Roland Jupiter X Review and Demo

[@javd007]

As the owner of , two Prophet 5s, OB8 and Polysix, Juno 106, Juno 60, JX3P , JX8p, . What’s my favorite ? The Jupiter X. It sounds amazing and and and ! It is powerful I the studio . It does so much It is the main controller and workhorse in my rig . You can hear lots of it on my channel. I hope Roland add more models . It’s a future Classic !

[@DerekPower]

As I’ve said elsewhere - 😉 - I would consider this my “desert island synth” because of its expressive versatility and what synth engines they have, which are all ones I can see myself using on an exclusive, if not regular, basis.

[@floridahiker1503]

Congratulations. I love the sound of Roland's digital synthesizers especially for modern electronic music.

[@its.stacygabriel]

Big Roland fan...love my Jupiter-x and system-8. I will never get rid of them.

[@brucec.822]

I know how you feel. I have a Roland Jupiter 80. And I love it! It also has the stacking ability and makes some very powerful sounds. I watched your demo video. The X sounds really good.

[@Sam_Utah]

One of these came into my price point and I picked it up. Despite quibbles about noisy clacking keys and that little display on the left, it is a keeper because of the sound and flexibility. I miss sets, touch screen, favorites like the Kronos as well as foot switch control of advancing scenes but what a deep engine and rich sound. The effects are not state of the art but they are well placed, handy and cover the bases well. I have to study this beast for awhile to get some mileage but there is nothing like it out there. I loved the Jupiter 80 but it was too large for my little corner of the world and lacked panel controls... so traded for Montage. The Jupiter X is right sized for me and right sounding. Technically it is the deep end of the pool but I am practicing my strokes. Endless adventures in sound. They really threw the kitchen sink at it....Jupiter, Juno, Sh, RD, Integra-like XP stuff and a whole new, and deep synth. Makes me feel well.....sort of ZEN.

[@MakeMagic]

I really enjoy mine. It sounds like a cleaner output, higher resolution JP8000 and having all the XV sounds in there gkk really helps for quick composition and sound design. Build quality is night and day compared to the System 8. It's also got pretty much all the JDXA waves in it.

[@danf4236]

I've had mine for a few months now, I also am not the biggest fan of the i-arpeggiator and rarely use it for anything but basic arpeggios. Other than that I love it.

[@digitaldiezel5870]

😊 I knew you would love it! I’m glad you gave it a chance! I’m a huge fan! I hope I’m able to purchase either an X or an Xm one day! 😊

[@keybert6932]

The Roland Logo has been solid since the early 80’s ... Very cool style and it’s own sound, like many other synths.. I think the best looking synths are from 80s ... With The warmth of Analog...COOL TIMES !

[@park171]

Great 👍🏻 enjoyed you contribution.

[@thorstenschneider5554]

Thank you so much for this video! It is the first one that answers all my questions I had for weeks now (for e.g. a comparison between Jupiter X and Fantom sounds). I like and believe in the way you are talking about it and I think I will buy one now! Again: thank you very much!! :-)

[@phanuel_1986]

I was really disappointed with this synth and returned it. ☹I thought it sounded very weak in comparison to my old korg trinity as far as digital goes. I hope they release something analog one day soon.

[@GeorgiRusev]

Very difficult to program - lost in the scenes, step edit, parts, menus and submenus. No comprehensive owner's manual, which is a must for such a complex synth. Just "Hi, guys! This is Scott from Roland", very basic online tutorials which is extremely insufficient.

[@rdm5190]

Nice sounding synth,hopefully the build quality is better than the boutiques&feels sturdy but a bout time they released something that you can tweak knobs&sliders... it is an intriguing synth,was consideringa system8 in the future anyway so we'll see what the future brings after the B2600&another korg enter the stable...thanks for sharing again Take care and God bless...

