Roland Jupiter 6

Forget the presets. Editing patches is a whiz. As with any instrument, if you want to get the most out of it read the fking manual. You would have to for cracking the potential of this machine, but there are things in there that you would have missed had you not read it.

Easy to use? Hell yes. Sliders for everything, what else can you ask for. Organized very nicely and in fact I prefer having sliders because I can move several of them at the same time... like in the envelope, for example.

6 note poly. Great action. No built in effects. Expansion? Europa, perhaps. Very basic midi, note on off. No onboard sequencer.

Features? Man this thing has them. The unison is HUGE and the unison detune makes it even BIGGER!

Two oscillators and you can select several waveforms at once on each oscillator. Cross mod that can be controlled by the envelope. Sync both ways. Envelope and LFO on either or both VCO.

VCF is mean. Does it sound like vangelis? no. It sure can do some sounds, but think acid or techno. It's got this mean Roland sound. I think of it as kind of a 6 voice two osc. SH-101.. except with WAY more features. Sure the SH has snappy analog envelopes, but the Jupiter's are snappy in their own right.

The thing about this machine that puts people off is there isn't as much instant satisfaction. The reason why is the extremely large range of each of it's features. For your bass lines to bounce, you need to raise the releases a tad and you might put your decay and sustain places you are not used to. It is just different than other synths... where on one you might have something set at 2 or 3, on the jupiter that might be 1. That specifically is the case with resonance. This thing gets EXTREME!

Oh and Europa.. ok this is what I have to say. Worth it? Perhaps. But I kind of have apprehension about ripping the heart out of my prize synth, ya know. Granted, it will greatly improve the functionality of the synth without affecting the tone.. I frankly LOVE the machine the way it is and don't see the need for some monster arpeggiator.I have an amazing sequencer, why would I want to upgrade the arp in the Jupiter? It's already got more than enough memory as it is. So, the big winner with Europa is all the midi sysx implementation, but even then I don't find it necessary. NOBODY complains about the lack of SYSX on a Jupiter 8, Prophet 5, Oberheim 4 voice, or CS-80... so why should I with my JP6?

This thing has TONE man. When I first heard it my jaw dropped. If they went for 2 grand and I had that for a synth.. choice between an Andromeda, Prophet 08, or whatever else... I would get the Jupiter 6 without batting an eye.

The only thing that might compare in it's price range would be the Xpander... but these still more often go for much more than the Jupiter. The JP6 commonly goes for 1200 and it is a freaking STEAL. Everybody who has a Juno-60 and a Juno-106 should sell them and get a Jupiter 6 instead! I got my JP-6 for 900 Just a few weeks ago!

I wouldn't take it to a gig because it's just a prize to me.. and I am a young broke kid, don't want to risk losing it. We will take the Nord Lead to gigs... the Jupiter stays home!

But if I DID take it to gigs, I would expect it to work perfectly night after night!

Customer support? It aint gonna die any time soon, how is that for customer support!

Most of the synths I have owned have been bottom of the bucket analog's... But I have owned ALL of them.

This thing BLOWS the JX and Juno's out of the water. Imagine a machine with the big tone of the Juno-60 filter... Just as much control over the paramters... but with VCO's and MUCH more flexibility than the JX8p.

Not to mention that multi-mode filter... which is one of the big reasons I chose to get the JP6 over the MKS-80.

This filter IS MAD. Really.. it's unbelievable.

Anybody who says the JP-6 isn't worth a damn is deaf.
It is FAR more valuable than anything in it's price range. SURE it sounds DIFFERENT than a Jupiter 8... But that's the appeal, ya know.

