Jupiter rack?

Forum for JUPITER-80
User avatar
SoundworldA.D.
Posts: 744
Joined: 22:09, 30 April 2009
Location: Dallas, TX
Contact:

Re: Jupiter rack?

Post by SoundworldA.D. »

Well it looks like I know where some of my bonus check will be going!
GONE!
Attachments
XTI7.jpg
XTI7.jpg (765.72 KiB) Viewed 2739 times
ferrari512s
Posts: 3
Joined: 18:06, 16 May 2015

Re: Jupiter rack?

Post by ferrari512s »

Chrisk-K wrote:
So: when the Three Big Ones were feeling overconfident, "no racks, ever" was the Official Party Line.

Now, TODAY, after less than stellar sales, I am not so sure they aren't thinking again about the issue
The big three are not overconfident or arrogant. The synth keyboard market is getting smaller and smaller and the rack market is even smaller. There's no money in a rack market. How many would Kronos or Jupiter rack be sold? Less than 500 worldwide.
I'd definitely buy the Jupiter rack version if it is ever released. Note, would also acquire the Korg Kronos if this was issued also. Currently contemplating acquire the Integra-7 rack module. From what I've been reading in these discussions groups this Integra-7 seems to be the closest device to being a Jupiter 80 in a rack.
Devnor
Posts: 696
Joined: 20:22, 27 September 2010

Re: Jupiter rack?

Post by Devnor »

MacBooks plus Mainstage are the new rack synths. Much more powerful and infinitely more flexible. There is no way I would pay $3000 for a rack Jupiter or Kronos. I recently added a new Mac Pro to my studio - it's a wonderous machine and it won't be long before that kind of performance shows up in a MacBook.
Dewdman42
Posts: 137
Joined: 00:42, 14 January 2013

Re: Jupiter rack?

Post by Dewdman42 »

This is really true, but you don't even need that much computer power to do quite a lot on a macbookpro. I'm using a 5 year old MBP, and I can easily host Omnisphere2 with lots of layers and fat synth sound in mainstage without it breaking a sweat. Several plugins layered at once together...no problem. I'm actually thinking about selling my JP80, not because of dislike, I love the sound on the jP80, but for a fraction of the cost and much easier to carry around...I can get some pretty big fat sounds with Omnisphere and any one of 15 other synth plugins I own, some of which have some truly amazing sound capability. The synth engine on the JP80 is pretty sweet sounding, but there are lots of sweet sounding synth plugins and you can layer all you want in Mainstage.

That JP80 and Integra both have one thing that you can't find in software, which is the SuperNatural engine. And you could get that in the Integra, if you find that useful. I rarely have a need for that myself.

This is all especially true when there is probably never going to be an easy way to manage all the sounds on the JP80. no librarian.

So yea.. mainstage is becoming very much the thing to use.

The JP80 is a killer keybed and a joy to play and if you don't like messing around with a computer screen and mouse, then by all means that will still be interesting...there is no way around the price. But I agree, I don't see a point of a rack mount JP80, though I'm sure a few people would find a use for it.
Devnor
Posts: 696
Joined: 20:22, 27 September 2010

Re: Jupiter rack?

Post by Devnor »

I wouldn't trade my Jupiter, Motif XF or any other hardware synth for Mainstage & Omnisphere 2, Komplete or Diva. Hardware synths have their own sound going on - their own sheen. Its possible to get close to some of the sounds but not something I want to spend time doing. Aside from a massive hardware failure, God forbid, there is a certain confidence that my hardware will always deliver the goods. With computers you don't know if an update to an FX plugin, soft synth, OS or audio interface will break something else. Then there is the issue of latency. Certain combinations of plugins have different latencies when played live. I'm still working on how to minimize that when recording.

For the most part, rack modules don't sell. Aside from the Nord Lead 4, most rack modules are difficult to program.
Dewdman42
Posts: 137
Joined: 00:42, 14 January 2013

Re: Jupiter rack?

