Roland Jupiter 50 opinions please??!!

[PeteD1701]

Hi there, I was hoping someone would have some info or personal experience with the newer Roland Jupiter models. I am a gigging keybaord player and need to retire my old Korg N24.

 

I'm a fan of the Roland Juno series for playing live shows and I'm hoping there might be some folks who could offer their opinion of the Jupiter. I use mainly; Piano, grindy organ sounds, synth leads (Styx or Yes style type of lead patches) and polysynth pad type of stuff (such as Journey or Asia kind of sound).

 

I would greatly appreciate any feedback on this Roland Jupiter keyboard

[Ekewaka]

Try one out, GC usually has them. I tried one.

 

A month later I got a PX-5S.

[theGman]

I have one, so I am prejudiced. I love it. One gripe I have is that I can't find a "wind" sound on it, and it seems that you can't put any sound on all 3 banks. The upper and the lower banks have a limited selection of sounds.

[kelp]

If you want "audio feedback" this was posted less than a month ago.

[Synthoid]

While you're trying out the Jupiter-50, give the Korg Krome a look as well. The 73-key model (comparable to the JP50 76) offers excellent sounds, a huge touch screen and, in my humble opinion, a much friendlier user-interface.

 

 

http://images.guitarcenter.com/products/optionLarge/Korg/DV016_Jpg_Large_1343059401830_B.jpg

[Adan]

My two main gripes about the Jupiters:

 

First, although it's a very good unweighted keyboard, it's still not adequate for subtle piano playing. The velocity response just isn't there. By contrast, amongst unweighted keyboards, the Kronos 61 manages to be pretty good for that.

 

Second: "grindy organs" it hath not. The organ simulation of the Jupiter is very weak. You could argue it's better than most romplers, but it lacks chorus/vibrato, which even most romplers have on certain samples.

 

Love the Jupiter as a VA synth and for most acoustic instrument emulations.

[AnotherScott]

I use mainly; Piano, grindy organ sounds, synth leads (Styx or Yes style type of lead patches) and polysynth pad type of stuff (such as Journey or Asia kind of sound).

 

I would greatly appreciate any feedback on this Roland Jupiter keyboard

I like the Jupiter 50 a lot... great action, lightweight, a lot of strong sounds, and a nice interface for live split sound selections (though the interface has its share of odd quirks as well). OTOH, there are some "holes" in its sound library, and I haven't heard a good grindy organ sound out of it, so I'm not sure it would really cover enough ground to be your only keyboard.

[Synthoid]

I like the Jupiter 50 a lot... great action, lightweight, a lot of strong sounds, and a nice interface for live split sound selections (though the interface has its share of odd quirks as well). OTOH, there are some "holes" in its sound library, and I haven't heard a good grindy organ sound out of it, so I'm not sure it would really cover enough ground to be your only keyboard.

 

That's why I recommended the Krome. If the OP is already a Korg user, it would likely be an easier transition from what he already owns, offer a larger palette of sounds, and be less expensive as well.

 

Plus, from what I've read, you can do a lot more splits and layers with the Krome vs. the Jupiter-50.

 

[PeteD1701]

Thanks buddy. I played around a bit with the Krome and I liked the sounds. One question I had on the Krome though; are there "favorite" buttons or performace buttons where you can bring up saved patches for instant access while playing live?

 

The Rolands have that feautre and I was wondering if the Krome has something similar bacause that is a huge factor for me.

 

I look forward to your response and thank you again for your help.

 

Pete

[AnotherScott]

Plus, from what I've read, you can do a lot more splits and layers with the Krome vs. the Jupiter-50.

More, yes, but as easily, I think not. I mean, for example, if you're playing live, and decide to change just your RH sound on the fly. Not everyone cares about doing that kind of thing, but for those who want to, the Roland does it better than most.

 

I don't know how crucial keyboard size is to the OP, but there aren't a whole lot of 73/76 piano/organ/synth choices under $2k to choose from. I think the Jupiter 50, Krome, and Kurzweil PC3LE7 are the only possibilities.