[@Fallingoverbackwards]

@Pure Ambient Drone does the Jupiter X have the warmth, it seems like this synth fell flat and not a lot of videos on it. Would it be better to go with a System 8, you have all of them so are in a good spot to compare

[@PureAmbientDrone]

Yeah I do admit I like the sound of the S8 more and its a warmer ACB tech for sure. If Roland would have put REAL analog filters on these two machines they would have been absolutely incredible. The X has different Engines but it lacks the ACB tech that I find to be warmer sounding. BUT neither can really beat the sounds of my REAL Juno 106. Yes they come close but its in the LOW end of things where you can hear the Juno Beef. If you want to hear the Jup X AND the REAL 106 together, listen to my TRACK HERE. the base has BOTH the X and 106 split into two Freq. The 106 is the LOWER beef as I felt the X didn't have the grit I wanted for this track. Here is the LINK: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJ6aoqOhi9amlbM

[@Fallingoverbackwards]

@@PureAmbientDrone wonderful and detailed response !! Yeah i have been playing a prophet 10 rev 4 and the real thing is so different in the room, i can feel the sound and subtle tonal variations.

[@rocsire]

I know they're different but how would you compare Prophet X vs Jupiter X ? Does the PX samples bring anything new too the table with modulation ?

[@mac651000]

I want to know the answer to this, too. Great question.

[@Sam_Utah]

Just got the Jupiter X and I had a Prophet X for 9 months. If you are into sampling, the Prophet X does it, although nothing like Waldorf, more basic. The 8 Dio samples did not turn me on, I felt they were not as good as Omnisphere. However, the Prophet X is a pretty nice as a pure synth and slams the Jupiter X on panel controls, hands on. The Jupiter layers are deeper and the included engines - Jupiter, Juno, XP, Sh and RD and the ZenCore make it my choice. Both are fine synths and will serve any synth player. Jupiter X has more layers, Prophet X true sampling and some pretty great sample libraries including the Prophet 5, Jupiter 4, Minimoog OB, Deckard's Dream and a couple other interesting synths. Layering not as advanced as the Jupiter. It comes down to a matter of taste. I might get another Prophet X, I did like it. My opinion of samples vs models, I like models better, they seem more nuanced, but that is just me.

[@rocsire]

​@@Sam_Utah Hey thanks for your reply , maybe you can help me, I could never figure this out , How do you control the volume of each of the Jupiter X parts , I don't see any controller for that , must you do it one by one or can you control all volume parts simultaneously ? On the Jupiter 80 there are sliders for each part ? Can you control all the JP-X parts quickly (live) , and how is the sound of the JP-X . I'm looking at the JP-X and now the Super-6 . thanks

[@Sam_Utah]

@@rocsire Hi, I am not yet up to speed and on the learning curve, perhaps PAD or another can chime in. They do have a mixing section for the 4 oscillators (as opposed to parts) and I have been able to adjust oscillator volume using the 4 sliders in the mixing section. Not sure how to change the volume of rhythm tracks just yet, probably a menu dive. The two sliders are set to mix on some scenes for more flexibility and they seem to have a lot of options as does the wheel, for example you can program one of the sliders to change portamento time when you solo on it. Not ideal, wish they had a global dial for it. These layered complex instruments like the JX and Montage tend to have a lot of controls by patch, combi or scene and not globally which I find to be a major pain....holding my breath as I menu dive, hoping not to drown ({-;)

[@Pintosonic]

I don't think you had to buy a JupiterX to have access to the Jupiter or Juno-106 models. The Zencore sounds are currently using 5 different models, Z-CORE (the full Zencore engine with 4 partials), the Jupiter-8, the JX-8P, the Juno-106 and the SH-101. Now what is confusing is that a lot of Z-CORE sounds use JupiterXXX or JunoXXXX in the patch name but when you try to edit those sounds, you get all Zencore parameters. When you start to modify the sound it doesn't sound anything like a Juno or a Jupiter because you can modify a lot of parameters that didn't even exist in the original synth. Now when you modify a patch that was created using the Jupiter-8 model (ie model name = Jupiter-8 not Z-CORE), you can only modify the parameters that are available on a Jupiter-8 so this really sound like a Jupiter 8. I don't have a Phantom but I'm pretty sure that if you edit Zencore sound that has Model=Jupiter-8, you will have access to only the Jupiter-8 parameters exactly like you get on your JupiterX. The only difference is that your JupiterX has a button that enable you to select Jupiter-8, JX-8P, Juno-106 or SH-101 parches directly while on your Phantom you probably have to setup a filter in your patch browser to find those sounds.

