All about the Roland Jupiter-series

-----Original Message-----
From: Mueller, Cord MED/ATL [mailto:cord.mueller@...]
Sent: Friday, May 12, 2000 3:06 PM
To: 'analog heaven'
Subject: [AH] JP-6 vs. Nord 2


Any opinions? My JP-6 is becoming less and less attractive to me. I
tried spending some "quality" time with her but that special spark just
isn't there anymore. Then I came across a NLII and it was magical.. I feel
SO confused right now. To be blunt, I'm tempted.

Same with me. Two years ago I let the JP-6 go in favor for a Nord
Rack 2. To make a long story short, I still have the Nord2 and I recently
bought a JP-6, but I sold my JP-8.

The Jupiter-6 specs look alike the Nord2 and therefore people have
the tendency to compare features again features. The nord though, sounds
much more like a JP-8 than a JP-6. That at least is what I have found. I
took my sounds from the JP-8 and tried to copy them in the Nord 2. Yes,
without an effect you still could figure out what synth was playing, but I
would say that the Nord covered >95% of the overall sound. Putting it in
polyphonic unison helps a lot too. I end up copying all the JP-8 sounds only
to see them vanishing when the battery on the pcmcia card went down. The
trick is to use the modulations just 1/3 of the actual range. That was also
the most annoying part at the JP-8, you could not make that thing do weird
and aggressive stuff because the filter envelope covered only 1/3 of the
actually cutoff range. Also the modulation depth for pitch was not very
great. It acted more like a preset machine with slight tweaking. Though, it
sounded great.

Another thing I learned from that experience was, that the user
interface influences the sound you are coming up, even when the features are
comparable. I never came up with some nice and warm sounds before on my
Nord. But when I tried to model after the real thing, it worked pretty well.


Anyway, the Jupiter-6 filter just sounds more aggressive than the
Nord filter. What I like at the JP-6 more than with the JP-8 is the depth of
control. Therefore you lost the warmth of the synth. I would not say the
JP-6 is a great sounding machine when it comes to warm strings, pads, or
brass. But it does very aggressive sounds that cut nicely through the mix. I
have a designated boss chorus hooked up to it to give it some depth for pad
sounds.

Now, where does this leave the Nord2? I love that thing, especially
when doing tracks. I like the overall control of sound with the genius
velocity control feature. Putting a knob in two positions and there we are.
It can sound big, especially when putting it into unison. But the filters
are modeled after Roland stuff and therefore you won't find the moog sound
in it. I like that because I have the tendency to overload my tracks anyway.
But other people might like it fatter and prefer the Virus over the Nord
Lead. Now, I do have enough stuff that sounds fat already, so for me the
Nord fits perfect. Next to the velocity feature I really like the overall
panel with the third envelope (PPG), snappy envelopes (log), echo function
(that travels through the velocity), feel of knobs and buttons, and the drum
sound setup (8 sounds fit nicely with the ER-1). It is capable of getting
some weird sounds out with FM or Ring-modulation. Would not call it analog
though, compared to a prophet. But than, it is fast to work with and the
results are very dynamic.

No idea of what I would prefer, the Nord2 or a JP-6 when I had to
choose. Probably I would go for the Nord because it can do more in a studio
and is fully midi capable. Anyway, it is a good replacement for my JP-8
though.

Just my 0.2 cents,

Cord

-----Original Message-----
From: Rainer Hain [mailto:r.hain@...]
Sent: Friday, May 12, 2000 11:57 PM
To: 'analog heaven'
Subject: RE: [AH] JP-6 vs. Nord 2

> The Jupiter-6 specs look alike the Nord2 and therefore people have
> the tendency to compare features again features. The nord though, sounds
> much more like a JP-8 than a JP-6.

Funny you mentioned that. Hans Nordelius actually modelled the Nord after a
MKS-80 and a P5, that was what he had. As the MKS-80 is a JP-8 with a good
deal of JP-6 circuitery (as some technician explained to me once), your
description of the Nords sound is really dead on.

> Anyway, the Jupiter-6 filter just sounds more aggressive than the
> Nord filter.

I agree also. Though I've succeeded in covering some of my favourite patches
of the JP-6 featuring the BP-filter. It's not dead on, but close enough.

> It can sound big, especially when putting it into unison. But the filters
> are modeled after Roland stuff and therefore you won't find the moog sound
> in it.

They later fixed that by adding a "classic" LP-filter in the Nord Modular.
It's not really a Moog-ladder, but it's really a different and more moogish
flavour.
They finally put it in the NL3 as I saw on the Frankfurt Music Fair.

> But other people might like it fatter and prefer the Virus over the Nord
> Lead. Now, I do have enough stuff that sounds fat already, so for me the
> Nord fits perfect.

Agree 100%. That sound is what I got my JP-6 for and now I'm covering that
sounds with a Nord Modular - actually a shame for such a synth. But hey: Who
said a Modular is not for bread-and-butter-sounds as well?

> No idea of what I would prefer, the Nord2 or a JP-6 when I had to
> choose. Probably I would go for the Nord because it can do more
> in a studio
> and is fully midi capable. Anyway, it is a good replacement for my JP-8
> though.

Exactely. My JP-6 is gathering dust now. I had most of my sounds converted
to the Nord. I found it great to have the basic Jupiter-sound and throw the
morphs in, or the third envelope or the second LFO or whatever. Most of the
time I liked the Nords impersonation of a Jupiter-Sound more than the
original.
Actually I remember when those analog monsters where new, everybody did
nearly everything to make those things more lively. The general opinion was
that you have to do quite some things to a synth in the studio to make it
really organic sounding.
That was the time when people complained about the quality they lost with
the polyphonic hardwired synths as opposed to the analog modulars that
surely had anything needed to spice up a sound.

Now that VA synths gave us morphs, velocity and a mod-matrix, I'm more than
satisfied and tend to find many of that 80's poly-sounds pretty boring.
Unfortunately they are the strengths of the Jupiter. A brass sound always
makes me looking for a third envelope for pitch and velocity to take care of
the filter.

I guess that's why I don't use a Jupiter-6 too much anymore. I just got
bored. Sure it has a great basic sound, a great oscillator, but I miss the
modulations modern synths gave me and the difference they make.

Rainer

-----Original Message-----
From: Doug [mailto:umstechi@...]
Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2000 1:56 AM
To: bunchasynthguys
Subject: RE: [AH] JP-6 vs. Nord 2



Okay, spent some quality time with the NL2 today.. bah. It's good, but
I've already got a MicroModular, so I think that my studio might get a
little too Nordy with both of 'em around. So, NL2 is out of the picture
for me.

Now, if only someone were willing to give up their Virus for my Jp6.
... I'm entitled to dream, aren't I?

Later.

Synthslut.

-----Original Message-----
From: Elhardt@... [mailto:Elhardt@...]
Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2000 3:06 AM
To: analogue@...
Subject: Re: [AH] JP-6 vs. Nord 2


cord.mueller@... write:

>>Any opinions? My JP-6 is becoming less and less attractive to me. I

tried spending some "quality" time with her but that special spark just
isn't there anymore. Then I came across a NLII and it was magical.. I feel
SO confused right now. To be blunt, I'm tempted.<<

A while back you were saying you wanted new synths to bring out new
technologies rather than just keep redoing the old. You wanted everything
under the sun, like granular and resynthesis. Now there is the Sage. It
does all that and more. Sounds like that is the synth for you.

(About Returns)

>>My experience taught be to check things before stuffing them in the trunk

of
your car.<<

I used to do that, but ever since I moved out of LA, I buy all my stuff mail

order.

-Elhardt