Got the Roland Jupiter-X here!

[jeffincltnc]

Was very excited this morning to wake up on my 50th Birthday with a visit from the Roland Fairy. I have a new Jupiter-X today. I have it out of the box and gotten through the first sound tests. Like everyone, I have the 30 day clock ticking, but my first impression is that it is a hell of a build and a solid instrument.

 

The keybed feels REALLY GOOD, great to the touch, aftertouch is really responsive. It is very deep (physically) and it's heavy - I think it's a little shy of 40 lbs for a 61 key. I also love that the sliders are really long and also very sensitive to 1/1,024 increments. Filter and settings are very good. Lots of steel, metal sides, internal power supplies, XLR outs. This feels like a real instrument again.

 

It also still feels digital. It's not exactly like an old Jupiter 8 or Juno 106, but to be honest I never owned or played those. So far from my limited point of view the Juno and JX-8P models sound really good. I played a JX-8P in the 80's in my high school band and this has a lot more that you can do with it.

 

The XV stuff is about what you would expect and the RD piano is there but I think is more for layering with pads.

 

I think what will make or break this for me is going to be how much menu diving and programming is involved. This seems like more of a sound designers instrument than, let's say, the Nord Wave 2 as a performance instrument. I have heard the menu system goes deep and gets challenging... and I definitely need to read the manuals and watch YouTube videos to really dig in on this. I also don't see this being a gigging instrument. If it stays it will be a home instrument.

 

That being said, it's a really beautiful piece of work and sounds excellent. I think there is a lot to like about it. I am buying some more instruments including a Fantom 7 and another for rehearsals/gigging service, but I think I want to spend more time with the Jupiter-X and really focusing on it for a few weeks. But initial impressions is that the build, feel and especially that Juno sound are pretty strong and it looks great.

[ElmerJFudd]

Oooo, what an exciting surprise. Enjoy!

Let us know how you get on with it!

[nursers]

Indeed - really keen to hear more once you get deeper

[Dave Bryce]

Congrats! Psyched to hear what you think. I'm considering selling my D-50, JD-990 and MKS-70 to finance one.

 

dB

[Fleer]

Count me in as well.

[Tom Fiala]

Are the sounds the same as the Roland Cloud Zenology? Or a better version thereof?

[jeffincltnc]

I need to figure that part out. The I/O for ZenCore sounds isn't fully baked yet.

 

When I get the Fantom 7 here I am going to consider trying Roland Cloud Ultimate for 30 days here, too. I really think Roland did the control surface and playability of Jupiter X done very nicely. My unresolved question is that if the programming of those models is a frustrating menu dive, I would be better off doing that with Roland Cloud plug ins and piping them through the Fantom with its digital interface and Mainstage integration. And for $200 a year there is a lot more instruments in Roland Cloud that I can set up with Mainstage. But again, that Jupiter X play surface, controls and feel is beautiful on its own, too.

 

The effects and tweakability is very strong in this hardware for Jupiter-X. The Juno 106 is VERY GOOD.

[EscapeRocks]

Make sure you do take the time to dig deep. Lots of good Youtube tutorials up

 

Also, make sure you're on the latest firmware. it solved some arpeggiator issues. The zen core is nice as well, as it allows you to bring over sounds from any other board that uses it.

Just as Roland does with their cloud instruments, you can set the "age" and "Drift". On the one I got to play with, it really does harken to that perfectly imperfect analog vibe.

[Tom Fiala]

I have the System 8 keyboard. I agree: the models are very good, (and I have a Juno 60 and Kiwi 3P to compare to.) I just wish they hadn't handicapped the S8 unit with the 4 octave, no after touch keyboard, and wish they had put in the keyboard that you have in the Jup-X!

[aellison62]

Congrats Jeffinghpa, ! I've had the Jupiter X now for a couple months. As you said, the build quality and beauty of it is really part of the fun factor playing it. I also agree, it is not a gigging instrument. At least not for me. It is a pure, fun, sound designer type instrument that fills an analogue/knobby type need/want for me and also gives the Roland legacy sounds as well as the promise of current and future Zencore sounds/capability. To program the Zencore stuff, yes, there is serious menu diving but the front interface comes into play also. There are a number of "short cut" moves to help with the menu diving and really great reference compilations available from Robert St. John and a great Facebook support group (Roland Jupiter-X/Xm) . Robert has a website that pulls a lot of things together in one place. Definitely bookmark that one

[jeffincltnc]

aellison, the Jupiter-X and Forte 7 blend very nicely together playing them at home. The Juno 106 textures and the more atmospheric layering of pianos and VAST/FM pads on the Kurzweil are sonically very compatible.

