Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 17:54:52 -0800 (PST) From: Tom Moravansky To: analogue heaven Subject: Re: Justifiably expensive... > Now for the circular file...the ones that leave me scratching my > head... > The Roland Jupiter-8. Now, here's a synth that's not as complex as > a later unit...the Jupiter-6. It doesn't always have the capability to be > used with MIDI, it doesn't have some of the strange programming > capabilities of the JP-6. Oh, it has a better arpeggiator, true...but do > you buy a synth on the strength of the arpeggiator alone? My take: buy a > JP-6, lose yourself in the multimode filter and the wild world of crossmod > craziness, and enjoy the (albeit rudimentary) MIDI. And save a few hundred > smoleums. The Jupiter-8 (along with the PPG and Synthex) is the top synth in my book. I must admit I have a slight bias against rack units that require a programmer or PC editor and also against anything that's mainly based around on-board menus in a small window. Depending on the day, any one of these three are my favorite. The Synthex tends to place 3rd just because of the sliders/joystick versus the wheels (PPG) or button/sliders/paddle (Roland). However, each of these machines can literally stun me with what comes out of them. There's been times where I'm just shaking my head in amazement. For me, the Jupiter-6 is a nice synth that seems to be better at harder, weird sounds than thick swirling pads or gorgeous leads. I've backed up my choices with hard cash - 3 JP-8s, 2 Synthexes, 3 PPGs + Waveterm B and never regretted spending what was needed to get them. There's just something about the JP-8 that does it for me. It's hard to describe, but there are times when I hear it and think it's the most perfect synth sound in the world. -- ___________________________________________________________ Tom Moravansky tmoravan@netcom.com