Roland JP-08 Synthesizer Module Reviews

The built in patches are just ok not super great so I purchased the Ultimate Patches
and now this thing rocks!

Great unit - they got close to the original in tone.

Loaded in the ULTIMATE PATCHES for JP-08 and this thing now BLOWS MY MIND! It's got vocoder sounds, wookie growls, wavetable sounding patches, FM basses, patches that sounds EXACTLY like human voices, and tons more. Thank you Ultimate Patches and thank you Roland!

This little synth caught my eye with the features and price tag but when I got it I fell in love with the sound. Its digital, but if i didn't know that and someone told me it was analogue, I'd believe them. This isn't my first synth, I've got about 5 including a fully analogue modular system and the MS-20 reissue. This little synth is one of my favorites. It nails the 70s sounding sci fi pads and strings. With the built in sequencer you can also get those acid bass sounds pretty well too. It does pretty well with synth bass and leads, but the pads/strings/keys are where it really excels. Plus the features on this synth are one of a kind for this price range. 4 note poly, built in sequencer, delay, battery and USB powered, built in speaker (I really thought I wouldn't use that feature as much as I do) plus the layout is incredibly intuitive, 1 knob per function for 90% of its features, so there's no menu diving and very little manual reading. I only wish it came with the keyboard controller, this synth is already the king of portablity and the km-25 would really solidify that position (I'll probably get one anyway one of these days) if your thinking about buying this synth, stop thinking and buy one, or two.

So one of my friends has one of these. And at first i really overlooked the boutiques for whatever reason I was just thinking here we go again roland another one of your rehash type products. Well when my friend brought it over I was sadly mistaken. I have a lot of great analog and digital gear and I think this thing sounds amazing. Plus its the perfect little size. But yeah i was really impressed with its sound and its step sequencer. I fully admit I do not own one of these myself but Im so impressed with the sound of the boutiques that I with out a question recommend them.

Love this little unit, incredibly powerful range of sounds, from amazing 64 sub bass tho super sharp metallic sounds. Cross mod on the second oscillator can get you real nasty sounds. The resonance filter seems to have a counter so it does not self oscillate which makes it less acidic. The sliders are very short, so small movements can make big changes. I recommend getting the matching K-25m keyboard to make it more playable. I used another external keyboard and sequencer for a while but the K-25 really unlocks its flexibility. All up, super impressed with the capabilities at such a low price.

Wonderful sound. Have bought two of them that i chain through and get smashing sound. The sounds will transport you into another universe and my Roland JDXi sounds so weak next to these guys when they pump out sequenced bass. Very good sound and so tweak able. Of course in such a tiny unit the sliders are going to test your patience after a while. But at 800 dollars i got 8 ACB voices that sound dam fine!

Bought the JP-06. I have to admit I was a hater at first and very let down knowing they were digital and not analog. Being a Juno-106 owner, this little re-creation is just as good right down to emulating the static loudness from the original. I own plenty of other analog emulators like the TI, MS2000, Nord to name a few. While these sound fantastic, every time I play these you can clearly hear they are digital machines, which is fine no complaints. Playing and editing the JU-06, I instantly felt like I was hearing and programming a real analog synth! IMO it sounds and feels that great! Totally blown away by the quality and sound from these machines. I am converted!!!

Everything about this synth is great, except for the size of the faders- they are tiny! (which is fine for me; I have small hands) Although it does not quite match the warmth and wonder of the real Jupiter-8, it sounds pretty close, and has all you would expect from a vintage Roland; fat basses, soaring leads, and lush strings. So portable, so easy to use, and so great. Thanks for another great product, Roland. (P.S. Sweet water are the best!!)

The 1/8" outputs, micro-usb connector, and the 'either AA batteries or USB powered' limitation are all terribly lame. Slightly less lame: 4 voices limitations on boxes of sliders that house dedicated software synths. Chain mode is a way to make you pay more for the eight voices a real Jupiter 8 came with.

Those things are all true and not one of them matters one freaking bit.

It's amount the cheapest synths I've ever purchased, and most of the ones I've had have heretofore been used, fairly crappy synths. I liked them at the time, but I've never owned a Jupiter 8. Never laid a finger on one or been in a room with some save maybe that time I saw The Cars play. So I can't tell you that this sounds exactly like a vintage Jupiter 8.

But it sounds freaking awesome. Hands down the best synth of any kind I've had my grubby little hands on. So what if chain mode is an excuse to make you spend more money? For the sound of this thing I'd have paid twice the price already. It's the first time I've not immediately replaced out all the presets with custom sounds first thing, it's that good.

