Roland Jupiter 8

I like interface and control of this synth.
As already well reported creating sounds is easy and impossible to get bad sound out of Jupiter 8.
Never touched manual.

JP8 provides exactly what is shown, 8 hefty analogue voices and sonics that are so well appreciated by music producers for last 25+ years.
MIDI should be added at some 300$+ costs what is worth addition.
Being early 80s synth features are not high for today's standards, but that is not what one would look in Jupiter 8

Sound is all about Jupiter 8.
It is one of the Top5 synths of all time, absolute collectors and core music lovers instrument.
It has such organic quality compared to which any modern analogue sound literally digital. I use modern analogues (Studio Electronics or Sunsyn), but Jupiter 8 has mojo that newer synths for some reason lack.
Pads, arpegios, no matter realistic or not realistic strings or brass emulations synth always sounds so lively and warm that it is impossible to stop playing it.
With Prophet5 it is the best sounding synth to my ears.

I was very lucky, bought mine 15 years ago and had no problems with it for all those years.
Some have samll tuning issues, but in general they are very reliable machines.

Roland helped me with some advices, although naturally machine is not supported anymore.

Unfortunatelly, Jupiter 8 can't be replaced by another synth.
I have 20 analogue synths from all ages and really noone sound exactly close to Jupiter 8. I think to buy second, just for spare parts for next 30 years.
Together with Oberheims, Mini and Memorymoogs, Prohet 5 and CS80 Jupiter 8 is absolute classic.

Very intuitive. You just think of a sound and start programing. It's that simple. Every control is right in front of you so you have full acces to everything for real time editing.
The manual isn't an essential read because everything is on the front panel but you should check it out.

Practically it's 8 synthesizers each with 2 analog osc inside so it's some crazy stuff. Has an nice arpeggiator also. Got mine with midi works fantastic. Just go into split mode, put a bass sequence with midi control and play the lead using the upper part. You can have only this synth and a drum machine and you have a live electronic act with just two hands!

It can get as much expressive as you can.It's the first synthesizer that I played and realized that the only limitations to it's sound is my imagination and style of play. So you can make some fantastic sounds with this. Make a sound in poly mode, then go into unison mode and be prepared to be blown away! I also own a juno 106 and a microkorg and played some virtual analog stuff, and all of those synths sound great, but you need to have some good pre-amps and effects to get the sound you want. With the jupiter 8 it's the only synth i've played and didn't feel the need to add effects or more harmonics. Just press record and play.

Mine came from 15000 Km away after 27 years of use and still sounds amazing. If that isn't reliable I don't know what is.

As stated below me, use the internet.

If it would get lost or stolen i would save up for another one. Compared to my other synths and most of what i heard it just blow everything away. From what I researched I would compare it to other synths in it's league the Prophet 08 or V , the Alesis Andromeda or the Jomox Sunsyn. If i hadn't bought this one it would have been any of the above.If you have the opportunity buy it just go for it you won't regret it.

Very intuitive machine, every frickn' thing is right there on the front to tweak, manipulate.. Just plain simple!

Voices and more, compared to modern machines, what it was for 1981 was pretty damn impressive!

If you don't know the sounds of this beast you have been sleeping under a rock for the past 27 years!! Great sounds, very rich, deep, lush, harsh, what ever you are looking for is right under the hood. Forget the presets, start programming with this bad boy and you will forget about your virtual analog gear fairly quickly.

Built like a Sherman Tank, all 48 pounds of solid state hardware here, no flimsy plastic, no wood to get all banged up. Metal and more metal!

The internet is a great thing, there are message boards with die hard JP-8 users that will help you in a pinch, if not, there are techs out there than can tune, repair and treat your baby with TLC.

Like others on this site, would not part with it for the world, if I had more cash, I would buy up another one. I have many other analog synths and this one is really at the top of the list.

It is not hard if you understand analog synthesis any dumbass can use it.