[CEB]

I like sliders.... That"s all. ð

[Dave Bryce]

aellison, the Jupiter-X and Forte 7 blend very nicely together playing them at home.

As a Forte 7 owner, that is not helping my effort to resist getting one of these at all, dammit.

 

dB

[jeffincltnc]

CEB, if you like sliders, the Jupiter X sliders are very long. When I say they are "sensitive" I think the better word to use is "precise". Having precision down to 1/1,024 levels reduces a lot of digital artifacting or stepping and the sliders are very tight that makes it easy to get right to the levels you really want. When I said "sensitive" that implies they could be loose or finicky, when I was trying to describe how good they are in the design.

[allan_evett]

Congratulations, jeffinpghpa! I'm very impressed with this latest round of Roland keyboards. Also not surprised at all about the Jupiter-X's high-quality build that you described; when unpacking my Fantom 7 I was pleased by its heavy-duty construction and heft.

I was initially a little surprised to read that your Jupiter-X would be a studio instrument, as I thought it looked more capable for on-stage edits than the Fantom. But Roland does pack a lot of functions into these instruments; so lots of menu diving either way.. I do most of my live set programming ahead of time, anyway. Plus the Fantom - and especially the Jupiter - have a complement of front panel live switches/knobs for basic, immediate tweaks.

 

Interesting to read that the Jupiter-X sounds great with the Forte 7. I only gigged the Fantom 7 a couple times, pre-pandemic, but it combined really well with my Stage 3.

[EscapeRocks]

That was my impression of the Jupiter-X I got to play with for a bit. The thing is SOLID! It felt like the good old days of my Fantom X-6, but better.

 

I had been turned off a bit by Roland in the past few years due to odd thinking in designs, and forgetting about us performers who still wanted the great functionality of the Fantoms, etc..

 

My personal feeling is they have really upped their game. I just recently got the A-88 MK2. (yes i know people don't like the width, but it's only a half inch wider than my old FA-08).

Anyway, the way they have all those knobs and buttons to the left has made for an excellent live controller, for me anyway. Keeps my right hand playing while adjusting things. I can aslo get my top board right down since no controls up top

 

While I love the sounds in my VR-09, they really missed the mark by making it totally MIDI unfriendly. I'll still use it on small sit in where I have my PX5S for piano, and VR-09 for organ.

 

Overall, Roland is solid lately

[ABECK]

Wow - your birthday presents are WAY better than mine!

I'd love to pair it with my JP80.

[jeffincltnc]

I have full Mainstage integration figured out with the built in digital interface on the Jupiter-X. This is sonically amazing. I am now layering the Jupiter X models with the sounds from Native instruments Komplete 12 Ultimate, Arturia V Collection 7 and some great Kontakt Instruments. Sound wise this is so over the top good and all running through one digital output on the Jupiter. I can also Bluetooth my phone or iPad for adding the Lumbeat drums and other patterns.. This is just incredible and I can hardly contain myself right now. And then later next week the Fantom 7 is coming and I haven't even touched that yet.

 

I feel like this is pushing me so much further with what is possible and I am finding combinations of sounds with Kurzweil Forte, Jupiter-X and software that are almost a spiritual experience and the integration is so simple. I feel like the Roland digital interfaces, audio over USB and integration to the boards just works right the first time. And I don't want to overstate my own playing abilities to you all as a peer group but I feel like I am in a whole new level sound-wise and able to translate this to live experience so far.

[Al Coda]

 

... the Roland digital interfaces, audio over MIDI ...

 

 

typo,- or some new feature ?

 

A.C.

[jeffincltnc]

Corrected to 'audio over USB'

[RandyFF]

I have full Mainstage integration figured out with the built in digital interface on the Jupiter-X. This is sonically amazing. I am now layering the Jupiter X models with the sounds from Native instruments Komplete 12 Ultimate, Arturia V Collection 7 and some great Kontakt Instruments. Sound wise this is so over the top good and all running through one digital output on the Jupiter. I can also Bluetooth my phone or iPad for adding the Lumbeat drums and other patterns.. This is just incredible and I can hardly contain myself right now. And then later next week the Fantom 7 is coming and I haven't even touched that yet.