 

I think the Roland has the best action, and within the range of sounds that it has, I think it may often sound best (i.e. its SuperNatural acoustic sounds), but there are many sounds it doesn't have at all. With an iPad, its VA synth functionality is nice.

 

I think overall, in terms of quality and breadth of sonic capabilities, the Kurzweil is probably strongest... good organs and EPs, no major gaps in its basic sound library, good VA synth with aftertouch, and a versatile operating environment that you can make do almost anything you can think of (albeit with some effort). But it weighs a lot, and I'm not a fan of the action.

 

Krome is a good value, and a nice weight. And I think Korg benefits there from the fact that Yamaha does not make a MOX7.

[Synthoid]

I played around a bit with the Krome and I liked the sounds. One question I had on the Krome though; are there "favorite" buttons or performace buttons where you can bring up saved patches for instant access while playing live?

 

The Rolands have that feautre and I was wondering if the Krome has something similar bacause that is a huge factor for me.

 

Korg's workstations don't offer this feature per se, but you can easily create a sound bank of programs or combination sounds for easy access.

 

That's what I've done with my Korg M3. The touchscreen is a valuable asset when creating custom patch lists--literally at your fingertips.

 

 

[Synthoid]

I think overall, in terms of quality and breadth of sonic capabilities, the Kurzweil is probably strongest... good organs and EPs, no major gaps in its basic sound library, good VA synth with aftertouch, and a versatile operating environment that you can make do almost anything you can think of (albeit with some effort).

 

Lots of effort, at least for me. When it came to extensive programming, that tiny view screen just gave me a headache.

 

Having several years of experience with Korg's friendly user interface, I could never get used to Kurzweil... and got rid of my K2661 last year.

 

 

[HAMEGZ]

Thanks buddy. ne question I had on the Krome though; are there "favorite" buttons or performace buttons where you can bring up saved patches for instant access while playing live?

 

Pete

 

No, but you can program up to 16 "favorites" in sequence, then by using the touch screen have access to 16 memory locations at one time with just one touch, either patch or combi.getting to the next 16 take a swipe of the horizontal drag bar or spinning the wheel.

If you do some pre planning and depending upon the complexity of the gig set and patches you use, it is manageable.

[RABid]

I think the Roland has better piano and the Korg has better organ. For me, the Roland OS is a bit easier to use. Both are much easier than the Motif. I always liked the synth action on Roland's and never had a problem playing piano parts on a synth action keyboard. I'd rather play piano on synth action than play organ on hammer action.

 

Both are very accaptable and not every likes the same sound qualities and OS. You really need to try them both.

[AnotherScott]

I think the Roland has better piano and the Korg has better organ.

While neither is a great board for organ, the Roland at least has the ability to set virtual drawbars to any organ registration you want; the Korg pretty much limits you to a handful of preset organ sounds. But if they are all you need, they might do the trick...

[HAMEGZ]

If you feel like programming your own "hammond" emulation on the Krome, you can take a sine wave, create 9 program slots tuning it to the same drawbar footage's as the Hammond, then insert those in a combi, using the mixer as pseudo drawbars. The Krome has an organ C/V Fx(number 065) and of course the rotary. You can even create your own percussion sound or use one of the existing percussion patches.

 

Now having said that, it takes some juggling to get it passable, the sound tends to overload as it is additive. Naturally there is no leakage, crosstalk or motor noise, and no real time drawbar control.

I think Sweetwater did something like this with a bank of sounds they created for the MicroKorg workstation.I remember the combi was made up of individual patches programmed to emulate drawbar stops.

[AnotherScott]

If you feel like programming your own "hammond" emulation on the Krome, you can take a sine wave, create 9 program slots ...

Now having said that, it takes some juggling to get it passable, the sound tends to overload as it is additive. Naturally there is no leakage, crosstalk or motor noise, and no real time drawbar control.

plus each note you play can use up 9 notes of polyphony. But for limited purposes, yes, that's an interesting technique to consider.

