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ARTURIA – JUPITER-8V – MANUAL - EN
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4 A unique synthesizer, Why ?
4.1
The Roland Jupiter-8
The Jupiter-8 is capable of creating very versatile sounds. The Jupiter-8 sounds the way it looks,
sleek and polished’. It offers oscillator sync, cross modulation, a switchable 12dB/24dB filter and
polyphonic portamento. It also features a superb arpeggiator. The sound design opportunities are
virtually endless.
The filter (VCF) structure is one of a special kind. The Filter structure is composed by two
independent filter units. These are a non- resonant 6 dB/Octave high pass filter and a resonant 12
or 24 dB/Octave low pass filter.
The combination of the non resonant high pass filter with the
resonant low pass filter, enables to create very characteristic Roland style sounds. This structure
can also be found on the Roland Juno series.
The Jupiter-8 is often considered the biggest and fattest of the Roland Jupiter and Juno family. The
Jupiter-8 offers eight fat analog voices. The sound of the Jupiter-8 is often referred to as fat and
crispy clear at the same time. The Fast envelopes make it possible to create punchy sounds. This is
great for bass and stab sounds in particular. The colorful interface with lots of sliders and knobs is
inviting for sound designers and producers. Furthermore, it was one of the first synthesizers that
offered a keyboard split- and layer possibility. In fact, the Jupiter-8 complemented its competition
by bringing something different.
In 1982, Roland released an upgraded Jupiter-8, the JP8A, It upgraded the Jupiter-8 with a number
of enhancements. The most noticeable changes where an improved DAC with a higher resolution of
the auto-tuning system from 12- to 14-bit, and a brighter LED screen. The Jupiter-8 has become one
of the most revered of all synthesizers.
The electro-pop community became quickly convinced by the qualities of the Jupiter-8. 'Relax', by
Frankie Goes to Hollywood was produced incorporating a Jupiter-8, and players such Vince Clarke,
John Foxx, and Martyn Ware were also using it. The path to classic status of the Jupiter started
there.
4.2
The Arturia Jupiter-8V
Aside from recreating the original in every aspect, the Jupiter-8V adds many new functions which
make it even more attractive to use. The Jupiter-8V offers various new editing possibilities which
can result in sounds that were never heard before.
The galaxy module creates very complex modulations with interaction of 3 LFO’s. The first 2 LFO's
can each modulate a different parameter on a X/Y axis. The third LFO can be set to rotate the X/Y
axis at a certain speed. This is beautifully visualized in the interface of the Jupiter-8V and enables a
totally new dimension for sound design.