8 voices of polyphony pretty **** by todays standards doesn't even have midi woopee it was ok for 1983

It sounds ok analog synths are highly over rated this one because it had 8 voices woopee they cost more money now then they did new so some fat old guy can buy it and show it off to people as a display piece you'd be stupid to try to use it as it'd break and they cost a fortune to fix and the parts they use have not been manufactured in 20 years and are very rare.

ahahha

when it breaks it is over they use parts which are so rare now you probably never will find a replacement.

ahahahahahahahaahhahaha fat old guy wants support for 30 year old synth lololol

Overrated piece of crap I had one 15 years ago I paid $1000 for it that was way too much sure it was kinda cool because it had 8 voices but now I have digital stuff that sounds better and is more reliable and has 128+ voices so this is an antique for fat old men to buy and sell on ebay for more money than a used car costs

If you're thinking about buying a Jupiter 8, don't whatever you do rely on the presets as they are truly terrible. If you went off those, you'd wonder what all the hype was about. This means that the Jupiter 8 isn't really ideal for an absolute beginner, not that an absolute beginner would start with a Jupiter 8. If you've got a vague semblance of knowledge on basic subtractive synthesis, you will take to this like a duck to water. I'd also advise you to invest in one of the cheaper Rolands, such as a Juno or a JX. If you learn to program those, you'll be familiar with the fundamental voice architecture of the Jupiter and how to program sounds.

After trying out lots of high-end analog synths and VA synths, I was amazed just how easy it was to use. It is basically as easy to use as a Juno 6 but with loads more scope and things to play around with. It's very easy to get the sounds you want and programming a new sound takes seconds, there's no sub-menus or weird functions to remember. For a synth of the power and flexibility of the Jupiter 8, that's outstanding to be honest.

The manual is available as a PDF from Roland's site and it's reasonably well written, although some of the English is a little ambiguous at times, especially the chapter on saving patches, that made absolutely no senese at all

The Jupiter 8, as it's name suggests is eight note polyphony. You can either have all 8 voices dedicated to one patch, or have the keyboard split and have two patches with four note polyphony. You can also layer two patches in 4 note polyphony. You can use the keyboard polyphonically, or monophonically or in the epic "unison" mode, where all 16 oscillators are stacked to produce the biggest sounding patch you could ever comprehend!

The keyboard itself isn't velocity sensitive and doesn't feature aftertouch, but I personally don't really want that on a synth as I prefer to do all the expressive stuff through the filter, LFO and modulation panel. And on a synth of 20+ years of age, it's one more thing to go wrong. The actual action of the Jupiter 8 is great. The keyboard feels bomb-proof too.

As the Jupiter 8 was made in 1981, it lacks MIDI by default. The Jupiter 8A revision will come with DCB and Kenton Electronics still manufacture a high quality MIDI retro-fit for Jupiters to this day. Jupiters also come with CV built in, so you can control you favourite old-school mono-synths with it.

Mine came with the Groove Electronics MIDI kit. This offers a very feature-rich implementation of MIDI, allowing control of the upper and lower patch bank of the JP8 to be controlled seperately. It also receives velocity sensitivity and aftertouch information, so if you wanted a Jupiter 8 with those features, you could use a MIDI controller keyboard to control it.

The Jupiter 8 has a 64 patch memory built in, which for 1981 is pretty impressive. This is battery backed up, just a lithium ion cell. The batteries apparently last for absolutely ages and they can be easily replaced by someone with a decent knowledge of electronics and soldering. The battery is also located in an area of the board where a leak won't really do any damage, so the worst thing a dead battery would do to your Jupiter 8 is lose your patches in RAM.

Another great feature is that the Jupiter 8 allows you to back up the patch memory to tape, or any other recording medium, instead of relying a weird interface or an obsolete bespoke memory card format. The input/output for this is just bog standard jack sockets, so you can just connect any old piece of recording gear. You've basically got unlimited memory on a C90 tape! Loading/saving takes less than a minute.

The Jupiter 8 lacks an onboard sequencer, but it does have a very famous arpeggio feature built in, used on countless 80s soundtracks and songs. And with the keyboard splitting, it's possible to have one patch as an arpgeggio and another for chords/bass.

