Comparison Roland JD-Xi vs Yamaha reface DX

— Synthesizer. In this case, we are referring to classic digital synthesizers — keyboard musical instruments capable of reproducing the sound of various instruments and sound effects. The functionality of these models can vary greatly — from budget devices with minimal features to advanced instruments suitable even for professional musicians.

— Workstation. High-end synthesizers for professional use, capable of serving as not only a musical instrument but also as a control panel for recording and mixing sound. Therefore, a sequencer (see below) is a mandatory feature of such instruments. Additionally, workstations are characterized by advanced equipment appropriate to their class: it is among these instruments that you find models with full-sized hammer-action (see "Mechanics") 88-key keyboards, the user has access to a wealth of adjustments and connectors, and the sound quality and authenticity in low-cost models are good, while in advanced ones — nearly perfect. However, synthesizers of this type are quite expensive, so combined with their extensive capabilities, they are indispensable tools for composers, sound engineers, and other specialists engaged in both performance and music recording.

— Children's Synthesizer. The features of such instruments are generally clear from the name — these are synthesizers designed for children. Externally, these models differ from "adult" ones pr...imarily in the smaller number of keys (up to 49, often less) and the reduced size of the keys themselves for a child's hand. In addition, the performance characteristics and functionality of children's synthesizers are also, more often than not, more modest: for instance, the polyphony (see below) rarely exceeds 8 voices, and the overall sound authenticity is quite low. However, the educational capabilities of such instruments, on the other hand, can be very extensive, and in general, children's synthesizers are considered a good choice for initial learning.

— Analog Synthesizer. Instruments in which sound is created not through digital processing but by passing through a real electrical circuit. Very simply, the principle of operation of such an instrument can be described as follows: each key, when pressed, activates its sound generator at a certain frequency responsible for the desired note, and with additional settings (oscillators, envelope, filters), the musician gives this sound its color. From the user's perspective, the most noticeable difference in an analog synthesizer is the absence of built-in timbres — all details of the sound are manually adjusted by the musician. Analog instruments are more complex to operate, but on the other hand, they allow for effects that are not possible with "digital." Moreover, the coloration of the sound on analog synthesizers differs somewhat. Historically, instruments of this type appeared before digital ones; however, today, they are specialized solutions mainly intended for professional performers and used in specific musical directions.

— Unweighted. Keys with a very low pressing force, literally "failing" under the fingers. This option is well suited for inexpensive synthesizers with passive mechanics (see above), but is rarely used in active models — a small resistance force makes it difficult to choose the optimal pressing force.

— Semi- weighted. Medium-strength keys, not up to the hardness of a full-fledged piano, but showing noticeably more resistance than unweighted ones. This variant is most popular among instruments with active mechanics (see above) — the force on the keys provides adequate feedback and at the same time playing such an instrument does not cause any special difficulties even for those who previously dealt only with unweighted keyboards.

— Weighted. Keys with high actuation force, comparable to that of a classical piano. Used only in professional hammer action instruments (see above) — high rigidity is a must for such mechanics (more precisely, for the response that it must provide).

The polyphony supported by a synthesizer, in other words, is the number of “voices” (tone generators) that can simultaneously sound on it.

This parameter is often described as the number of notes that can be played simultaneously on the keyboard. However, this is not entirely true due to the fact that in many timbres one note can activate several tone generators. As a result, for example, to play a chord of 3 notes in a timbre with 4 tone generators per note, polyphony of at least 3 * 4=12 voices is required. In addition, Auto Accompaniment and Preset Songs (see related sections) also use tone generators, requiring even more voices to work effectively with these features.

The minimum value for a more or less functional modern synthesizer is polyphony for 32 voices — and even then such an instrument can be used mainly for initial training and simple melodies. For a more solid application, it is desirable to have at least 50 – 60 voices, and in professional models (in particular, workstations where you have to deal with several audio tracks at once), there are models with polyphony for 150 tone generators or more.

