JP-8000

[Taurus]

If anyone else has it to sell to me and lives in denmark or sweden, drop me a note!

I've been drooling on this board for how long now... 4 years? I think so! I dig it but i cant find any musicplace to test it out, so i have to do with samples i find on the internet (wich are not many) and they're all trance-based.

**Anyone who got this board can record some demomp3? Im getting tired of googling for the keywords 'jp-8000 sample, mp3' etc hehe..
I wont care about the playing ;) Ill sign up to AOL or Yahoo if i have to or any other way you could provide me with some clips**

I just wanna get the board sometime soon, I've seen it 2nd hand for 800 euros including flightcase and cables. I think it'd be a good buy, something that I can afford, easilly travel with (since its so small) and play around with till all the knobs psyche me out.

[Drusillus]

I have a JP-8000, I hope you manage to find one because I think they're a great synth. Not only is it great for leads (the Feedback waveform is really cool), but it's also really good for pads and synth strings.

If you wanna hear a JP-8000 in a prog context, Michael Pinnella from Symphony X has been using one for all his lead sounds since Twilight In Olympus. I believe the keyboardist from Threshold also uses one from time to time. Arjen Lucassen (Aryeon) also has one but I don't know which of the many analog sounds on his albums come from the JP :)

Edit: Don't know if you've seen this page or not, but there are a few more samples here: http://www.vintagesynth.org/roland/jp8000.shtml

[Taurus]

Yeah, PInella uses one. But i think he kinda underuses the possibilities of it for SyX. His leads do sound a bit too cheesy for JP-8000. Wether that be becuase it otherwise doesnt fit the band, i dont know, could be..

[Kirby]

I found these 2 demos in the net:

http://hometown.aol.com/abbadevo3/myhomepage/JP8000.MP3 (author unknown)
http://www.sequencer.de/mp/roland/jp8000demo.mp3 (by SynthKRaft)

It's a great sounding machine!

[Deceit]

Try to look for Superwave Performer or Professional, they are really close JP-8000 emulations...and you can still stack them with DiscoDSP Discovery (Nord Lead 2X emulation, it even supports patch importing from any NL2) and route them through Antares Tube VST (hey, that's my VST rig! WTF! :D)...the result is fat and analog enough :D.
Deceit.

[Luca_Capozzi]

very nice pads.. wanna emulate them :)

[Taurus]

Actually Im choosing the JP-8000 also for its smallness and budget friendlyness. It's easy to carry it along in a flightcase on the train to band rehearsal. Thanks for the tip though, I'll look into it. Im downloading the sounds now, so ill post soon my opinion on them!

I found some retail patches for the JP8k from Vengeance-sounde.de and some others.... Any of you guys every tried out these 'retail patches'? I wonder if they're worth the 25 euros.

Ever tried out jp-8080 patches on the JP-8000? Do they still sound good enough, or does the lack of possibilities on the 8000 compared to 8080 make too much of a difference in the patch?

[Taurus]

THanks, the samples sound great! Pretty fat and deep. But i still believe they do not justice :P
I heard a few of the retail patch demos... based on trance, but they have great potentional... If only they were used in the right way, prog music! :D

[ProgressiveD]

I also been drooling over a jp-8000 for quite a while, as I only have romplers as of now. I may have to go for a jp-8080 instead, as I didn't come across any jp-8000 for sale in Canada in the last year. Also, the news of the new Access synths got me really really interested (with it's hyper-saw who could kick the JP supersaw's arse), maybe it could be worth the extra money... I don't know.

[Kirby]

The Super Saw is not THAT fat sounding, you can easily emulate it with other synths.
One should not judge the JP only by the SuperSaw. Same goes for the Access, which is not worth the money if you buy it sonly because of the HyperSaw.
BTW, even a normal VIrus kicks the JP's ass in some areas ;)

[Drusillus]

Keep in mind too that the JP-8000 was born pretty early on in the VA timeline (1997), so yeah, some of its features are trumped in the newer VAs, but it's still a great sounding synth, and I would bet it's a lot easier to use.

Honestly though, if I was to lose my JP for some reason, as much as I love it I probably wouldn't hunt for another JP to replace it. I'd probably go with a Nord Lead, an Alesis Ion or maybe one of the Virus synths.

/me shudders at the thought of losing his JP :?

[ProgressiveD]

Yeah, I heard a lot about the ease of use of the JP, and it's a big factor why I'm interested in it (a lot more than the super saw). And of course, I will not spend 2K$ only for a hyper saw function.