Most of the presets are just dated. They sound alright for what they are but are you really gonna be using the presets on this thing? I certainly do not.
Despite it's power, the JP6 is very easy to use. Knob per function and a very clearly laid out panel. I never have to think twice about where I need to go for a parameter. Love having sliders hard!
Everything I thought I might need the manual for I figured out in a few minutes

6 voices, good action, excellent panel layout. I actually really like the "mod button" and the pitch bend wheel seems pretty sturdy for a plastic stick.
The features I am most fond of on this synth:
1. multimode filter - not many analog poly's have anything but a lowpass with maybe a nonresonant high pass in front. not the J6. The bandpass is squirmy and liquidy and the highpass eats all the VA stuff for breakfast. No, the lowpass is not fat if you give it any resonance. Oh well, it's just the way the J6 is but I've come to really like it. Distort it and it will squelch terribly well.
2. the oscs - you can run multiple waveforms from each osc at once. I love the way this sounds in or out of unison mode. also, the sync sounds on this synth can really sing. it's got a very hard, guitarlike tone to it.
3. interesting mod routings - its no modular, but roland was generous with modulation routings on this thing.

Eff realistic, this thing is made for outer space.
The sound of the JP6 is like no other synth. I can't really put it into words but it's definitely one of the most "alive" synths I have ever played. The overall sound can be described as sharp, cutting and crystalline yet still very organic. Although it can do bass (the pure square wave sounds great) it truly excels at synced lead sounds, lfo/ reso effects and lush abstract strings and pads. This is where the living quality really comes out.
I can say that I have never felt so truly connected to an electronic instrument as I do to my JP6. It's sound and character cause me to play amazing things I could never do on a VA. It is a joy to play and a constant inspiration. Expressive does not do it justice.

For an analog polysynth from 1983 it's fairly reliable. I haven't had mine for that long but it needed a tune up and a new osc when I got it. Pretty standard procedure for a synth of that age. The tune button is really nice and helps a lot. That said, I don't think i'd gig with it simply because its irreplaceable. Then again, if the price was right... ;)

too old to be supported by roland.

I haven't had my JP6 for long, and it's already become my favorite synth. I've wanted one since I was 17 and now that I have it, I feel like I've been united with a lost family member or something :)
I plan on getting the Europa upgrade soon, as well as possibly replacing all the knobs and faders. I will never part with this synth and plan on treating her like the queen she is. As I said, it is a constant inspiration and has really taken my sound up to a whole new level.
Coming from years of using softsynths and virtual analogs, this thing really stomps them when you use if for what it's good at. I will no longer ever attempt another sync lead sound on a VA. I have a virus TI, and while it is super powerful, it can't even come close to the sound of the Jupiter.


I would pretty much flip my $%#@ if someone stole it. Barring my arrest for assault and attempted murder to the sucka that took it, I would start saving for another one.

I have the Europa upgrade that totally upgrades the MIDI capabilities. The presets are weak and non-usable for the most part. Editing patches is easy and intuitive. The synth has lots of sliders and buttons for real-time editing without having to punch through layers of digital menus. The Roland manual is good. The Europa upgrade manual is very extensive, which indicates how sophisticated the Europa upgrade is.

6 voice polyphony. Key resistance create by small springs for each key. No built in effect, but you can use an external effect like the Roland SDD-330 for unbelievably fat and novel sounds. For example, using two oscillators with a touch of LFO and a flanger effect on the SDD-330 and you get this sound no modern keyboard is capable of. Likewise, playing the arpeggiator that can be clocked to MIDI (thanks to the Europa upgrade) and putting it through a chorus and then digital delay creates really cool sounds. With the Europa upgrade, the synth can be set to any of 16 MIDI channels. No onboard sequence. I use the Roland MC-50 for live performance. This is a ANALOG synth with an arpeggiator that can be synced to MIDI!!!

