Roland Jupiter 6 - Page 23

TMTD · 17th April 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by mima85 ➡️

Oooooh look at that, deliciousssss

Thanks for posting the photo, altough I believed you since your first post

As far as you know, there are provisions with the special firmware to put the synth in dual/stack mode like the Jupiter 8? Maybe with things like pressing the SPLIT-1 and SPLIT-2 buttons at the same time? Just out of curiosity.

Years ago I already modded my Jupiter 6 to correct the resonance behaviour (I talked about that in this thread of mine) and I later added separate audio output for the voice boards. I'm actually already able to do stereo dual patches, albeit only with 2 voices of polyphony and with the aid of an external MIDI keyboard. If the special firmware would make possible to do that just by the synth itself, without the need of external aids, that would be the icing on the cake. But if not that's not a problem, actually having a Jupiter 6 capable of playing 8 voices of polyphony is already a big thing per se.

And if a copy of your firmware will hit the interwebs in the weeks to come, I think that my 6 will be able to do that within this year

Also now that I think about it. I think we did try hitting both splits when trying to load factory patches back in and were having some issues. I’m pretty sure that did nothing actually. Granted I wasn’t look for a layer function at the time. We’ll see.

Also the more I think about it I should prob dump my Europa 6 since I already have an MKS-80 as well. No point in having all 3

mima85 · 18th April 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMTD ➡️

Would love to do that with my Europa one. I thought about doing it with this 6.8 but I’m thinking it should probably be preserved as is. Not sure. Im definitely not doing any Europa / tubbutec type mods on it for sure.

Consider that, with the exception of two additional holes on the back panel, the separate outputs mod is totally reversible and doesn't disable the regular monoaural output, nor its volume control. It just adds the feature by tapping into the voice cards' audio output. A Jupiter 6ex ("ex" stands for "expanded", that's how I like to call an 8-voices Jupiter 6) would totally deserve such mod, as with the help of an external MIDI controller it can do proper layering.

Regarding the two holes, if you do them carefully and neatly, it'll look as done by factory. But I can understand that you want to preserve such a unique piece in its original status.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMTD ➡️

I can confirm 4-4 split works. And I believe there is a 2-6 split. I didn’t try selecting both for layering but I will when I get a second. Leaving town tomorrow for some meetings but will try tonight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMTD ➡️

Also now that I think about it. I think we did try hitting both splits when trying to load factory patches back in and were having some issues. I’m pretty sure that did nothing actually. Granted I wasn’t look for a layer function at the time. We’ll see.

Thank you.

infindebula · 20th April 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuldLangSine ➡️

Hopefully, I'm on the path to becoming a Roland Preferred Client (RPC).

What exactly am I supposed to be doing in order to achieve this?

What does this involve?

How long is the process?

If achieved, is this something that needs to be renewed annually?

AFAIK you need to prove ownership of three "Boutique" instruments, as well as an EF-303 and any product with a D-Beam. Then you're golden, but the Jupiter-6.8 will stop working if you allow your Roland Cloud subscription to lapse.

mima85 · 20th April 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by infindebula ➡️

AFAIK you need to prove ownership of three "Boutique" instruments, as well as an EF-303 and any product with a D-Beam. Then you're golden, but the Jupiter-6.8 will stop working if you allow your Roland Cloud subscription to lapse.

Deleted 55774e1 · 20th April 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuldLangSine ➡️

How long is the process?

If achieved, is this something that needs to be renewed annually?

i read once that it takes thirteen years to achieve Zen.

mima85 · 20th April 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuldLangSine ➡️

Well, it took almost 40 years to confirm that a JP-6 can have a few more voices. So another 13, 25 or 40 years should be manageable.

Actually, that was already known. Given that you populate the empty spots on the 2-voices board or replace it with a 4-voices one, technically the Jupiter 6 has all the hardware provisions to manage 8 voices of polyphony. It's not like with most other 6-voices synths, where all the voice circuitry is on a single board designed to carry just those 6 voices, thus giving no possibility of expansion.

The thing is that you have to write the firmware to manage them. It can be done but it's difficult, time consuming and requires very specific knowledge. No one with the right skills wanted to invest time in doing that, probably also because before these last years, the Jupiter 6 was generally considered the bad guy in the family and because of that not so worth of interest, with all the eyes and the praises being for the 8.

mima85 · 23rd April 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuldLangSine ➡️

If the eprom can be copied, how hard is it is to clone the voice boards?

As all the schematics and board layouts are available in the service manual, which is easy to be found on the Internet, it shouldn't be harder than all the other synthesizer voice boards that were cloned in the last years.

It's not an easy task of course, it requires a lot of patience and a good bit of knowledge in the electronic field to do that, so it's not a job for everyone. But it can be done, those boards are way less complex than today's ones, which have multiple layers and are a lot more dense.

