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The JD-800 is Roland's answer to half a decade of hard-to-program synthesizers. Covered in sliders that act as dedicated editors just like a classic analog synth, the JD-800 is an extremely programmable and hands-on digital synthesizer. It is also an interesting and great sounding digital synth with incredible flexibility and control. Internal ROM based waveforms are combined to build your sounds. The sounds are based on Roland's D-50, but updated for the nineties with multimode filters - uncommon but welcome at the time.

Unlike classic synths that came in wood cases, the JD-800 came in a hard plastic case. Programming may be a little too flexible for some users, but once you know what you're doing with it, almost any sound you can dream up can be dialed in and stored.

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It has been used by William Ørbit, Emerson Lake & Palmer, 808 State, Ken Ishii, Astral Projection, Rabbit in the Moon, Depeche Mode, Underworld, Tangerine Dream, LTJ Bukem, Apollo 440, Jean Michel Jarre, ATB, Vangelis, Pet Shop Boys, Faithless, Luke Vibert, Mouse on Mars, Laurent Garnier, MC Hammer, Bushflange, Genesis, and Eat Static.

99 VISITOR COMMENTS

Lamster

May 20, 2012 @ 4:17 pm

Disagree with F A's comments.
The JD800 is a monster synth that produces string pads better than almost any other synth IMO. The Glue on the keys is a known problem as are the sliders doing their own thing. Mine is fine touch wood but I know people who have had these problems

chipcurtis

May 20, 2012 @ 7:58 am

I have to disagree with comments that say this synth's sound is dated and tied down to its internal ROM sound (that you have to like the internal samples and that the synth only sounds like these samples). That's just silly. It's a full-blown synth with resonant multimode filters, dual LFOs, complex 8-segment envelopes, and great effects. Just sticking with the basic saw, square, pulse, sine (etc.) waveforms, you could create new sounds way beyond the factory presets. Also, most of the evolving sounds are created in synthesis (which you can alter with the sliders), not sampled loops.

Ron B

May 2, 2012 @ 8:45 am

Bought this syth last week off eBay and was a bit apprehensive after reading f a's comments. Synth was delivered yesterday and I spent hours finding my way round it. Really love it - admittedly it's the first synth I have owned in years and always wanted a JD-800 so still in the novelty and discovery stage.

f a

April 26, 2012 @ 3:51 pm

Overrated synth. I had one and thought the sound was weak. Nothing special about this board, no matter how you program it. It lacks character. Thought the D70 sounded better,which I thought was boring as well. Don't get me wrong, I do like some Roland gear. I've had an MKS50, D550 and have an MKS70 which are great synths. Anyway, I sold this board. Low and behold when it arrived to the buyer,it didn't power up. Because of the warm weather, the epoxy glue that is part of the keybed oozed all over the place causing the problem.I'll never own one again.

caramel prisoner

April 24, 2012 @ 2:44 pm

programmers dream. I can spend hours on this. lush, complex, sophisticated and darth-vader-looks.

king of cool :)

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