Sonic LAB Extra: Roland System-8 FX

[@allanroney]

When it comes right down to it, the thing just sounds lovely.

[@NickHowesAstro]

I picked up one of these recently for a steal on Ebay and it's by far and away the finest emulation of the synths I owned in the 80s/90s (JP8/6/4 and Juno 60). Adding the aluminium side panels etc, if you're upset with the aesthetic, is up to you, but fundamentally as has been mentioned, it just sounds stunning

[@ElectronicazMusic]

Amazingly comprehensive range of FX with the minimum of knobs required! Beautiful.

[@CommunityGuidelines]

Lovely realms of sound! These crunchy, warbling, distorted patches really venture into FM synthesis terriroty, via analog-style knobs rather than complicated parameter menus. Now I'm inspired to go spend some time with my TX802...

[@geoffreymerrifield5666]

Excellent video Sir Nick! Easy access to effects, expansion and other tools are a huge consideration for me. I am very close to taking the plunge for a System 8. Other people have said it's not a wise purchase due to lack of polyphony and other things, but ease of use and immediacy lead to fun and inspiration, which can't be underestimated. My main instruments are guitars and vocals, but I play a lot of synth on my recordings. I have a Yamaha MoX6 which is phenomenal for piano and strings, but I want something with moog sounds, saws, etc, that do not need programming and lots of menu diving.

[@LesterAmbientAndroid]

It's s brilliant synth. Sold it regretted it znd now I have a shiny new one. The jpx3 was a welcome surprise.

[@grillskillz]

Much better than any repackaged Zencore stuff Roland has been releasing lately...

[@AcidBattle]

love the system 8, it is one of the best synth i ever had - and good reviews nick

[@solomonjenkins9505]

everyone says it's made cheaply and is shitty and isn't analog BUT GOD DAMN does it look amazing...like the jupiter 8 i never had...

[@st0rmchild]

And they’re all wrong. The build quality is just fine. Every slider and knob is smooth, has just the right amount of resistance, and doesn’t wobble or feel cheap at all. And it sounds truly amazing. The only thing that isn’t analog about it is it doesn’t go out of tune or require expensive maintenance to keep working. Many people have done comparisons with the real Jupiter-8 and Juno-106 and in blind tests nobody can tell them apart.

[@SPAZZOID100]

Stormchild chassis is cheap plastic.

[@st0rmchild]

@@SPAZZOID100 It's plastic, but there's nothing cheap about it.

[@russ254]

it’s artisanal plastic

[@isoldeisobelle552]

In the face of such abject adversity, Nick still manages to pull off a superb review. I salute you, sir. Bravo!

[@cresshead]

fantastic stuff...all i need now is some spare cash!

[@fiddlestickzmuzik]

pretty good, nice little demo Nick, you get the best out of these things when you tweak ever so gently and use a bit of finesse..

[@mCKENIC]

More and more impressed with the sound each time I hear you demo it Nick - thank you! It just makes the fact that the leds would give me migraines more painful!

[@christopherthomasrichardso9014]

mCKENIC according to sound on sound's review, you can dim them. Sound on sound guy hated them too.

[@kek23k]

Nick's really gone the extra mile with the facial expressions in this add-on review! :)

[@thecentralscrutinizer4603]

the hall sounds nice

[@steefdroid]

Getting some great unusual, atmospheric sounds of it. Great

[@johnalver]

That amazing feeling you get when you think something is out of reach but the guy at the store says you can get what you want with 3 easy payments 🤯🤩😍😍🥰😘

[@0Fdigital]

wow, this sounds really amazing. It's way out of my price range, and I really don't like the green LEDs (I wish they made the LEDs RGB so you could dial in your own colour, but that'd probably increase the price even more), but it sounds like a very powerful synth.

[@0Fdigital]

also, that demo at the end is *super* lush

[@AcidBattle]

completly switch of the green lights, then add the wooden panels and you have a realy nice synth

[@SPAZZOID100]

Trooper Starship i need to see it in the dark.

[@InVisionsynthmindscape]

The only flaw is that aftertouch is missing and it is completely in plastic like all Roland products but it seems more robust than others, apart from this it is a unique synth with a lot of physical controls, in fact they are four synths in one with a polyphonic step sequencer and integrated sound card, excellent sound quality very faithful vintage sounds. The value for money in my humble opinion is excellent. But the synth all today appears to be unjustly underestimated always in my opinion.