 

I feel like this is pushing me so much further with what is possible and I am finding combinations of sounds with Kurzweil Forte, Jupiter-X and software that are almost a spiritual experience and the integration is so simple. I feel like the Roland digital interfaces, audio over USB and integration to the boards just works right the first time. And I don't want to overstate my own playing abilities to you all as a peer group but I feel like I am in a whole new level sound-wise and able to translate this to live experience so far.

The sound makes the man (or woman)! Congrats on having such inspiring sounds at the ready!

[Dave Bryce]

Okay, my JD-990 sold yesterday, so I"m in. Mine will be showing up soon. ð¥³

 

dB

[Al Coda]

Corrected to 'audio over USB'

 

 

thank you ...

 

So,- very low latency ?

I´m asking because I also use Komplete 12.

 

A.C.

[jeffincltnc]

I absolutely love playing the Jupiter-X. Everything about putting my hands on it is a great experience, and I can't think of any reason I don't want to play it. Plus the integration with Mainstage and Bluetooth is fantastic.

 

My Fantom 7 should be here next week. And that's really the issue here. I don't feel like I have a use for both of them now.

 

https://www.roland.com/us/products/rc_jx-8p_model_expansion/?fbclid=IwAR2hVAtwfeRlz-DYp77Juf-e9Xuuf5yiuQHj7PePVF7QNmF6bAhLoS5PdHY

 

Roland is putting the Model Expansions of the Jupiter-X into the Roland Cloud Pro package for $99 a year.

 

And I can already use Zenology as a plug in in Mainstage. So for $99 a year I have the sound models of the Jupiter-X moved over to the laptop as a Mainstage plug in and I'm then just giving up the arps and a few other things, mostly in the instrument layout itself, which is very nice.

 

But, in practical terms, it also means I can exchange (what I paid for) a $2500 synth and replace it with something else. A Summit, Dave Smith, Nord Wave 2, perhaps. Or instead of picking up a YC61 for rehearsals and jams, I can pile that back up and get a Nord Stage 3... well, you get the idea.

 

I absolutely love this instrument and would play it and use it every day, but getting more of the "yeah, I can do that with Fantom, too" now.

 

They are very different instruments, though. I may still keep both as an indulgence because YOLO. But being able to rent those models in the cloud for $99 a year and use the Fantom as the keyboard makes me feel like it's a stupid tax for indulging.

[jeffincltnc]

Roland Jupiter-X Review & Verdict:

 

KEEP IT vs. SEND IT BACK Still undecided but I REALLY like it. I was 100% keeping the Jupiter-X until the Fantom 7 came in right next to it, and the decision is if I keep both of these. On its own merits, I think the Jupiter-X is a keeper synth.

 

I need to put in some time with my Jupiter-X and Fantom 7 side by side over the next week or so. They are absolutely very different from each other and both sound great, but there is overlap in sounds with both instruments having XV-5080 and RD engines, for instance.

 

Here are some review comments:

 

BUILD QUALITY: A+ - Jupiter-X is a very high quality piece of gear. It"s big and heavier for a 61 key instrument, but as I"ve said before, the keybed is outstanding. The aftertouch is outstanding. Knobs and Sliders are very high quality. It uses large colored buttons for function instead of category selectors. It"s made of metal, internal power supply, XLR outputs. The premium price for it is for a professional build and serious exterior for someone who values these things above economy pricing.

 

SOUND & MODELS: A â The models are very good here. I think the Juno 106 and JX-8P are very authentic because I have played the originals. As iconic as the original Jupiter-8 is, I am not in any way an expert on what a classic analog Jupiter-8 is supposed to sound like. I can"t really comment but it is a massive upgrade to what I have had in the FA series from Supernatural tones or my Arturia soft synth, all of which were good enough for my needs but this is richer. The effects are very good in the Jupiter-X and the control over effects, envelopes, filter, LFO, OSC etc. are very extensive and precise as a performance board. I am extremely happy with the sound and the tweaking on the Jupiter-X.

 

OTHER SOUNDS: B- â Contains the legacy XV sounds a few RD pianos that are good, but you don"t buy the Jupiter-X for these sounds. They provide great building blocks for layering. That being said, it doesn"t have V-Piano, the Supernatural synth or acoustic tones from the Jupiter-80, no VR type organ model and you can load the equivalent of 2 SRX cards in software but not the full library. I gave it a B- because they are good and usable for the purpose of this board but it"s not an Integra 7 or Fantom inside either.

 

While you don"t by a synth for what it *might* do in the future, I think there will be more models available in the future for the Jupiter-X and in Roland Cloud. But I am rating it for the sounds it has today. Outstanding models and a bit of Roland rompler legacy.

