roland-jupiter.org

twenex · Site Admin Joined: 15 Nov 2006 Posts: 10

I received an email asking if we could have a Jupiter-8v forum and I immediately reacted with a 'no'. Then I thought, why not? I realize the Aurturia Jupiter-8v hasn't been worthy of the name 'Jupiter' by most people in the know, but maybe by having a discussion here we can turn on VST synth heads to real synthesizers.

CasioKorg · Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 32

i have it, its pretty sweet. the click and drag of each slider if the only thing tht makes it not so intuitive, its alot of hassle. but the presets are nifty.

i kinda like the CS-80 VST better

nebula · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 75

I've heard that it sounds nice, but not quite like a real JP-8.

I have also heard that Arturia is soliciting JP-8 owners for feedback.

A lot of people with the real McCoy feel displaced when a software replacement comes out - I admit I felt left holding the bag with my Wavestation A/D - but the Jupiter-8V is a synth in its own right, and it could be interesting to see some dialog between the hardware and software users.

Rockman Zero · Joined: 29 May 2007 Posts: 15

I found a video comparing sounds of the Jupiter 8 and 8V.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlyVdJmbWKY

Arturia's sound comes close to replicating the Jupiter 8 sound. It's not perfected yet...

Another reason to decide between the Super Jupiter, and the VariOS: with the VariOS-8 software, I can get almost 3 synths in one, (Jupiter clone, Juno clone, D50 V card) But the problem is digital sound, and it'll cost more money to get an analogue filter to get some of the fatness back.

The Super Jupiter is essentially a rackmount version of the Jupiter 8, but it's more expensive..

Gil Sicuro · Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 55

The video says the JP-8V is the same as the real JP-8. I have the real JP-8, and they are clearly not the same. The real JP-8 sounds more fat, more organic. Plus the JP-8V's unison mode stacks only 4 voices at the same time (?), while the real JP-8 stacks all the 8 voices (4 in each output).

I find this weird, since Arturia's Moog Modular V sounds so impressive and real.

The MKS-80 is a rackmount JP-8, but with JP-6-style circuitry. It employs CEM oscillators while the JP-8 uses oscillators with discrete components. Also, as far as I know, later models uses CEM VCFs as well.

ThreeDeeBee · Joined: 20 Jan 2008 Posts: 3

I own both the JP-8V and one of the later JP-8As with DCB port.

I tried to recreate one of the JP-8V patches, I believe it's called something like 'CELM_Heaven's Pearls' on the real JP-8.

Of course, the JP-8V has effects built in, and the Galaxy module. So I disabled those.

I was able to come very close, but not exact. As you can understand, the fader and knob positions on the JP-8V are visually different than what had to be set on the real thing. Especially the portamento (there's a tiny portamento on this patch) and the Fine tune of the 2nd VCO.

I had a difficult time getting the filter slope and the filter envelope on the real thing to sound like the JP-8V. It had to do with the decay of the envelope. For a while I thought I should set the filter to 12dB / oct, but I eventually got the patch to work better.

Personally, software synths aren't really my thing but I find the JP-8V to be very inconvenient to use for a couple reasons. The graphic controls on the JP-8V are tiny and hard to see. With all due respect, the actual physical look of the keyboard is less important than the useability of the software. Arturia should allow the user to resize the graphic screen.

Secondly, the real JP-8's portamento is adjustable in real time. You can set the JP-8V portamento very slow, play a chord in poly mode, and change the knob but the speed of the portamento does not change when you move the knob. So it's not "just like" the real thing.

I don't consider software synths to have the same performance value as a piece of hardware. There is just something about being able to reach out and touch the control, to have the thing in front of you. Playing the JP-8 feels like being in front of a spaceship console. That alone impacts my mood when I play it and it evokes a certain response.

The real JP-8 also doesn't crash with Windows (it doesn't care a hoot if the computer crashes), it doesn't require an update to work with your VST host. It doesn't need a dongle or Syncrosoft copy protection, and it doesn't tax the computer's processor down to nothing.

I consider the Arturia JP-8V to be an instrument in it's own right, but not a 1-to-1 replacement for the JP-8. Arturia is marketing it as such and I think that is probably a bad idea.

That said, Arturia did a good job on it for what it is.

Gil Sicuro · Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 55

Curious, I can make a patch sound closer to the real JP-8 in the Moog Modular V than if I did the same in the JP-8V.

Rockman Zero · Joined: 29 May 2007 Posts: 15

EDIT: preset banks were used to store keyboard splits.

starfield · Joined: 08 May 2008 Posts: 10

I think the Arturia JP8V is a great attempt to get a jupiter 8 "type" of sound and I admit it sounds nice for a soft synth

it actually sounds quite a bit different that my 12 bit jupiter 8 ..especially when the fx are off. It seems to lose a lot of luster and warmth.

I think The Arturia moog plugin comes closer to getting the real minimoog feel IMO

Firechild · Joined: 10 Sep 2008 Posts: 7

The Arturia plugin is sounding crap. When you play monophonic lines you can hear that they want the plugin to sound like a Jupiter 8 but as soon you play two or more voices at the same time it will be disaster. For some reason there is only one envelope for all voices making the plugin useless.

Gil Sicuro · Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 55

The JP-8V has two envelope generators for each sounding voice just like the original. You're probably doing something wrong.