But for the objective of turning a Jupiter 6 an 8-voices machine, it's for sure easier to just take the 2-voices board that's already in the synth, which is identical to the 4-voices one except for the missing components of the remaining 2 voices, and populate its empty spots.

mima85 · 24th April 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuldLangSine ➡️

Has anyone ever done this? Ever ?

As far I know, no.

infindebula · 25th April 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuldLangSine ➡️

Seriously, it would be cool to be able to turn a regular JP6 into an eight-voice machine.

Watching this thread with interest

If @ TMTD is gracious enough to share the firmware, then it should be within the reach of anyone who can source and acquire the parts for the additional two voices.

Of course, this means no Europa or Tauntek enhancements though. (Although I wouldn't be surprised if Bob Grieb would be up to modifying his current firmware to support 8 voices - in some ways that would make it more desirable than Europa).

Deleted 55774e1 · 25th April 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuldLangSine ➡️

What am I missing?

that loads of JP6s will get f***ed up by this.

mima85 · 25th April 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deleted 55774e1 ➡️

that loads of JP6s will get f***ed up by this.

I think that whoever is going to do that, once the firmware will be available, will have clear in mind that this is not a work for the novice and will take the appropriate care when doing it.

Synthbuilder · 25th April 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuldLangSine ➡️

Has anyone ever done this? Ever ?

I was thinking about it some years ago. I was speaking to one of the Europa guys about getting the Europa firmware to handle it. It never happened sadly. Part of the reason for that was the availability of some of the components needed to make the extra voices. There's some special Roland hybrid ICs (two resistor networks and a waveshaper circuit thingy) that would need making as well as the extra CEM3340s that were needed. It would be more economic to do it now thanks to the huge reduction in the cost of PCBs in the last ten years. And that the CEM3340 rev G is back too.

There is a project being developed that will both update the voice cards and the firmware - it should also support an 8 voice mode. The designer has just got a JP-6 and will be starting work on it shortly. He's currently finishing off a similar project for the MKS-80. It is a sideline to his main job - making Cirklons - so don't hold your breath.

mima85 · 25th April 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by Synthbuilder ➡️

There is a project being developed that will both update the voice cards and the firmware - it should also support an 8 voice mode. The designer has just got a JP-6 and will be starting work on it shortly. He's currently finishing off a similar project for the MKS-80. It is a sideline to his main job - making Cirklons - so don't hold your breath.

That's interesting.

roland4387 · 25th April 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuldLangSine ➡️

Has anyone ever done this? Ever ?

Paging @ paul h

infindebula · 25th April 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuldLangSine ➡️

Q: Why wouldn’t someone at Roland still have that firmware version?

It was never an official firmware. It was a hack, unsupported, created in someone's spare time at a service centre. Back then they had voice boards in stock (designated for use as replacements), including 4-voice boards, so some reasonably intelligent technical person had the idea to install a 4-voice as a replacement for a 2-voice board and tweak the firmware.

Roland back then would have hated the idea of letting an 8-voice Jupiter out the door for less than half the price of a Jupiter-8.

Whoever did it (god bless 'em) would most certainly be retired by now, if not fired over this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuldLangSine ➡️

It wasn’t so many years ago that I was getting os update EPROMs direct in the mail from Roland.

Yes it was. I hate to say it, but the last one probably came before most people on this forum were born.

MonoTron · 25th April 2023

New IR3109 clones from Alfa are in the making so with theCEM3340s allready available, now is a great time to populate 2 extra JP6 voices

paul h · 25th April 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by roland4387 ➡️

Paging @ paul h

not me, no need, i only ever play with one finger

Ckafoweeth · 27th April 2023

I just picked up a Jupiter 6 this weekend and I want to freshen up the sliders a bit. They all seem to work, but they don't slide very smoothly and a couple have some noise at the extremes. I expected to be able to pull the tabs on them straight off, but they are on there pretty good. Am I missing something, or did someone glue these things on there?

Thanks

Edit: Never-mind. I was able to get most of them off, so I don't think they are glued. Just stubborn.

mima85 · 15th May 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMTD ➡️

Resurrecting to confirm. Currently have one in my possession right in front of me. Came across this thread while researching the myths lol.

Resurrecting again, to ask if there's any news about the 8-voices Jupiter 6's main ROM dump

TMTD · 29th May 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by mima85 ➡️

Resurrecting again, to ask if there's any news about the 8-voices Jupiter 6's main ROM dump

Hey there no I havent really played with it much since I got it. I took it to my tech (didn’t tell him what it was) to get its battery swapped and he freaked out when he opened it. Funny enough his eprom burner was on his desk at the time for other reasons. He did ask if he could copy it but told him I was still on the fence. I’ve been caught up working on this score heavily since then due to deadlines but will def put thought into it in the very near future for sure.

mima85 · 29th May 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMTD ➡️

Hey there no I havent really played with it much since I got it. I took it to my tech (didn’t tell him what it was) to get its battery swapped and he freaked out when he opened it. Funny enough his eprom burner was on his desk at the time for other reasons. He did ask if he could copy it but told him I was still on the fence. I’ve been caught up working on this score heavily since then due to deadlines but will def put thought into it in the very near future for sure.

