Tal J-8

[minkray]

I have just one question. Can TAL J8 sound anything like this?



I want those 80's brasses and leads, man.

[Teksonik]

The hands on will most likely win every time.
This is why no soft Synth will ever match the hardware no matter how close it comes.

Get a decent midi controller. Mine has 32 possible sliders and knobs, tons of buttons, plus velocity and aftertouch response.

The hardware simply can't match it for "hands on".

[AnX]

Yeah it doesn't seem to freerun. It doesn't even seem to start the voices with random osc phases, which would help at least to some extent...

So this is literally impossible to make happen on a real VCO analog while having osc 1 and osc 2 same volume and you just tweak osc 2 finetune knob. LITERALLY impossible:

https://app.box.com/s/25vlhtpbnfvrbdbzyaullnka2uiedk5w

ok, we'll, i think I'll wait a while before I download it, seems he has quite a few things to iron out

beta team seems to have been a bit slack

[AnX]

I have just one question. Can TAL J8 sound anything like this?


I want those 80's brasses and leads, man.

it has a demo version, try for yourself

[zvenx]

Yeah it doesn't seem to freerun. It doesn't even seem to start the voices with random osc phases, which would help at least to some extent...

So this is literally impossible to make happen on a real VCO analog while having osc 1 and osc 2 same volume and you just tweak osc 2 finetune knob. LITERALLY impossible:

https://app.box.com/s/25vlhtpbnfvrbdbzyaullnka2uiedk5w

ok, we'll, i think I'll wait a while before I download it, seems he has quite a few things to iron out

beta team seems to have been a bit slack

lol
clearly.

But yeah, I do think the non free running osc needs addressing (maybe he did this to cut down cpu usage, i have no idea (I know it came up in beta testing other non TAL products)) and of course any bugs, but I personally would not consider it quite a few things to iron out.

And indeed never have I, either in hardware or software, tuned two osc and hear them drift, so I would miss that in a year full of Sundays.
rsp

[himalaya]

The hands on will most likely win every time.
This is why no soft Synth will ever match the hardware no matter how close it comes.

Irrelevant.

Many soft synths are stellar in their own right and have no (possible) HW equivalent.

And J-8 is a cool SW clone of a HW synth that doesn't cost $16K.

Win-win!

I think you've misunderstood Markin. He/she is taking about the 'hands-on' aspect of using an analogue hardware synth which has dials and sliders.
Having instant access to every dial and slider is a much more enjoyable experience vs pointing a mouse at a graphic representation of a slider and tweaking only that one parameter. A parameter at a time. Every time.

Just being able to grab all 4 sliders belonging to an ADSR envelope with one hand is a joy and leads to much faster results, arrived at in a more intuitive manner. I do it all the time with my synths that have faders. I can not call this difference "irrelevant". It's what makes using real hardware synths so enjoyable. Instant interaction/gratification, if you will.

I tend to use a little Korg midi mixer to control soft synth parameters, mostly envelopes, since setting envelope stages with a mouse is not something I enjoy.

[chk071]

That doesn't at all balance out the obvious disadvantages though. At least not for me. It's like 1:9 advantage disadvantage ratio.

To each his own.

[revvy]

The hands on will most likely win every time.
This is why no soft Synth will ever match the hardware no matter how close it comes.

Irrelevant.

Many soft synths are stellar in their own right and have no (possible) HW equivalent.

And J-8 is a cool SW clone of a HW synth that doesn't cost $16K.

Win-win!

I think you've misunderstood Markin. He/she is taking about the 'hands-on' aspect of using an analogue hardware synth which has dials and sliders.
Having instant access to every dial and slider is a much more enjoyable experience vs pointing a mouse at a graphic representation of a slider and tweaking only that one parameter. A parameter at a time. Every time.

Just being able to grab all 4 sliders belonging to an ADSR envelope with one hand is a joy and leads to much faster results, arrived at in a more intuitive manner. I do it all the time with my synths that have faders. I can not call this difference "irrelevant". It's what makes using real hardware synths so enjoyable. Instant interaction/gratification, if you will.

I tend to use a little Korg midi mixer to control soft synth parameters, mostly envelopes, since setting envelope stages with a mouse is not something I enjoy.