 

CONNECTIVITY â B+ - In addition to the high quality mic inputs, XLR outputs and build quality, I have realized that having connectivity such as a built in interface providing audio over USB, Bluetooth connectivity to an iPad and integration to Mainstage is now becoming more and more important for me and not just a 'nice to have'. I"m bringing more VST and iPad tools into my performing environment and it is really a different experience to just plug in the laptop via USB and use iPad rhythms with Bluetooth and have everything going through a single high quality output. However, the Jupiter-X is pretty much a non-starter as a robust external MIDI controller and is actually very weak if you want to map your sliders and knobs to any parameters in the SYSTEM or SCENE setups. Actually, the internal routing is very non-functional and even basic things like riding the USB Audio in levels from Mainstage were not possible without menu diving until I found some workarounds with the Mainstage profile. But the net here is that there are tons of parameters here that cannot be internally mapped to all of those knobs, buttons and sliders and if you are looking for a master MIDI controller, this is not going to do what my Roland Fantom or Kurzweil Forte can do. But the built in digital interface and Bluetooth give this a big reason to use it as a gig instrument for my needs over something like Nord, but my disappointment is more in the mapping/routing limitations of internal system and patch parameters.

 

EDITING â C- - I am going to give Roland some kudos for creating Scenes very intuitively. If you want to stack 4 tones it"s pretty easy and the menu diving for important scene parameters isn"t bad. I can build multi part patches (scenes) like this all day. However, I"m not going to lie. Tone editing on the Jupiter-X is terrible. The menu diving involved is almost unusable and something that needs to be better. This is a product that is screaming for a laptop or iPad editor to navigate the tone parameters and there isn"t. Tone editing and menu diving are what makes me consider sending it back.

 

I think Roland"s solution here is to get users onto Roland Cloud subscription and access the models through subscription with deeper editing in upcoming releases of Zenology. Then export the Zencore tones to be imported into the Jupiter-X as a stage performance instrument. I get it. That can be a fantastic workflow. But then I realized this is actually a stage performance instrument and not really a sound designing instrument at the level of deep tone editing. I'd rather move the job of tone designing work from the Jupiter-X into the studio then import them into the Jupiter to play music, stack tones quickly into scenes and tweak everything on the fly with tons of knobs and sliders in the moment.

 

I"m not sure if Zenology will eventually get mapped to the Jupiter X controls either. I am having that discussion with Roland in a customer feedback group with their product managers. If they can have good mapping between Zenology and Jupiter-X as a controller for an integrated experience, that would be very interesting to me. (Thinking of it like Native Instrumets Komplete Kontrol mapping between their instruments and NKS instruments and their hardware for this purpose to control Zenology parameters in the DAW from instrument knobs and sliders). Roland"s roadmap here is not publicized at all, but it could be a great workflow or a terrible one.

 

Roland will, of course, expect $99 per year for Core membership in Roland Cloud to do this, but it does offer a lot of other things. Also, Roland Cloud Manager is buggy as crap for me and doesn"t really work well for me⦠but that"s another issue.

 

Could I just run the plug ins in Zenology and play the same models through the Fantom via Mainstage? Yes, and I may do that and buy a different synth like a Summit or Nord, but I really like playing the Rolands and the connectiivity and professional build, plus the sound quality and the models is pretty great in the 'nice to have' category. But playing the Jupiter-X is a better experience than that.

 

FUN FACTOR â A â This is a fun as hell instrument to perform with. I really love it. I could be happy all day just playing with the Juno-106 and JX-8P models in single tones, and stacking it with rhythms, the arps, wellâ¦. It"s something I can just do for hours and hours. No question here it"s a blast. I wonder if I will still feel that way in 6 months or a year.

 

ALTERNATIVES â Roland is putting these models and others into Roland Cloud with both subscription and (expensive) lifetime keys that still need to be authenticated. I"m not really resolving my technical collisions with Roland Cloud Manager but they sound great in VST. I could get the sound with Zenology and Mainstage as a host if I get the models in the cloud, but Roland Cloud Manager experience is not really positive for me. YMMV. Other synths like a Novation Summit or Hydrasynth are much newer and more unique sounds than legacy Roland. OB6 and Prophets are fantastic but aren't really my sound personally. I am working out some considerations on the rest of my rig and needs and dependencies/budget to think if I should keep this or not that relate to now having a Fantom and what I need in a portable carry around board. On its own, I would have no problem recommending it to buy. With its digital interface, audio over USB and Bluetooth it"s a pretty amazing gigging board which wasn"t what I bought it for, but wow, it is.