This is an ANALOG synth so the sounds are just that - ANALOG. They are FAT, spacy, esoteric, unique, and really, really, cool. You can make R2-D2 type screaming sounds, noise (put that through a phaser/flanger and it sounds really, really cool), laser gun sounds, helicopter blades, etc. You can really create so much. This synth is like having an oil painting set with 124 colors. What I mean is that new synths might have 124 sounds (for example), but you can't really modify the sounds that much, and you can't mix them. The best analogy I can think of is that this synth is like an oil painting set and you are the artist. New synths are like crayola sets. You may have 1000 crayons, but if you can mix the colors like you can with oil paints - well it's all the difference in the world if you want ORIGINAL UNIQUE TECHNO/MODERN music sounds. The Jupiter 6 is best for TECHNO/DANCE/NEW WAVE/RETRO 80s/SPACE AGE music. You don't need onboard effects to make FAT sounds because of the 2 oscillators. If you want effects, get an external effects such as the Roland SDD-330. It is much better than the onboard chorus effects on the Juno-106 and the Juno-60. I have owned the Roland Jupiter 8 and have played on the Juno-60. I also own a Juno-106 now. Mark my words: THE ROLAND JUPITER 6 CAN MAKE ANY SOUND THE JUNO-106 OR JUNO-60 CAN MAKE, AND TO ME SOUNDS AS GOOD AS THE JUPITER 8. I know people say the Jupiter 8 sounds "fatter", but they sound similar to me. With the Europa upgrade, THE JUPITER 6 CAN DO ANYTHING THE JUNO-60 ARPEGGIATOR CAN DO AND A HUNDRED TIMES MORE AT LEAST!!! WITH THE MIDI SYNC YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT HOW YOU WILL SYNC THE AREPEGGIATOR TO DRUM MACHINE OR SEQUENCER MIDI CLOCKS (i.e. no bulky external boxes to worry about and DCB cables are you do with the non-upgraded Jupiter 8 or Juno 60). I also can make any sound the Juno 106 can make, but the Jupiter 6 does it better. REALLY. NOTE: THE FACTORY SOUNDS ARE HORRIBLE TO ME. YOU HAVE TO OPEN UP THE FREQUENCY AND ENVELOP TO UNLEASH THE ANALOG SOUNDS OF THIS FANTASTIC MACHINE. DETUNE THE TWO OSCILLATORS SLIGHTLY FROM ONE ANOTHER AND RUN IT THROUGH EXTERNAL EFFECTS LIKE US DELAYS, CHORUS, FLANGER, PHASER, AND YOU WILL SEE WHAT I MEAN. INSTANT SOUNDS OF LIVING ON VIDEO (TRANS-X), THE METRO (BERLIN), DURAN DURAN, ETC. It does not make unison/stacked bass sounds as smoothly or as "fat" as a Prophet or a Moog, but that's that what you should be using a Jupiter for anyway. Just in case you are wondering, I have been doing cover music and the popping sounds from RIO and HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF can be made on the Jupiter 6. You do not need the Jupiter 8. You have the same arepeggiator patterns as the original Juipiter 8 (and much more with the Europa upgrade). You will have to create a "popping" type sound thorugh the ADSR filters and use delays as Nick Rhodes did. On Rio, I recall he stated in Keyboard Magazine that he used two delays (a delay on a delay). That is how you get the really cool popping arpeggiator sound at the very beginning of Rio (that plays in the background for most of the entire song). By the way, keep that arpeggiator sound on one chord and let the guitar and vocals move around that chord and it sounds like the original song - yes that's another secret I read about with Nick Rhodes. If you try to change chords everytime the guitarist or vocalist does, it will be in tune, but it will not sound right. The sound is very CRYSTAL CLEAR and will pop out in a mix.

Very reliable. I know they are "old", but I would use the Jupiter 6 in a gig without backup. No problem. I have used Roland, Yamaha, and Korg synths without backup for years in live venues and have NEVER EVER had a problem. I only play in local nightclubs. Of course if you play for a multi-million dollar making band, I'm sure you will have backups and technicians traveling on the road with you anyway.

Old analog keyboard. I have had EXCELLENT results when I call Roland. I hear the stories about how they are conceited etc. I think if you sound have educated they treat you right. They obviously don't stock items for this anymore, but they will refer you to businesses that do. You can also look them up online. I have ordered Roland support/parts for amps, synths, V-drums, and guitar effects boxes and they are always helpful. If I don't know the name of the part, they will listen to me describe it and they will look it up for me until they can order the part. No kidding. I LOVE ROLAND!!!