Haven't misunderstand at all. I also own and love HW.

But the closest I'll ever get to a Jupiter 8 is SW so the fact that I'd 'prefer' the HW is meaningless really - who wouldn't?

Or put another way : ok then, you're right. Let me know when you buy a HW Jupiter 8.

[Echoes in the Attic]

It's not a question of hands on vs the conveniences of software when it comes to something like J-8.
Using Tal J-8 with a decent controller is pretty much exactly the same as using hardware synths. The number of controls is reasonable and all parameters are automatable. I have a Novation Remote SL Zero sitting on top of my Novation SL61. I can control most of both upper and lower portions at the same time without changing pages. That's not even something you can do with the original. I don't have to use the mouse at all, even if I were to only use one controller.

[revvy]

I sold my SH -101 as it kept going out of tune and I had nobody nearby to repair it. Bought a TAL 101 and pocketed the several hundred bucks difference. Such is life.

[Stefken]

I sold my SH -101 as it kept going out of tune and I had nobody nearby to repair it. Bought a TAL 101 and pocketed the several hundred bucks difference. Such is life.

The software route is still relatively new but it might turn out the lifecycle of a software synth is maybe like 5 years or so. Without putting an exact number on it: certainly (a lot) shorter than hardware.

Look at Arturia bringing a new Jupiter implementation. Are you still going to use the old one? Probably not. But you did pay for it at one time and now it’s good for the wastebin.

That being said. I experimented with hardware the past 6 months. I was pleasantly surprised when I used my daw+plugins again without need for midi cables, superior visualisation, as many instances as your cpu can handle, universal plugin architecture,...

So pros and cons to each.

[e-crooner]

I sold my SH -101 as it kept going out of tune and I had nobody nearby to repair it. Bought a TAL 101 and pocketed the several hundred bucks difference. Such is life.

The software route is still relatively new but it might turn out the lifecycle of a software synth is maybe like 5 years or so. Without putting an exact number on it: certainly (a lot) shorter than hardware.

Look at Arturia bringing a new Jupiter implementation. Are you still going to use the old one? Probably not. But you did pay for it at one time and now it’s good for the wastebin.

That being said. I experimented with hardware the past 6 months. I was pleasantly surprised when I used my daw+plugins again without need for midi cables, superior visualisation, as many instances as your cpu can handle, universal plugin architecture,...

So pros and cons to each.

Solid companies like Arturia and Tal seem to maintain their plugins for a long time. I think they "last" more than just 5 years.
Plus, if after 10 years it is really over, you lose very little money, like 100 dollars or less even. Compare that to hardware, which wears and tears, and thus has to be repaired from time to time. Each repair usually costs more than a new plugin.

[kmvegas]

Really want to jump on this while the intro sale is on. I see this as yet another step away from being tied to the cloud / other annoying licensing methods. Just opinion, and this isn't about that.

I've read through all 17 pages here, and my main concern is with authenticity of functionality. I'm very aware of TAL, their amazing plugins, quality, service, etc. Sound accuracy aside - because no two vintage synths of the same model sound alike anyway - I've seen a handful of comments that add up to "this is not how it's supposed to work, and should be fixed". Those are the areas of concern for me, especially the lack of "free running osc" situation. One of the first things I do with a synth plugin is check for that analog drift with both oscillators set dead on to each other.

If the developer could chime in on this, I'd appreciate it. I'd really like to know if this is going to be addressed.

[Stefken]

Yes, but we buy tons more plugins too. I think we have all bought plugins for the price of a good meal to entertain us for a couple of days/weeks? and then just forgot about it.

You don’t do that with hardware.

[e-crooner]

Yes, but we buy tons more plugins too. I think we have all bought plugins for the price of a good meal to entertain us for a couple of days/weeks? and then just forgot about it.

You don’t do that with hardware.

I don't do that with plugins, either. I only own three synth plugins, one of which cost 10 bucks and I never use it. The other two I use all the time.
I am not a live musicians, so the whole haptics aspect is kind of irrelevant to me. I can touch my mouse, too
The possibility of being able to play back two dozen instances of my favorite synth at the same time is so much more powerful to me.