So is this your new shtick, now that you've run out of walls of words to write about the JD-XA in threads that have nothing to do with the JD-XA? Should we expect future tomes sent from on high about the (New) One True Synth -- the Rev2 -- in places where no one was asking about it? Is this your penance for years of DSI-bashing? Is every thread now fertile ground for you to proselytize your new flavor of the year?

Joy.

system-8 is a VA. and it absolutely NAILS that. and it isn't VA for VA's sake... here it brings multiple, tangible benefits. put down the crack pipe son.

yet another purist creaming over 'real' analogue

rev2 is boring when compared to the S8... and i'm willing to bet it doesn't even sound as good. put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Fully agree. The things the System-8 does it does very well. I've got mine sitting next to a Juno-6, MKS-50, MKS-70, SH-2 and Jupiter-4 and I can tell you that it really nails the vintage Roland sound and programming experience. Is it plasticky, using a wall-wart power supply, and ugly to look at with the green lights on? Yes. Does it sound amazing? Absolutely.

My only real gripe is that Roland haven't delivered any new polyphonic plug-outs for it (specifically the JX-3P) or feature updates/new patches. People should really get over the VA vs. real analog thing. It's about whether or not you can bond with an instrument and program sounds you like, and I've made tons of great patches on my System-8.

Prophet 08 never gelled with
Rev 2 its a stunner

Rev2 sounds like Prophet 08

Thing is they flooded their own market so quickly first with all the Aira gear, then the JDXA, then the boutiques, punters didn't know which way to turn, some people can only afford one or two bits of gear a year, Roland seemed to have shot themselves in the foot by releasing so many things so close together, if the system 8 had of had the stage just to it's self for a year or more then perhaps it's sales would be much more significant.. too many choices nowadays.

You nailed it. I owned both the JDXA and S8. Had real affection for them both. The JDXA had some great moments and the S8 is simply wonderful.

So you sold your System-8? Why?

Especially if the System-8 would be available in a more transportable package as well (if they hadn't done all those modules already it probably may have been a no brainer for them as they surely don't want to give that full market away to the competition) and therefor the platform also could be used in a broader variety of applications.

I really wish there was a module. But I understand that I'm part of the minority here (of those in the market for an eight voice module) and of course they don't have to deliver it just for me.

I'm with those who see the benefits of VA. But for me personally one of the main benefits is that you can put eight or more voices into a leightweight and relatively small package. Of course that's not a main concern for everyone but for me it is. And (as long as roland stays in business) I'm quite sure that at one point we might see a VA module with at least eight voices from Roland again. Until then I am happy for every progress Roland makes with modelling synths but easily find a reason to resist from G.A.S.

Not sold. My dad has it as a favour. The System 8 is a great synth.

In my research of the System 8 I read this post on the Vintage Synth forum:

Digital synsations is nice, but its just sampled presets, and everything has the same generic digital filter and envelopes instead of the filters and envelopes of the actual units... that and you're tweaking a preset you can't actually make new sounds from the unit's synth engine, and the presets aren't the ones these units are known for... (I'm specifically referring to the VFX as I have wanted an accurate VFX plugin for years)."

I'd welcome some thoughts as I'm a singer-guitarist first, but I have for years written and recorded my piano/synth stuff, and my understanding of inner workings, polyphony, etc is very limited.

You can't install a UVI plugin on the System-8, only Roland plugouts work

Exactly. The true test of keeper synth for me is how I feel about it when its no longer the flagship synth.....when the System-16 (or whatever new flagship) is released , will people feel the same way about the S-8, or will it become a ghost noone talks about any more, like the System-1? Will you still love it when its 2, 3 generations old?

Some VA's stand the test of time, I'm not sure if these Roland Airas will though, based on how easily the System-1 was forgotten. Especially since Roland are determined to tether plugout synths to the Roland Cloud subscription.

as long as this plays a near spot on 106 without the maintenance of a 106, Ill be happy

I think when there will be a System-16 (being an updated/better version of the System-8) people will upgrade to the S-16 and "forget" the S-8. Like what happened to the S-1.
But I doubt they will do this.
If they release a totally new synth, not based on the S-8, the S-8 will remain. And might even become a classic.
They might even release a new plug-out synth, but with the LA structure like the D-50/JD-800, so it still is a totally different synth.

Especially the System 1m is really great and at this point there's no other similar product on the market. It makes me want a System 100/100m/700 emulation with sequencer and more Eurorack patch points but that ain't gonna happen

Yeah, you'd hope for better, but all we have to go on is the upgrade from the S1 to the S8. Based on that, I want to see what happens next - is the next flagship going to have more useful polyphony and bunch more features as well as all the S8 features; is it going to be ` Cloud subscription only' plugout synth?

One possibility is the S8 will be the last of this line where you could download plug-outs from the content store. That would be a real advantage long term. I just want to wait and see. 8 note poly bugged me on the JP8000, I prefer a bit a bit more personally. I know others differ.

It would be an interesting move, but I wouldn't hold my breath considering there's still so much more that can still be done with the current System 8 (plug-outs, patch management/ library/ editor, etc.) that Roland has chosen not to invest in, leads me to believe that they've not been overwhelmed with the System 8's success to the point that they'd invest R&D in a System 16.