OK, so I'll wait for news. Hope to hear something from you soon

mima85 · 10th July 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMTD ➡️

Hey there no I havent really played with it much since I got it. I took it to my tech (didn’t tell him what it was) to get its battery swapped and he freaked out when he opened it. Funny enough his eprom burner was on his desk at the time for other reasons. He did ask if he could copy it but told him I was still on the fence. I’ve been caught up working on this score heavily since then due to deadlines but will def put thought into it in the very near future for sure.

Upping the thread, hoping for some news.

d3l · 17th September 2023

Hello fellow Jupiter 6 owners,

I just acquired mine and have it in the workshop at the moment for fixes and the tauntek mod install.

I was planning on doing the VCF anf filter mods by Florian. Are there any other modes I should take into account?

The LFO-2 rate extension sounds very interesting but could not find any info on it yet. Could someone point me to a right direction?

Cheers!

NilsPils · 20th September 2023

I'm afraid I don't know, but if you find out how please post it here, as I'm interested as well.

What VCF and filter mods are you referring to?

mima85 · 20th September 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by NilsPils ➡️

What VCF and filter mods are you referring to?

Look here

flat · 29th June 2024

Great new vid from Matt Johnson:

fragletrollet · 31st July 2024

Quote:

Originally Posted by fragletrollet ➡️

Made a new friend recently; who by coincidence owns both a JP8 and JP6, both in immaculate condition. Spent the whole eventing on the JP6, what a perfect combination of great sounding modules but also a user interface that is elegance itself. I would love one... can't get enough plucky sawtooth pads (and it sure doesn't hurt to slap an Eventide on the outputs).

So resurrecting this old post, albeit it might be the wrong channel. How impossible would it be to DIY a Jp 6 clone (a'like)?

https://www.amsynthstore.co.uk/product/am8060se-jp6-vcf

With the resurrection of many old semicondonductors from new manufacturers, modular mania etc.

I've built a ton of DIY modular and synths like Ambika + pro audio etc. Of all clones surfacing lately, theres not been much of the old Juno6/60, jp6/8 (well those are beasts to be fair, and there was the jp8 clone project but I missed the train)

Is there any hardware missing to make it happen?
I've seen AMSynth sporadically offering JP6 filter modules,(I built their Moog AM984 which is truly amazing sounding), so one could think parts are available.

Any insight?

mima85 · 31st July 2024

Quote:

Originally Posted by fragletrollet ➡️

So resurrecting this old post, albeit it might be the wrong channel. How impossible would it be to DIY a Jp 6 clone (a'like)?

https://www.amsynthstore.co.uk/product/am8060se-jp6-vcf

With the resurrection of many old semicondonductors from new manufacturers, modular mania etc.

I've built a ton of DIY modular and synths like Ambika + pro audio etc. Of all clones surfacing lately, theres not been much of the old Juno6/60, jp6/8 (well those are beasts to be fair, and there was the jp8 clone project but I missed the train)

Is there any hardware missing to make it happen?
I've seen AMSynth sporadically offering JP6 filter modules,(I built their Moog AM984 which is truly amazing sounding), so one could think parts are available.

Any insight?

Jupiter 6 is cloneable. Oscillators are standard CEM3340 which are available, filters have the IR3109 as core which is available, VCAs are CEM3360 which are available. All these ICs are around both as old vintage pieces and modern ones, cloned or, for the CEMs, even remanufactored based on the original projects. The rest are discrete, standard components (capacitors, resistors, transistors, etc).

Envelopes and LFOs are software generated and can be replicated by disassembling and analyzing the original firmware code, firmware binaries are easily found in multiple places on the Internet.

As for the Jupiter 8, there are some cloning project already going on, and at least one which is a finished product that's available for sale, although at a quite hefty price (ISE-NIN)

usedtohaveajuno · 31st July 2024

G-storm Electro has a Jupiter 6 filter module and you could use his 101 VCOs as well

Would cost a fortune to make a poly!

andym72 · 31st July 2024

This has got me thinking….
(always a dangerous state to be in).

Are the voice boards on the MKS-80 rev4 just the same as the 4 voice cards from a Jupiter 6?

If so, where are the limitations of one osc waveform at a time, and only Low Pass, coming from? Are they due to different motherboard designs that don’t generate the right switching signals, or is it just a firmware restriction?

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