But the fact that you mentionned not replacing your JP if lost, maybe it would be better to go for a newer VA myself. There are a lot great choices these days, and maybe the new Virus is just the first of a new generation, who knows...

Edit: hey, I just saw that you're in Canada. Want to sell the JP ?? :wink:

[Drusillus]

Yep I'm a Canuckian too :) You can pry my JP-8000 from my cold dead fingers ;)

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my JP, and I'd highly recommend it for someone looking for a great sounding easy to use VA on a budget. And if I ever did lose my JP I'd be very very sad :) But the new VAs are so drool-worthy that I probably wouldn't be able to resist myself (holy crap I just checked out the new Virus T1 and oh momma....)

But you probably should check out the Alesis Ion too, you can probably get one new for a few hundred bucks more than a used JP. They definitely SOUND great, ergonimcally they're not as well designed as the JP in my opinion, but it might be up your alley.

[Georges]

800 EUR is definately too expensive for a JP-8000. 750 EUR would be the maximum price you should be disposed to pay for a JP-8080. So the maximum price of JP-8000 would be between 600 and 700 EUR.

As a former owner, I can only recommend the JP-8000, even though I'd go for a JP-8080 (+2 voices polyphony, distortion effect, vocoder, improved 2nd oscillator, etc.). It's just a great synth, easy to use (!!!!), very fat, very cool looking. Newer VAs may be better, but also far more expensive and far less easier to use. Go for it!

[Drusillus]

^^ what he said ;)

[Taurus]

Hmm yeah 800euros is a lot, though I'd get a flightcase for it with that. And 6 audiocables. I know making flightcases is expensive.. and im gonna travel with it a lot. Perhaps someone has it for 700 with all that..
:oops: The retail stores ask a 1000 euros, money bastards.

Im interested in the vocoder of the jp-8080, too bad its not in the keyversion of the jp-8000. I'd like to use that realtime! The distortion I can always get from an external distortion device, so I wont miss that. The 8 polyphony will be enough for lead-soloing too I think. Its afteral a combo synth. I also wanna test out your sounds you made for the JP Georges :P
:wink:

JP-8000, I'm gonna throw you on the bed once I get you and plug you. :oops:

[Georges]

I also wanna test out your sounds you made for the JP Georges :P

I can only barely remember those, I was unfortunately unable to make some lasting recordings with those sounds before I sold it. :roll: Would like to hear them again some day ...

[Drusillus]

Hey Georges, I believe I used your JP8000 "Krakatau Lead" on my old band's demo CD, I'll put up an MP3 of it :) That was one of yours right?

[VINOD]

Correct me if i'm wrong but you already have a Roland XP-60 right??

So if you're looking for something analog why dont you try some other company

and i'm sorry man i can't really help you out with any samples

[Drusillus]

Hey guys,

Here is a song from my old band's demo CD, I used the JP-8000 for the main riff, synth strings and keyboard solo.

http://www.spiralmultimedia.ca/rick/ShadowOfDoubt-TearsOfBlood.wma

As I mentioned above, the solo sound is a patch made by Georges called "Krakatau Lead".

[Taurus]

Now thats one heck of a lead! :D

Kinda cool song too+ good quality :) Exactly one of the sounds im looking for.

[Kirby]

By the way, Mark Kelly of Marillion also plays a JP8000. He has some nice sounds on Marbles!

[Taurus]

I'm marillion fan since they started and yup.. he's good some good sounds used.. i just dont know wether a sound is his k2000 or his JP-8000, or a sound from his rack of modules and effects. He works a lot with midicables as well.

btw: the price dropped to 500euros without flightcase&cables :)

[Drusillus]

By the way, Mark Kelly of Marillion also plays a JP8000. He has some nice sounds on Marbles!

Cool, that not surprising, the JP is perfect for Marillion-esque sounds :)

[Kirby]

I want a JP8000 too! ;)

Anyone interested in a trade: Nord Modular for JP8000? :D

[Taurus]

Better find one in Germany man :P

I did some more research on the JP-8000 from another perspective, the dance-scene perspective.. They claim it to be the most overused synth in trancemusic ever :lol: :lol: :lol: Apparently the majority thinks its 'lame' to use it nowadays.
Some are either very closeminded when it comes to using gear, or too trendy. Thank god we're proggers :)

[Kirby]

Just joking, I love the Modular, still, a JP8000 would be a nice addition, lets see what Santa brings ;)

Indeed, the JP8000 is used widely in the trance scence, because of it's SuperSaw waveform. Most people in this scene use presets. When the presets become out of date, the synth is also "outdated" in their eyes.

