Roland Cloud

[fmr]

Any A/B's of the cloud and a hardware Jupiter-8? I find the cloud version super boring sounding (not a ton of bottom end, weakish filter) whereas the hardware is supposed to be a holy grail synth by many accounts. I wonder if the hardware is just overrated or if Roland got the software wrong.

I don't have the real thing (but I have an MKS-80 Super Jupiter though, as well as the Juno-60). I think that both Roland and Arturia did a good job at emulating the real thing, for what I can remember, and for what I can get by comparing the recordings of presets of the real Jupiter-8 with recreations I've done. The Roland has a slightly fatter sound.

If you think it falls short of the "holy grail synth" you imagine, maybe that's because the "holy grail" part is mainly hype.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Any A/B's of the cloud and a hardware Jupiter-8? I find the cloud version super boring sounding (not a ton of bottom end, weakish filter) whereas the hardware is supposed to be a holy grail synth by many accounts. I wonder if the hardware is just overrated or if Roland got the software wrong.

I don't have the real thing (but I have an MKS-80 Super Jupiter though, as well as the Juno-60). I think that both Roland and Arturia did a good job at emulating the real thing, for what I can remember, and for what I can get by comparing the recordings of presets of the real Jupiter-8 with recreations I've done. The Roland has a slightly fatter sound.

If you think it falls short of the "holy grail synth" you imagine, maybe that's because the "holy grail" part is mainly hype.

I totally buy that too. Just haven't seen the compares.

I MUCH, MUCH prefer RePro-5 to any Roland polysynth, but we're also talking totally different filters and oscs, so it may just boil down to a taste thing. And maybe what made the Jupiter such a holy grail synth were the presets and voice count versus the sound. Would still love to hear a dry compare though.

[chk071]

Never quite got the hype about the Jupiter too. To stick with Roland synths, the Juno-60 always sounded way better to my ears.

[rod_zero]

My theory in the Jupiter 8:

The most famous sounds were used in pop hits, bass, leads and some brass.

The Prophet 5 and the OBX were used in soundtracks, big atmospheric pads, walls of sound.

So the sound we relate more to the BIG VCO poly is not that of the Jupiter, so the emulations fall short of the expectations.

[ChamomileShark]

My theory in the Jupiter 8:

The most famous sounds were used in pop hits, bass, leads and some brass.

The Prophet 5 and the OBX were used in soundtracks, big atmospheric pads, walls of sound.

So the sound we relate more to the BIG VCO poly is not that of the Jupiter, so the emulations fall short of the expectations.

No, as someone around in those days that is almost entirely wrong.

I used to see plenty of pop/ rock bands with Prophet 5s and OBXs. Also plenty with Jupiter 8s. Those were all the pro gigging polys.

A possiblt difference that might have occured would be a geographical/ temporal split.

The Prophet 5 was out in 1978, the OBX in 1979. The Roland came out in 1981. So early adopters went for the US models.

I also got the impression that in the UK Jupiter 8s were possibly cheaper (although some info I have seen suggests otherwise) but certainly easier to get hold of. So I suspect there may have been more bands in the UK, Europe and Japan using the Roland.

There was percieved at the time, an "American sound" and a "Japanese sound". The American sound personified by Moog, Oberheim and SCI was big and powerful. The Japanese sound perhaps a little less powerful. But actually the concept of a Japanese Sound was probably a bit more nebulous as you had Korg, Roland and Yamaha in there doing different things.

It's also interesting to see how perceptions change. The Korg MS10/20 were criticised for sounding a bit feeble. The Roland SH2 slated for having a weak filter..and so on.

[beely]

Any A/B's of the cloud and a hardware Jupiter-8? I find the cloud version super boring sounding (not a ton of bottom end, weakish filter) whereas the hardware is supposed to be a holy grail synth by many accounts. I wonder if the hardware is just overrated or if Roland got the software wrong.

No, they didn't get the emulation "wrong".