The best thing about the Jupiter 8, and it's greatest feature is the fact that everything you could wish to control about the sound has a real slider or knob on the front panel. No sub-menus, no rotary encoders. The LCD display is only there to show you what patch you've selected. The Jupiter 8 is very tactile and feels a like an instrument, instead of a machine It's the antithesis of a Yamaha DX7.

First and foremost, the Jupiter 8 is a synthesizer. Don't bother creating realistic sounds on it, use it for creating synthesizer sounds - great lead sounds, bass sounds and pads.

The Jupiter 8 lacks any onboard effects, but don't let that put you off. You can emulate chorus by playing around with the pulse wave modulation and fine tuning the second oscillator. You can get a good phaser effect using the LFO. You can get a fantastic tremelo effect using the LFO on the VCA. Or you could use outboard effects. The Jupiter 8 sounds incredible without any effects anyway, it doesn't need to hide behind a wall of reverb, delay and chorus to sound amazing.

I am particularly amazed with how versatile the Jupiter 8 actually is. In the other synths I've used in the past, such as the Juno 6, Super JX10 and modern modelling synths, such as the Ion and K-Station, there's a limit to the kind of sounds the keyboard can make, the Jupiter doesn't seem to be anywhere nearly as constrained. The Jupiter seems to be able to apply itself to any kind of synth sound flawlessly. There is also a real scope in what you can produce. It can do subtle, it can do bombastic. It can do simple synth-pop sounds, it can do massive pads.

The sounds are just incredible, it actually feels like it's almost alive. Everything you create on it tells it's own story and could be a song in itself. I can't really describe how beautiful it sounds produces are, but it really shows you how off the boil companies like Nord, Access and Roland are with their flagship VA synths.

The Jupiter 8 would obviously be ideal for any electro-pop band. It might also be pretty handy for a prog rock band as it's got a massive, truly awe inspiring side to itself. It'd be amazing for ambient music too. It might not be too great for house/hardcore music fans though, as it's not very 'dirty' sounding. However, I consider that a good thing!

The Jupiter does lack velocity and aftertouch, but it's got a brilliant LFO and modulation section. You can also control lots of aspects of the sound from the little panel to the left of the keyboard.

This thing is built like a tank. It's got an all steel chasis and brushed aluminium sides. It weighs 25 Kilograms on it's own, so watch your back. If it were to fall off a stand, it'd probably do more damage to your feet and the stage than itself.

Mine was restored, having it's battery replaced and being totally serviced, with the keyboard stripped down and cleaned and new sliders installed. It's as good as new. It's also lasted 25+ years, so I'm sure there's plenty of life left in the old girl yet!

As it's got VCOs, tuning is an issue on the early 12-bit Jupiter 8s. Fortunately mine is a 14-bit model. Once you'd had it on five minutes and you click "auto-tune" (a two second job) it's sorted and will never drift out of tune. I've had it on for hours and it'll still be sweet as a nut.

The Jupiter 8 is also reknowned for being the most reliable of all the big poly-synths and the failure rate of the components is supposed to be the lowest of any of them.

I am planning to gig with it. I didn't pay a King's ransom for a museum piece. I've gigged with a similarly aged, war torn Juno 6 and it's consistently been the most reliable piece of gear I've ever had. The Jupiter 8 is ever better made, so I don't see how it'd ever let me down.

I've only had it a short while, so it'd be unfair for me to actually give it a rating.

Bear in mind the Jupiter 8 was last produced over 20 years ago, so you can't expect to ring a Roland engineer and ask for help. I was impressed that they had the manual on their site.

The only option for a repair is to find a vintage synthesizer expert, they are out there if you look carefully enough. The parts are still out there, though in increasingly small numbers. That's the risk you take with vintage gear though.

