The last and best Jupiter synthesiser

So, little story time and very long comment, ever since i got into Roland synths (thank you Charlie Puth) I wanted a Jupiter 8. They're going for quite the fortune, around 20'000€ up to 40'000€, and the prices are going up without any sign of stabilisation. I watch a video by Alex Ball about the synth, and I think to myself, "hah ! This synth definetly has its character, it's cool, but I still prefer the 8". It's true, it has 8 voices, dual mode, and it's reviered for its warmth, that cold coloured copycat couldn't possibly beat the JP-8 (see the alliteration there ? Im smart hehe), but it can do some bits and things the JP-8 can't, it's a classic synth, no special features. But wow, this band pass and hi pass filter complete with modulation capabilites and resonance is really a nice option, too bad it isn't on the JP-8... Then i research a bit more into the JP-6, the "emo little brother" of the JP-8, and I realise they're similar, yes, but the 6 is not a scaled down version of the 8. The JP-6 has its die-hard fans who will angrily, with fervour, defend the violet tinted keyboard against the people who think it sounds bad. While I agreed with them, I thought "hah ! I'll NEVER be this type of person though, Jupiter 8 is still the king". And at this point of the story, I propose I point out the differences between the two synths :

The JP-8 uses Roland's own VCO ICs which had some issues and were not cheap to make as their engineers designed the ICs without prior knowledge of how to make one. As a cost cutting measure, the JP-6 uses the same ICs as the Prophet-5, giving you the possibility to mix vaweforms on a single VCO on the JP-6, which is the reason why there are so many cyberpunk-looking LED buttons on the front panel instead of flickable switches and knobs of the JP-8. So now, a sound that would have required the Dual mode of the JP-8 if you wanted a sawtooth, PWM and noise, using 3 oscillators per voice, would now be achieveable with ONE oscillator. Both have Roland's famous and well behaved IR3109 VCF ICs, but they were implemented in series in the JP-8 which resulted in a normal sounding filter, switchable between 2-pole and 4-pole, with a separate HPF that's only used for EQing the bass, whereas the multimode filter design of the JP-6 forced the circuit designers to implement the ICs in a funky way (again, they didn't really know how to actually implement a multimode filter and came up with their own way), and basically the filter is now more "wild" and the resonance will give the filter a slightly more grimm sound. But people like it, so much that there are eurorack versions of the filter for modular synths. Haven't seen a eurorack version of the JP-8 filter. Another problem with the JP-8 is that the enveloppes and LFOs where voltage controlled, which means they were prone to detuning. Normally that's great, it's what warmens the sound, to have slightly off enveloppes and a very slightly drifting LFO, the problem is, this could get quite extreme, to the point where even with the "auto-tune" option, the LFO that was advertised to go as far as 40Hz would no longer get near that frequency, and the enveloppes would sound distinctly different if you waited long enough. That was rare but Roland recieved complaints (for a 3'000$ synth, that's understandable !) and the JP-6 now features digitally controlled enveloppes and LFOs, while keeping the most important features voltage controlled. BUT, the LFO now goes to 100Hz, that's incredible ! Rarely seen in analog synths ! The cross-mod has a more linear behavior on the JP-6 which makes it more useful, but it goes farther that the JP-8 and it's more difficult to find really musical spots. It can be modulated by enveloppe 1 on the JP-6 and stays stationnary on the JP-8. That's useful too ! I don't know why that wasn't a feature on the JP-8, and being an owner of the TAL J-8 VST, i thought it had the option.The arppegiator doesn't feature a random mode on the JP-6 (sad...) the Dual key mode is no longer present (that would reduce the polyphony to 3 voices !) which is really a bummer if you use the synth on stage, but with some planning and an idea of where you want to go, that's not a problem in the studio. Also note that VCO-2 on the JP-6 has a high frequency mode, and while that doesn't sound very special, you can get very convincing glockenspiel, vibraphone, marimba, xylophone, organ, clavichord, EPs sounds with this. Some minor improvements is that on the JP-6 portamenti and glissandi can be assigned to the lower, upper, or both panels, as well as arpeggii, whereas on the JP-8, only the lower panel was arpeggio capable and the upper panel only could have portamento/glissando. And, you can start an arppegio sequence from the top if you click the DOWN button first in UP&DOWN mode. What else... Ah ! Yes, the JP-6 doesn't have a sine wave, only LFO-2 is capable of generating one, but VCO-1 is capable of being tuned by half-steps like VCO-2 instead of only by octave like the JP-8. This helps with the cross-mod, as your key will change when you modulate that parameter. I found out later that having a triangle LFO is much much more useful, you won't hear "plateaux" when doing PMW or pitch mod as the voltage stays constantly moving up or down, it sound better and more natural. And to finish, the JP-8 has stereo output, DCB (early MIDI but just for Roland products. Yes you can adapt DCB into MIDI), the JP-6 has very basic MIDI, but MONO OUTPUT !

