Rediscovering the Roland Jupiter 6: A Hidden Gem of the '80s Synth Scene | Review & Demo

[@infindebula]

It’s amazing that the JP-6 sounds rather different from any other Roland analog polysynth, yet it has that Roland sound. It is so hard to explain that sound but the demo breezes through moments of perfect Rolandness. 14:34 16:47 24:02 26:05

[@jsw302]

I bought a Jupiter 6 in 1995. It's still my favorite synth. I can lose myself for hours noodling around. There's so many sounds to discover in this thing. I've never understood the criticism that it's a "cold" synth. Thanks for the great demo.

[@RolandPerez-p7i]

Thanks! I agree. Its a vast and so musical synth!

[@WhoDarez]

Such a beautiful synthesizer

[@chrismitchell3283]

Still have my JP-6. Bought it in December 1983. It is indeed the most unique sounding of the JP series, and along with the JX3P was my first MIDI hookup...Nobody saw me for weeks upon doing that! I currently use it alongside the JPX, but would like to see a JP-6 model created for the JPX. It's been ages since the last JPX update...please don't leave us hanging Roland!!!

[@evanglicanism]

I love how spacious and intuitive the panels of old polysynths are. I get how saving space is more efficient, but the workflow on this is so clear and quick.

[@RolandPerez-p7i]

i agree! More access, less menu diving!

[@infindebula]

So many knobs yet somehow I can intuitively operate a JP-6 with my eyes closed. Having most controls as sliders is pretty awesome in my opinion

[@asynchronicity]

DX7, Jupiter6, Prophet 600….great year for synths!

[@RolandPerez-p7i]

Indeed! Then again, almost every year lately has had a powerhouse of synth selection from manufacturers.. there are just so many it seems overwhelming! Need .. to...buy.. MORE SYNTHS!

[@JayKaufman]

All fine and dandy... Until you had to program a bloody DX7. It's like pushing a bowling ball through a garden hose.

[@RolandPerez-p7i]

@@JayKaufman HA! SO correct on that.. but I made a great side hustle programming DX synths for bands and studios back in the day. It was a PAIN but I conquered the DX engine. I still love me some DX programming

[@JayKaufman]

@@RolandPerez-p7i I own an Opsix because of the analogy I made above!

[@jonathanmauch4090]

MIDI...

[@reymhd7655]

sounds RIDICULOUSLY good

[@JayKaufman]

The Europa mod is no longer made and from all accounts will never be made again. Fortunately, the Tauntek mod upgrades a lot of the MIDI and makes it MIDI CC editable. It's also cheap - $20 USD from the author. The power in the Jupiter-6 is stacking the voices in unison mode. It's an absolute MONSTER for basses and leads when in that mode. It's definitely a divisive synth. You're either a Jupiter-8 or Jupiter-6 person. You're rarely - if ever - both. I'm a Jupiter-6 guy and miss the one that I had in my studio up until recently that was on long-term loan. One of the drawbacks to the Jupiter-6 is that Roland didn't give it stereo outputs... Even for the time this seems like a huge oversight. As an aside, the Jupiter-8 is kind of a jack of all trades synth, whereas the Jupiter-6 is more about a certain sound... It's more brash and in your face. Not everyone loves that about it, but I think that's what makes it amazing!

[@RolandPerez-p7i]

Thanks for the heads up on Europa! And I agree the 6 is to as smooth and gentle as the 8.. LOVE the 6!

[@JayKaufman]

@@RolandPerez-p7i happy to share. I'm enjoying your demoes of some absolute stone cold classics!

[@outtatime1287]

As a perfect tool for techno music, the Thomas the Tank engine theme tune was originally written on a JP-6 🤣

[@daveclark1695]

Waiting for that Sean guy from Reverb comments to needlessly and falsely trash this amazing synth. He just likes WARM PADS evidently, but this is so much more than that. So much more. This is far better at modern electronic music that a JU8 or a Prophet 5 ever will be - if you want to play 1970's detuned slush, get one of those synths, not a JU6 ;)

[@johndeaux3703]

What an unimpressive synth. Can't believe the $ amount people are willing to pay for this. I thought I was missing out until I saw this demo. No thanks.

[@RaquelFoster]

This comment is like if someone saw a demo of a vintage stratocaster, except it was a super legit nerd doing the demo and it was just the clean tone, so all the clueless people thought the guitar sucked because it wasn't plugged into a marshall stack/overdrive/chorus/delay/reverb. You could always just play the YT video through a reverb pedal! 😂

[@RolandPerez-p7i]

@@RaquelFoster Love this!

[@fredrikh9299]

I'd say most vintage synthesizers are unimpressive compared to what you get today. I say that after owning a JP8, now owning a JPX.

[@marcusplaysmusic8628]

Gee it is almost like this kinda stuff is kinda.....what's the word........subjective!