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Here are some interesting observations and funny remarks from other websites.
From: http://www.vintagesynth.com/roland/jx8p.php
Lower register sounds are prone to some noise because signal gets quiter with lower frequency tones.
You need an elephant to trigger aftertouch, but not recommended. As extreme heavy velocity feel on keys feel like they will break anyway. Thank's for external midi triggering.
"decent analog polysynth." ???
Hey [beep] off man, JX8-p is a [beep] ing analog monster. Great filter, great chorus, super warm pads and [beep] s! Oh yeah I love that [beep] !
This thing is really something else, I've got a microkorg which is 2 days older than this synth, and a gem s2. Both very powerfull synths compared to de jx8p. But the JX8Pis the most fascinating of my 3 synths, it has something magic. I cannot discribe it. But when you are used to this synth I garantuee you that you won't sell it !
Yes the 'intended replacement' for the Jupiter 8 was the JX-8P (I always felt JX meant Digital Jupiter)
Thanks to innovative little tricks such as the ability to link the volume of DCO2 to the keyboard velocity (which is useful when the oscillators are sync'ed)
It costs perhaps an 1/8 of a weeks pay. And, it's not even worth re-selling as as person truly repulsed by its sound could keep it around as a conversation piece due to its Star Trek like appearances.
I think it's best used when midi'ed with other modules, adds warmness to anything
Some JX-8P 'rules' before judging it harshly:
1. you MUST run this through a mild delay/reverb to have it open up and reveal it's epic sound. Not just any synth can take so well to outboard, the DX7 takes well also. Another synth that is misjudged when comparing to later synths with built in effects doing 'most of the work'.
2. Avoid the patches that overdrive the DCA (distort), this sounds bad and puts you off the synth. Once you play within safe volumes it sounds slick, smooth and warm.
3. Don't try to imitate 'real' sounds, it's not for that these days. This board sounds ELECTRIC (in a good way) - you can sense the voltage pumping through it. With the right patches (and outboard) a touch of the keys is like holding lighting in your hands. Very powerful.
4. Do not compare to Junos - this is different entirely. It's even different to JX-3P which has other more 'vintage' uses.
aside from a slightly 'thin' resonance at the extreme high setting, and slowish envelopes the rest is gorgeous. Get a programmer for it, hook it up to reverb/delay and write a whole bank of inspiring 'epic' patches in no time.
If synths were girls the JX-8P is a foxy lady. It's a very elegant, refined synth unlike the 3P which was dirty, and the Juno's which have balls. It's good for making pads, strings, f/x and all kinds of synth sounds but it's a very soft, effeminate quality to it. Until you run it through a distortion pedal with the resonant filter all the way up, then it sounds like a TB-303 on acid.
To re-use and alter your analog, the 8P is a foxy elegant lady but a lady capable of ripping off her underwear and showing you a good time if you push the right buttons! Best of both worlds surely? ;)
I always wished I could play, but lessons didn't take with me. I am a singer, but I can't even read music! Love this keyboard though.
Any 2-prong power cord will work... Pain-in-the-butt if you need one locally as most music stores don't carry them (at least where I live) but check eBay & look for the Roland, Korg or Yamaha 2-prong power cords (either will work)
I altered all my Roland and Korg gear with this stupid two-prong socket and built in the standard three prong one. Normally this is possible without widening the installation hole. Plus it is possible to put in a proper ground to the case.
Get a reverb and it's a dream for Ambiant pad.
it's not multitimbral like the 106.
It's all over Blancmange's third album, "Believe You Me", although most of the sounds you hear from it are the factory presets.
Percussives are rather poor though, that's what the DX7 was made for.
Talk about Pad Heaven!!!
I know how to spell styrofoam.
correction: it's only got 8 patches (that's the 8P), not 64 as stated in the specs here. It's got 64 preset tones, and up to 64 programmable tones (32 onboard, 32 on cart). If you think Juno's sound better, remember Juno's were budget, JX was the semi-pro line, and Jupiters were the pro end.
The chorus schematic is different in JX8P and JX10. JX10 chorus is like copy of Roland Alpha Juno chorus (it has "cleaner" and grainy chorus and lush pad sound). JX8P chorus is more similar to Juno-106 chorus (so its also more noisy and sounds fatter than JX10).
It was Roland's answer to the DX7. It is all over Stock, Aiken and Waterman stuff.
Not very "trippy" or "far out", but imho it excels at something very basic: it sounds phantastic. in that respect it shares some similarities w/ juno 6, that does not pretend it can fly to mars, but convinces at what it does.
Aaron:
Silly question, do I need an amp to hear sound out of a jx-8p? I have one and while it 'boots' etc there is no sound. Thanks in advance.
Yes Aaron, you need an amp.
Dez:
If it had eight voices, PWM, faster envelopes, and sliders built in, it would have easily been a worthy successor to the JP-8. As it is, it's a good bargain on the used market, and a great complement to a snappier monosynth.
@dez How old are you, dude? This thing was pretty badass for its time, still is if you ask me. Synth geeks overanalyze this stuff but were you even born when this thing was popular?
