MKS-80 (Jupiter-8) v/s Jupiter-80 : The Blind Test

[Watermelon]

The only video which compares the output of the MKS-80 (Super Jupiter - Analog) with the Jupiter-80 (Digital but SuperNATURAL Synth engine). Although the answers to the blind test are not published yet, the video is interesting :

http://youtu.be/qpbg_8jtDgk

Enjoy!

[ozy]

Maybe for better "blindness" he should have put a piece of duct tape on the mks80's "midi flow" led.

[mojkarma]

But the midi flow led is lighting in both cases, regardless of the source being played.

[Watermelon]

Yes, the MKS-80 and Jupiter-80 were recorded simultaneously... so, the indicators are meaningless. Nice try anyway ;-)

[CShorte]

Both sounded very good and extremely similar. CS.

[Devnor]

You know its a good test when folks are looking for the midi indicators.

[cello]

You know its a good test when folks are looking for the midi indicators.

lol! Quite! I thought it was a test for the ears - not the eyes... !

But did I smell some burning of leads during the JP-80 ones - due to sheer power going through them? ;-)

[MethodicMind]

Pretty cool idea! Congrats! :D

I should be able to hear some very small differences (a little detune with fast envelope? a little bit more warm?), very well v-synth remake in JP80 though!

I can't tell who is who despite the minor differences.

[Watermelon]

Few differences could have been removed by spending more time to the tweaking. However, cloning a sound through the entire keyboard range takes a lot of time. And sometimes, it is simply impossible ;-)

Anyway, as you said, despite of the small audible differences, it ain't easy to find where the real analog sound hides. That was the point of the video.

Instead of taking a position (e.g. digital is worse/better than analog) and getting inevitably bashed, blind tests invite people to think by themselves and draw their own conclusions. That's the power of blind testing.

[JuneauUndergound]

Wait a second here, the MKS 80 is a wonderful piece of kit but is NOT a JP-8, maybe closer to a 6 but no 8. Something to do with filters and other internals. Excellent analog device but again not a JP8. However, a great unit to have if you can pick one up at a decent price.

[fantomCK]

i never had any dout that an 80 saw wave sounded like an 8 saw......the true test is the cutoff filter.....with digital keyboards you get whats know as a zipper effect....but analog you dont.....you need to record both going from the lowest cutoff to the highest cutoff with the resonance turned up via the evn......this would be the true test.......CK

[JuneauUndergound]

with digital keyboards you get whats know as a zipper effect....

Please explain this a little for us non-propeller heads.

[ozy]

with digital keyboards you get whats know as a zipper effect....

Please explain this a little for us non-propeller heads.

it usually means "audible steps/discontinuities in what should be a smooth sound transition" (filter stepping, and similar).

The real A/B analogue/digital test is activating a wide continuous transition of TWO parameters at the same time.

In an analogue machine, that generates fluid but sometimes "catastrophic" (in the best sense) effects. In a digital machine it quickly clogs the processor, and you geteither zips or NO effect at all (this means that the software contains "filters" which smooth the final result when the data complexity exceeds the processor capacity. This avoids zips but impoverished the sound)

EG: Try sweeping the filter cutoff frequences and the same time sweep the rez. Or: sweep the filter during a sync sweep.

Analogue and VA will behave differently

[Watermelon]

The MKS-80 is analog, but digitally controlled from the MPG-80. On the MKS-80/MPG-80 combo, "zipper" noise will be heard when moving the Cutoff fader too, although the filters in the MKS-80 are analog. Best way to compare analog v/s digital in absence of zipper noise, is to program a VCF/TVF envelope. That's what has been done in the video, with the 3rd sequence (the one with the slower filter envelope settings).

[CoolColJ]

Horrible comparo

Such a weedy sound in either case.
Crank the resonance up, make the oscillators creamy, dial in the PWM, and modulate that filter then compare

BTW U-He Diva (VSTI) does the Roland analog sound better than Roland themselves have ever done :)
Diva models the actual circuits, or something like that, and it shows. It would never get the same amount of polyphony... cracking 8 voices at max quality without glitches is not easy on my 4ghz i7 system!

JP8 vs Diva
http://soundcloud.com/coolcolj/jp8-vs-u-he-diva-beta