If lost or stolen, I would save up money to buy another one. I paid $2700 for the Europa upgraded Roland Jupiter 6. Mine is in perfect shape with NO scratches, not even on the bottom. I am very picky about my synths - and I DO MEAN SYNTHESIZER, not just "keyboard". I started playing violin in 3rd grade, and piano in 5th grade. I have played drums and the cornet as well. I have transitioned to electronic synthesizer/keyboards, electric/acoustic guitar, and electronic V-drums. I have been playing music for 30 years and have been in about 5 bands. I own the Roland JD-800, Roland JP-8000, Roland Juno-106, Korg DW-8000, Yamaha DX-7, and Roland XV-3080. I use the Roland MC-50 for my sequencer and the Roland R-8 Mark II for my drum machine. I have a Roland TD-3 V-drum set to make my live show more exciting. I have a Boss GT-8 multi-effects pedal (COSM technology) for my electric guitar and a Martin acoustic guitar. I just sold my Roland JV-1000 so I can get a Yamaha Motif 7 for a different palette of sounds. I use a Yamaha Promix 1 for my main mixing board. External effects inlude the Lexicon LXP3 II (best reverb I have heard), Roland SDD 330, Yamaha SPX-1000 (NICE REVERBS FOR ACOUSTIC PIANO SOUNDS - WOW!!!), Korg SDD-2000 delay (nice delays), and the Digitech Vocalist Harmonizer (has MIDI Notes patch that you can use to make vocals sound like New Order's Bizarre Love Triangle dance version, and you can make vocoder type sounds as well).

For my monitor amplifier I use the Roland KC-300 amp. It's not too have like the KC-500 and it has enough power so I can hear my monitor mix in a live venue of up to 1000 people in the audience. This makes music FUN FUN FUN. I love making new sound with this synthesizer and I can make leads that jump out in front of the mix for my dance songs really easily.

When I was in high school my synthesizer instructor had a Prophet V. I have played around with the new synths and have some virtual analog synths. I also have heard the virtual Jupiter 8. My final verdict: HANDS DOWN, NO MODERN SYNTH, V-SYNTH, OR PROPHET CAN TOUCH THE ROLAND JUPITER SERIES. THIS JUPITER 6 IS RIGHT UP THERE WITH THE JUPITER 8 AS THE ANALOG STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE.

great programmable synth to learn synthesis on. all the buttons & knobs for everything are right there.

one of the first midi synths. so features are limited. it has a unique sound. innovative in it's time. i just found out about the EUROPA expansion so i'll be looking into that mod.

sounds great. i like it most for tweaky drones & arpegiated noise loops.

this thing is a tank. i used to gig with it. someone bumped the crap keyboard stand it was on @ a show & sent it plummeting 10 feet off the stage to the ground. (picture a slow motion "noooooOOOO!!!" as it dropped). put a dent in the back & busted the xlr out, everything else was fine. i've since replaced the xlr out.

never bugged roland.

i got this back in the day when "clean digital" synths were all the rage & everyone was hating on those "old noisy out of tune" analog synths. my college midilab traded for a used u110 that i scored for $25.

so, a decade later people are crazy for that "warm vintage" sound that was "old noisy & out of tune" a while back & they now sell for close to a thousand bucks which i would never pay for this unit. it's a nice synth & i love it, but the prices on these things are way over inflated. if it spontaneously combusts i'd go pick up something else unless i came across a good deal on one.

quite logically laid out. the modulation routings and bandpass filter ensure you will get fresh sounds out of it after years. never use the presets, though some are ok as starting points. the manual is typical for its era - near unreadable.

except aftertouch there isn't much i miss, maybe the 12 db filter option on the jp8... your programming skilles are the limit. i still havent exhausted mine after 3 years, and still come up with surprising new sounds.

one thing i don't like very much, is the 2nd lfo activated by a push button - this sounds very mechanical, which is suitable only rarely. otherwise, you don't have enough fingers to exhaust all the modulation opportunities it has. its sound is supreme, lush, biting, you name it you can probably program it (after having spent some time with it). many reviewers stating its thinnish or not "fat" enough, probably haven't fully mastered it yet. its bass is GREAT.

the patch preset banks sometimes produce irritating bugs, like all the lights go on simultaneously. no big deal, you press a few buttons, and its back to normal. otherwise, very reliable.

never tried, i have mine serviced by a local techie.

its one of the mainstays of my studio, along with some instruments from the old yamaha cs line, a dx7 and various other lesser vintage synths. as such, its irreplaceable.

