roland jp 8000 (Page 1 of 2)

...and Mr. De

The Roland JP8000 was the first synth I ever bought, back when it came out around 1998 (well that's when it came out in Ireland anyway!). I knew nothing about synths at the time and got a summer job working in 3Com putting network cards together, saved up all my money and blew it on this for what was the equivalent of 1400 Euro (we used Irish pounds back then). I had tried it in the shop a few times and as it was one of the first "virtual analogue" synths ever made there was quite a lot of excitment about it (the Clavia Nord Lead came before it though but never made it to Ireland until the Lead 2 came out some time later).

It's actually a really good synth, you can get a lot of great bass sounds out of it, the super saw waveform is great for big "wide" string sounds, practically every single parameter has its own knob on the front so no going through menus to change the sounds (except for saving, naming patches, syncing LFOs to midi clock etc). All the knobs also sent midi CC messages so it worked as a big midi controlling master keyboard too.

It does sound very digital, so its "virtual analogue" tag isn't really justified, but it does produce good digital sounds. Yes it has gotten some flak for its role in trance records, but that doesn't mean you *have* to use it for trance. The TR909 was used on a billion bad records but that doesn't mean it's a bad drum machine!

They go for about 450-ish Euro nowadays, and for that money it's a good synth. But if you're looking for analogue type sounds I'd suggest checking out something else instead.

one of the best synths i've ever touched in my life. makes some amazing, deep sounds and can get freezing cold, too. you can patch in other tones to basically layer a total of 4 distinct tones over one another on the same patch with the ability to assign them to different MIDI channels. can't say enough about the super saw. use it a lot for pads and emotional shit but it's still very well-rounded.

NEAT NEAT NEAT NEAT DEEP DEEP DEEP DEEP

A JP8000 covers the JX10 ground pretty well...all this digital sounds stuff i don't know i don't hear the difference with a JX10 (maybe more powerfull in the stereo image and broader sound but thats because of the chorus)

All the presets http://www.synthmania.com/jp-8000.htm

quite convincing computerdisco...

the jp 8080 is meant to be pretty good as well, mega rack monster and the jd800 as well.

I'd sell my JX to you guys if you weren't on the other side of the world. It's got a weird build that makes me nervous. It's very heavy but wide yet thin. It bows as soon as you pick it up of the rack. That can't be good. And the road case is old and foam's coming off.

Even though I've got magic secret super polysynth coming (I'm not discussing it until it gets here in one piece), the JX still has many uses so I'd rather just keep it in my studio than worry about it breaking in two during shipping.

I am shipping two far sturdier synths this week though so after that I'll probably be "Shipped Out" and not want to send anything out for awhile.

I don't know what their European price is but 400 euro for a JP8000 wouldn't exactly make me run across the street. Maybe wait for something else. There's no Crumar Bits in Switzerland? Or old Roland Junos or MKS' or anything?

I'm not a VA fan.

i got mine for $250usd.  i guess i stole mine too kind of.

Are you looking in the right place, I can't believe zwitserland didn't have any synths back in the days  I mean its a pretty developed western country with people with lots of money. You gotta look beyond ebay into local synth freak scenes etc. put adds in the local ad paper, supermarket etc.

A JP8000 is way more versitale in sounds and possibilities then a crumar Bit btw

yes we're looking around, even friends that spend their time looking for them, flea markets, old basements, and stuff live the same frustration. There might have been some synths back in the days, but not that many, and mostly they have been already hunted and taken... but no despair, something sometimes always comes up, it just happens rarely.

jx10 is great. i don't understand how it "bows" or "bends" if picked up from the rack. mine doesn't. really well built quality if you ask me. sure its big and heavy, and it has some trouble with the midi stuff, but you can fix that by ordering a updated eprom from colin frasier that sorts the midistuff out.

http://www.colinfraser.com/jx10/jx.htm

haven't used the jp8000, but can surely recomend jx10!