The JP8's character has always been different to the Moog/Oberheim/Sequential stuff, which was always super thick. One of the strengths of the JP8 is it can be thinner and more delicate than the American stuff (the high pass filter contributes a lot here too), as well as doing some big stuff too. So it might be that you just don't like the character of the JP8.

Personally, I've always loved the character of the JP8, and it contributes heavily to some of my all time favourite records.

It's definitely a "holy-grail" synth, but that doesn't mean it's all things to everyone. Quite a few people don't really like it, or find it "boring", but it's entirely taste dependent, I think... I would take a JP8 over a Prophet 5, OB8 or Memorymoog 100% of the time...

[mholloway]

The Roland [hardware] has a slightly fatter sound.

Define 'fatter', won't you?

Thought so.

[fmr]

The Roland [hardware] has a slightly fatter sound.

Define 'fatter', won't you?

Thought so.

I was comparing the Roland SOFTWARE with the Arturia SOFTWARE. It was you who added the word hardware. I was crystal clear when I said I don't have the hardware.

But if you want a definition of "fatter", it means "richer", "fuller", "with a richer spectrum" "with a fuller spectrum" (usually means also more presence in the lower and mid lower frequencies)

In the present case, I think that the Roland software is slightly richer/fuller, but that is at the expense of a much higher CPU taxing.

[beely]

For me, the Roland JP8 is much more open in the highs (the Arturia feels a little cramped to me) and the Roland also sounds a bit more "alive" in general (as long as CPU saving mode is off - when CPU saving is turned on, the Roland gets instantly and significantly less good sounding).

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Any A/B's of the cloud and a hardware Jupiter-8? I find the cloud version super boring sounding (not a ton of bottom end, weakish filter) whereas the hardware is supposed to be a holy grail synth by many accounts. I wonder if the hardware is just overrated or if Roland got the software wrong.

No, they didn't get the emulation "wrong".

The JP8's character has always been different to the Moog/Oberheim/Sequential stuff, which was always super thick. One of the strengths of the JP8 is it can be thinner and more delicate than the American stuff (the high pass filter contributes a lot here too), as well as doing some big stuff too. So it might be that you just don't like the character of the JP8.

Personally, I've always loved the character of the JP8, and it contributes heavily to some of my all time favourite records.

It's definitely a "holy-grail" synth, but that doesn't mean it's all things to everyone. Quite a few people don't really like it, or find it "boring", but it's entirely taste dependent, I think... I would take a JP8 over a Prophet 5, OB8 or Memorymoog 100% of the time...

I think I was pretty open to Roland having gotten their emulation "right" and me just not liking the synth. That said, I realized after my posts yesterday that I actually like the U-he take on the Jupiter in Diva quite a bit, even though it can do quite more than a 1:1 emulation. But the raw sound of the Jupiter-8 template just has more bottom, more oscillator instability (I think it's the default voice detune setting in the trimmers), and the filter sounds more interesting. Doesn't mean it's more accurate by any means, but just a sound I prefer to the Roland System-8/Cloud Version.

Trust me, I spent a lot of money on the System-8 and I'm subscribing to the Cloud: I'd prefer to prefer the Roland version! I just don't for whatever reason. That's why I'd love to hear some OG to Cloud Jupiter comparisons, but so far, haven't seen any.

[PAK]

That's why I'd love to hear some OG to Cloud Jupiter comparisons, but so far, haven't seen any.

Here's The JP08 Vs original. Since the "Cloud" version and Boutique hardware seem to share the same code base(?) it's probably a good basis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgXo7l7ztHU

[D-Fusion]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWVxitCb0Io

[cocoazenith]

JX-3P added to Roland Cloud!

https://www.rolandcloud.com/news/jx-3p-release

<3 <3 <3

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Says it's available, but it's not actually showing up in the Cloud Manager yet for download. At least, not here. The news item popped up, but not the actual download for the instrument.

[fmr]

JX-3P added to Roland Cloud!

https://www.rolandcloud.com/news/jx-3p-release

<3 <3 <3

Already expected Now, we will probably see a JX-8P or maybe even a JX-10 soon (this would be great).