A wonderful piece of analog kit. A control for everything, some clever effects, some amazing presets.

6 note poly - classic Roland keys - very early MIDI (bit basic, but so what)
So easy to use, to play with.
Still miss it....

We are talking Roland analog. To my mind, for those (most) of us who couldn't possibly afford a Moog, this was a very nice alternative.
No velo/after, but really too early for that.
If you want the warmth, the width, the power, the depth of analog, go for this beauty.
If you want digital - Yamaha etc - go somewhere else.
That simple

Never had a problem, but never gigged with it.

NA

If I had the opportunity/the space/the time, I'd buy another one.
Everything to love about it - allow for its age, please!
Nothing to hate - MIDI apart, but that is a small thing

A very intuitive keyboard. All dedicated sliders. Excellent hardware. Lots of features and fun to be had. Just one of the best. The more you put on a synth, the more complicated it becomes. Just think about the excellent JD800! This has all the sliders and ideas you could wish for, yet still remains easy and fun to work with.

A real belter of a synth. VCOs...real ones that sound great. The best Roland filter ever. An arpeggiator. A great cross-mod section. People say this is a cut down Jupiter 8. I've had them side by side and there aint' much missing. It has a better specified filter and midi. The Jupiter 8 has two more notes of polyphony. The 8 also has an led display. This has leds galore. It looks as good as you could wish for. One of the best specified synths out there. Every bit as good as the Jupiter 8...even better.

A cross between the Jupiter 8 and Prophet 5. In fact, excellent. Many say this is the best analogue ever. It is just about the best all-rounder I can think of, bar the JX10, and that has digital access control. Great for warmth, clangs, spacey effects and leads. A good effects unit talkes it to extreme greatness. This synth can sound as rich and varied as anything below a Matrix 12. It would have been nice to have a velocity sensitive keyboard. It was just a little bit too early for that stuff.

As good as any analogue out there. Miles better than a Jupiter 8. It is a very well built unit. I repair synths for a living. Most of these come in for keyboard rebushing, upgrades and, occasionally, a power supply repair. Unlike monsters of trouble, like the memorymoog and polymoog, it doesn't take half the chips with it when the power packs up. Roland knew how to build an analogue when they put this together. The build is very strong. All steel, no chipboard to damage. Old synths shouldn't be gigged. They weren't that reliable new and parts are becoming increasingly difficult to locate. This is the best of the bunch. If left in the studio, it will be a loyal friend.

This is one of the best supported of all the vintage analogues. There are companies specialising in feature and midi upgrades. Many of the chips are standard fare which makes them easier to locate than specialised Roland components. Roland are ok. The web is full of suitable stuff. You can buy with confidence, which is a rare thing to say about an old analogue.

One of the great analogues. Owners all say it. A fabulous synth by any standards. It is a better prospect than a Jupiter 8 and has a wider spectrum of sounds. Myth has it that the Jupiter 8 sank sales of the 6. This is wrong. I retailed both. It was the next generation of polys, such as the JXs and later the DXs which did for them both. Things moved on. The midi boom had just started. The faceless menu driven boom became fashionable and knobs and sliders looked out of date. I told customers that...silly boy! Prices are great value. This synth is hugely more powerful than any Juno and is at least as good...and is much more reliable than...the Jupiter 8. It looks great and is feature packed...with midi for goodness sake!! What more could you want! When most vintage analogues have terminally packed up, and that will happen, the Jupiter 6 will still be available and useable.

10 and considering the fact that you can get it modernised to do all the arpeggiator and midi-CC etc stuff that the VA's can by adding the EUROPA upgrade, 11 or 12 is the more proper rating here.