[Deceit]

I don't know what you all think about it, but since there are so many VST VAs, I'd definitely give them a try... as I said before, Superwave is fantastic, and DiscoDSP Discovery as well...you have the same chances given with hardware (in this particular case I think so, but I'm still diffident about switching to software in many cases - I haven't seen any really complete workstation software so far, nothing comparable to a Triton Extreme), think about it! Buy a laptop, and you can even use your main synth to control the vsts (and hey, it's sooo cool and sooo avantgarde using a pc on your left!)...
Deceit.

[Taurus]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[Luca_Capozzi]

I don't know what you all think about it, but since there are so many VST VAs, I'd definitely give them a try... as I said before, Superwave is fantastic, and DiscoDSP Discovery as well...you have the same chances given with hardware (in this particular case I think so, but I'm still diffident about switching to software in many cases - I haven't seen any really complete workstation software so far, nothing comparable to a Triton Extreme), think about it! Buy a laptop, and you can even use your main synth to control the vsts (and hey, it's sooo cool and sooo avantgarde using a pc on your left!)...
Deceit.

i've used so many plugins (and made some ones) that I've lost the count :) btw, no existing plugin can give you the same quality of an hardware device. pick, as example, Synth1. Is a Nord Lead 2 Red Star emulation.. is sounds great, really kick ass but... is nothing compared to warm sound of a real Clavia VA synth :)

see ya

[Taurus]

Yeah i agree with AxiomBass. I've used quite some..beta..versions of NativeInstruments plugins. Also, it better be very good laptop with VERY low latency and RETAIL programs.. Paying for the stuff so you have the license to use it in case they check you out. :oops:
Don't get caught, and if you buy these retail products including the laptop then you're probably off worse in your pocket, and in technical excecution onstage.

My view on this all is perhaps a bit closeminded but thats the way I see it: I'm a person who wants to pay as less as possible for instruments (ok no Yamaha PSR..more something like a 'worth-of-your-buck'-thing wich my opinion is newer instruments are way too overpriced..) , and thus I want to get the most out an instrument as possible. 200%! Pushing it to the limits. I know k2600 users who simply do not use it to its full potential. It also costs a lot of time with a complicated synth, not everyone has this time. Im sure those who have probably master the instrument! :twisted: *hint Enigma!

An analog synth can be absolutely great, and in worst cases if its outdated I'd consider buying an external effect processor/signalsynth or vice versa instead (perhaps a module if the controller is good). :)
I know for instance there are better synths that create much more complicated sounds than that, buy hey, its cheap. :) And you still can be succesful with old synths and external devices, just look at Jens Johansson. :oops: I believe he picked up his JV-1080 from some old junk store.. (check his site). :)

I wonder if some of you think like this as well. :) Perhaps im among the few with this small budget, or just not as dedicated to feed money to these companies when I feel that I can do without. :

*sidenote, if i'd be rich I'd sure as hell would want a K2600 fully expanded, Korg Extreme, Nord Elektra 2 and Roland RD-700/A90-Ex.

*...dreams on...*

[Georges]

As I mentioned above, the solo sound is a patch made by Georges called "Krakatau Lead".

I remember that sound still, I created it because I was playing the Krakatau solo at that time and I wanted to have a similar sound. Obviously, it is not really too close to the original but it's still nice to hear. My favorites were FB Sublead (program) and Powerlead (performance).

The great thing about the JP is that you can just sit down and start tweaking around. With additional sound programming knowledge, the results will be really outstanding, while even with no experience, once a few basics are understood, it's quite easy to produce some decent sounds.

Thanks for sharing the music and the sounds, Dru. If I got my hands on a JP-8080, I think I would no more think twice :wink:

[ProgressiveD]

Yeah, great lead sound !

[Taurus]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38090&item=3762452 011&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

I never used ebay.. is this service thrustworthy? You never get to see what youre buying! But look at the price, 200US is not much!

[Drusillus]

Go for it! I've bought lots of stuff of Ebay with no problems.

[ProgressiveD]

Yeah, there's usually 2 or 3 jp-8000 lying around on eBay, but they are all in the USA. :(
Paying 100$ duties on a 300$ synth is not always fun.
Come to think of it, the US dollar is so low, it might be worth it...