Compared to every other synthesizer I own, the Juno 6, JX10, Ion, SH-201, MicroKorg and K-Station, the Jupiter 8 is a class above. It's a class above anything else Roland have ever made, and will probably ever make on their current form. I've wanted a Jupiter 8 for over a decade and it's not been a let down, it's actually exceeded what I thought it'd be like. It's the first synthesizer I've played where the limits aren't the constraints of the voice architecture or the interface, it's my imagination.

Ignore the people who suggest that the MKS-80 (the 'super' Jupiter) rack is better than the Jupiter 8, it's not. The MKS-80 has more in common with the much inferior Jupiter 6 and JX10 than the Jupiter 8.

It's the most beautiful looking and fantastic sounding keyboard ever created. It'll provide the soundtrack to my dreams forever.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd kill myself.

The Jupiter-8 has many knobs, buttons, and sliders to manipulate parameters allowing synthesis of sounds. Selecting analog sound sources, and then processing them through filters is intuitive and logical. Roland made very many keyboard synthesizers that were intuitive.

8-voice polyphony. The keyboard action is typical for a non-weighted keyboard without velocity sensitive keys. No built-in effects; however, adding a multi-effects box to the audio output signal will create the most powerful analog-based sounds on the world. Plugging this analog synth output into an analog-to-digital converter will do wonders. For example, plugging it into a Roland VS series digital recorder and then using the onboard digital effects is awesome. Not having effects should not deter one from purchasing this synthesizer. People wonder how the popping sounds from Duran Duran's Hungry Like the Wolf and Rio were made? You can use any analog synthesizer that has an arpeggiator that clocks to midi. You then shape the sound so they "click" or "pop" with your VCA filters. Then place the arpeggiated sound into a digital delay. One more step... Take that delayed sound and place it into a SECOND digital delay. In summary, the popping sounds from Rio and Hungry Like the Wolf are arpeggiated analog sounds, synced to a drum maching, and placed through TWO digital delays (an echo wit an echo). Play around with the delay timing. Use only 1 chord (let the song play around that 1 chord). Play around and you will get that syncopated, popping, sound. If you have stereo for live shows or recording, make the arpeggiated sounds from the delays bounce randomnly from left, center, and right and you get some really cool background popping. No MIDI on the JP-8? You can retro fit MIDI. Not enough money to do this? Try synchronizing the arpeggiator by the tape-sync method using an old Roland drum machine. If that drum maching has midi, you might be able to slave the drum machine to midi, and then slave the JP-8 arpeggiator to the tape sync from the drum maching. No guarantees this last method will work; however, experiment around. JP-8 is a great synth. By the way, no money for a JP-8 or can't find one? Just obtain two Roland Juno-106s or a Juno-60s. Each of these were essentially 1/2 of a JP-8? What do I mean? They had one oscillator that produced the base sound source. The JP-8 and JP-6 had two of these units. The sound sources were layered to form fatter sounds. Why was this better than chorus? Because simply using chorus can muddy up a sound if overused. So the fattest sounds are made with two analog sounds sources and then a chorus. The two analog sound sources are like two violins in an orchestra. They are slightly detuned and out of phase from each other. That makes a sound "fat". So if you get two Roland Juno-106s you can use MIDI to trigger both at the same time. You will have layered analog sounds with chorus effects. That will sound nice and "fat".

This is an analog synthesizer from an earlier vintage era. There is no velocity sensitivity in the keys. It really does not emmulate true instruments nearly as well as modern synthesizers that have sampled wave forms loaded onboard. Rather, the JP-8 created an analog sound all its own. It is an instrument that stands on its own so to say. Sure it can emmulate sounds to some extent, but its original sounds, musical and special effects, are unique. You can easily make R2-D2 sounds (like when he screamed as he got hit by the Tie Fighter in that Death Star tunnel). This synth is a sound designers dream. It is just one synth in a sound artist's pallet. To complete the pallet, one also needs digital synths (FM based Yamaha DX-7, DX-5, SY-77 type synths) and samplers. For finishing touches, one would want a good digital effects board for this synth.

