Patrick's new baby... TAL- J-8X

[Chicken Drummy]

Here's my attempt at the grey brutalist look of the JX-10. For those of us who aren't into preschool color schemes

Oh man, that looks so great!!

[beely]

Is it? I don't get that from any of the demo tunes. It sounds terribly anodyne to me, but that could just be the style of music in the demos. To me, though, that confirms my feeling that it's a very basic synth.

Yes, by modern standards it is a basic synth. It's always been one of those things you either like, or don't really think that much of, even with the hardware. There's other synths I don't really like so much either, and when it comes to classic synths, I've kinda always been in the Roland corner in terms of how their stuff sounds.

And it's that vibe and character I wanted, and no, I don't get anywhere near the same vibe with GR8.

Maybe that's down to your skill level or effort? Or the presets?

No, it's down to the character of the synth. It's always been an analog synth that Roland were trying to make and voice to catch some of the appeal to the "analog is old hat, the DX7 is a whole new vocabulary" crowd of the time, hence it sorta sits somewhere between the two. It's not great at super fat analog stuff, and it can't do DX7 stuff, but it does this weird hybrid thing that's kinda digital and glassy sounding but analog - a bit PPG-like in some ways, and I like those kinds of sounds.

Some people don't like that, but I do, and is one of the things about it that is part of it's unique character. But it's quite well suited to particular genres of music, and less suited to others, so it's very dependent on what you like and want out of your instruments. And yes, some people never gelled with the JX8P/etc which is why they were a bit overlooked and somewhat affordable analogs for a long time even when other stuff was going price crazy...

Hence my desire to understand the appeal. It seems to me that TAL has a intensely loyal following for no particular reason.

Maybe people just like their products. Don't overthink it.

I got TALpha really cheap but it's also just another lacklustre Roland sounding synth. I think I might have used in once in one of my 80s covers and that's it. And, honestly, TALpha seemed the most interesting of TAL's synths.

The Alpha Junos did nothing for me back then, and I still don't really love them now. I'm sure TALpha is a good recreation, but I don't find those synths that appealing for me. (That's not to say you can't find good sounds out of more or less anything.)

No, scratch that, I have no understanding at all of why anyone likes Sylenth 1. There is nothing about that synth I find even slightly appealing.

100% agree. Much of it was fashion I think, it was the thing to use for certain genres and everyone felt they also had to use it.

Maybe it's that, even though my very first synth was a Roland and I've owned quite a few since, I've always felt they sounded a bit second-rate and mostly sold on price and for the bells and whistles, rather than because they sounded good.

Not for me, I've always been team Roland since about '85, for me the JP8 has always been almost the perfect classic analog polysynth. The JX8P family are certainly not JP8s *but* like the JP8, nothing else sounds like them, they have their unique character, and if you like it, you like it.

Softube's Model 80 has given me some small insight into why people might like the Juno sound but, honestly, if it wasn't for the extras Softube added I wouldn't have any time for it, either.

Model 80 is the Sequential Prophet 5 (another synth I never really liked). Honestly, I was not super into the big fat US polys generally. I find the Roland stuff fitted in better, they could be thick and warm, but also delicate and light and seemed to me to be more flexible than your typical Moogs or Oberheims of the day. They just fitted my tastes better.

You probably mean the Model 84 - again, for me, while I quite like the Juno 106 and it also has a fairly recognisable sound character, it's not my favourite of the Rolands, but it's useful for certain things. I have Model 84 as well (the only Softube instrument I own)...

[234north]

What's so good about this? It just looks like another in a long line of basic Roland synths, with no cross-modulation or anything much to recommend it beyond nostalgia. Unless the DYN slider does something magical, why would anyone pay Au$90 for this when they can get something like GR8 for free?

I actually paid in real money. I like it. Always been a Roland fan, always will be. If you don't like it really it's OK to not buy it.

[mholloway]

What's so good about this? It just looks like another in a long line of basic Roland synths, with no cross-modulation...

It has cross-modulation. Look more closely at OSC 2. You've got cross-mod, sync, and cross-mod + sync available from the X-MOD slider. It's one of the best parts of the JX-8P, IMO.

[234north]

What's so good about this? It just looks like another in a long line of basic Roland synths, with no cross-modulation...

It has cross-modulation. Look more closely at OSC 2. You've got cross-mod, sync, and cross-mod + sync available from the X-MOD slider. It's one of the best parts of the JX-8P, IMO.

Wait, BONES put his foot in his mouth again? Say it ain't so...

[Seafire Mk2]

BS

No, it's not. It's like you've never used an analog synth before.

It's like that, except I have and do. I stand by my point. It's marketing spiel.