[Taurus]

About to get mine now.. 2nd hand...I'll be playing on it to check if everything works...

Guys, those of you who own a JP-8000, where should i take notice of to check if everything is all okay? What kind of stuff should i closely inspect before I give the money?
Usually pitchbends are the first that come to mind as they sometimes are not working 100%.. Though with a JP-8000 you got tons of knobs! And its hard to check them all seperately within 30 minutes heh.

Any times about things that COULD be broken and that i should inspect.. .please tell! Thanks!

[Drusillus]

Well as far as knobs go, I've never had any problem with any of mine, but I guess the most important to check would be the volume, delay, EQ, LFO, and oscillator tuning knobs, and the cutoff, envelope, and oscillator parameter sliders.

Check the patch change buttons too, I would bet that the buttons would start to get gunky before the knobs would.

[ProgressiveD]

Hey Drusillus:
In my urgent need to get some kind of VA, I got myself an Ion on eBay.
But it's got no onboard reverb, like the Jp-8000 I believe, am I right ? I wanted to know how you deal with that: do you use your jp-8000 patches dry without reverb, or do you use them in conjunction with your Fantom effects ? I'm not blown away like I thought I would be by the Ion, and I'm concerned about using it live...
Thanks

[synthguy]

The JP-8000 only has chorus/phaser/flanger and delay, so you aren't any worse off with the Ion. In fact, you should be blown away! The Ion has three oscillators while the JP only has two for much bigger sounds, and has many more effects options. Also, the Ion has several filter models while the JP only has a few, and the Ion is much juicier and analog sounding. The patches are much better too.

If you don't like the Ion, you sure won't like much of anything other than a rompler workstation like a Fantom X or Kurzweil. I'd just spend some time with it and keep in mind that you won't be getting any Steinway patches. But Liquid T type distorted leads should be possible.

[Kirby]

In the VA genre, you really have to compare sounds to find what you like best. Ion and JP8000 sound very different for example.
I don't like the Ion's sound, but love the sounds of JP-8000, Nord and Virus.

JP-8000: Very smooth sound
Nord: "Expensive sound", brilliant, lots of presence, no effects
Virus: More "analog" sounding than the others, but also able to do some cool PPG like/Digital sounds due to the 32 digital waves it offers

[synthguy]

I had forgotten how taste fits into this. Some people think the Virus sounds digital and buzzy over here, and many love it in Europe. It does have a juicy Moog-like filter, but to me, the normal Virus filter makes it sound like a buzzy Prophet, which isn't bad at all, just different.

In fact, that aspect is why I'll never sell my JP-8000. The 12db filters have a buzzy, brittle quality to them which is good for CS80 style patches, and the 24db filters are meaty and thick. And the Feedback Osc is great for doing out of control distortion, as each note sounds different.

But if I wanted to sound like a Moog, Arp, Oberheim or Jupiter, I'd either get an Ion or the real deal, the Andromeda, which I'm anxiously saving my pennies for.

[Taurus]

Alright, I finally BOUGHT it and I have it standing here right next to me. Its sound is totally amazing and i cant believe how much control you have on this instrument!

The only downside i noticed right now is that with some sounds Down-to-middle bending it doesnt totally bend to the middle! So it sounds 'false' and out of tune unless i give it slight push to the right again... This only happens with a FEW sounds though and doesnt happen with most of the other sounds....
Still, is this technical issues, you other guys experienced this too? Is it fixible? Or is it just a side-effect of this analog synth?

[Drusillus]

Taurus, sounds to me like it could be a dirty pitch bend mechanism, I've never had a problem like that (and I bend a lot :))

[Taurus]

hmm i think i should let it get checked then...

Btw, if i want to load in patches can i do that via the sequencer on an external synth? I have a synth wich has floppy disks (converting syx to mid) and this is a lot handier switching patches than carrying a pc when gigging....

Can i also do the update of the OS like this? I have 1.03 now...

[Georges]

The JP-8000 quick manual also describes a diagnostics mode, which I have used a lot when I was selling mine. It tests the knobs, bender, ribbon, etc.

[synthguy]

I would save my patches with a patch or sys-ex librarian, and then initialize the thing so it had all its original patches and settings and see if it did it again. I'd also do George's diagnostic check. Doing it on certain patches but not others sounds more like a bug than dirt, and these synths are basically just computers inside. Then if that didn't fix it, I'd have it looked into.