Roland synths are rock-solid reliable. Of course parts will wear out and break, but I have never had any problems with the Juno-106, Juno-60, JX-8P, JX-3P, TR-505, JP-8000, JD-800, JV-1000, MC-50, VS-1824, VS-880, or the R-8. I have used these items on live gigs and in the recording studio. I love Roland so much that I am in the process of purchasing the TD-3 and TD-20 V Drums - and I am not even a drummer!

Never dealt with Roland regarding my JP-8; however, I had to order manuals for some synths and a drum machine in the past and they were helpful. Reputable professional music stores usually have techno guys who can repair synths. If your local store does not have one, you can Google or search in magazines such as Keyboard Magazine or Recording Musician for repair shops. You will havd to find one of these shops if you want to retrofit your JP-8 with MIDI.

Roland is elite so expect them to act like they are when you talk with them.

Great analog synthesizer. For those of you who are losing sleep because you can't find one or can't afford one - RELAX. There are other ways to create analog sounds that are just as fat and Roland analog sounding. Roland has a rack-mount version of the JP-8 as well. Just do a Google search. You can buy two Juno-106s and control them with MIDI. You can recreate the JP-8s arpeggiated sounds on the JP-8000 or even the Yamaha CS1-X. These newer boards are going for pretty cheap these days and have MIDI sync. MIDI sync is critial so your arpeggiated popping sounds can sync with your drum machine. So RELAX. Get a JP-8 of JP-6 if you can get one. If you can't find one or do not have the financial resources, find alternative solutions. Be CREATIVE - just like a musician should be!!!

Probably one of the best-designed synthesizers in terms of user interface. All the knobs and sliders are laid out in logical order in typical substractive synthesizer fashion across the top row: volume, arpeggiator, LFO, VCO modulation, VCO 1&2, mixer, HPF, LPF, VCA and two ASDR envelopes. The second row is all buttons and the large readable 4-digit red LED display. To the left of the keyboard is a pitch bender lever and extensive VCO and VCF modulation controls including settings for the large white LFO modulation button. Portamentio is also controlled here. The keys are a distinctive artic white, and the keyboard feels solid and quick, though it is not weighted. Changing any parameter takes effect immediately and there are no programming modes that hide additional parameters from immediate change. The digital functionality of this synthesizer exists primarily for storing and recalling programs. It looks and works like you'd expect from an analog synthesizer.

There are many websites with this kind of information. Search for "Roland Jupiter" and you will find most of them!

In my opinion, it has a deep set of features for a polyphonic analog synthesizer:

8 completely analog voices
- 2 VCOs, 2 VCFs, 2 envelope generators, and 1 LFO per voice.
- whole mode assigns all 8 voices to the keyboard.
- dual mode layers two sounds (4 voices each) to the keyboard.
- split mode divides two sounds (4 voices each) between different sides of the keyboard. (split point at the center C key)
- poly 1 mode rotates voice assignment.
- poly 2 mode assigns voices for each key (helpful for portamento).
- unison stacks divides ALL eight voices between pressed keys for a seriously fat sound.

2 distinctive and versitile Voltage Controlled Oscillators (the real thing)
- VCO-1: tri, saw, variable-width pulse, square.
- VCO-2: sine, tri, variable-width pulse, noise generator).
- both oscillators have variable 16' to 2' range.
- VCO-1 can be synched with VCO-2.
- VCO-1 can be cross-modulated with VCO-2 for metallic/unusual timbres.
- VCO-2 can be switched to a second fixed frequency LFO.
- a mixer knob to balance between the two.
- Pulse width modulation on either or both VCOs.

A decicated LFO with sine, triangle, square, and random modes, rate, and delay.

Seriously smooth and silky filters distinguish this synth above all others:
- 12dB high-pass filter.
- Switchable 12/24dB low-pass filter with resonnance and self-oscillation
- LFO modulation of LPF.
- Switchable modulation from ENV-1 or ENV-2 to LPF.
- Keyboard tracking slider on LPF.

Two ADSR envelope generators with very quick response:
- Switchable polarity on ENV-1.
- Switchable keyboard tracking for ENV-1 and ENV-2 modulates envelope times.