@Joe, I apologize if I came across as a VST kid. (By the time I was born, Roland's latest and greatest was JD-800.) This did have some pretty big shoes to fill, as it arrived when the Jupiter keyboards were discontinued. It's still kinda weird how it's called JX-*8*P but only has 6 voices.
Kaffimusic:
This machine was already out of time when it entered the market. Design style tried to come close to the DX7 (version 1) that ruled the market. Roland had nothing else than to show up with one more machine with the same old technology of OSC that can do saw, pulse and recktangle + Filters. The design + key velocity was the only real new thing they had to offer. Boring machine at its time with no new sounds. Interesting today for it´s analogish sounds.
But still better than the Juno 106, it was a beginner-level instrument. I would always prefer a Korg DW 8000 over this one. I am an old fart
@kaffimusic, As Yamaha releases the DX7, analog subtractive synthesis was the usual techniqe to create sounds (except samplers) And in the following time, other manufacturers had their problems because of giant success of the DX7/FM-synthesis.
I guess JMJ, DM, Europe and others played a JX-8P because it's a, you called it, "beginners-level-instrument? It's a boring machine, with no new sounds?? Hm... seems mine is defective? Maybe you should try to program it? In the most of cases an instruments seems to sound boring, the problem is located 2 feet in front of the instrument...
I've always liked the Roland JX-8P. It's a very lush and warm instrument, and to my ears it has a fuller and darker sound than than my JX-3P, that i've always found a bit bright. I have two of the early ones, without patch labeling on the membrane switches.
JX8P/JX10 is all over Tangerine Dream LPs of the time (Underwater Sunlight).
From: http://www.dagoose.nl/roland.htm
If you are the lucky owner of a PG800 and a sequencer that record and playback sysex data you will be happy, all parameters on the PG800 are recorded and played back! (be careful, sysex data is a lot of data so try to avoid big midi thru setups)
One of the most famous presets from this machine is MUSICBOX which was used by Jaydee (jerk) in plastic dreams, just hit the MUSICBOX button on the panel (13) and hit the lowest key, voila, instant plastic dreams.
From: http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/roland_jx8p/
The good side, its keyboard is velocity-sensitive and it has... well, aftertouch. But you have to push so hard the darn thing!
And yes, the aftertouch is a joke as most people will agree. To make use of the aftertouch use a newer Midi controller that has one.
check the Soundtrack patch used on Alphaville's "Forever Young" into
It is basically 2 106s with cross mod.
The keyboard is good...too bad about the aftertouch glitch...requiring you to practically break the keys to get effect.
the jx8p was the the 2nd synth i bought it was fast to learn it's ways i love the the awsome subbass i made.. i streached the factory tom did a some tweeging and insTANTLY the drum and bass/ bass EEEEEEEYYYYACHACH!!YAWOOOO!
This synth makes the best video game audio patches. If you want to make great electronic music then this is the one. It is so easy to create sounds that a 4 year old could do it. I love it. I rate it 6 out of 5. : )
jx-8p,juno2,juno106: 3 famous and great DCO based synths with different prices.106 is the most expensive,juno2 the medium and jx8p the lowest. Do you want to know the order in quality? jx8p the first, juno2 the second, juno106 the third. Yes, the only bonus of the 106 are the sliders but it's very limitate in sound generating power. Juno2 has a very personal "sound" jx8p is the more powerful and versatil
An alpha juno better than a 106, you're from another planet me thinks.
The JX-8P isn't the most versatile synth, but it is capable of extremely lucious pads and some great leads.
Anyone who judges the JX-8P on its presets is missing the point. Get the programmer and get to work! DCOs can be synced or crossmodulated. Astonishing rich timbres from a 2 osc unit. Not built for the long haul. Plastic endblocks are large and unsupported by the wooden baseboard where the circuits live. Aftertouch dies quickly on abused units because a drooping endblock severs the wiring for aftertouch that runs right to left under the keys. Endblocks get droopy because the controllers (volume, edit, PB, Mod) are mounted in it.
A synth for someone looking for more programmability than a single oscillator synth.
I use it mainly for house-pads and MiniMoog-esque leads.
I cant help but to notice that on the review displayed on the jx8p page, it says there isnt pulse width modulation, boy are you wrong. the jx3p has pulse width modulation and the 8p pretty much has everything the 3p has INCLUDING pwm (see programming tips).
However, I created a Studioware panel for Cakewalk that controls most of its parameters.
the detuned unison drop octave has to be heard to be believed.
it is even possible to badly overdrive the VCA with careful filter tweaking, resulting in some truly sick distortion, if that's your thing. Prone to key sticking (quickly fixed by cleaning the key contacts w/ a Q-Tip and isopropyl alcohol)
If your looking for realism your looking in the wrong place. This machine is for the creative, the imaginative, and the ambitious. Get into it. Its huge, but oh well, people complain about Huge synths, but not about Huge SUV's (boggles me sometimes) Its all good.
The Pg-800 editor is very nice, but a Kenton editor probably makes more sense, as it can edit the JX8p, plus a whole host of other knobless analog and digital synths.