Roland JUPITER 6

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The Jupiter 6 is an incredible analog synth. All of the Jupiters have a sound that was unlike any other synthesizer and the Jup 6 is no exception. This sound is due in part to classic analog Roland technology in its filters, modulation capabilities and a thick cluster of 12 analog oscillators at 2 per voice. Easy and intuitive programming via front panel sliders, knobs and buttons for all your tweaking needs.

The Jup 6 is a scaled down version of the Jup 8 in terms of programming and polyphony. However the Jup 6 has some major improvements of its own such as newly added MIDI control and better tuning stability! While the Jup 6 does have MIDI, the implementation is very rudimentary and hard to control. The Jup 6 was one of the very first (along with the Sequential Prophet 600) synths to use the then new MIDI protocol, and the implementation on the Jup 6 is far from complete.

Jupiter 6 Image

Synthcom Systems, Inc. offers the Europa firmware upgrade for the Jupiter 6 which gives it an up-to-date and comprehensive MIDI implementation. All parameters are controllable via Continuous Controller or SysEx. Europa also features an extensive arpeggiator which will sync to MIDI clock with programmable clock divisors and rhythms, and has about 50 more playback variations than the JP-6's original Up, Down, Up/Down, and Down/Up. A Europacized Jupiter 6 is a thoroughly modern synth with a classic sound.

The Jupiter 6 is an excellent for ambient drones, pads, blips, buzzes and leads. The Jupiter 6 is known for being a very reliable, programmable, polyphonic, analog monster of a synthesizer! It is used by Orbital, Moby, Überzone, Devo, BT, The Prodigy, Vangelis, The Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method, ZZ Top, Duran Duran, Moog Cookbook, and Blur.



79 VISITOR COMMENTS

Synthartist69
December 22, 2011 @ 7:47 pm
One thing I would like to add, I think that the JP falls in there somewhere between a Juno 106 and a Jupiter 8. It is a lot like having a beefed up 106 with an arpegiator and deeper programming abilities. If you want a Jupiter 8 and can't afford one, try a Roland JX10 + Alesis ion...the starving musicians Jupiter...which is me..lol

Roland Jupiter 6 link.. http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhee
Synthartist69
December 22, 2011 @ 7:43 pm
I have owned the JP8 and JP6. The JP8 is warmer and phatter, but the JP6 can sound very good as well. There are a lot of videos out on the web that make the JP6 sound cheesy, metallic, sharp, bright, noisy, hollow, etc. I have started a youtube campaign of posting videos of my Jupiter 6 with a direct line in to the camcorder rather than through the open mic. Here is a link to my channel where I have at least 20 videos of the Jupiter 6 with more to come :)

http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhee
BarneyT
December 4, 2011 @ 6:51 pm
Jupiter 6's are an aquired taste. I had one for about 3 years and quite frankly never got on with it and it just ended up collecting dust getting in the way.( Wish I'd of kept it to cash in on the collectors market though...£1500!? what a joke!) I've got a Korg EX8000 worth about £200 which sounds much better than the JP-6 :)
james barclay
November 18, 2011 @ 6:30 am
Woops! forgot to say that I installed a Europa chip mod and that made all the difference.
james barclay
November 18, 2011 @ 6:23 am
I owned a JP6 and used it professionally for ten years. Among synths it was the sweetest and fullest sounding and the easiest to program, even on-the-fly tweaking. It still performs flawlessly and is friendly to the widest range of outboard gear, esp. Boss SX boxes (I had 2 + 2 Oberheim 1000 modules, dual Boss stereo volume pedals. My amps were 2 Peavy 15" 100W.) Best strings, ADSRs, VCOs, VCAs and dual tuners. I could emulate a B3 and did so. If you find one of these treasures grab it and hang on tight; literally and otherwise.
 
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  • Demos & Media
  • YouTube Image
    Video 1
    - See and hear it in this YouTube Demo!

    YouTube Image
    Video 2
    - See and hear it in this YouTube Demo!

    Audio Clip 1 - Demos of various patches from the Jupiter 6. From Future Music CD issue 52.

    Manual - Roland has made manuals for most of their products available as free PDF downloads.

  • Specifications
  • Polyphony - 6 voices
  • Oscillators - 2 VCO's per voice (12 oscillators total!)
  • LFO - 2 LFO's with 4-waveforms (sine, tri, ramp, random)
  • Filter - 24 dB/oct 4-pole lowpass/high pass or 12 dB/oct 2-pole bandpass with their own ADSR envelope
  • VCA - 2 Standard ADSR's with keyboard track and mixer to balance oscillator levels
  • Effects - None
  • Arpeg/Seq - 1 Arpeggiator
  • Memory - 48 tones / 32 patches
  • Keyboard - 61 keys
  • Control - MIDI
  • Date Produced - 1983
  • Est. Value - $800 - 1,000

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