Is Roland JV1080 still worth buying?

[Ildon]

Good thing I missed most of the Edirol train then. I read a review that said differently. Too bad.

[kevvvvv]

I once did a side by side comparison between Edirol Orchestra and SampleTank's String pack. Even submitted the mp3s to KvR to make the point.

Sampletank won hands down. No question.

They had a rougher sound, but the attacks were much more vigourous and the tone more interesting, compared with Edirol's dragging attacks and overall thinness.

But was the JV1080 better at orchestral sounds than Edirol?

I never sat them side by side, butI did live with the JV orchestra for maybe three years (and for a while with Proteus orchestra)

I don't think I'd want to spend 3 years living with Edirol orchestra.

...

Devon/Kingston ... your comments on the underperforming Hal and K2 presets is illuminating. I'd never thought of it that way before, but now you say it, it seems obvious.

Maybe that's why I like Atmosphere string pads so much. It's not the samples, but what's been done to them

[mortsboslim]

+1 I still love my jv to death. The best gear investment i ever did!!!

++1 Same here! Been using my jv1080 for ten years now. Absolutely my best gear investment! I'm thinking of buying another one now that they are so cheap.

[kmonkey]

Eric ... did you do the cards too?

Yep, most of them.

But I was the last part of the chain....lots of people contributed patches and then I would tweak and choose what to present as the finals.

Some of the re-issue stuff was done in Japan though.

I am just about to order one (and few non synth extra gear goodies...time to spend more money hehe) with Vintage synth expansion. I did hear demo and i am impressed. Nice work Eric. I already have Atmosphere and i must say that you did great job there. Really quality stuff inside.

Cant wait to put my hands on 1080

[Kim Olesen]

Eric ... did you do the cards too?

Yep, most of them.

But I was the last part of the chain....lots of people contributed patches and then I would tweak and choose what to present as the finals.

Some of the re-issue stuff was done in Japan though.

I am just about to order one (and few non synth extra gear goodies...time to spend more money hehe) with Vintage synth expansion. I did hear demo and i am impressed. Nice work Eric. I already have Atmosphere and i must say that you did great job there. Really quality stuff inside.

Cant wait to put my hands on 1080

Vintage synth expansion is GREAT.

[MacQ]

For me, it's not samples ... it's programming. And beyond that ... it's FX!!

Samples can suck, but you add the right effects processing, and suddenly you have interesting patches. That's where the focus should REALLY be, in my opinion ... a flexible sampler that doesn't leave the EFFECTS part of the equation unsatisfied. Lots of people will say "I prefer to use my other effects, blah blah, you're just lazy if you don't, etc". But I think those people are crazy. I want my effects tied directly to my patches. And not just lame-o delay and grainy reverb ... I want multiple varieties of delay, chorus, reverb, phaser, flanger, compressor, EQ, limiter, distortion, overdrive, tape-saturation, filter, wah-wah ... and so on. With lots of FX presets that are independent of patch presets. Basically I want the effects package of Stylus RMX in an expandable (import my OWN multi-samples) ROMpler.

The limitations of hardware are very real ... almost *no* hardware synth out there (well, ROMpler, anyway) has a discrete multi-FX unit per-part. I'd use my XV5080 more if it did. Not to mention the general lack of discrete outputs beyond maybe 2 or 3 stereo pairs. Software offers these HUGE benefits ... and yet we're still here moaning about the hardware and its superior programming options. Hypersonic 2 offers 90% of what I want ... but it won't let me import my own multisamples. That's just not cool.

Anyway, this all makes me wonder what Spectrasonics has been up to for the past 2 years since Stylus RMX was released. Probably got something in the works, or perhaps even near completion. We all know what a treasure-trove of samples they've got in the vault ... and the "we won't announce anything until it's shipping" mentality that they've adopted since the initial backlash from users over delays of Atmosphere/Trilogy/RMX.

Hmm ...

~Stu

[yemski]

The Jv1080 is still a good instrument in my opinion.
I have one with vintage and anlaog cards, and depite using lots of softsynths it still gets used a lot. If you are a good programmer then you'll find a lot sounds you can make with it that other synths can't. It's all about understading the "personality" quirks and special features of a synth. The JV1080 has these in abundance. Once you personalize it you'll be surprised by what you can come up with.