[Leh173]

For organs on the JP50 has anyone tried the old trick on making an MFX structure like this Chorus>Amp Sim>Rotary. Should get some good organ tones. I even did this on my Fantom G6 and it helped (involved a few tricks as it doesn't have MFX structures). I've done the Sinewave organ trick in the G. Works OK, can add keyclick and crosstalk etc as those waveforms are there. It's worth trying but it won't be a complete clonewheel like a dedicated one.

[allan_evett]

I've tried the Chorus>Amp Sim>Rotary effects chain for organ; have also experimented with adding small doses of the lo-fi stuff. I have about a dozen, favorite drawbars settings stored as Live Sets. Does it sound like an SK-1, or my NS2 with a Vent' ? Not quite, but it sounds far better than the ROMpler organs in the current Motif / MOX keyboards, and those in the Krome, etc.. Having the modeled VK organ engine on-board helps a lot. While I have gotten a bit more grit out of the organs than what comes from the factory, I suspect that it could get nastier with further lo-fi and amp-sim effect tweaking. Btw, through a Vent' the JP-50 rocks. If it had drawbars and direct front panel controls for C/V, perussion, etc. it could be a competitive live, clonewheel engine - like that in the Kurzweil PC3.

 

The mode for selecting favorite Live Sets, or individual tones, is quite useful - as I can have two favorites per category. Then, when in each category, I can scroll quickly to additional favorite Live Sets - especially if those are saved sequentially in the User Live Set area. Very useful for organs - as I can move back-and-forth - mid song - between drawbar settings.

 

The JP-50, even without aftertouch, is a very expressive keyboard. It's one of the few 76 key, synth action instruments on which I'm comfortable playing piano in a band setting. I used it about a month ago for an 'in the mountains', outdoor wedding ceremony - as a solo 'piano'; it sounded utterly convincing, and played very smoothly. Overall The SN pianos are pretty strong. And there are tons of jobbing type bread 'n butter sounds in the keyboard, plus the synth coverage is extensive. Also, I've found the Wurlitzer 200A Live Set sound to be one of the best emulations I've used live; it has a way of sitting well in a variety of mixes.

 

The JP50 is bit less intuitive, interface-wise, than the Krome; there is a learning curve - though I didn't find it especially steep. Overall I'd highly recommend that the OP find a JP50 and spend some time with it, before deciding on one of the other instruments recommended here. It's not only an excellent 2nd tier partner for a digital piano, it also covers single keyboard gigs quite easily - even heavier synth gigs with splits and layers all over.

[steadyb]

Are we up to 50 opinions yet?

[PeteD1701]

thanks buddy

[PeteD1701]

thanks for your help and input.

 

Pete

[PeteD1701]

thanks buddy. I agree 100% that Roland has better piano and Korg has good organ. I'm not impressed with Roland's organ sounds. My olg Korg N24 has the best organ patch; called Grinding Organ. It's perfect and gets more "grindy" the longer you hold the keys. Hate to say it but no other board (in the $1200 and under range) has come close.

[PeteD1701]

gotcha, I might be able to make that work. Thanks for your help

[PeteD1701]

thanks buddy.

[PeteD1701]

thanks for your honesty on that buddy. I appreciate it.

[PeteD1701]

thanks for your help. Yeah, the more I hear about the lack of split options in the jupiter, the more I'm going toward something else. I'm not spending 2 grand if I can't edit my splits however I want. Screw that!!!

 

thanks again

[PeteD1701]

Are we up to 50 opinions yet?

 

 

 

 

I just got that,lol. Clever!!!

[PeteD1701]

Just want to say thank you to eveyone who took the time to give me their opinions on my question regarding the Jupiter. So glad to be part of a forum where I can get honest opinions and not someone just trying to sell me something at a store. For a major purhcase such as this it's important to get as much information as possible.

 

thank you all again,

 

Pete

[willf]

Peter,

 

I you like the Roland sound the Integra-7 sounds great, IMO. It has some limitations, for example 64 studio sets (registrations/ combinations) and 128 polyphony but it is still a great module, again IMO).