Tal J-8

[Arashi]

Just finished the manual. It took about one hour. I must say it is crucial to read the manual because some things can't be worked out with guessing.
The manual was really very good and into the point. I begin to like it a lot now, after understanding it and playing around more. It is really a fantastic synth. Works like a charm in Reaper

It’s worth reading the original Jupiter-8 manual too (which is easy to find online). Roland manuals were actually good back then.

[EnGee]

Just finished the manual. It took about one hour. I must say it is crucial to read the manual because some things can't be worked out with guessing.
The manual was really very good and into the point. I begin to like it a lot now, after understanding it and playing around more. It is really a fantastic synth. Works like a charm in Reaper

It’s worth reading the original Jupiter-8 manual too (which is easy to find online). Roland manuals were actually good back then.

I don't think there is a need unless I face a very confusing functionality. The TAL's manual IMO is enough (like the low freq usage in VCO2 when cross mod VCO1). Anyway thanks for mentioning the original manuals

[ghostwhistler]

How do people feel about the mod options available in the Arturia Jup V? Do they compensate for lacking dual layer (i suppose you could do two instances with separate patches running simultaneously)? Those bells and whistles are nice, to be sure. Would anyone recommend owning both, if so why?

[ghostwhistler]

Just finished the manual. It took about one hour. I must say it is crucial to read the manual because some things can't be worked out with guessing.
The manual was really very good and into the point. I begin to like it a lot now, after understanding it and playing around more. It is really a fantastic synth. Works like a charm in Reaper

Can you give some examples?

[zvenx]

.....Those bells and whistles are nice, to be sure. Would anyone recommend owning both, if so why?

I would.
For the reason you mentioned.
They both have stuff that the other doesn't have.
Of course if you aren't that big into the Jupiter 8 sound then of course that answer would be no.

For sure if I see the Arturia's one on a great sale ($99 is not for me a great sale, it has to be at least cheaper than the J-8 for me to buy it, or maybe when V8 goes on a great sale), I will buy it too.

I do prefer the sound of the J-8, but they are some features on the Arturia one I know I will find useful in my work.
rsp

[EnGee]

Just finished the manual. It took about one hour. I must say it is crucial to read the manual because some things can't be worked out with guessing.
The manual was really very good and into the point. I begin to like it a lot now, after understanding it and playing around more. It is really a fantastic synth. Works like a charm in Reaper

Can you give some examples?

About what? The manual?

[zvenx]

I assume ghostwriter meant examples of stuff that can't be worked out without reading the manual.
rsp

[ghostwhistler]

Just finished the manual. It took about one hour. I must say it is crucial to read the manual because some things can't be worked out with guessing.
The manual was really very good and into the point. I begin to like it a lot now, after understanding it and playing around more. It is really a fantastic synth. Works like a charm in Reaper

Can you give some examples?

About what? The manual?

of things you found in the manual that were crucial

[ghostwhistler]

I assume ghostwhistler meant examples of stuff that can't be worked out without reading the manual.
rsp

Yes, this

[PAK]

How do people feel about the mod options available in the Arturia Jup V? Do they compensate for lacking dual layer (i suppose you could do two instances with separate patches running simultaneously)?

No. Absolutely not. Given how many peoples sounds seem to be using the feature it seems like J8's also doing a good job of showing why.

Outside of a good sale price, value for money wise, I'd also say Arturia's pricing makes little sense - It's clearly structured to get you to buy into their V Collection bundle.

Those bells and whistles are nice, to be sure. Would anyone recommend owning both, if so why?

Yes, I'd recommend both. There's some interesting features on the Arturia one too. EG For emulation purposes, IMO, an adjustable key track curve should be a requirement. Without this feature you cannot copy real world differences found in hardware.

People are now getting used to thinking of differences between voices. But synths features can vary (and differences often become more apparent) as they track across the octaves of a keyboard. EG A filter might be more open on the bottom keys, less open in the middle, and more open at the top again. Without a properly adjustable keytrack curve there is no way to emulate this.

Arturia offered a very complete keytrack calibration option in their SEM V synth. Jupiter 8 V4 is sadly reduced to a basic single point curve adjust (no MSEG Arturia?!) with only 3 destinations. But it's still more than the calibration options most emulations allow for. They also allow you to control velocity, aftertouch and mod wheel in the same way.

The phase / warp / fade options controls also make the additional LFO's more powerful by giving you more control over the modulation shapes applied to (just checked ) 53 different sources. So that's pretty cool.

Even though Arturia provide more FX, and their quality is ok, I prefer the sound of TAL's included FX.

