Tal J-8

[waltercruz]

I just installed the demo and will soon compare it to the other Jupiter-8 plugins i already got like Roland Cloud Jupiter-8 (lifetime license), Arturia Jup-8 V3 and the Jupiter-8 modules in U-He Diva. The Roland Cloud System-8 plugin for which i got a license too (unlimited license) includes a Jupiter-8 filter model too.

Hi Ingo, nice having you back! Arturia released a Jup-8 V4 - this time a totally rewritten sound engine that it's well worth your tests too.

[Yorrrrrr]

Until around 2 weeks ago I did not check for new plugins since around 6 months and just got aware of this new Jupiter plugin by TAL.
As a big fan of the Jupiter 8 sound (and having owned the real thing around 16 years ago) this is an interesting plugin for me.
I just installed the demo and will soon compare it to the other Jupiter-8 plugins i already got like Roland Cloud Jupiter-8 (lifetime license), Arturia Jup-8 V3 and the Jupiter-8 modules in U-He Diva. The Roland Cloud System-8 plugin for which i got a license too (unlimited license) includes a Jupiter-8 filter model too.

TAL J-8 costs 79 € here in Germany (incl. VAT) which is not expensive but also not really cheap and recently i had to take much more care where to spend money. Due to that I would only buy this if it is sounding truely outstanding compared to the 3 other Jupiter-8 options i already got here.

Can't wait to hear your take on it. Hopefully your patches too.

[e-crooner]

I think TAL's J-8 has displaced RePro-5 as my favorite software polysynth. RePro-5 has an edge on extreme modulations and effects, but the raw sound of the TAL J-8 just sounds wonderfully lush and detuned to me. I recently got a Prophet-10 Rev 4 and RePro sounds like the hardware Prophet, but the slop and detuning is a bit too polite compared to the hardware. Whereas with J-8, I can get it setup where it's got the same kind of vibe. Different sound of course (the filters are very different tonally), but the detuning and slop and voice variations all just sound wonderfully alive to my ears.

Not to mention the bitimbrality...

I like brass pads, and just copied one of the Jupiter ones from the factory presets on the new Invader synth, they sounds rather similar:

https://app.box.com/s/rq5dwlq0d2wrw0cieiaksg58380fhi2e

[mholloway]

I think TAL's J-8 has displaced RePro-5 as my favorite software polysynth. RePro-5 has an edge on extreme modulations and effects, but the raw sound of the TAL J-8 just sounds wonderfully lush and detuned to me. I recently got a Prophet-10 Rev 4 and RePro sounds like the hardware Prophet, but the slop and detuning is a bit too polite compared to the hardware. Whereas with J-8, I can get it setup where it's got the same kind of vibe. Different sound of course (the filters are very different tonally), but the detuning and slop and voice variations all just sound wonderfully alive to my ears.

Your description of Repro-5 here (comparing it to your P10, nice!) is very interesting to me and seems to possibly confirm a feeling I've had about it. I love Repro-5 dearly, mind you, but I have always felt there was something just slightly too-rigid and too-cold about it. I wasn't sure if that was just a reaction to the Sequential filter sound (which has its own brittle kind of character, and 'difficult' resonance, imho) or if there was something about the plugin itself. Now I'm leaning to the latter: perhaps what I'm hearing is that it's just not quite naturally detuned enough, voice by voice, to sound 'properly analog.' J-8 has all the per-voice pots slightly detuned by default, whereas Repro-5 has no such control, which makes me wonder if that fact alone is accounting for the difference we both are hearing.

[carrieres]

J-8 has all the per-voice pots slightly detuned by default, whereas Repro-5 has no such control, which makes me wonder if that fact alone is accounting for the difference we both are hearing.

Obsession has per-voice pots to customize or randomize everything you want

[Yorrrrrr]

Both J-8 and Obsession sound wonderfully analog and alive to me.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

I think TAL's J-8 has displaced RePro-5 as my favorite software polysynth. RePro-5 has an edge on extreme modulations and effects, but the raw sound of the TAL J-8 just sounds wonderfully lush and detuned to me. I recently got a Prophet-10 Rev 4 and RePro sounds like the hardware Prophet, but the slop and detuning is a bit too polite compared to the hardware. Whereas with J-8, I can get it setup where it's got the same kind of vibe. Different sound of course (the filters are very different tonally), but the detuning and slop and voice variations all just sound wonderfully alive to my ears.