In general, a more advanced synthesizer is likely to have more extensive polyphony, however, it is only possible to evaluate the class of an instrument by this parameter very approximately — instruments with the same number of voices can differ greatly in level. The only exception to this rule are children's synthesizers (see "T...ype"), which support up to 20 voices.

The number of built-in sounds provided in the synthesizer.

The number of timbres is often described as the number of instruments that a given model can imitate. However, this is not entirely true — rather, this parameter can be called "the number of instruments and sound effects." For example, the same instrument — an electric guitar — with different "gadgets" (distortion, overdrive) will sound differently, and in the synthesizer each such gadget will be considered a separate timbre. The “drums” timbre usually combines different types of drums and other percussion instruments — in other words, it allows you to portray both the “bass drum” and the cymbals without switching settings, just by pressing the desired keys. And some timbres may not have analogues among real instruments at all.

The more built-in timbres, the more extensive the possibilities of the synthesizer, the more diverse the sounds that can be extracted from it. At the same time, in high-end models like workstations (see "Type"), this number can reach 1000 or even more.

The sequencer is a device that allows you to record music played on the instrument in real time. Recording is usually done in MIDI format. At the same time, the capabilities of the sequencer can include not only the recording and playback of the music being played, but also advanced options for editing it: sequential overlay of several parts, mixing of recorded tracks, changing the volume, tempo, timbre, key of the recorded compositions, quantization to eliminate tempo irregularities, etc. .P. The specific capabilities of the sequencer, usually, directly depend on the type (see above) and the price category of the synthesizer. However, anyway, this function can be an important help for both a novice musician and a professional.

Synthesizer support for octave shift function.

This function allows you to shift the sound of the instrument one or more octaves up or down — for example, so that the keys of the first octave sound the notes of the second, or vice versa. This function can be used for both simple convenience and more practical purposes — it allows you to play very low and very high notes that are not initially covered by the keyboard range. This is especially useful for shortened 49- or 61-key synths that do not initially fit the full range of the piano.

The presence of an arpeggiator in the design of the synthesizer.

The term "arpeggio" originally means the technique of playing a chord, in which the notes are not sounded all at once, but one after another. Accordingly, arpeggiator, roughly speaking, is a device for the automated playing of chords using the arpeggio technique. Compared to manual playback by notes, this function is convenient because the arpeggiator can provide various additional settings: set the direction of playback (up or down), speed, interval between notes and their duration, special effects, background accompaniment, etc. At the same time, all effects work automatically, the user only needs to press the keys that make up the chord (and in some synthesizers in some modes, only one key can generally be responsible for a whole chord). The specific capabilities of arpeggiators can be different, often such a device allows you to create entire compositions just by pressing a sequence of chords.

Synthesizer support for reverb.

Initially, reverberation is the phenomenon of gradual attenuation of sound during its repeated reflections from walls or surrounding objects; in this case, it is meant to recreate this effect with the help of special processing of the audio signal. By changing the reverb settings, you can, in particular, imitate rooms with different acoustic properties — for example, a strong echo with a minimum delay creates the effect of being in a cave, a noticeable echo with a noticeable delay — being in a vast "boomy" room like a cathedral, etc. However, reverb can also achieve quite specific effects.

The presence of a chorus effect in the synthesizer.

The word "chorus" comes from chorus, "chorus", and the purpose of this function is quite consistent with the origin of its name — it creates the effect of the choral sound of several instruments. To do this, the original sound signal is copied (one or more times) and the copies are added to the overall sound with a small, up to 30 ms, time shift, and this shift is constantly changing. In this way, a small but noticeable difference in individual "voices", characteristic of a real choir, is imitated. However it is worth noting that a full-fledged resemblance to a choral performance with the help of a chorus cannot be achieved even on the most advanced synthesizer; however, this effect in itself sounds very interesting, thanks to which it does not lose its popularity.