Portamento is assignable to upper voices only, or all voices.

The pitch bender can be assigned to VCO-1, VCO-2 and/or the VCF.

The LFO modulation button can be used to enable modulation of VCOs and/or VCF.

The arpeggiator is classic:
- 1, 2, 3 or 4 octives
- up, down, up & down, and random (think: Duran Duran Rio) patterns

The keyboard is classic Roland 61 key unweighted non-velocity sensitive keyboard. If it only had a velocity sensitive keyboard, I would have rated this synth a 10.

There are 64 programs you can store, as well as 8 combinations. Programs and combinations can be loaded and saved using a cassette interface.

There is no MIDI built-into this synth, but MIDI retrofits are available. The newer JP-8A models have a Roland DCB interface which are compatible with older Roland sequencers and MIDI interfaces. It does however have CV and gate outputs and external analog controll of the arpeggiator clock, VCF, VCA, portamento, and hold functions.

Audio output is advanced compared to most synths:
- balanced XLR jacks for UPPER and LOWER sounds.
- unbalanced 1/4" jacks for UPPER, LOWER, as well as a MIX of both.
- output level for 1/4" outputs is switchable between 0 and -20dB.
- 1/4" headphone jack with high, medium, or low level switch.

If all this doesn't convince you, the Jupiter-8 is often regarded as the most beautiful synthesizer ever made. The case is a charcoal colored steel with white and orange 80s-looking graphics on the panel. The knobs and sliders are solid and the toggle switches are the classic Moog-style brushed aluminum with a light touch. The rainbow colored buttons (red, orange, yellow, buff, green, cyan, blue) reach from one end of the control panel to the other, giving this synth it's most distinctive and unmistakable style cue. Last but not least, its ends are adorned with brushed aluminum end caps that will hurt you if you accidentally run into them.

Something else about the Jupiter-8: It's BIG and HEAVY and a challenge to pickup and hold without putting it and more likely other things around you in grave danger. Get a ATA (hard) case and a heavy-duty keyboard stand.

Put it on a marble pedastal in your living room and worship it like fine art! :)

Despite the lack of a velocity-sensitive keyboard, aftertouch, or built-in effects doesn't keep this synthesizer from producing classic synthesized textures as well as unique sounds no other synthesizer past or present can even begin to emulate.

On the surface, the patch algorithms seems simplistic and static. However, there are many little features and functions that have a distinctive audio and performance characteristics which set it apart from most other synthesizers.

Most notable are sounds that take advantage of the the many different VCO modulation options. Sawtooth and square waves are only raw materials to be detuned, synched, modulated, and cross-modulated and finally filtered and shaped into many beautiful and strange types of sounds.

The extensive set of real-time modulation controls on the left-hand side offer many many more options for modulating the oscillators and filters. Many of the timbres come to life when the bender is used to change the pitch of an oscillator that is modulating the other, or when it is used to control the filter cutoff frequency, while your right hand is playing solo parts using the portamento in poly 1 or unison mode.

It is easy to view the Jupiter-8 as a rare but over-the-hill polysynth, but I believe one of it's greatest virtues is when it is played as a monophonic solo instrument. It's got mostly everything a Minimoog has in both features and sounds TIMES EIGHT. Play a monophonic bass line on the lower side, and silky analog sweeps with portamento on the upper. Save this combination into one of the 8 presets and access it by hitting a single button. The bright red LEDs always indicate which patch is selected for upper and lower.

The dual mode is useful for creating complex timbres that benefit from using four oscillators per voice (limited to 4 notes polyphony). Upper and lower outputs can be panned left and right to create more of a stereo image, or they can be routed separately for independent effects and equalization.

One of the most important performance features of any synthesizer is the ability to change ANY parameter or setting using a dedicated control. Suddenly you realize that you have over 50 distinct controls available for instant modulation anytime you want. Add to that the ability to control arpeggiator, VCF, VCA, portamento, and hold functions through an external pedal or controller add up to a lot of real-time modulation potential. There is plenty of resolution on the pitch-bender, knobs and sliders to play them just as musically as you would play the keyboard.

