From map@june.cs.washington.edu Wed Dec 21 16:43:53 1994
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 1994 16:23:02 -0800 (PST)
From: Mike Perkowitz <map@june.cs.washington.edu>
To: Eric I Toppenberg <ericloga@halcyon.com>
Subject: Re: Wavestation A/D v. JV1080


> I found an A/D (new one believe it or not) for the same price as a new 
> 1080.  Aside from the obvious advantages to the 1080 (in my case, 64 
> voice polyphony and expandability), which do you think is the more 
> powerful synth engine?  Strike that.  Dumb question.  You own an A/D for 
> a reason.  I know you haven't heard the 1080 as there aren't any in 
> Washington yet, but any opinions?

okay well.. all i really know about the 1080 is that it is sort of a 
superset of the JD line and the JV line. JD to me means "programmable 
synth, cool" and JV means "sample playback, uncool". i dont know which of 
those the 1080 is closer to.

i like the JDs a lot, though i havent had much chance to play with them. 
they've got nice filters, seem to be designed for programmers, and all 
the benefits of modern synths (polyphony, midi, samples if ya want em). 
on the other hand, when it comes right down to it, they are built in the 
same old Oscillator->Filter->Amplifier + LFO + ENV paradigm. it's a fine 
paradigm, but if i'm going to spend $1000 on a synth of that type, i 
expect it to be the end-all and be-all of that architecture. and to look 
at the JD-800's front panel, it isnt. its modulation possibilities, for 
example, dont seem that much more extensive than, say, an MKS-80, and 
probably less than an Xpander/Matrix12 and even less than a Matrix6. 

at the same time, i was thinking it was time to play with something 
different.. i have some quite good examples of the classical architecture 
and i should pursue something different.. it's time to stop making songs 
that rely 90% on a filter sweep. ;)  so i chose the wavestation because 
it was new and unique and deep.

now, in spite of that, the JDs are still on my wishlist. perhaps i'll 
come into a lot of money, and the 990 prices will drop because of the 
1080. what's more, i still might say that, if you had to have one synth 
to make songs with, a 1080 might serve you better than a wavestation. on 
the other hand, if you like to program and want to diddle, a wavestation 
would probably keep you happy for a long time.

finally, 1080s will be around for plenty of time. A/Ds are cult items 
eagerly sought after.. if you get the A/D and find yourself unsatisfied, 
you can certainly make your investment back and go get a 1080. the 
reverse probably isnt true.

m

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Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself:
"Mankind".  Basically, it's made up of two separate words---"mank" and "ind".
What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.
			        -- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey

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   map@cs.washington.edu      http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/map/
      mike perkowitz              ftp://cs.washington.edu/pub/map