I bought all three from Sweetwater and I'm really enjoying them. One reviewer above mentioned noise. You have two controls for volume, one on the back and one on the top at the VCA. If you max the volume at the back of course you will get a louder noise floor. However, if you lower that level and raise the VCA level the noise floor will disappear.
As far as the JP-08 goes, I'm having a blast with it. I bought a $20 Rock Band 3 controller keyboard and it's a super fun portable set up (like onto the couch or bed). I'm not really a reviewer type. It's good. You should buy one if you are interested in it. It seems to me it's a pretty deep piece of kit. Lots of room for creating things I never would have come up with otherwise. I like the delays, and sequencer. Actually the sequencer is really smart in how it works. Very simple and, imo, powerful.
Overall I think the unit sounds great.
If I have to make a complaint it is that the DAW aspects of it are only accessible to those with the very latest version of Mac OS. That's all I've got. Like I said, I bought all three and I'm a happy camper. Also own a Casio PX5s, OP-1, several ipad music apps, and lots and lots of guitars.

THIS UNIT AS WELL AS THE JX-03 &JU-06 ARE INCREDIBLE BUY all of them at once & try to get two of each for 8 note chain options. 100% no 1000% awesome I cant speak highly enough of these machines… incredible ….. i give this a 15 out of 5! buy with confidence
AFTER SPEAKING WITH ROLAND THE ISSUES I HAD WITH THIS UNIT MESSING UP MY MIDI SYNC IN MY DEVICE CHAIN WAS SOLVED. BASICALLY TAKE THE JP OUT OF THE CHAIN MODE.
IN REGARD TO THE NOISE HEARD WHEN I PLUGGED IT IN, THIS WAS A GROUND LOOP CAUSED BY PLUGGING THE USB INTO THE COMPUTER INSTEAD OF WALL POWERED USB CABLE OR HUB…
please delete my previous review!

So I am not one to write reviews. And I find most synths to be over priced. And way over hyped.
( can you say Yamaha reface )
I stumbled across the boutique line and looked it up online. Found a lovely video on YouTube giving a great demonstration.
I use to own the Jupiter-8. Loved that machine. So was a bit hesitant about the jp-08.
Looked it up on sweetwater and saw the price and thought to myself no way that little box can make that good a sound.
No way....

How wrong I was. This little box is amazing. The bass is insane and gritty. The highs hurt your ears. It's built like a brick and is easy to use.
Get one when you can. Best 399.99 I have spent in years.
Now I must get the other two.

Sweet little unit,small&compact,heck i unpacked it&tired it out with one of my m-audio controlers sitting on my bed last night,couldn'tdo that with the original...lol. saving for unit #2 now so i can have the full 8 voice feel of the original also,dont get me wrong it sounds great as a single(4 voice)but 8 would be perfect&being able to chain them sounds like a cool thing.cant wait for work to be done today so i can go home&experiment with this little gem.the only reason for 4.5 stars is the 1/8" output&the small print on the instructions(in 238000 languages) but i understand,its "compact"&sold worldwide... otherwise,yes,i would definitely recomend buying 1,2 if u can...oh& thanks to Craig&the guys@sweetwater,ordered@830am tues&was un-boxing it@3pm wed&that was ups ground,doesn't look as if the order ever was set on a desk,it flew thru that place...lol..increadably service as always!!!,thanks guys!!!!

This synth is the best of the Boutiques because it has more options. The Juno and the JX3P remake are also good but have less patches. The 4 voice polyphony is limiting but you can still get amazing sounds out of it. The ACB technology makes it sound identical to pure analog without having the voicechip/ tuning issues. It's a great synth. There is also a secret chorus function hidden in it if you send MIDI CC Data to it. So it has the same chorus as the Juno and JX3P with more options. Most people favor the Juno because of it's historical significance, but as far as these Boutiques go, the JP-08 has more versatility and potential.

The roland jp-08 sound module is as close to the 1982 manufactured Jupiter 8 as can get. Even though the jp-08 is digital firmware, roland did a pretty well job of modeling the real jp 8 in terms of sound quality, control layout, and analogue warmth. Although it is only 4 note polyphony, you can still get a full rich chord using only 4 fingers. Like all the other roland boutique series modules, the knobs and sliders are miniaturized, but that doesn't stop this thing from being adjusted and set to your liking. I compared the jp-08 to my real jp 8 which I bought used in 1985 at a local music store and the sound comparison is very close, the real jp 8 might sound a bit more raw and gritty than the jp-08 module but that is because IT IS analog (voltage moving thru circuits-and remember that electronics age and sound different than when they were brand new) and the jp-08 is digitally sampled, but the occillator drift from the jp-08 sound module is very authentic. But digital sampling is the current technology people, and if you are playing a digital keyboard with a live band or recording to a track with other recorded musical instruments, who's gonna' care whether or not you are playing analog? All of the original Jupiter 8 presets are in the jp-08 and the arpeggiator has been replaced with sequencer function so not to worry! These roland boutique modules deplete the 4 AA batteries quickly so it is best to buy a micro usb ac adaptor available anywhere, so you can play to your heart's content. The Jupiter 8 was known to probably be the best sounding analogue synth ever made and was especially known for it's warm rich pads and brass sounds. Many 1980s MTV synth pop bands used it. The jp--08 is a limited edition roland boutique module and just like the ju-06 it will soon be out of production! Roland has now created some of their best 1980's keyboard synthesizers in these little sound modules and it is difficult for stores to keep the favorites in stock! So to everyone out there who likes playing synths, please don't feel too bad if you don't have a real Jupiter 8. Jupiter 8's are high maintenance, expensive to repair and lose their voice chips as they age. My original Jupiter 8 is now a Jupiter six because after 25 years of owning it, two of its voice chips stopped working, and it's polyphony is now only six voices. Also, on a real Jupiter 8 their is an issue of dropouts when using midi. And real Jupiter 8's are huge heavy keyboards, you can probably use the thing as a surf board. Interestingly enough, I have been playing the jp-08 with a korg microkorg xl and for some reason I get 6 note polyphony with some of the presets! I don't know if this is a defect on my xl but hopefully your microkorg xl will give the same result. However connecting two jp-08's together can give you 8 note polyphony, but that will only take the fun out of owning just one! So anyone out there who feels that they lost out on a real Jupiter 8 for any reason, buy the boutique series jp-08 and it will do the job nicely! I got mine from SWEETWATER!

