PG-8X (2.0) released

[martin_l]

It seems the internet is telling the Roland ZC (Boutique jx-08) is as good as the real thing. I hope it won't lead to Martin let down his great vst !

Why would a hardware synth have any effect on a freeware soft-synth? Totally different target audiences, I'd say.

Since the soft synth inside the Boutique is the same as the ZC jx8p model, the praise for the Boutique could made the latter more popular and appealing among people looking for a jx-8p software clone (and wanting a scalable UI and VST3, and perhaps a "safer" bet)

To be honest. I was planning for a long time to update the pg-8x (only did not have the time for it). But now I am getting more hesitant. Having the pg-8x plugin available while there was no alternative from Roland was one thing, but I am slightly nervous that now with the JX-8P officially available as VST from Roland, any further development on the free plugin might be welcome by Roland. So, I am not quite sure what to do...

[Gadget Fiend]

To be honest. I was planning for a long time to update the pg-8x (only did not have the time for it). But now I am getting more hesitant. Having the pg-8x plugin available while there was no alternative from Roland was one thing, but I am slightly nervous that now with the JX-8P officially available as VST from Roland, any further development on the free plugin might be welcome by Roland. So, I am not quite sure what to do...

Do you mean might NOT be welcomed by Roland? If so, I'm not sure what legal standing Roland has. After all, TAL and Arturia have emulated Roland's Jupiter 8 and there are several companies that have emulated the Juno 60 and Juno 106.

[zyguli]

It seems the internet is telling the Roland ZC (Boutique jx-08) is as good as the real thing. I hope it won't lead to Martin let down his great vst !

Why would a hardware synth have any effect on a freeware soft-synth? Totally different target audiences, I'd say.

Since the soft synth inside the Boutique is the same as the ZC jx8p model, the praise for the Boutique could made the latter more popular and appealing among people looking for a jx-8p software clone (and wanting a scalable UI and VST3, and perhaps a "safer" bet)

To be honest. I was planning for a long time to update the pg-8x (only did not have the time for it). But now I am getting more hesitant. Having the pg-8x plugin available while there was no alternative from Roland was one thing, but I am slightly nervous that now with the JX-8P officially available as VST from Roland, any further development on the free plugin might be welcome by Roland. So, I am not quite sure what to do...

There are no legal restrictions on creating a clone as long as the trademarks, copyrights and patents are respected. The sound and feature set are not protected. I don't think the layout of the pg800 is either.

[michal.ochedowski]

I'm sure that sampling another artist, creating a track with it and releasing completely free wouldn't make a difference. It still could lead to potential trouble with copyright infringement. That's a cause for genuine concern.
But Martin didn't sample anything, wrote the code himself and used different name for the plugin. Even mentioning specific inspiration for creating the instrument doesn't make it a case in my opinion. I can't imagine anyone raising an issue based on these elements.

[Caesarg86]

Martin, I use Reason Combinator to put together two PG-8x's with some pseudo effects to give it the MKS-70 combo sound. Since I own an MK-70 I hear so much similarity with your amazing VST. Thank you for doing what you did with PG-8x. My only request to your already perfect sound and design would be to make a dual version. a PG-70X!

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

To be honest. I was planning for a long time to update the pg-8x (only did not have the time for it). But now I am getting more hesitant. Having the pg-8x plugin available while there was no alternative from Roland was one thing, but I am slightly nervous that now with the JX-8P officially available as VST from Roland, any further development on the free plugin might be welcome by Roland. So, I am not quite sure what to do...

I'm no lawyer, but as pointed out, there are lots of Roland clones out there, some freeware, some commercial. Just don't make the GUI too close to the Roland hardware (you're already good there) and don't use any Roland trademarks (you're already good there) or copyrighted material (like including factory presets which you don't).

I think there's a lot of great reasons to update PG-8X as pointed out already. One, it's freeware! Thanks for that. Two, people seem to prefer the sound of it. Three, people will prefer the GUI. Four, you could look to expand it into an MKS-70 if you wanted, and there's no competing version of that. Five, people with a recent Mac would love you for a Mac version that runs on Apple Silicon just to keep it alive on their newer machines.