I hope you can see by this long paragraph the improvements brought by the JP-6 to the Jupiter series, that really should make for a well-rounded synth ! Now, I'm one of them. Oh NO, the die-hard JP-6 fans !!! This synth IS better, at least in terms of capabilities, but how is the sound ? It's time I tell you, I may have done a little crazy thing... I bought it. I have it. It's sitting 3m away from me, covered because i don't want the buttons to yellow-out with time cause of UVs. The knobs are still grey, that's rare, look at the state of their tint in some cases !

Immediately, as I boot it up, I have the TAL J-8 VST on Cubase next to it (it's a VST done by a single guy in switzerland who has a JP-8 and wished to release a perfect recreation of that synth, you bet it's close sounding) and I start to compare the basic waveforms using an oscilloscope and an EQ to visualise the frequency peaks. No difference. The raw waves don't sound any colder, although they sound sharper on the JP-6 because the filter goes farther up, but you get the EXACT same result if you switch the JP-8 filter to 12dB mode. Now, the resonance is wild on the JP-6 ! Keep it low cause if you crank it all the way up, you ALMOST get self-oscillation. It distorts the sound in a lovely space-sounding way, and it's really an idea-sparker. The band pass and hi pass options are fantastic as well, you can get sweeps and sharp or hollow tones, you can really PLAY with the harmonics, that's the term, you PLAY with them until you like what you hear and you continue to sculpt the sound. The resonance does sharpen the sound and you'll lose a bit more hi bass than the JP-8, but you know what you can do to fatten the sound ? You add a triangle ! The option's there, use it ! The Jupiter X has an option to use a Juno 106 sawtooth instead of the JP-8 one, being more bassy, well shame on it ! Its ancestor had that feature 40 years ago ! I seriosuly got fatter and rounder tones with the JP-6 than the JP-8. And you know what ? It doesn't stop there. Unison. You get unison detune ! If you detune VCO-1 and VCO-2 enough, and THEN use the unison detune button enough too, oooh mama mia 3 voices supersaw here it is ! If you want a more convincing supersaw, add noise ! It will already be at a pretty low level, being mixed with a sawtooth and then mixed again with the other sawtooth of VCO-1, maybe even with the triangle waves if you decide to bring them out, and you'll get the "tsssssss" glue that holds the 4 saws together. That's why as the JP-8 is rooted in synthpop culture, the JP-6 is also rooted in rave, trance or techno culture. Wild resonance, supersaws, you can see why. So it's fantastic at doing what the JP-8 does, and can go farther in every domain. Think about it, the JP-6 came AFTER the JP-8, why would Roland release a worse synth if they want people to buy it ? My final argument would be that yes, the Jupiter-6 can sound cold. If you want it too. And it can sound very very lush and warm like a Juno (without chorus obviously although in some cases it doesn't need one). Actually you can make it sound very dated, like think Jupiter-4 stuff, 70's sounds, or, very contemporary and suitable for modern production. It's incredibly flexible. But cold sounds are as useful and warm ones, because while alone a Prophet-5 might sound fatter, the difference becomes trivial in a complete mix, and the Jupiter line, especially the 6, are master at knowing their place in a mix. If you only use bassy fat sounds your song will sound like you play it through beats headphones every time (mushy bass, no top end) so my long comment is also targeted at the dum-dums who only swear by fatness.

Okay so, if it's better then, why was it so unpopular and quickly forgotten by the synth community and keyboard players, even Roland themselves don't mention it anywhere on their site! The Jupiter-4 has got more coverage, it's got its own emulation on Roland Cloud ! Well to answer the first part, as I said it's very similar, 90% of the sounds you can make with a JP-8 you can also get on the JP-6, and they will sound the same, even with resonance (you'll just need to turn it down a bit on the JP-6). So in people's mind, where only polyphony counted at the time, the JP-6 was seen as the little brother. Then, more affordable options came to the market, and FM synthesis, and the Junos, and the JX-3P, it was burried by competition, it came too late, to the point where it had become a niche object by the late 1980's, only renowned EDM producers owned one. Even today, it's a collection keyboard. Most of them are in studios or EDM producers's homes. To answer the second part, is the JP-6 well-known ? Does it have a reputation, does it have rainbow buttons (i prefer the JP-6 colour scheme and design, but whatever)? Does it sell ??? Of course not, so who would buy a Jupiter 6 emulation ? The only reason the Jupiter and Juno X exist is because people know these synths, the sounds they made are recognisable and sought after, to the point where demand arose, and supply was brought.