Your description of Repro-5 here (comparing it to your P10, nice!) is very interesting to me and seems to possibly confirm a feeling I've had about it. I love Repro-5 dearly, mind you, but I have always felt there was something just slightly too-rigid and too-cold about it. I wasn't sure if that was just a reaction to the Sequential filter sound (which has its own brittle kind of character, and 'difficult' resonance, imho) or if there was something about the plugin itself. Now I'm leaning to the latter: perhaps what I'm hearing is that it's just not quite naturally detuned enough, voice by voice, to sound 'properly analog.' J-8 has all the per-voice pots slightly detuned by default, whereas Repro-5 has no such control, which makes me wonder if that fact alone is accounting for the difference we both are hearing.

The RePro filters sound excellent. I'm not the best at 100% recreating patches, but I hear a bit more "swirliness" and movement in the hardware with even light detuning on OscB. Like the hardware always sounds a little more phase/chorus-y. Now RePro-5 has the OscB fine tine and also the "voice detune" knob, which acts as a kind of global voice detune/slop. You really have to try to fine tune the voice detuning or else it's way too clean. But even with that, I just think the voice variations in the hardware, particularly when there's some OscB detuning, is a little more musically sloppy than RePro-5. And this is not scientific. But tonally, RePro-5 is otherwise there - the Rev 3 filters on the Prophet 10 Rev 4 sound spot on with the RePro for me.

[marzzz]

I have contacted Patrick thru the support page on the Tal-Software website, requesting that he consider adding MIDI support for (poly) aftertouch, at the very least for Filter and Volume (as he currently has for MPE). He replied that he is considering it, but gave it low priority because "no one else asked for this." If you have any interest in being able to use aftertouch with the J-8, I would appreciate it if you also drop him a line. Thanks!

[e-crooner]

I have contacted Patrick thru the support page on the Tal-Software website, requesting that he consider adding MIDI support for (poly) aftertouch, at the very least for Filter and Volume (as he currently has for MPE). He replied that he is considering it, but gave it low priority because "no one else asked for this." If you have any interest in being able to use aftertouch with the J-8, I would appreciate it if you also drop him a line. Thanks!

Sounds like 'crowd nagging'
He might find it suspicious if all of a sudden he receives lots of mails requesting the same feature

[marzzz]

Oh, I didn’t think of crowd nagging…you have a point. Mea culpa!

[Dencheg]

Hey guys! I'm not Jupter-8 (or J-8) savvy, so wanted to ask one thing (or more things):
It looks like dual mode includes independent filters. Is it the behavior of Jupiter?
Is it possible to control both with a single MIDI assignment?
Or (idea for Patrick) it would be reasonable to have a possibility to have a single MIDI assignment which controls the filter of the currently selected layer?

(I mean, per my understanding J-8 under the hood has a duplicated set of assignable controls, but Jupiter didn't have duplicated controls, as the physical controls controlled the currently selected layer. On the other hand, the option I propose isn't really good for DAW automation)

[Weasel-Boy]

Dencheg wrote:

It looks like dual mode includes independent filters. Is it the behavior of Jupiter?

On the real hardware unit? Yes.

Is it possible to control both with a single MIDI assignment?

(edited) Yes (thanks to Funkybot’s post below.

Or (idea for Patrick) it would be reasonable to have a possibility to have a single MIDI assignment which controls the filter of the currently selected layer?

(Edited) Funkybot’s post below shows how this works.

[Dencheg]

Thanks.

Your idea seems like you want the parameter assignment to stay in place, regardless of layer selection. Seems like a reasonable idea...but it's up to Patrick.

To make it clear, I meant that the assignment would be active for the active layer (i.e. would be switchable with upper/lower buttons)
I'm "making it clear" cause I'm not L1 English speaker. It's better to do some excessive "making it clear".

It could be some option like "Use controls of active layer", wherein assignments would be duplicated between layers, but wouldn't be invoked for the inactive layer.

I mean, most MIDI controllers can't entirely cover one layer, let alone two.
And I think most people have one expression and sustain pedal for a single keyboard (if any). So it would be kind of economical controls use and faithful recreation

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

It already does that. It's the Panel button in the top right. It's been there for a few months now.

Panel Lock.png

With that button turned on, I can use CC3 on my Roland System-8 (filter cutoff knob) to control the Filter Cutoff on the Upper Layer when that panel is active, or the Filter Cutoff on the Lower Layer when that panel is active. With that button off, two different MIDI assignments are required.

[Dencheg]

Oh my goodness, the feature requests get implemented blazingly fast (technically, with negative speed)