[@MarctheDarc]

You didn't get into that when you switch to the Juno-106 voicing, some of the effects are different. For some obscure reason Juno chorus replace some of the "distortion" type effects. Struck me as an odd way of implementing it. Good video all the same, it's obvious that despite certain minor misgivings you've taken a real shine to this synth. Roland are good at this sort of thing, if you look at their back catalogue of decicated synths, sure you can find something to criticize in all of them, but starting tweaking and playing, and you're off into sonic exploration. And just to devolve into childish web-behaviour a sec, I was the 100th thumbs up, muahaha!

[@anvrmamdanvrmamd4406]

xxxv

[@OrangeJackson]

Really enjoyed this video. Thank you, Nick.

[@anthonybettridge457]

I know you guys touched on it briefly at NAMM a while back, but any chance you plan on doing a review of Social Entropy's Engine sequencer?

[@Ko6i]

14:00 someone should make a gif out of this

[@jeanlejeune2288]

I like this one too kzbin.info/www/bejne/gWfTnaqbfdd2mdEm26s

[@mattevans7884]

Consider it done

[@swancakes]

Thanks for the follow-up review, Nick. Now wondering how System-8 integrates with Roland Cloud... The plug-ins show a "plug-out" button, which I assume is meant for exporting patches to System-8? This integration is a huge selling point, and feels quite overlooked by Roland marketing so far.

[@basehead617]

swancakes the System 8 has its own engine plus 3 'plug out' engines. The first two slots it ships for free with Jupiter 8 and Juno 106 plug outs installed and then there is an empty 3rd slot. That leaves a few optional ones to purchase like the SH-101 etc. I believe you can actually buy them flat out and don't need the cloud.

[@swancakes]

I'm intrigued by this concept of editor/librarian on steroids... Understood it's not a critical part of the System-8, but a distinctive selling point, IMO.

[@SPAZZOID100]

swancakes editors will not work in 6 years.

[@captainkiddoregon]

Thank you Nick for the additional review on the FX section. I am also in agreement of the first review in although I really like the sound of the Synth and has some neat things it's a bit over priced. Of course anyone can take that as they will from someone who dropped $3.5k on a reissue Minimoog Model D :-).

[@More_Blood]

Diggin' the shirt.

[@johannbach2725]

10.05 ' Has a purpose perhaps?'

[@solomonjenkins9505]

so far the only bad thing people can say about this synth is 'durr no wood side panels and not analog'

[@SPAZZOID100]

Wood side panels are available for it.

[@russ254]

yes, but it’s a veneer

[@Michael_Smith-Red_No.5]

I want to know what love is.

[@dougfa3515]

I gotta take a little time A little time to think things over I better read between the lines In case I need it when I'm older

[@mariog1051]

To me, the reverbs sounds very cheap. There are free VST reverbs that are much better. I think my Behringer Reverb pedal (the silver one) has a better Hall reverb. Definitely the Hall of Fame 2 has better reverbs.

[@stocchinet]

Why can't we get beautiful instruments like every musician do (guitars, drums etc)? Design is a big selling point for me, right next to sound.

[@mbeezy1987]

stocchinet Does Stevie Wonder live by this same philosophy?

[@st0rmchild]

The System-8 is beautiful. You just have poor taste.

[@AntonTHPS]

i'm very impressed with this, especially next to other stuff currently put out by roland. it really seems to be a unique instrument in its own right. man is it ugly though.

[@SPAZZOID100]

AntonTHPS it's not ugly.

[@st0rmchild]

Nothing ugly about it. Looks very cool.

[@russ254]

all synths are beautiful, except the timber wolf

[@EdwardFist]

Not for me, but good to see.

[@TheScreamingFrog916]

I nearly bought one, until I found out that you can not use the expression pedal to control the filter sweep, or anything other than output volume. Deal killer for me, because my playing style involves using my foot, to modulate filter sweep, or other parameters, while I am soloing.

[@SPAZZOID100]

????

[@MattGreerMusic]

I really hate the commercials in the middle. Please take that away and make it how it used to be.

[@thecasualreviewer2148]

I wish they'd start using other colors than that nasty green.

[@CockatooDude]

Nah man that green is the best.

[@NyakzOTSD]

if it is a VA you might get a laptop and Midi Keyboard... VA keyboards are a waste of money. They offer nothing soft synths can't!

[@marike1100]

This is an actual instrument with seamless knob per function control. I'll take a VA synth over the soul sucking, creativity killing mouse click hell of VSTs any day.

[@shadowkastmuzik4905]

That's where you're wrong, some of us perform live and I don't wont to rely on nor play with a damn laptop.

[@kek23k]

Good troll, now get back in your basement.

[@OrangeJackson]

I hope the new Ghost move is not a mess.

[@NyakzOTSD]

G do u really think looking at a VA with a screen is anyless soul destroying than looking at a laptop when tweaking ur soft synth?