[Seafire Mk2]

Here's my attempt at the grey brutalist look of the JX-10. For those of us who aren't into preschool color schemes

Which colours are post school?

[IvyBirds]

No, it's down to the character of the synth. It's always been an analog synth that Roland were trying to make and voice to catch some of the appeal to the "analog is old hat, the DX7 is a whole new vocabulary" crowd of the time, hence it sorta sits somewhere between the two. It's not great at super fat analog stuff, and it can't do DX7 stuff, but it does this weird hybrid thing that's kinda digital and glassy sounding but analog - a bit PPG-like in some ways, and I like those kinds of sounds.

The JX-8P also sounds amazing when layered with a DX7. That is what Mic Michaeli used in the band Europe for the Iconic synth riff in the Final Countdown. That's the DX7 "Synhorns" patch loaded into a TX816 Rack unit with the JX-8P patch "Stab Brass".

Cam confront the TAL-J8X sounds awesome with Plogue's OPS7

[BONES]

It's always been an analog synth that Roland were trying to make and voice to catch some of the appeal to the "analog is old hat, the DX7 is a whole new vocabulary" crowd of the time

That "crowd" simply didn't exist. nobody could wait to be rid of their unreliable, heavy, annoying analogue synths. People just didn't think that way back then, all we wanted was the best tools to enable us to do what we wanted to do and digital hardware made everything so much easier. My first analogue live rig took 90 minutes to set up, my first (mostly) digital rig took 20 minutes and was far more reliable and more portable, too. It was a no-brainer and the DX-7 had an incredible sound that everybody wanted, no matter what kind of music you were making. The first Fairlight CMI was 8 bit and sounded pretty bloody awful but everyone wanted one because of what it could do. How it sounded wasn't much of a consideration, really. That's how we thought back then.

Maybe people just like their products. Don't overthink it.

You mean don't think at all. Sorry, not an option.

The Alpha Junos did nothing for me back then, and I still don't really love them now. I'm sure TALpha is a good recreation, but I don't find those synths that appealing for me.

But they were still part of the same family, sharing the same filter and other features of the Junos and JX-8P, so it makes no sense to say one sounds great and the others don't, which is where my understanding of this phenomenon falls down. To me they are all just variations on the same underwhelming theme.

Not for me, I've always been team Roland since about '85, for me the JP8 has always been almost the perfect classic analog polysynth.

Until you actually use one, then you realise it's just two layers of a very ordinary synth. Two of my favourite bands used them, back in the day, and it was something I always lusted after, until I got to play around with one in a shop. I'd have taken an OB-Xa or Prophet V every day of the week. OB-Xa was a lot cheaper, too (but still worth more than my car).

The JX8P family are certainly not JP8s *but* like the JP8, nothing else sounds like them, they have their unique character, and if you like it, you like it.

That's the rub, I don't think they do at all. They are all the same components, just shoved together in a slightly different way. The JP-8X seems to have the JX-3P's oscillators but all of them share pretty much every other component.

Model 80 is the Sequential Prophet 5

Model 84, then (stupid naming convention), you know which one I meant.

they could be thick and warm

No they couldn't, they always lacked oomph, especially in the bottom end, which got all woolly. That was really obvious when I tried both the SH-101 and ARP Axxe on basslines. The Axxe was strong and punchy, the 101 was sloppy and had no punch at all.

I actually paid in real money. I like it. Always been a Roland fan, always will be. If you don't like it really it's OK to not buy it.

See, that doesn't answer my question so much as confirm that there is nothing at all special about this synth, if that's the best you can do.

[BONES]

It has cross-modulation. Look more closely at OSC 2. You've got cross-mod, sync, and cross-mod + sync available from the X-MOD slider. It's one of the best parts of the JX-8P, IMO.

See, that's the answer I was looking for. I assume it's just FM, not hard sync? I can see it better now that I opened the GUI pic in a separate tab but I can't see a sync button anywhere. Still, it might at least be worth a demo now. Thanks.

[jamcat]

What's so good about this?

The chorus.

[BONES]

You mean the noisy, shitty chorus from the Juno 6? No thanks.

[EvilDragon]

BS

No, it's not. It's like you've never used an analog synth before.

It's like that, except I have and do. I stand by my point. It's marketing spiel.

It's OK. It's OK to be wrong.

[EvilDragon]

You mean the noisy, shitty chorus from the Juno 6? No thanks.

JX8P did not have the same chorus as Juno did.

[Seafire Mk2]

BS

No, it's not. It's like you've never used an analog synth before.

It's like that, except I have and do. I stand by my point. It's marketing spiel.

It's OK. It's OK to be wrong.

Glad you can live with that