Roland • JUPITER 6
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.
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.
I sold it shortly after, because the repair cost me over $600 to get it fixed ! Its not even like the synth was gigged it was perfect condition, but i guess this is what you expect 25 years down the line.
Anyway I have a Virus TI now, havent missed the JP-6 much since i got that :)
Back in the late 90s VA's couldnt touch analog, but the gear available now is indistinguishable from CEM based synths, especially in a mix.
Get yourself a Radias or a Virus Polar both capable of a lot wider sonic palette and sounds more powerful, and not likely to crap out on you costing you an arm and a leg to fix either !
you really really miss the sounds if you sell them on, then when you find one again you get bored with it and it gathers dust AGAIN.
As a sound creator its great, but its not the most musical of synths and i think thats why it sits there in studios doing nothing for long periods waiting for a track where you want sound fx. The problem ive found with this synth is the envelopes are very very slack, you can get phat bass sounds but not attacky phat bass sounds, its capable of soaring unison sounds and great modulation and sidebands but in all honesty after owning so many of them its time i left the jupiter 6 alone and just stayed with more modern technology, the CEMS in these things are getting very scarce and getting a decent tech to fix them is getting thin on the ground, they simply are not worth the stupid current prices on ebay which i feel are driven by a mixture of curiosity and current trends.