As a former owner of an original, full-sized Jupiter-8, I can say with authority that this little, toy-sized re-release sounds every bit as good as the original beast! I sold my Jupiter-8 years ago because it had no MIDI and the oscillators were unstable. Unfortunately, I had the early model. Now that I've replaced it with the Boutique JP-08, I find myself using it far more often than my real one from years back due to its reliable and perfect sound every time! It sounds like my old Jupiter, but only from its best days when it wasn't out of tune. This is definitely a keeper in my arsenal, which includes a bunch of other Roland Boutique synths, a Roland D-50, JD-800 and a Dave Smith OB-6. My only complaint is that this should have been an 8-voice synth like the original, and an arpeggiator should have been nice. However, the new sequencer helps make up for that lost feature.

I am very happy with this unit! The build quality is great, the sounds are very good (even though it is not an actual analog synth) and the cost and form-factor are excellent. Some of the features are a little obtuse to implement at first, but nothing serious once you take some time with the unit. The manual is, in typical fashion, lacking in the kind of detail some users would appreciate, such as specifics on the sound engine and filter models, etc, but these are tiny gripes. All-in-all, a very happy surprise from Roland, and a welcome addition to the toolbox.

After having for a few weeks I'd have to say this is a cool little piece of gear. It is really easy to sculpt some cool sounds, and the sequencer is quite fun. My only gripe is that the knobs and faders are a bit too tiny.

The JP/08 has that wonderful warm full "fat" sound that was and has been the synth of choice for decades. I am extremely pleased with tthis module in terms of sonic identity - a few drawbacks for me - for some reason Roland has curtailed the master tuning to go only as low as 433. This alone has impeded a beautiful project that to a large extent is what my purchase was based on - Native American flute built in 432 tuning. Darn!

The VCO amplitude switches when turned on and programming short releases seem to introduce unwanted peculiar percussive artifacts. Also some strange anamoly with midi transmission in conjunction with utilizing the USB 44.1 audio into Logic . I had to unplug the JP or go into preferences in both the MacBook Pro and Logic audio to remedy this.

Logic will not monitor the JP-08 on an audio track via the input - it defaults to an Aux track for monitoring . The signal appears but no audio. Ordinarily this would be ok prior to recording, but if you are creating/sculpting your sound with plugin effects, then there must be a duplicate setup for pre record monitoring and post record listening.

Again though, the sound of this little unit is worth every penny invested!

My great appreciation to Alan Carter for his great customer service. Thank you for your assistance over the years and all the gear I have purchased from Sweetwater - the very best experience for musical equipment.

I understand that you can't have it all and charge $400. However, some of the most basic functions of this instrument are very difficult to access (you can forget about doing it while playing in realtime).
The idea of holding down a button, selecting another button, and so on makes it difficult to use.

Great sounds.

I do not like that it can not be controlled from within a DAW. I hope Roland will release a VST editor at no cost.

so the jp 08 is great, its awesome, its got a couple problems
I'm waiting to hear back from roland before i discuss those issues ,

i'll mention the ambient noise it outputs as being very loud when no notes are being pressed… its almost a deal killer for me…. the same with ju-06 thats the only issue I've found the ju 06is it ut puts sound & it gets louder if you turn the chorus on.
So far the jx 03 has the least amount of issues.
I'd buy that first, i have all 3 the jx is the one that i don't want to smash out of frustration.

Ultimately, I was very excited about my Boutique Synths. I purchased the JX-03 and the TR-08. Setting them up in Logic Pro X was just a nightmare. I feel that not giving these machines full size Midi USB and 1/4 inch outputs was a fatal error. Not to mention at least providing the necessary cables. The set up compared to other synths is really tough. Ultimately having to set them up in this way hindered the workflow for me. After literally 3 days of tech support from Roland and Sweetwater(both of which were patient and thorough) I had a working set up. It was then that I realized that these machines were just not powerful enough. Half as loud as other instruments. Most or all of my VSTs are better. I just could not justify the cost for that sound. So after a disappointing week, I am returning them. Gave it one more shot last night and the finished product just sounded like a toy, which is what I think these are. Through it all Sweetwater was great and is helping me settle on something better.