Musikmesse 6th April

[RKfan]

Korg team this is mission control:

RichF - new pacman joke tested and ready to go! - Check
Rudess - got those fingers up to 480 notes per second - Check
KayS - can you come down from the Yamaha stand please you're supposed to be firing up the Challenger Tribute - Check
European Sales and Marketing - ready for Musikmesse launch?

....
......

...... Crackle..... Hiss....


Hello this is Frankfurt where are the pilots, still back at base?


...... Crackle .....

What, what's this - they're on their way!!....

OK count resumed 17 hours, 20 minutes till launch....

[RKfan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPK2SozFgJk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOdk44YmFJQ

[RKfan]

My German is not great - but I thought I understood - release is September and it will cost about €3,000

The coloured buttons are for different instrument types.

Four sounds can be layered

Touch screen

Did not mention what the buttons underneath the keyboard are for.

I hope the other demos are better because on the basis of these vids - I don't want one...

So where do I order a Kronos...

[sodapop]

worst demo i ever heard

[jimknopf]

It has become more clear what they have put into that box.

It seems to be essentially a SH01/Gaia as VA (confirmed by the Roland Clan moderator who programmed some presets) along with (in part?) "supernatural" enhanced sampling sounds. Perhaps also their B3 clone?

All that in a keyboard neither sounding remotely as good as a Jupiter 8 nor allowing direct sound shaping like one of these, instead rather delivering fancy colours.

The real dealbreakers are what they seem to call a "live/performance keyboard" and price:
- how can a keyboard with just 4 sliders and 4 knobs (and some ugly colour buttons at the front where you will hardly want to push them during play) ever suit a musician who wants some (any!) advanced live control???
- and how can a VA sounding as mediocre as the Gaia mixed with some advanced ROMpler sounds, "supernatural or not", be the heart of a 3000€ keyboard without sufficient live control and without any sequencing functionality???

I had thought, that after having completely blown the Fantom G development opportunity, followed by things like all the cheap Junos and the V-Combo, that we had already seen the low end in Roland keyboard history. But it seems they are well capable of even sinking lower.

I begin to feel pity instead of anger (about my Fantom G misinvestment) and wish them a significantly more intelligent management, bringing them back on track to keep the competition alive, and REALLY become able to amaze musicians again, like in Juno 6 and Jupiter 8 times.

Expensive toys like the "Jupiter 80" (how pathetic!), which will be joked about in no time even by good willing musicians using Roland gear, are hardly the way to go, are they?

[Citizen Klaus]

worst demo i ever heard

That's definately some nasty recording quality on the DI bits.

[NuSkoolTone]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPK2SozFgJk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOdk44YmFJQ

I'll reserve my full impressions for better quality demos and more information, but that did NOT look impressive! Almost kind of a joke where I feel embarrassed FOR Roland given that they pulled out the Jupiter name for this.

Let's hope the rumored price is WAY off and they have some good videos prepared or this is going to be dead in the water before it even ships!

[sparkie]

Wow I hope that guy in the youtube video doesnt work for Roland? If that is a product demo then Roland needs new employees!

[RKfan]

Here are the specs.

http://www.rolandus.com/products/produc ... arentId=83

[jimknopf]

No, the guy is not from Roland.

It's just a kind of "sound news" guy from a German company, and he had probably never kaid his hands on a "Jupiter 80" before. He was luky to be allowed a preview one day before Musikmesse.

Now that the specs are out:
yes, there is a B3 clone on board. You will have to operate it with a maximum of four sliders

And none of the "supernatural" sounds is demoed in some depth so far.
I would have thought that they would focus on them and on articulation stuff, looking at the medicre Gaia VA synth in the keyboard, which certainly doesn't impress too much.

[RKfan]

Well - that's more like it...

Howard Jones demoning the Jupiter 80.

http://www.sonicstate.com/news/2011/04/ ... upiter-80/

[Rosen Sound]

Well - that's more like it...

Howard Jones demoning the Jupiter 80.

http://www.sonicstate.com/news/2011/04/ ... upiter-80/

Well, im impressed! sounds pretty good!
Roland on competing with Kronos -1
Roland making a good sounding synth +1

[kimu]

but which sound engines are inside the Jupiter80?

it's not clear to me... some SuperNatural expansion (ROM-based), clonewheel organ model too?
V-synth engine with AP synthesis?

[jimknopf]

The VA is no V-Synth. It's a 3 Osc SH01/Gaia. My first impression is that some of the synth sounds still don't come from the Gaia, but are sampled classical sounds, mixed into the presets. Just an impression: I could be wrong.

Anyway, I would NEVER want to use a synth with such a lousy control surface plus some idiotic preset knobs down at the bottom.

Concerning sounds: Some of the preset sounds aren't bad (especially some warm pads and 80s power style sounds). But I'm no fan of muddy massive layering, and prefer defined, clear sounds and soundscapes.

So to me this synth is no temptation at all. Concerning VA sounds it offers nothing I couldn't get equally good or better from my synths (Acess TI and Moogs). And concerning live control, it is a desaster compared to these.

[EnjoyRC]

Well - that's more like it...

Howard Jones demoning the Jupiter 80.

http://www.sonicstate.com/news/2011/04/ ... upiter-80/

Nice demo of the Jupiter-80... didn't know Howard was still around.