It's kind of how Roland is - They're likely to leave the S8 and XA in their current "flagship" catalog of offerings until they either hit expected sales numbers or bail completely.

As always, I'm being a cynic, but it's just my hunch given Roland's prior history. Given the S8 is one of their 2 tops synths and only a year old, they wouldn't push out a S16 anytime soon. It will likely live on life support for the next couple of years at least while they figure out whether or not to continue the plug out/ cloud experiment.

Just my $.02.

Greg

it wouldn't be surprising to see a System-8m at Namm with an MKS-80 model, after all CEM3040 has been modeled, IR3109 in various circuits too.

But i find it more interesting to see if the D-05 will see a release as a System-8 model. Not so sure about that.

Possibly (since it would be inexpensive for them to release), but the whole selling point of the S8 is in its performance-oriented interface. Strip that away and sell the System 8M for significantly less would almost guarantee that the System 8 would be of no interest to any potential customer that has a decent programmable controller (I know that most of us do).

If anything the 8M would have to offer quite a bit more than the System 8 to justify it at a realistic price that wouldn't undercut S8 sales (example - more polyphony, massive patch storage, free lifetime cloud membership, perhaps a digital engine or an analog hybrid, etc.).

I'd dump my System 8 for a product like that if it came at a decent price and then I'd simply leverage one of my controllers that could achieve KBF control.

Greg

Hello peeps, I'm hoping someone can help me out with the following issue:

In the system 100 plugout, there's this odd behaviour regarding the triggering of the filter envelope. When the filter release is kindof long, the filter env doesn' retrigger when you play quick notes. In fact, the longer you make the release, the longer it takes for the envelope to retrigger. So let's say you're playing quickly repeating notes, and you lengthen the filter release time, you get a couple of notes without the filter envelope being reset to the starting point. Instead it plays legato notes for some time, and this time depends on the release time, apparently.

There seems to be a workaround where you connect the filter adsr in to the vcs adsr out, but that leaves you with just 1 envelope effectively

Is this true system 100 behaviour? Or is it a bug? What's going on?

If they release a Juno 6/60 plug out I will putting it in the Jupiter 8's spot on mine.. not sure how I'd get the jupiter 8 back or if it's possible, but i'd love to have the entire Juno range in one machine. I'm sure you guys have discussed this till your blue in the face, the removing the Jupiter 8 plug out etc..I haven't really kept up with the entire thread..

Easy and you have 2 options: 1- Save a system backup that includes it and reload or 2 - A factory reset to version 1.12

Not a problem.

Greg

i don't think the S8 has a shelf life really, or will be forgotten once the next big thing comes along... spot on emulations of the jupiter 8 and juno 106, plus the system-8 engine? people are still clamouring to use these old synths 30 years on. the only way i'd upgrade to a system-16 was if it was 100% backwards compatible with the S8 patches (not sure if that would hinder it though) and tbh i don't need or want another octave, which such a synth would surely have. i'm sure it would have AT though...

poly 2 mode. WTF is that? can't find it in the manual/reference. such crap documentation from roland. but found this in a review, and tbh still don't understand it:

Poly 2 assigns the same voices from one chord to the next, meaning that glide will assume the same note formation, as it moves accordingly. Nice touch.

can anyone break it down for a dummy?

Somehow it's gonna have a shelf life I guess... It's not even class compliant so its USB connectivity to computers depends on a driver.

And I wouldn't go as far and call the Jupiter-8 emulation "spot on", it's nice but definitely not "spot on"

any two random jupiter 8's aren't going to sound identical. so the anal retentiveness around the emulations sounding identical (to what?) is a little pointless. i fail to see how it could sound any "better". and the lack of USB doesn't seem to have harmed the jupiter/juno shelf lives. windows 10 will outlast any plug-out support for the S8 from roland. it's a non-issue. i'm still using minidisc netMD thingy with XP drivers (on windows 10)

I didn't say anything about "sounding identical". All I said is that there's still some room for improvement with the Jupiter 8 emulation. More than there was with some other of their models which already were improved in the meantime. It's good on its own but not exactly a perfect Jupiter-8 emulation IMO.

Strange SOS had an S8 and a Jupiter 8 side by side (accepting difference in older Jupiters) “ I was able to replicate the Jupiter with a high degree of accuracy”. “The 106 almost sounded indistinguishable from the real 106”. So each to there own but I see no reason why a serious gear mag would make such claims, no flame war intended..

I think the J8 plug is thecweakest of the three in the flesh. ive compared it to Arturias "ancient" plug and its only a little more detailed. Maybe on its own it sound good in the boutique unit, but compared to the 106 its not as impressive imho, Id happily lose it for another Juno plug

Not only that I think I saw some youtube videos comparing as well...but I have an FA and Ive seen the supernatural engine compared .to the real J8 and it was very close, Im thinking I prefer the Juno sound....which is lucky because I was going to sell my wifes car to buy one....strange because I cant imagine being anything but blown away if I played one in the flesh

in the real world the emulation is essentially perfect. that will do me... especially considering the alternatives! the system-8 could last a life time i'm sure - and it has plenty of scope to be updated if roland has the inclination. something as simple as being able to use the SBF filters on the jupiter and juno plug-outs would immediately expand the synth many times over for me. and those endless variation encoders are future-proof.