Very tempted to buy JU80

[thetechnobear]

Hi,

Ok, Im really very tempted to buy a Jupiter 80 and a pretty reasonable price :)

But as you all know, it has got such a mixed reception, Im concerned if its the right thing to do or not. Opinion seems very divided.

Basically, its only for home use, and Id like to do a bit of a mix between using acoustics sounds, and also creating my own (synth) sounds. I use a DAW so no workstation required, but do need integration with my mac. its will be my keyboard so will be used as master midi controller too.

Up till now Ive been considering,
Access Virus TI - because of its multi timberal capabilities and in depth synth capabilities
Kronos - Due to its flexibility of including both synth and samples.

The Kronos - I don't need/want workstation capabilities, I'm more than happy to use my Mac +DAW for those duties. but its multiple synth engines are very interesting, and acoustics sounds are good. But really its too expensive, above my budget.
Access Virus - love the 16 parts, and really deep synthesis model, but this is my only board, and I think Id miss not have some acoustic sounds... also most sounds seem to be very 'dance' related, which doesnt convince me that it could produce sounds Id need.. but then again, im not sure thats just not the 'market' rather than capabilities.

So the J80, seems like something in between, nice acoustic models, and some synthesis depth and I can get at a good price, though still at the top of my budget :)

I think I can live without the 16 parts, and live with only 4 midi channels in, but bit concerned the synth engine side seems a little limiting, sure massive number of voices, layering and filtering options... but cant really see anything like mod matrix, to influence the sound.

Also there seems alot discussion about sounds (library) management here, is it really a big problem?
(im not planning on making hundreds of new sounds, im only a hobbyist )
ant to be negative, but would like to understand if there are other limitations, and determine if they will affect me or not.

Thanks for your help
Mark

[Méka]

Look at the Integra-7 with master keyboard ! A lot more suitable for computer use, iMHO ...

[trommis]

I had the JP80 for 11 months, and never got to like it very mouch. Sold it for what it was worth... :-(
For use with a DAW, I would rather buy the Integra 7. (If you want "Roland sound" at all.)

Today, I have the Korg OASYS 88, Yamaha EX5, Kurzweil PC3, Roland JP8000 and Korg MS2000. The one that I use most, is the Kurzweil. Outstanding board, and one of the best controller-keyboards around. Very useful "bread & butter" sounds, and a really deep virtual analog synth engine.

As said, the JP80 was not my cup of tea, and sales worldwide also reflect this. I guess it will be gone in a year or so, and I will not miss it....

[thetechnobear]

Yeah, Integra 7, is interesting, as supports 16 part... though only 128 note poly, like the J50.
but is competitively priced.

also, draw back, is presumably editing sounds would be a pain, unless you use the iPad app I guess...
I wonder if this is going to be as 'immediate' as the screen on the J80.

hmm, then Id need to think about a controller...

my main thing is, I want something I dont have to turn the computer on for... as I find it a bit distracting,
(but I guess a controller + module directly plugged in, and the ipad is okay.)

[Devnor]

I love my Jupiter 80 and use it exclusively in a studio enviroment. Mostly it comes down to the sounds and speed of workflow. Its very easy to find & tweak the sounds I need. The big color display is very readable to my aging eyes and it responds quickly to the touch. Most parms are accessable with just a few touches. The liveset/registration mode is a very powerful feature mostly misunderstood by the people of the internet. Its like combis within combis. I can quickly swap layered sounds (including FX) with a twist of a dial or a quick search - sometimes with a single press of a button.

Hard to go wrong with either Kronos or JP80. They are both very powerful synthesizers whos real limitation is simply imposed by the players themselves.

[Dewdman42]

I got the JP80, mainly because I feel that it is kind of the best of both worlds in terms of fat analog modeled sounds....with filters, etc...and bread and butter sounds I need for gigging: Pianos, organs, strings, pads, brasses, etc. Its kind of the perfect combination of sounds all in one keyboard for me. Everyone is different in their needs.

Some disappointments include the lack of librarian support which makes it difficult to manage its layered structure. Also its a bit lacking in terms of fader control of things like organ drawbars, etc. I also don't particularly like the feel of its "semi-weighted" keyboard. To me its too light to be called semi weighted, but opinions differ on that. The keyboard is very solid otherwise, well built and smooth, but I would have preferred something a bit more weighted in order to cover piano parts, etc. Its also a rather large keyboard and in retrospect I would probably get the JP50.

for DAW recording I use all software and can't comment on the JP-80 for that, but I suspect the Integra would be better for that..though I'm not sure it can really match all the sound fatness that the JP80 can in terms of layering, etc.. I can't remember the details now, they are really not the same.

[thetechnobear]

interesting that the Integra 7 and J50, seemed to almost detract from J80 ... they offer a bit less (in some ways), but more than adequate for my needs. pity the J50 doesn't have AT, otherwise id be sorely tempted.

hmm, will have to think hard about what I need, and if the J80 is eight, or the I7 + another keyboard.

thanks for your very honest opinions, its nice to have a balanced viewpoint, despite the board dedicated to rolands.

[Dewdman42]

check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9YO9Khubzw

any questions?

[Dewdman42]

By the way, the JP50 does not sound quite as fat as the JP80. Nor does the I7. If you are wanting those big thick synthy sounds, which seems to be what makes the JP80 special...there is no other choice but the JP80.

The JP50 lacks AT, a real disappointment otherwise it might be a close second. Also for live work the JP50 can't do two live sets at once on a split keyboard. I do feel that most times a single live set, is enough of the sound I'm after and the JP50 can do that, but could not split two of those at once....and can't layer them for uber-fat. That and the loss of AT. Quite a price difference though and the JP50 looks substantially smaller on stage if that matters to you, to me the JP80 looks quite big.