The original JP-8 supposedly has tuning stability problems, which can be easily addressed by pressing the red TUNE button, which will go through all the oscillators and recalibrate itself within 5 seconds. It does this automatically each time it starts up. There is also knob next to the TUNE button for adjusting the relative pitch of the instrument. The JP-8A is supposed to be a lot more stable, but I have never observed serious problems with the JP-8 myself.

The buttons, as beautiful as they are, are probably the most vulnerable to old-age and overuse. Eventually their contacts wear out and need to be cleaned or replaced. Replacing them shouldn't be too much of a chore if you can can find replacement switches.

The sliders and knobs, most commonly the volume knob, are all susceptable to corrosion and the resulting scratchiness/twitchiness they will exhibit. While the potentiometer for the volume and balance is pretty easy to reach without disassembly, the rest are serviceable with a little bit of effort.

In general, any collision between the Jupiter-8 and another object will more likely end in the demise of the other object rather than damage to the Jupiter. The Jupiter is big and heavy and dangerous when wielded carelessly. Look around you before you pick it up!

If for some reason repairs need to be made, the control panel can be flipped up on hinges by removing three screws on the surface and three more on each end cap. This will expose you and the outside world to its elaborate and delicate insides so be REAL CAREFUL. If you do have to replace a chip or component, most of the parts are non-proprietary and still available ensuring that the JP-8 is going to be around for a long long time.

I gave it a 9 because it's hard to find one without some problems with the potentiometers and buttons. Other than that it's a TANK!

Roland has always had good support from my experience. They aren't going to help you much with a Jupiter-8 but there are pleny of 3rd party websites and service organizations to get you through any problem you have.

How can you replace a Jupiter-8? Not cheaply and/or easily. There were only 2000 made from what I understand. They are typically going for prices in excess of $2000, which is a good reason to consider "upgrading" to something like the Alesis Andromeda if you need your analog polysynth fix.

You WON'T like the JP-8 if you want a velocity sensitive keyboard, MIDI, or built-in effects.

YOU WILL LOVE most everything else about it no matter who you are. It is a wonderful performance synthesizer, and a work of art! If you have one now, think hard before selling it -- you may never get to own one again!

If you want a Minimoog or Voyager but can't pony up $3000K for one (new or used), the JP-8 is a tremendous value that gets nearly all of the same sounds with 8 times as many oscillators to boot. Do the math!

The Jupiter-8 is a rare and beautiful electronic instrument that many synth designers and synthesists agree is the ultimate supercar of synthesizers. Get yours while you still can!

Easy to program, standard analog configuration. Sliders rather than knobs in the typical fashion of Roland and Yamaha synths of the era.

Midi kits are available. More features than the equivalent American synths of that era - Arpeggiator, Split, etc. and more reliable than most analogs.

Good analog sounds, the best of the Rolands. Richer and more classic analog character than the MKS-80's excellent and hybrid analog-digital sound. The Jupiter would receive an even higher rating save for the presence of the American Sequentials, Oberheims and Moogs that all sound just a touch better in terms of warmth, character and balls. Very good though; too bad it was almost never heard on records here in America.

Typical very reliable Japanese analog build quality - almost like one of today's synths in this regard.

Roland's still around..

Good analog sounds - would rate it even higher rating if not for the presence of all the great American and Yamaha analogs; the best of the solid and neutral Roland sound.

IMO it's popularity, in Europe much more so than America, was based on flexibilty of features and reliabilty as much as it's good sound - easy to sync to sequencers, arpeggiator, split, more reliable than most for touring, all special attributes at the time..

the presets are alright, nothing too great. editing patches is very easy. manual explains it well.

the 8 note polyphony is just great. 8 notes is apretty good amount, any less and you can run into some inconveniences. no built in effects of course. i think it might sound a lot better with some reverb or some kind of effect. it has the tendency to sound a bit harsh when i play it, then again i'm not very experienced at programming. the action's pretty good although its pretty old and the keys are getting a bit wobbly, i dont mind. Very easy to use, never had any difficulty using it, just programming it.

the sounds I've heard come from this blow me away; that's why i bought it. I havent heard anything come out of mine that really blows me away, but I relate that to my lack of experience. i can see this thing making some beautiful sounds once I get the hang of it. By the sounds I've heard it's my fav sounding synth. It has a really unique, very fat analog sound, obviously.

