is this synth still relevant to buy at this time? Also, if you own a jp can you tell your experience from the synth.. like what you use it for and how it sounds!

 

i still use these days in my tracks so don't have synth like JP yet not filters and oscilator like Real JP 8000

 

Last edited: Apr 17, 2025 at 5:17 PM

Besides the famous supersaw that set it apart, it's very much an also-ran VA synth of the era. Buy it for nostalgia reasons or if you want to exactly recreate the famous trance sounds of that time. The rack version 8080 has slightly improved functionality but they are largely the same. If you aren't going for nostalgia or specific recreations then you could do better for the money. People consider the AN1X of the time to be a superior VA implementation.

Current prices seem to vary wildly on Reverb, prices of units in Asia are half that of units in Europe. $1200 USD was the going price in recent years, and that is substantially more than pre-COVID.

Else current VA implementations (software and hardware like the multi/poly) are much improved. Novation Peaks also come in at a cheaper price point and are more versatile and better sounding, unless you want that very specific trance sound. Second hand Teo-5 and Take-5 can also be had cheaper than JP-8000s if you can find them.

Lastly, Adam Szabo (the guy who wrote a thesis on the supersaw) is developing a close recreation of the JPs and will probably be priced similarly to Viper.

 

Compared to recent synths the NL1 is quite limited in functionality and in my opinion, boring. Yes it it one of those "sweet spot" synths where it is easy to design a nice sounding, relatively simple patch but it's versatility is just as bad as the JP8000.

People are asking around 900+ euros for a 4-voice NL1 which means it is far from an unknown "sleeper". There is a NL2x listed for a similar price (albeit from Asia), which would be much better value, if you must have the old NL sound. Albeit it doesn't have the secret Pelle's Mod (very basic physical modelling mode - recent physical modelling synths do it much better) that the NL2/NL1 has.

 

Analog becomes digital.

The advantage of virtual software synthesizers is that they are much cheaper than hardware.
They are portable (like a laptop), there are no repair costs, and the purchase price is much lower than hardware.

Software is also more environmentally friendly and uses fewer resources than hardware.
You can save an infinite number of presets with virtual software synthesizers. They also take up less space.

Spoiler: HARDWARE

HARDWARE
Roland SH-201 VA Synth classic supersaw trance demo

Roland JD-XI the best groove station

Spoiler: SOFTWARE

SOFTWARE
Serum Tutorial - Epic Supersaw Lead

Creating a SUPERSAW in Sylenth1!

 

Last edited: Apr 17, 2025 at 6:44 PM

Serum dont have Filters and oscilators like roland JP 8080

 

The recent Roland synths, hardware or software completely fail to reproduce the supersaw properly, it's basically a sampled waveform and does not behave like it does in the JP8000. Anyone using one of those synths will be disappointed.

Only Adam Szabo has been able to replicate the supersaw functionality in the JP6k VST, but it has other limitations compared to a genuine software reproduction of the JP8000.

 

Yes, @Psychoacoustic, that's right. I'd love to buy one, own it, and play it, too, but you can't fill your room with synthesizers.
Often, there's a lack of space and money. I made a free sound set for the Sunrizer, certainly the original sounds better:

The ' Energy Waves ' by CHE for the ' BeepStreet - Sunrizer ' VSTi
http://ohlenbostelhelge.magix.net/public/misc.htm

Spoiler: BeepStreet - Sunrizer VSTi --> www.kvraudio.com/product/sunrizer-by-beepstreet

BeepStreet - Sunrizer VSTi --> www.kvraudio.com/product/sunrizer-by-beepstreet
Sunrizer is built upon a familiar subtractive synth design – but with a distinct character and a host of new features. It starts with two oscillators and two sub-oscillators that deliver all of the basic waveforms and an emulation of JP-8000 "supersaw", with pulse width, frequency and ring modulation plus a unison mode.

BeepStreet's Sunrizer VST Overview

An introductory perusal of the Sunrizer VST,which is a remarkable emulation of the classic Roland JP8000 VA hardware synth from 1996!

 

Last edited: Apr 17, 2025 at 6:45 PM

Supersaw schmupersaw. If that's as far as you can remark on the jp then either didn't own one or never toggled the waveforms (or you're just an old fart now and forgot). It excels at soundscapes, pads, strings particularly those of the 'cold' flavor. Trance might have gotten the attention, but all the kewl kids were using it for angsty jungle and industrial atmospheres.

Between the two, if you care about anything beyond trance, the 8080 is hands down the choice. It adds audio inputs, noise waveform and external input as osc2 options, distortion, unison, vocoder/formant filter, and 2 more voices.

 

Ootb I often find the 8080 bass a bit unwieldy to tame, frequency response can do some funky things in lower register... nothing an eq and comp/limiter won't resolve.. but I'm also lazy and have other bass options that don't 'need' a step 2 off the bat, so I never use it for bass, heh.

Aye, the going rate for them is a bit steep. The 8000 can sometimes be found for 500ish but its also very likely you'll have to do the cap replacement.. and some of those aren't the easiest to access so a tech is gonna charge full bench + time fees to do it. Probably why the 8080 is so much more, as beyond the feature differences.. metal vs plastic chassis, upgraded/redesigned internals that 25 years later are proving out to show normal wear vs all the things that frequently die on the 8k.. audio jacks, caps, psu.

 

jexus has all of the information anyone needs on many synths
https://sounds-for-synths.com/legacy/roland_jp8000.htm

 

Superwave's P-8 VSTi Synth Review

Since production of the JP-8000 ceased, several companies have incorporated "supersaw-like" oscillator algorithms into their hardware and software synthesizers. SUPERWAVE P8 is an example of a software synthesizer inspired by the architecture of the JP-8000, with its multiple sawtooth oscillators. Another is the Supersaw Plus, which has a JP-8000-style interface and a variation on the supersaw waveform that provides 2, 4, 6 or 10 oscillators.

SuperWave P8 VSTi - Free
https://www.superwavesynths.com/p8

 

Bro, Synth1 its basically the same, big difference is Hardware you can use only 1 in same time, sytnth1 you can use two in same time

 

That's not true. The Synth1 was originally a very loose recreation of the architecture of the Nord Lead, but did no actual modelling and it has a GUI that is best described as an acquired taste. It is only comparable to the JP8000 in that they are both subtractive virtual analog synths.

 

Synth1 Librarian VST Plugin --> https://neutrinosky.com
Synth1 Librarian is a free VST plugin designed to accompany Ichiro Toda’s Synth1 Analog Synth VST instrument. It allows you to quickly find patches within your patch library – useful when you have over 17,000 patches! Here’s a video explaining what it is, and how it works:

 

The Superwave - P8 sounds the best to me.

Avvre - used free vsti superwaveP8 (cupying hypnoting by SQ)

a_yamazawa - 09 SuperWave P8

JamesWildDev - Super Wave P 8

 

yes but not the same like roland JP 8080

 

Yes, that's right, but the P8 is free. Please put $2,000 in an envelope and place it under the vase at the Tomb
of the Unknown Soldier at the cemetery. I will then post some original samples here for you within a week.