Some 50 parametres or thereabouts, all fully conrollable with dedicated sliders and knobs, and you can save your sounds, too,
incredible for a (w)holy analogue 12 VCO machine!

What can I tell ya, Unison mode is Godlike. It's capable of these HUGE analogue sonics unheard of elsewhere. This adding to the fact that it's extremely versatile, and you just know it, this is one of those machine that they'll never replicate. ever.
I guess that's why a couple of wiseguys made the EUROPA upgrade, too.
My rating here goes beyond numbers.

Unlike with the J8, never experienced any troubles with this one, status: unbreakable, or at least mine is. Works like a clock.

There are several helpful 3rd parties here, just don't expect much from Roland, they've forgotten their rootes and only makes weedy digital machines now, plastic fantasticly JP 8's and the like.

Many favour this to other analogue giants around, and for reasons: An incredibly sophisticated and unique sound, 12 vco's, a massive Unison mode, and both hipass, lowpass and bandpass in the filter department. DO NOT go about in the delusionary state thinking your Nord or whatever can get close to the sound of the J6, it can't.

Editing is a breeze. I have used this live in cover bands for 15 yrs and replicated a miriad of sounds, best filter sweep possibilities ive ever experianced in any synth. Mine came with original manual,very basic but helpful for memory dump.

arpeggiator can be hours of fun. I cant believe no-one has mentioned my favourite feature, the bender. Ive never found a more expressive mod section on a non touch sens. board. bender which can be set to " wide" which can send this baby into a dive youve got to experience. mine is one of the earliest, with midi in out only. however i have used it live with a 16 trk seq. running thru an M1 and a pocket midi filter.Always worked for note and prog change, but not mod or bend over midi.

as others have mentioned it seems to respond to playing style which makes vel.sens un-neccesary

Had no choice but to use it live. Very reliable for many years touring in a flight case. broke down 2003 for first time (except for memory battery change in 93.)now in workshop awaiting now rare parts.

Among the best keyboards ive ever owned. Untouchable sound in its day and price range. Mine has always had an audable noise pulsing with tu the lfo.never could program it out. Love the xlr output. hate the tape memory backup. Tune command over midi also makes an electronic click in audio out. Dont believe those who say you cant get fat bass, you just need to spend a bit of time on it.

I have an unmodified MIDI-thru version, with selectable MIDI-channel.
All the parametres are right in front of you, but...this complicated machine still takes time to learn.

6 voices in mode 1 & 2 and Unison + Unison/Solo. The Solo mode is those 12 VCO's stacked on one note...
The features are maybe the best of all the old polys:
12 VCO's, multiple filters (Hipass, lowpass & bandpass),
LFO with trine - saw - pulse and Random(S/H), Arpeggiator w/ up - down and both together (1 - 4 octaves range), 2 env, PW + PWM, 2 VCO sync modes, up to 4 waveforms simultaneously per sound, portamento, glissando, split function where you can run an arp on one part of the keys and another sound pad, bass, or whatever onthe other half.
It has 48 memorypatches and 32 presets (to save splits, arp settings, mode, etc). Yes, it is quite flexible.

There's a lot of grit and disturbance attainable from these cem's,
but you need to find the LFO trippin' sweet spots, and the awesome, brutal Unison sounds. The latter is what the Virus synths are trying to, but will never, ever replicate (even with the use of a dozen FX's). The Alesis Ion/Micron are closer though, but I don't think any machine will ever reproduce the exact sound of this one, it's just not possible.
Be warned, the J6 can easily damage your ears - or - your speakers. All the modes are good on this machine, but I tend to stay in Unison: it's very phat and totally unique.
One little minus is the annoying noise (from the CEM's) that will always be somewhat present on even the sweetest pad.
Going a few rounds with the arp works well, too!

Mine tends to hang up from time to time, but nothing to worry about.

Sure, if you know someone...

The Jupiter 6 is possibly the very best of the analog polys,
and actually it's osc are fairly stable, too!
(In the real 'sound& features' world, that is,
not the 'hyped and rare is all that matters' realm...)
Nuff said!