All about the Roland Jupiter-series

-----Original Message-----
From: John Tennant [mailto:john@...]
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2001 8:27 AM
To: analogue@...
Subject: [AH] Jupiters


What are the differences between the Juptier-6 and the Juptier-8? Is it just
polyphony? Or is there a sonic difference as well?

John

-----Original Message-----
From: Hanstein Rommerud [mailto:mine@...]
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2001 12:14 PM
To: John Tennant; analogue@...
Subject: SV: [AH] Jupiters


First of all the polyphony, but also, the Jupter 6 had MIDI. When it comes
to sonic differences.. I guess there is ;P heh, sorry, I don't know much
about it, but the Jupiter 8 has become more famous than the Jupiter 6, so..
I guess so..
Hanstein

----- Original Message -----
From: John Tennant <john@...>
To: <analogue@...>
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2001 8:26 AM
Subject: [AH] Jupiters


> What are the differences between the Juptier-6 and the Juptier-8? Is it
just
> polyphony? Or is there a sonic difference as well?
>
> John
>
>

-----Original Message-----
From: lucid [mailto:digitallucid@...]
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2001 3:24 PM
To: analogue@...
Subject: Re: [AH] Jupiters


on 10/25/01 2:26 AM, John Tennant at john@... wrote:

> What are the differences between the Juptier-6 and the Juptier-8? Is it

just

> polyphony? Or is there a sonic difference as well?

theres tons of this in the archives.. but i got a jupiter 8 not too long ago
and noted a few differences.

the jp8 has a stepped range pot that snaps by octaves on osc 1, i miss this
on the jp6, i do alot of that on the fly. osc2 has a low freq mode which can
make a nice rumble when used sonically. the filter, when 4pole, is smooth,
can pull off basses with the best of them. its got no detune! its got a dual
keymode, good for layering sounds and doing lame additive. the arp has a
random mode, which everyone and their mother seems to have used. the
performance LFO is the biggest joke, no rate control.

the jp6 has got a few more features.. a detune knob, stackable waveforms,
reversible sync, a multi-mode filter, a somewhat usable performance LFO..
just a few extra features that make it alot more flexible when building a
patch. however, its got no dual mode. with europa its flexibility takes off.
its not much of a bass machine though, and has a notorious amp env
distortion which will only really show up when the the filter is low and the
resonance is high, which is the way 95% of bass sounds are created.

i would say... if youve got other synths that handle basses, the jp6 is a
better buy.. the jp8 is better at being the more traditional synth, but i
get a little bored with it.

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Kent [mailto:mikekent@...]
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2001 9:34 PM
To: Analogue Heaven AH
Subject: Re: [AH] Jupiters

>> What are the differences between the Juptier-6 and the Juptier-8? Is it

just

>> polyphony? Or is there a sonic difference as well?

They have very similar architecture but are quite different in a number of
regards. Most notable is the fact that they sound quite different from each
other.

> the jp8...
> the performance LFO is the biggest joke, no rate control.

The rate control is the LFO slider on the front panel (2nd slider from the
left hand side).

Regards,
Mike.

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-----Original Message-----
From: lucid [mailto:digitallucid@...]
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2001 12:30 AM
To: Mike Kent; Analogue Heaven AH
Subject: Re: [AH] Jupiters

> The rate control is the LFO slider on the front panel (2nd slider from the
> left hand side).

whoa. i missed that... so the big white button is just a switch to turn on
the main LFO's sine wave to the corresponding sliders in the performance
section.. or am i missing something else.

the jp6 has 2 seperate LFOs then. i cant remember if you can assign that jp6
performance LFO to one VCO instead of both.

my big white button seems to fall out of tune if you press too hard.. if its
controlling VCOs and you move your finger around on it the pitch will waver.
is this standard or is this another problem on my fix it list?

thanks
lucid

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Kent [mailto:mikekent@...]
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2001 2:06 AM
To: Analogue Heaven AH
Subject: Re: [AH] Jupiters

>> The rate control is the LFO slider on the front panel (2nd slider from

the

>> left hand side).
>
> whoa. i missed that... so the big white button is just a switch to turn on
> the main LFO's...

Correct.

> my big white button seems to fall out of tune if you press too hard.. if

its

> controlling VCOs and you move your finger around on it the pitch will

waver.

> is this standard or is this another problem on my fix it list?

Sounds like a bad contact in the "Big White Button".

Hmmm... "Big White Button"...
"Big Red Button" might be a fun name for a band.

Regards,
Mike.

___________=_=_=_________ .....................................
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| OO Valve EVI .....................................
==== Instrument ..BUSINESS: mikekent@.....
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-----Original Message-----
From: Ryan McWhorter [mailto:ryanmcwhorter@...]
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2001 4:20 PM
To: analogue@...
Subject: Re: [AH] Jupiters

>
> >> What are the differences between the Juptier-6 and the Juptier-8? Is it

>just
> >> polyphony? Or is there a sonic difference as well?

there's a couplo sites to check out via synth zone, like the daredevil page
and others, as well as tons of reviews at sonic state/harmony central and
the ah archives, but the two second version would be:

the sonic difference is due to two things IMO- the jp8 has older custom osc
boards and the jp6 uses CEM chips, the jp8 has only a resonant LPF and the
standard roland HPF you find on the junos whereas the jp6 has a resonant
multimode- many (myself included) feel its the jp6's multimode that
distinguishes it from other synths. the resonance sounds different than
standard cem filters and then throw in the cross mod feature and the jp6 is
really different sounding, but without the balls of the 8. really two
different synths. lots of other features are different- you know if you
search in hyperreal music machines i think there's an old email that a/b
compares the two in detail. I own a jp6. r.

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-----Original Message-----
From: Enmach@... [mailto:Enmach@...]
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2001 5:29 PM
To: mikekent@...
Cc: analogue@...
Subject: Re: [AH] Jupiters


(sorry if this has already been covered; my aol does not get all AH posts)

Mike Kent asks:

>> What are the differences between the Juptier-6 and the Juptier-8? Is it

just

>> polyphony? Or is there a sonic difference as well?

BIG differences:

-the JP8 can sound much more massive than the 6
-JP6 has multimode filters (LP & HP can be combined to form BP)
-JP6 cross mod can be controlled via Env. 1
-JP6 can have multiple waveforms active on each VCO
(great for aggressive crossmod effects)
-JP6 envelopes and LFOs are generated in software, digitally controlled.
This is early MIDI, so 64 steps. If you sweep slow enough, can hear
'stepping'.
-JP6 has a slightly more 'nasal' character than 8, nonetheless a great
sound, very capable in bass range
-JP6 knobs somewhat less substantial in look and feel compared to 8
-JP6 has no 'random' arpeggiator mode
-BOTH are built like tanks!

So, do what I did - get 'em both!! Keep in mind: got JP8 in 1988 for $700,
in need of overhaul. Got JP6 in 1992, $700, never ran totally in tune, but
never severly out of tune. Every 2 - 3 years, JP8 needed power supply
calibration and cleaning of all pots and sliders (contamination would cause
false 'edit' messages). Sold both in 1998, had had my fun. I highly
recommend either.

PAT