It's an excellent freebie and worth continuing IMO. Thanks for making it! Worst case, if you were planning on abandoning it, you could always look to open sourcing it. It may never get picked up by anyone, but you never know if the Surge guys or someone may take an interest.

[fmr]

To be honest. I was planning for a long time to update the pg-8x (only did not have the time for it). But now I am getting more hesitant. Having the pg-8x plugin available while there was no alternative from Roland was one thing, but I am slightly nervous that now with the JX-8P officially available as VST from Roland, any further development on the free plugin might be welcome by Roland. So, I am not quite sure what to do...

There isn't a JX-8P officially available by Roland. What is available is a module for Zenology Pro, which isn't exactly the same thing.

Anyway, I can't see which law would you break by programming an emulation of a synth. If that was an issue, most programmers out there would be already out of business.

[electro]

PG-8X is excellent. I wasn't aware of any outstanding issues.

[XpanderDude]

yeah, i'd just love to see it compiled to run native for mac silicon. Maybe have a hi-dpi GUI as well. Oh, and get that weird issue with the AU sorted where presets or banks aren't lost on project reopening. otherwise, the guts of it are amazing.

[mholloway]

Having the pg-8x plugin available while there was no alternative from Roland was one thing, but I am slightly nervous that now with the JX-8P officially available as VST from Roland

There is no official Roland JX-8P VST, though.

I love your work and hope you continue with it, but personally I think this concern is both inaccurate (there's no such plugin; I do not count a Zenology Expansion as the same thing) and also not really an issue -- just look at TAL with their Jupiter 8 and Juno-60 and SH-101, etc , among many other companies doing Roland emulations.

[jamcat]

To be honest. I was planning for a long time to update the pg-8x (only did not have the time for it). But now I am getting more hesitant. Having the pg-8x plugin available while there was no alternative from Roland was one thing, but I am slightly nervous that now with the JX-8P officially available as VST from Roland, any further development on the free plugin might be welcome by Roland. So, I am not quite sure what to do...

As others have pointed out, you’re OK. All Roland could do is send you a cease and desist.

But if you don’t want to carry on development, you should look into selling your code to a commercial developer who has experience with this sort of thing, like Arturia.

That’s probably the last thing Roland would want to happen, so I doubt they would force your hand.

[Ominous83]

Hi everyone,

I have been through this thread several times to find the solutions but still haven;t found the conclusive one. I run Ableton 10 Live on macOS Catalina and for some reason PG-8X just doesn't show up in my list of plugins. I have downloaded PG-8X 2.0 from Martin Luders Google site and put it in the VST folder where it's supposed to be.

Anyone knows how to fix this or is it just impossible to make it work? Your help is very much appreciated!

[martin_l]

Unfortunately, I do no longer own a MAC on which I could develop the plugin for MAC users. Sorry that I cannot offer support for MAC at the moment.

[michal.ochedowski]

Hi everyone,

I have been through this thread several times to find the solutions but still haven;t found the conclusive one. I run Ableton 10 Live on macOS Catalina and for some reason PG-8X just doesn't show up in my list of plugins. I have downloaded PG-8X 2.0 from Martin Luders Google site and put it in the VST folder where it's supposed to be.

Anyone knows how to fix this or is it just impossible to make it work? Your help is very much appreciated!

First thing I usually try in this type of situations is test the same plugin with another DAW. It happened to me (and surely I'm not alone in this) more than once. Certain VST would be available in 2 other programs, but not the one I was checking it in e.g. Ableton Live.

[kmvegas]

To be honest. I was planning for a long time to update the pg-8x (only did not have the time for it). But now I am getting more hesitant. Having the pg-8x plugin available while there was no alternative from Roland was one thing, but I am slightly nervous that now with the JX-8P officially available as VST from Roland, any further development on the free plugin might be welcome by Roland. So, I am not quite sure what to do...

There's a plethora of Roland synth emulations, both free and pay, from various companies. All have knockoff names and have no issues. You're good there.

I have Roland Cloud, and the Zenology JX-8P module was a lackluster release. No support for syx patches. Plus it's missing at least a sync mode, I believe.

PG-8X is honestly my favorite synth plugin and I really hope to see it continued as you intended with your open source plans and scalable gui. To see it left behind would be devastating.

In any case, thank you for all your hard work!