is larger the idea died young.

[Analogaddict]

2 hours ago, dalpozlead said:

if the Xm was closer to a rack dimension I'd have done a "monster roland rack" with the Xm, JD-08, JV-1080 and JD-990... but as it is larger the idea died young.

How far off is it? If you cut the sides really close to the sliders, is it still a no-go for 19”..?

[dalpozlead]

15 minutes ago, Analogaddict said:

How far off is it? If you cut the sides really close to the sliders, is it still a no-go for 19”..?

unfortunately the PCBs are almost reaching each side (sorry, I should have taken pictures), so no way to reduce the width...