[Dave Bryce]

Mine is showing up this week. Given that most of the aspects you gave high marks to are the things that make me want it (build quality, sounds, fun factor), I'm even more psyched.

 

dB

[ABECK]

Is the menu diving necessary? I would think with all the tactile controls, it wouldn't be.

[jeffincltnc]

1. Live performance, modulation, controls galore -- no menu diving here. This is a joy!! There are some screen functions for selecting Arps, Beats, etc. but you are turning dials on the control surface to do this.

 

2. Creating Scenes (like combos) by stacking Tones -- This is a joy. Mostly pressing big giant colored buttons. You have some menu parameters for Scene settings, but no complaints here.

 

3. Editing Tones. This is awful. Menu diving hell on a small screen, layers and layers of parameters and no editor. Life sucks when you are doing this. With the direction that Roland Cloud is going in, I would rather do this part inside of a DAW and export the tones to the hardware to spend more time on #1 and #2 above. I think Zenology Pro will be the editor for these models with tone export capability from DAW into Hardware. Currently there is no tone export out of the Jupiter X into the Zenology so that may be either incomplete OS or an intentional omission.

 

Roland has built some fantastic gear with the new Jupiter X and Fantom. They suck at marketing things that don't really exist now, delivering half finished products that you are beta testing as an early customer, and giving you zero roadmap as to what may (or won't) come in the future.

 

Interesting thing, though. The Jupiter X and Fantom 7 absolutely sound very different. I have done a bit of A/B testing side by side with the Jupiter X and Fantom 7 next to each other and calling up the same XV tones on both instruments.

 

The Fantom is very flat and neutral -- clean and pristine, but in a good way. The Jupiter X is very punchy, hyped, and has a lot of power - great bass, distortion, fat.

 

I think of it this way. The Fantom is at its best with tools like Logic. Send the work to your DAW for your EQ, mastering, etc. The Jupiter X is meant to cut through everything on a gig.

 

Kind of like comparing studio monitors --- a set of Yamaha HS monitors are very flat and honest for mixing. A set of KRK Rokits are hyped on the bass but fun for listening, DJing, watching a movie or playing Fortnite.

 

Maybe I should video the A/B tests of the XV tones together.

 

Jupiter X fun to play and sounds great -- very much!

 

Glad I have jumped on the Audio over USB built in interface wagon using this with Mainstage. Also works at the same time with iPad sounds over Bluetooth. One single audio output to mixer, yes please. It's a great gig piece when I think of all that.

[ABECK]

I'll have to check out their architecture. No 2 Roland synths I've owned have been very consistent with architecture and terminology. Still better than Yamaha!

[Dave Bryce]

I got mine yesterday.

This thing is awesome. It's like my Jupiter 8 has come back, but now it does more. A whole lot more...

 

Basically, four "PARTS" (five, if you include drums/percussion) which can each be loaded with any of the six onboard models (JP8, Juno 106, JX8P, SH101, XV5080, RD piano). It's always in SCENE mode, but that's not really a problem as far as I can tell - you can just load in one part/synth engine if you want. There seems to be some limitations in that area - I couldn't load the RD into Part 4 - but I'm trying to avoid reading the manual for as long as possible, so I'm not exactly sure what they are yet. So far, everything is pretty much where I expect it to be, though. Definitely helps to have owned a JP8 for years, and to understand how Roland synths work a far as the TONE/PART/SCENE architecture goes.

 

A few other first impression kudos: all the assignable controllers can either be set to have a Global value or to be SCENE dependent...and - one of the things I always look for -they did add a "patch preserve" buffer, so when you switch to another SCENE, notes being held from the previous sound are sustained.

 

I could go on about the details...but the bottom line is that this thing is a big, beefy power synth with (sacrilege ahead) a bunch more balls than my JP8 had due to the fact that there are way more tools packed into this instrument. I love the heft of it as well - big ol' heavy instrument.

 

One other thing - if you get a chance to play one, the presets do not really show you how much you can do with this thing. Jist running through all the sounds in the XV engine and thinking about layering those with one - or more - of the other engines is...inspiring.

 

One negative for me is that I want another pedal jack. I'm used to having at least two switches for real time control. The only jack for that on the synth is for HOLD. There's a CC jack as well - that's assignable.

 

One other thing - if you get a chance to play one, the presets do not really show you how much you can do with this thing. Jist running through all the sounds in the XV engine and thinking about layering those with one - or more - of the other engines is...inspiring. ð¥³

 

dB