Never judge a book by it's cover...

I've always had a thing for the Roland Jupiter 8. I think it's because it looked so big and complex, with all those lovely multi coloured buttons. Maybe it was also because it was on the cover of Howard Jones' New Song single back in 84..




..but when I heard it, it sounded so big and lush, it soon became an "I want" item that I have still yet to acquire. So, imagine my glee when Arturia announced the Jupiter-8v soft synth. Firstly, I was surprised that Roland allowed them to do it, having always been very restrictive in what people do in terms of recreating their gear in the virtual world.

So when the demo came out, I jumped on it straight away, especially as it looked so feckin' nice !!

Oh dear.

Oh dear oh dear.

Not what I was expecting.

Arturia have often come in for grief about how their emulations actually sound nothing like the synths they are trying to emulate. I kind of agreed with that on the CS-80v, disagreed on the Minimoog. I guess that unless you have an original sat beside you to A/B test, then it's all subjective anyway.

But the Jupiter-8v disappointed me. Not only because of the sound, but because it's a god awful CPU hog, and the best latency I could achieve was about 10ms which is more than double what I normally get on every other soft synth I have. My PC is no slouch either (AMD 64/1GB RAM). It was also impossible to assign an external keyboard controller !

If Arturia are hoping to generate sales with the demo, they need to sort it out. If the full product replicates the shortcomings of the demo, they've got problems.

Try it for yourself HERE

EDIT: It appears these issues have now been fixed in version 1.02 which came out on Thursday. I've tried it and most problems seem to be rectified, but it still uses an inordinate amount of CPU :o(

At last, a proper Roland soft synth

Via MatrixSynth

Arturia announces Jupiter 8V, the software recreation of Roland’s famous Jupiter 8 which was in production from 1981 to 1984. The Jupiter 8 was a synth that not only inspired a generation of musicians ranging from Prince to Howard Jones, from Depeche Mode to Moby, it was also a unique machine that offered a sharp and crystalline sound while being uniquely phat.

The Jupiter-8V is the latest born in the Arturia family of analog synthesizer recreations. Offering the unique sound palette of the Roland Jupiter 8 with a bass that can bring down the house.

Based on the latest version of TAE®, the Jupiter 8 V also brings to you an advanced step sequencer, a new line of dynamic effects and a module combining LFO’s called Galaxy. All in one, the Jupiter 8 V comes with a perfect blend of classicism and modernity.

MAIN FEATURES:

* More than 400 high quality and innovative sounding presets
* Up to 32 voices of polyphony, and a Unison mode
* A unique audio structure featuring 2 oscillators per voice (16 oscillators in total), 2 LFO’s, 2 filters and 2 envelopes.
* Keyboard split and layer
* A set of Analog Sounding Effects: Dual Delay, Phaser, Flanger, all three being largely modulable by any audio source in the synth.
* 2 digital effects, X and Y.
* Additional Live-oriented Step-sequencer, additional Galaxy module for advanced modulations
* Set to Control with your external MIDI keyboard in just a few clicks.
* Full compatibility with major formats and hosts on Mac OS X and Windows XP (VST, AU, RTAS)

Curse their dongle protection. I'd buy this otherwise. But I hate dongles.