System-8 harshness?

Forum for Roland's System-8 synthesizer
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jeffgibbstc
Posts: 4
Joined: 01:09, 12 April 2017

System-8 harshness?

Post by jeffgibbstc »

Greeting fellow synth fans. Longtime Roland user here, Juno 106, V-synth, etc. My new System-8 arrived and my experience has been a bit different. On the low sounds it's amazing. Very analog, more analog than some of my analog synths. However, on any patches with a lot going on in mid and high frequencies: strings and horns for instance, there is a whole lot of uncomfortable fizzy harshness. I have high end cables, monitors, interfaces, etc. Even (especially) direct to the monitors. Tried my studio headphones. Same. For comparison I have a Montage 8 and a Virus TI2--even the DeepMind12--through the same set-up and I don't hear this issue. Do I have a bad unit? Or is there a harshness that perhaps a studio set up reveals? The System-8 does sound a bit better through lower quality speakers. Thanks for any input, hate to return it, obviously has potential for incredible sounds, but right now something is off.
Manic
Posts: 183
Joined: 10:09, 18 January 2017

Re: System-8 harshness?

Post by Manic »

I'm not considering my S8 to be harsh in the higher freqs.
Are you sure you don't have any FX distorting the sound or something?
Can you post some sound examples?
jeffgibbstc
Posts: 4
Joined: 01:09, 12 April 2017

Re: System-8 harshness?

Post by jeffgibbstc »

Thanks, dialed all the effects in and out. Little difference.
skinmechanic
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Joined: 13:39, 14 June 2004
Location: UK, Leeds
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Re: System-8 harshness?

Post by skinmechanic »

There is a setting in the system menu on the synth to allow you to add or remove Volume boost I think it's called or something along those lines. When my was switched on I got some harshness more with the System 8 synth engine than the plugouts. I Turned this off and it's fine, although I have found I cannot turn the volume up on the synth more than halfway anyway but found it to be fine.
jeffgibbstc
Posts: 4
Joined: 01:09, 12 April 2017

Re: System-8 harshness?

Post by jeffgibbstc »

Thanks for the input boost was not turned on on my machine. Loading the Juno-106 patches with the update seemed to give some smoother sounds as does turning up the lp filter on some patches. I think its just my audio systems revealing overtones and fizziness others might not notice on their gear. Having a long-time sound person stop by to check it out later to see if he hears it. Will post a sample when I have time.
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runningman67
Posts: 193
Joined: 22:15, 15 October 2016

Re: System-8 harshness?

Post by runningman67 »

Wouldn't call it harsh but it certainly packs a punch. Has a vibrance. Cuts through the mix. Made my JD XA sound wooly. I sold the XA.
zombietactics
Posts: 251
Joined: 21:51, 12 July 2016

Re: System-8 harshness?

Post by zombietactics »

The System-8 and System-1 engines are capable of extreme ranges of control. They can be a bit of an adjustment regarding where various controls "should" be set in order to achieve certain results. I find myself constantly having to back off of filter cutoff and resonance, compared to where I would expect to put those control on a Prophet8, JD-XA, Moog, DM12 ... or even the SH-2 I have loaded in the plugout slot.

I am firmly convinced that this is the source of "harshness" reports I have read, as I can relate to that initial experience. I
Manic
Posts: 183
Joined: 10:09, 18 January 2017

Re: System-8 harshness?

Post by Manic »

Or it is simply distortion by raising the gain/volume too loud. It makes smooth sounds harsh
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runningman67
Posts: 193
Joined: 22:15, 15 October 2016

Re: System-8 harshness?

Post by runningman67 »

Manic wrote:Or it is simply distortion by raising the gain/volume too loud. It makes smooth sounds harsh
That's true. The amp level can cause distortion. There is a lot of power to hand.
system 8 Beta User
Posts: 19
Joined: 20:58, 16 April 2017

Re: System-8 harshness?

Post by system 8 Beta User »

"with a lot going on in mid and high frequencies: strings and horns for instance, there is a whole lot of uncomfortable fizzy harshness."

I have the same her, Sound like "digital dirty Noise" on high frequencies line out.
Analog keys and Rytm sound are perfekt same line out!

Roland System 8 OS Ver. 1.11 and Ver.1.12.
andyr1960
Posts: 55
Joined: 09:46, 5 March 2009

Re: System-8 harshness?

Post by andyr1960 »

Don't for get that, saturation of OSCs 1 & 2 into the Mixer/VCF and VCA level is built in to the System 8 - if you turn them up, they WILL deliberately distort.

I've not had problems with any harshness at all... It all sounds extremely good here.
mimoid
Posts: 151
Joined: 19:20, 3 January 2016

Re: System-8 harshness?

Post by mimoid »

Cannot say that I perceive any harshness with mine, I consider it a perfectly analog sounding machine, rivalling the Prophet 6 and the OB-6. Is it only with the S-8 engine you hear this harshness or also with the Jupiter/Juno plugouts? They are quite different sounding, the Jupiter is a bit brittle and the Juno more lush. The S8 is a bit more aggressive and contemporary. Much more so than the Elektron, but it can easily be tamed into gentle submission.
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