In the end, what's the lesson here ? Well, firstly, reputation makes or breaks a synth, and lastly, it's a great space-sounding synth, especially with resonance. Make a sound with the JP6, it will take it beyond the exosphere. It shouldn't be seen as just a budget jupiter 8, but rather a improvement both in features and price of the jupiter series. You can listen to it in a demo i made not one day after recieving it, meanwhile i've got an album planned using only this synth as it covers every ground as far as music goes, even DX7 sounding stuff : https://soundcloud.com/mohafu/jupiter-6-demo?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

The Dennis Rodman of 80s Polysynths

This video nails the basic timbre and scope of mine.

Either you like these sounds, or you don't.

Mine is due for a recalibration and some repairs, but even in its weakened state, it still sounds like this video all day.

Play a JP6, then immediately try an Sh-101 (for example), and for a moment you'll wonder why 101s were ever known for their bass sounds... the JP6 is a big, angry synth, even when it's trying to sound polite.

People see the "Jupiter" name, and (reasonably) expect the Michael Jordan of Japanese polysynths... but I find the JP6 to be more Dennis Rodman: an imposing role player that isn't afraid to get under everyone's skin.

Beautifully brittle sounding synth

If you're used to 'warmer' sounding vintage polys/monos then this one takes a bit of getting used to. Stop trying to think of it in similar terms to, say, a Prophet 5 or a Juno 6... as it wont help you. Instead think of it as a totally different manufacturer, let alone synth category.

Truly gritty/harsh sounds can be had out of this thing due to the LFO rates and other tweaks. Plus it has that rare, synth ability to think youve actually killed its internal chips with your knob-twiddling. Scary fun.

I hated it at first, then fell in love. So much that I even own an MKS-80 also.

The secret to early progressive house

Much like the Jupiter 8's Ive had I've also had half a dozen different Jupiter 6's over the past 20 years, i buy keyboards use them and sell them on so i don't have them gathering dust or get bored with them, but i always end up re-buying a JP6 at some point. The JP-6 is a superb synth and while its touted as the JP8s small brother.. its really not, its much much more. It holds its own against the mighty JP8 and sounds totally different for a starter. It has free wheeling pitch to its oscillators so intervals can be set, and it has a multimode filter, HPF, BPF and LPF 12db and 24db all resonant. I used this more than any other analog synth on my Automatic Records releases in the early 2000's, and the baseline on "can't stand the pain" is pure JP6.

Not worth the $ they go for now.

It sounds pretty ok. It's not worth the price they go for, I got mine for around $500 in the early 2000s. Sold it in a studio purge and now they are so overpriced it's stupid.

It has ok tone, Nord is just as good. It has some modulation capibilities that is interesting. It sounded pretty ok in unison. Not the bestest of the best Roland.

More than a scaled down version of the JP-8

I love my Jupiter-6. The Europa upgrade is a must if you want to fully unleash this analog beast's full potential. It gives you expanded routing, modulation, and arpeggiation capabilities, in addition to significantly improving upon the otherwise basic MIDI implementation.

One of the greatest synth ever made.

I own the Jupiter 6 since middle 80's. Its analog, it has preset storing, its polyphonic and it has a special cross modulation which make the synth sound rich and warm. Used this one for the main melody on Exit EEE "Epidemic", waaaay back in the early 90's. This "Epidemic" sound was tried to be reproduced by other artist and other synth with no luck. The filter/reso of the Jupiter 6 is very unique.

The most flexible Jupiter.

Pretty similar to other polysynths of this time period but still very good. What it loses a bit in sound quality compared to the other Jupiters it makes up for in interface and programming potential (multimode filter in a Jupiter is a huge plus). Don't go into it thinking you're going to get some massive-sounding 70's poly. Think more along the lines of a Drexciya or an eary D-Train track.

Its pure polyphonic analog heaven.

Roland Jupiter-6

Roland Jupiter-6 just needs no words i think we should do a moment of silence for the Roland Jupiter-6 ahhaa