Cherry Audio Releases Mercury-4 Compuphonic Synthesizer!

[wwjd]

JUPITER 4 was never on my radar, even when a band member used it back in the late 80s. Looked like an ORGAN with a couple synth properties to me. Yawn.
So, finally a new Cherry Audio synth I don't have to buy.
After playing with it, and losing a couple hours, had to bypass a couple lunches and buy it anyway.

I've been investing in arturia, for fun not business, for a few years and have their latest, but something about the CA synths are more FUN for me. Nothing against arturia, they are all fine and perfectly useable, but the built in sounds seem less musical TO ME. Less inspiring, kind of over compensating like "look at all the bells and whistles" in one preset, than "this is musically playable".

I feel like the group at cherry audio knows about music and song writing and production and creation. Hard to put it in to words - which I feel is a good thing: part of the magic. musical, playable, sounds great. is it perfect? no and that doesn't matter in any way TO ME. If I fire it up, and time travel losing a couple hours, I know I am having fun with it.

[Friendly Noise]

Besides sound, the Jupiter 4 is (like the Yamaha CS series) one of the synths with a very special look and feel. Big and clunky, a little organ-like, massive and heavy, with a great and sturdy feeling when using the controls. It oozes quality. The smell is so good I would buy it if it could get into a bottle of parfumerie. It’s really not only about the great sound, but also the user’s experience. It’s so satisfying.

The smell ?

I have owned a ton of hardware including analog synths and I don't remember the smell being anything I ever noticed or cared about but to each their own.

Well if you need "big and clunky, massive and heavy", and smell I guess you'll have to stick with the hardware since there's no way of emulating those.....

How long have you owned your Jupiter-4 ?

Yes, , different synths smell different, but not all vintage synths have a special smell.

I have had the Jupiter 4 for 20 years. Only a visit to the service in all this time.

[Teksonik]

Yes, , different synths smell different, but not all vintage synths have a special smell.
I have had the Jupiter 4 for 20 years. Only a visit to the service in all this time.

I can honestly say I've never smelled any of the synths I've ever owned or played and that counts time working in the keyboard department of a music store in the 80's.

Anyway as an owner of a Jupiter 4 how do you feel this emulation holds up?

I realize the answer is most commonly "it doesn't sound like the hardware" but do you plan on buying the Mercury 4 ?

[vurt]

do different brands have a smell each?
do all moogs have a meaty smell whereas all yamaha are more fishy?
i bet korg taste umami.

[Friendly Noise]

Yes, , different synths smell different, but not all vintage synths have a special smell.
I have had the Jupiter 4 for 20 years. Only a visit to the service in all this time.

I can honestly say I've never smelled any of the synths I've ever owned or played and that counts time working in the keyboard department of a music store in the 80's.

Anyway as an owner of a Jupiter 4 how do you feel this emulation holds up?

I realize the answer is most commonly "it doesn't sound like the hardware" but do you plan on buying the Mercury 4 ?

It was a nice surprise to see a software emulation of the Jupiter 4. Cherry Audio gets all my respect for being the first company to take on this very idiosyncratic vintage synth. For that reason, I decided not no share my opinion on forums.

A second reason for not sharing my opinion is that 8 out of 10 people in the forums go for the convenience of nice UI, affordable price and the added bonus of reverb and delay. Well, I really think these features are selling points and I don’t want to be that guy. I mean, if you value a vintage synth emulation because it does include a in fact very practical delay, discussions about the authenticity of the sound are somehow irrelevant.

Even a third reason for not sharing my opinion is that my YouTube channel includes maybe the largest collection of self made videos with the Jupiter 4, mostly offering unusual sounds not available with the original unit or the software version because my Jupiter 4 is modded with CV/Gate inputs and outputs. The Jupiter 4 becomes a total different beast with those mods. I would rather let people listen to the sounds on the videos and decide for themselves if the sound of the software is accurate.

That said, I’m a happy owner of Cherry Audio software, like their Polymoog and Oberheim Eight Voices emulations. I don’t plan to buy the Mercury 4 in the next time simply because I don’t have the time to keep up with new software and I would like to explore and get to know better what I already have. Maybe I’ll get the demo and compare it to my Jupiter 4 in the next days or next weeks. Or maybe not.

[Teksonik]

Ok fair enough. Thanks for not being another hardware snob. Whether the Mercury sounds like the hardware or not it's still a nice sounding little synth with a fair price and additional features not found on the hardware.