Post by Dewdman42 »

my opinion is that the sounds from Omnisphere far exceed anything that can be done in a hardware synth. And there are other plugins that also exceed any hardware. There is nothing inherently sheenier or superior about hardware sound compared to plugin sound. Its all in the programming and Eric Pershing is one of the best in the business....regardless of whether he's designing sounds for hardware synths in the past or his own plugin in the present.

Except for raw true analog of course, but that's another story. The plugins can do more, there is no contest. The disadvantage for some people is that how to play live, it can get a little technical to setup a reliable live computer rig rather then bring a keyboard, so they will spend as much on a single keyboard as an entire Mac Book Pro. Don't get me wrong, every plugin and every hardware keyboard does have its own unique sound and there is nothing inherently better about one over the other. But the price to pay for hardware synths is extremely high compared to plugins and they are big the lug around in some cases.
Vlad_77
Posts: 430
Joined: 18:02, 14 February 2008
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Jupiter rack?

Post by Vlad_77 »

Devnor wrote:I wouldn't trade my Jupiter, Motif XF or any other hardware synth for Mainstage & Omnisphere 2, Komplete or Diva. Hardware synths have their own sound going on - their own sheen. Its possible to get close to some of the sounds but not something I want to spend time doing. Aside from a massive hardware failure, God forbid, there is a certain confidence that my hardware will always deliver the goods. With computers you don't know if an update to an FX plugin, soft synth, OS or audio interface will break something else. Then there is the issue of latency. Certain combinations of plugins have different latencies when played live. I'm still working on how to minimize that when recording.

For the most part, rack modules don't sell. Aside from the Nord Lead 4, most rack modules are difficult to program.
Amen brother! And as a gigging musician I want KEYBOARDS that can handle the rigors of the road and roadies. I also agree about hardware synths and workstations having their own "sheen." Just as guitar players will use a Strat for some tunes and a Les Paul for others, each synth has that sheen - that individuality - that for me at least softsynths just don't have. Perhaps it's just psychological but there something missing for me when playing with softsynths. Yes folks, I know there are splendid controllers out there but there is an immediacy and really cool organic connection grabbing the tone blender on a JP-80 or hitting the sliders on a Kronos and Kurzweil that just feels like playing a musical instrument rather than a computer.

I suppose the good news is that for folks like Devnor and me, the aftermarket for hardware synths is going to be pretty nice. :)

I'm not sold on the idea someone mentioned that plugins can "do more." I'm not precisely certain what "more" means in this context, but, I doubt if I could EVER completely "master" the sound creation possibilities of the hardware synths and workstations I own. Since we're on a Roland forum, I'll just briefly touch on the unfairly maligned by some Jupiter 80. No, it can't sample and there isn't a sequencer, just a sort of scratch pad for saving ideas. But the synthesis possibilities are staggering and I don't mean the acoustic SuperNatural stuff but the SYNTH capabilities. Most classic synths have two or three oscillators. (The Juno 106 had ONE and musicians coaxed some VERY interesting sounds out of that one oscillator). One TONE on a Jupiter 80 is three partials (oscillators)! Think about that for a moment. At it's LOWEST level, you already have a three oscillator synth each with independent filters, EGs, cutoff, reso, and all the other goodies. Four tones (TWELVE oscillators) make ONE Live Set. Once you are at the Registration level sounds can be insanely complex. The question becomes of course is how BIG do you want to get. The power of JP-80 really hit me when I dug deeply and saw that MOST Live Sets only use a couple of tones.

Is the JP-80 heavy to lug around? Damned right it is! So are the other boards I own. (I STILL lug around a Fantom X8)! I don't buy keyboards because I can't figure out how to set up a computer based music rig. I buy keyboards for that "sheen" Devnor spoke of. I prefer keyboards for music, and computers to play games and talk to you mad folk. :)

I'm not knocking soft synth folk because it's the music that matters, but, I am not convinced that hardware synths are so underpowered/limited as some claim. YMMV. :)

Lastly, I love rack modules, especially ones with gobs o' knobs like the venerable RADIAS.
Post Reply