I have always loved the Roland JP-8000 and JP-8080, and to be honest for more than the super saw: they’re some of the most playable instruments across their range despite their quirks, and I think I’ve bought and sold a half dozen; they’re always so fun to play. With The Usual Suspect’s JE-8086 we finally had a way to get the sound of our aging hardware on modern systems, but there was still a gap for me as someone who loves to make music on iOS. JE-8086’s JIT approach makes the emulator as efficient as possible on modern systems, but unavailable for App Store distribution.
So, based on all of the research and new tools available, I set to work recreating the super saw algorithm natively, not through 56k emulation. And so, I give you NuSaw!
NuSaw is _not_ a JP-8000/JP-8080 emulator, it’s focused just on the SuperSaw oscillator at its core. It features up to 25 stacked saws, with the same detune, spread, and tracked high-pass filter behavior of the original hardware, with some additions like a tuneable sub-oscillator, an arpeggiator with swing and probability, and a sequenceable trance gate. With a faithful recreation of the JP’s chorus, a tempo sync’d delay, plate reverb and some punchy drive, it’s a really (in my opinion), fun and focused instrument. 3 LFO’s and a six point mod matrix let you create some fun patches, and it includes 50+ presets across a variety of types.
I think there’s fair criticism that SuperSaw synths can sound a little “one note”, but I think NuSaw hits that note really well. I’d love for you to check it out!
Available now on the Apple App Store as a standalone app and AUv3 plugin.
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6780137615
More Info: https://charles.pizza/apps/nusaw/
Presets Demo:
There’s more coming soon: Intel Mac support, aftertouch, more mod destinations and LFO shapes. Stay tuned!
Disclaimer: This was developed with the use of AI-assisted coding agents like Claude. If that isn’t to your taste, totally understand, just want to be up front. This post was written by a human.