[AnX]

Even a third reason for not sharing my opinion is that my YouTube channel includes maybe the largest collection of self made videos with the Jupiter 4, mostly offering unusual sounds not available with the original unit or the software version because my Jupiter 4 is modded with CV/Gate inputs and outputs. The Jupiter 4 becomes a total different beast with those mods. I would rather let people listen to the sounds on the videos and decide for themselves if the sound of the software is accurate.

And does the software emulate the mods on your hardware, so they can make a truly informed decision on the accuracy.....

[Friendly Noise]

Even a third reason for not sharing my opinion is that my YouTube channel includes maybe the largest collection of self made videos with the Jupiter 4, mostly offering unusual sounds not available with the original unit or the software version because my Jupiter 4 is modded with CV/Gate inputs and outputs. The Jupiter 4 becomes a total different beast with those mods. I would rather let people listen to the sounds on the videos and decide for themselves if the sound of the software is accurate.

And does the software emulate the mods on your hardware, so they can make a truly informed decision on the accuracy.....

Maybe I missed something in the Mercury 4 manual, but I couldn’t find anything regarding emulating a modded Jupiter 4.

[Friendly Noise]

Ok fair enough. Thanks for not being another hardware snob. Whether the Mercury sounds like the hardware or not it's still a nice sounding little synth with a fair price and additional features not found on the hardware.

I fully agree with you about the Mercury 4.
I think we live in the best possible time for electronic instruments: old and new hardware, analog, digital and hybrid synths, literally hundreds of classic or innovative modules in different sizes, incredibly capable software…
Pretending only a fraction of all available instruments is “the real deal” for whatever reasons is missing the whole fun, imho.

[AnX]

Even a third reason for not sharing my opinion is that my YouTube channel includes maybe the largest collection of self made videos with the Jupiter 4, mostly offering unusual sounds not available with the original unit or the software version because my Jupiter 4 is modded with CV/Gate inputs and outputs. The Jupiter 4 becomes a total different beast with those mods. I would rather let people listen to the sounds on the videos and decide for themselves if the sound of the software is accurate.

And does the software emulate the mods on your hardware, so they can make a truly informed decision on the accuracy.....

Maybe I missed something in the Mercury 4 manual, but I couldn’t find anything regarding emulating a modded Jupiter 4.

It was a rhetorical question

[anadroid]

Any sampled synth will sound better compared to cherry , that's a universal constant !

Not better, but closer to the original - Except that the tiny variations are always the same for the same key. Not sure if that is closer or not...

Both better and closer to the original. Can't speak of other sample-based synths, but on Saturn-4 or Omnisphere, depending on the preset, variations are not always the same for the same key. The sound is dynamic, same as it is with a virtual analog subtractive synth. The variation isn't coming from the sample itself (on Saturn-4, it seems the samples for the oscillators are recorded to be very uniform across the whole range) - it's coming from the modulation that's applied to the sample.

[Friendly Noise]

Even a third reason for not sharing my opinion is that my YouTube channel includes maybe the largest collection of self made videos with the Jupiter 4, mostly offering unusual sounds not available with the original unit or the software version because my Jupiter 4 is modded with CV/Gate inputs and outputs. The Jupiter 4 becomes a total different beast with those mods. I would rather let people listen to the sounds on the videos and decide for themselves if the sound of the software is accurate.

And does the software emulate the mods on your hardware, so they can make a truly informed decision on the accuracy.....

Maybe I missed something in the Mercury 4 manual, but I couldn’t find anything regarding emulating a modded Jupiter 4.

It was a rhetorical question

Sorry. My mistake. Without the symbol ? I took the question for an statement.

[cherryDan]

BREAKING: Cherry Audio releases Stardust 201 Tape Echo, a vintage tape delay/chorus/reverb plugin effect that lovingly replicates the classic Roland "Space Echo" tape echo effects of the 70s and 80s, and expands upon the integrated effects featured in our smash hit Mercury-4 virtual synthesizer.

Only $10 for owners of Mercury-4! (discount automatically applied at checkout)

[Friendly Noise]

That makes Mercury 4 even more attractive.

[Friendly Noise]

Hi guys, curiosity was greater than my laziness and finally I downloaded the Mercury 4 demo.

In the next days there will be some videos with direct comparisons between the software and my Jupiter 4. Please stay tuned.