The I7, I don't know all the details but it does not have completely the same synth capabilities that the JP80 has and really it should not be considered a rack mount JP80, that is totally disrespectful to the power of the JP80 and what it can do. The I7 is more like taking the entire history of Roland romplers starting with the JV-xxxx all the way through today, with all the expansion boards and putting them all into one box. Its kind of the ultimate rompler, with the SN technology added on. If you like using romplers to sequence out songs and all the parts, the I7 is the way to go. Roland also just released some cool software that its as a VST plugin in your DAW for accessing and editing all the I7 parameters. So for midi sequencing, the I7 is kind of the ultimate sound canvas box. It is NOT a rack mountable JP80.

[cello]

By the way, the JP50 does not sound quite as fat as the JP80.

Agreed - That missing layer is key I think. Still the JP-50 is a great board - it's still the equivalent of 6 Gaia's! Recently my local Roland rep played me a sound he'd created on a Gaia (it was a pad sound) and it sounded huge! Then I thought - wow, the JP-80 is 10 of them :)

The I7 is more like taking the entire history of Roland romplers starting with the JV-xxxx all the way through today, with all the expansion boards and putting them all into one box... with the SN technology added on.

It is NOT a rack mountable JP80.

Perfectly stated! The I-7 is powerful in what it does, as is the JP-80 - but they are inherently different beasts. I continue to prefer the JP-80 however - it really is so creatively powerful; or maybe powerfully creative - in fact, it's both :) That's how I find it anyway - easily the most interesting and inspiring keyboard I've bought in the last decade or so.

[Dewdman42]

Recently I did second guess my purchase a bit, wondering if I should have gone with PC3K7 instead. The PC3 is incredibly powerful and there is 100x the amount of support for it compared to Roland stuff. I like the feel of their semi weighted keyboard more, for my purposes. But honestly I have checked all over and have not heard any sounds that inspired me instantly the way the JP80 does.

[trommis]

Most of the demo's on YouTube with the Kurzweil PC3 is no good... I still have my PC3, but I sold my JP80 after less than a year. I would highly recommend that you check out the PC3 before buying the JP80.

The support for Kurzweil is "stellar". That goes for both the company, and the user groups. The same can not be said about Roland. (Their support generally stinks.)

But that's me.....

[IgorCristo]

I have played with the JP-80 and liked it for lush pad sounds... BUT, if I had to choose, it wouldn't be mine.

I've read that you want to create your own synthesizer sounds... if you want digital at it's best, the VIRUS TI2 is your choice. I don't have a lot of experience with it, but played the Snow version (the simplest) and it really shines in comparison.

I think that if you want something to do it all, the JP-80 is a great choice, since it has a lot of good acoustic sounds. The synthesis otherwise, is very limited and the overall sound isn't really close to what you get with the Virus.

The Virus TI2 is a 16 multi-timbral synthesizer, with a lot of features, including standard "analog" subtractive synthesis, granular synthesis and wavetable synthesis. It is really the beast in digital synthesizers. Take a look at their website to check who is using it.

[Dewdman42]

Most of the demo's on YouTube with the Kurzweil PC3 is no good... I still have my PC3, but I sold my JP80 after less than a year. I would highly recommend that you check out the PC3 before buying the JP80.

Any idea where to find some more decent demos of what the PC3 can do? Everything I have heard just sounds kind of generic to me and sterile. The specs on that board are of course very stellar and no argument about the incredible amount of support available for it. The flash rom feature alone is incredibly cool as far as I'm concerned. From what I have read, VAST is like the ultimate engine.....that hardly anyone knows what to do with it.

I do wish the JP80 keyboard had a little more weight to it, like the PC3K7, that would actually be more useful to me as a single-do-all gigging keyboard.

But one thing I can say about the JP80, the sounds are just so awesome and inspirational on it. I just don't see or hear that anywhere with the PC3, not withstanding the endless posts on the net about that keyboard, showing lots and lots of user activity, ie....support...while the JP80 seems almost invisible on the net.

However, more and more I am watching bands on tv late night shows, etc..and I see JP80 on stage. There is something about this keyboard, special sound.

The support for Kurzweil is "stellar". That goes for both the company, and the user groups. The same can not be said about Roland. (Their support generally stinks.)

But that's me.....

no argument there.

[Vlad_77]

Okay, I resisted the JP80 for a LONG time and in fact had written some posts detailing why. When I moved to the EU, I discovered that cars here are smaller than in the US and so I couldn't use my two big 88 key Rolands in gig situations unless the gigs were big enough to use the roadies and the truck. I was using the Kronos and the PC3 and the Motif ES slaved to the Kurzweil I found however that I wanted to add in the warmer Roland sound to my palette.

The JP80 is a beautiful, FAT sounding synth with wonderful acoustic emulations - although for my ears Yamaha still has the best out of the box guitars. The JP80 is a synth as opposed to a workstation and I believe that has turned a lot of people off. I know I was in that category. But after auditioning it for two hours I realized that it was the synth to fill out what my sound palette lacked. The 256 voice polyphony is absolutely amazing for creating truly monster patches. Really my only complain with the JP 80 is the 256 registration limit. I use the board at home as well as live gigs, and I don't like resorting to single play mode for compositional needs. But, it's a GREAT synth. Believe, I love Kurzweil and I have seen a lot of love for them in this thread, but, it seems that for your needs, the PC3 has features you neither want nor need; it's a workstation minus the sampling but with incredible powerful synthesis.

I would say audition the JP80 in a shop that lets you play as long as you wish. I think if you give it time, you will be converted as I was.

Namaste,
Vlad