Another thing is, much like OB-XA V, the Factory patches Arturia includes are close to the original hardware. That's actually brave of Arturia to do because it makes hardware comparisons much easier. Whilst some patches are easy to recreate in many synths, others are not. An example being Preset 11 Neg Sync. I've still to make some time and see if I find issues copying this in J8. Diva can do it very well btw (it'll copy Arturia V4 to the point where the biggest difference will be Diva's inability to adjust the keytrack curve to match what Arturia modeled .. )

The Arturia patches could be used as a handy reference, but with the rather large caveat that they "changed" some of them from the original Factory settings. EG Preset 65 Echo, they added the echo with one of the extra LFO's! If you turn that off you can get the echo by turning up the VCA level and you produce the Echo as you move the Crossmod! Though I suspect not, it'd be kinda funny if the person who made the preset didn't realize this, and added an extra LFO to get the echo

[waltercruz]

Another thing is, much like OB-XA V, the Factory patches Arturia includes are close to the original hardware. That's actually brave of Arturia to do because it makes hardware comparisons much easier. Whilst some patches are easy to recreate in many synths, others are not. An example being Preset 11 Neg Sync. I've still to make some time and see if I find issues copying this in J8. Diva can do it very well btw (it'll copy Arturia V4 to the point where the biggest difference will be Diva's inability to adjust the keytrack curve to match what Arturia modeled .. )

The Arturia patches could be used as a handy reference, but with the rather large caveat that they "changed" some of them from the original Factory settings. EG Preset 65 Echo, they added the echo with one of the extra LFO's! If you turn that off you can get the echo by turning up the VCA level and you produce the Echo as you move the Crossmod! Though I suspect not, it'd be kinda funny if the person who made the preset didn't realize this, and added an extra LFO to get the echo

Hey, I don't know if you have seen, but some pages ago I uploaded a bank of all the factory patches, and I think that I did very well with the Neg Sync preset!

I mostly based on the Arturia plugin, and yes, I noticed that in some cases they modified the original Jupiter presets in some ways... 65 Echo was one that left me intrigued when I was implementing.

BTW, I'm uploading a improved version. The most changed patch is Mellow Rhodes: according to the original patch sheets, the 2nd oscillator is configured to a minor 7th upon the first oscillator, and it kinda tries to emulate the 'pling' from Rhodes tines, and Arturia version of the presets didn't get this right.

[zvenx]

Thanks again.
rsp

[ghostwhistler]

Even though Arturia provide more FX, and their quality is ok, I prefer the sound of TAL's included FX.

I have Diva as well, although, while nice, I don't think it sounds terribly authentic. Assuming that was the point.

As fx, I'm not sure I agree. Unless I've missed something, The TAL model only has the chorus (which is lovely to be sure), and the delay, which is ok. The Arturia emulation has much more, ymmv as to the quality, and they can be somewhat modulated as well.

[ghostwhistler]

Another thing is, much like OB-XA V, the Factory patches Arturia includes are close to the original hardware. That's actually brave of Arturia to do because it makes hardware comparisons much easier. Whilst some patches are easy to recreate in many synths, others are not. An example being Preset 11 Neg Sync. I've still to make some time and see if I find issues copying this in J8. Diva can do it very well btw (it'll copy Arturia V4 to the point where the biggest difference will be Diva's inability to adjust the keytrack curve to match what Arturia modeled .. )

The Arturia patches could be used as a handy reference, but with the rather large caveat that they "changed" some of them from the original Factory settings. EG Preset 65 Echo, they added the echo with one of the extra LFO's! If you turn that off you can get the echo by turning up the VCA level and you produce the Echo as you move the Crossmod! Though I suspect not, it'd be kinda funny if the person who made the preset didn't realize this, and added an extra LFO to get the echo

Hey, I don't know if you have seen, but some pages ago I uploaded a bank of all the factory patches, and I think that I did very well with the Neg Sync preset!

I mostly based on the Arturia plugin, and yes, I noticed that in some cases they modified the original Jupiter presets in some ways... 65 Echo was one that left me intrigued when I was implementing.

BTW, I'm uploading a improved version. The most changed patch is Mellow Rhodes: according to the original patch sheets, the 2nd oscillator is configured to a minor 7th upon the first oscillator, and it kinda tries to emulate the 'pling' from Rhodes tines, and Arturia version of the presets didn't get this right.

don't a lot of those arturia patches make use of the features unique to their version?

[nirm123]

I've read in a post today that TAL licenses are NFR but according to their site, they are not (and any license can be sold after 9 months without a fee). can anyone confirm ?