[@xp50player]

The ABM model bank engines are available in Zenology and not in the Fantom. ABM is basically a macro layer for the Zencore engine that scales the parameter ranges to emulate the specific models. It may be possible to replicate the sounds with plain ZenCore in the Fantom, but not worth the trouble.

[@Pintosonic]

@@xp50player I don't have the Phantom but in Zenology they allow exports of Jupiter-8, JX-8P, Juno-106 and SH-101 sounds to hardware and I'm pretty sure that if you edit those sounds on any Zencore hardware you will have access to the model parameter and not all Z-Core parameters. But in order to be able to export those sounds to hardware I think you have to buy the permanent license for each models if your Zencore hardware doesn't have those models enabled.

[@MakeMagic]

@@xp50player From the different way the Unison mode behaves on the various models in the JPX, I wouldn't be surprised if the ABM models are actually being generated in a more DSP intensive way (higher resolution + true freerun) than the 'core' Zencore VA sounds. That might also explain why the ABMs are not on the Fantom or other Zencore products.

[@moondawn2550]

you are close to the truth. There is nothing like Jupiter or another "analog-like" synth engines in those Roland products. It is all Zen-core engine (technology - PCM). The so called models (of the analog synthesizer) are collections of sounds that are programmed to sound like a certain analog type of sound (Jupiter 8 strings, juno bass etc). All the latest products from Roland (Fantom, Jupiter xm and x and the MC`s) has the same "synth-engine" - Zen-core. See Sound on Sound review of the Jupiter x which gives the same answer.

[@MakeMagic]

@@moondawn2550 That's not entirely accurate. The 'Zencore' engine is closer to just being an umbrella term for a number of previous roland technologies. The JPX does have PCM waves in it, but the main 'models' are full DSP VA. It is true though that the 'models' are just the JPX engine with parameter ranges mapped to make them 'sound' more like the instruments they're meant to emulate - but its still calculating the base waves in the same way the JP8000 and V-Synth did before it. The 'model' VA sounds sound better than the 'Zencore' VA sounds too - so I'm guessing they're being done at a higher rate - which would also explain why you get so much less union polyphony in 'model' mode.

[@monsterjazzlicks]

Does the Jupiter X have patches from the Roland JX10, please?

[@PureAmbientDrone]

I never had a jx10 so I really don't know. But it does the jx8p great!

[@machiwoomiapoo]

Nice.

[@synthshoot1026]

Thank you very much. I've been thinking about getting one. By the way, Kebu, (the famous artist) has lately released a new video showing off his Roland synth collection. May be you can find something there to dig in the Jupiter-X

[@dennisg6599]

Hi, Would the Jupiter X fit on a K&M 18860 Spider Pro Keyboard Stand ?... Thanks

[@PureAmbientDrone]

I never had that stand but you could easily get the measurements for both and see.

[@gretareinarsson7461]

I´m waiting for my Jupiter X. Should I get the Fantom as well or go software?

[@PureAmbientDrone]

Fandom is flagship but not as immediate as X.

[@ChazSeamus28]

Thanks

[@blindianajones]

I'm no vintage fanboy, but its hard to see an actual Juno and listen to anything about virtual representation. I'd have that Juno hooked up to guitar pedals and recording all the time. I can see some value in getting the XM, but not in the X or Fantom for their price tags.

[@floridahiker1503]

My 1st synth was a Juno 60 back in 83. Analog sounds better in person. I think the Jupiter X is a pretty good value for a Zencore synthesizer with all its features. ACB and Zencore sound amazing especially when you hear them in person.

[@blindianajones]

@@floridahiker1503 As soon as I hear "virtual analog" I feel like I should just get a softsynth and a usb keyboard vs paying for a hardware interface that has a small screen. I have the same gripe about the Waldorf Quantum/Iridium/Kyra. Why not have a bigger screen if you gotta menu dive?

[@floridahiker1503]

@@blindianajones . Your right about the small screen and menu diving. I have a Juno DS61 and it could use a bigger screen but when I learned the menu it was easy to get the sounds I like quickly. I like software but I'd rather just play a digital hardware synthesizer connected to an amp.