It's never reset or had any trouble functioning.

if it were stolen I might be a v synth or jp8000, they're a bit easier to program i think. definitely worth what i paid. I chose this synth because of the amazing sounds i heard come from it. It has a very distinct sound quality. I haven't been able to match the amazingness of the sounds but I think I will someday.

I have an early Jupiter 8, rev. 1.0 S/N 0906XX While the tuning complaints of numerous early rev owners can't be ignored. My Jup tunes well and holds. While the Jup 8 wasn't available with factory MIDI, there are a number of kits available. Mine has a MIDI kit from Real World Interfaces. A number of the factory presets are almost folk history now, used by: The Cars, The Eurythmics, Erasure, Human League, Toto, Journey, The Who......(It would easier to name the acts that didn't use the Jupiter-8).Editing is a snap, the panel is always active. The signal path is clearly and logically laid out left to right. The factory manual is very musician friendly, unlike my Synclavier. I also own a Memorymoog plus, a CS-70M, a Prophet-5, and an Oberheim OBX. All vintage analogs have a place in the sonic food chain. They all have a unique sound and specific attributes which lend to different areas of expertise. The Jupiter-8 is the quickest synth to create the broadest spectrum of sounds.

The JP-8 is 8 note polyphonic in whole/ split mode, 4 note polyphonic in dual mode. It is bi-timbral in split and dual modes. It has 16 VCOs, highpass, selectable 12db/ 24db octave slope resonant filter. hard sync, cross modulation. S/H modulation. 64 patch memory. No velocity or aftertouch. Joystick pitchbend, button for LFO triggering, fantastic portamento. A unison mode which stacks all 16 oscillators on one note (you'll need a helmet for this!). The Jupiter-8 is known for it's fantastic arpeggiator, which can be externally syncronized. Let me say that the Jupiter's arpeggiator was really great in the eighties, but pales compared the the flexibility of newer gear; The arpeggiators in my Triton and Motif blow the Jup out of the water. The Jup has no sequencer. It's hard to find a sound that can't be done on the Jupiter-8. It's one of my all time favorite polyphonic synths. The Jupiter-8 can get every bit as ugly as my memorymoog, as smooth as the OBX, as harsh and foreboding as the CS, and Subwoofer destroying bass-ic as the prophet. I'll stop just short of saying that it's the greatest synthesizer ever.

Using cross mod and filter mod routings, you can come up with some mind blowing ambients. Warm pads, thick strings, brass stabs, punchy basses. With effort you can achieve some natural sounding orchestral instuments, but why? Samplers live for that kind of thing. No effects, it's as bare as a Nord. No velocity, no aftertouch, it's a shame the Roland didn't include them, because touch response is what really makes the Yamaha CS series really expressive.

The Jupiter 8 is nearly all metal construction, it's very solid. This is almost the only synth that has never broken down on me. I don't gig the vintage synths anymore.

Roland has been great with newer products, they sent disks for my S-550 sampler free of charge. They've sold knobs and slider covers that I've needed. As time marches on parts for these old machines become increasingly scarce. It must be difficult to warehouse 20 years of parts.

I owned one for several years in the eighties and sold it to make way for a sampler. After playing the first couple of gigs without it, I realized that selling it was the wrong thing to do. I have another one now, it won't be going anywhere. If you get the opportunity to own a Jupiter-8, don't miss it. While the Jupiter-6 is a useful synth, it doesn't have the same oscillators or filter that the JP-8 does. The JP-6 has more in common with the OB-8 and prophet 600.
Don't worry so much what everyone else uses, do YOUR thing, YOUR way!