Blah Blah Cafe, the Jean-Michel Jarre forum

[Jon]

It's been leaked out at the Musikmesse 2011 show that Roland are to release a new synth, mixing modern with vintage in the form of the Jupiter-80.

Can't say I'm that impressed - yada, yada

[jeremy]

The Jupiter 80 is not something I would want to buy. A Fantom is better for live settings but lacks the analog modeling part in this case.

What I want from Roland next year is a black workstation (call it Fantom-Z or whatever sounds nice), with an analog modeling engine built-in AND a huge flash memory like the Motif XF so that you can play your own samples immediately with no loading time necessary.

That is something I would buy, definitely. Cause I assume the Korg Kronos will be very expensive compared to the usual workstations (Fantom, Motif, M3...). I expect a price tag between the M3 and the Oasys...

[Dr. Who]

The Jupiter 80 is not something I would want to buy. A Fantom is better for live settings but lacks the analog modeling part in this case.

What I want from Roland next year is a black workstation (call it Fantom-Z or whatever sounds nice), with an analog modeling engine built-in AND a huge flash memory like the Motif XF so that you can play your own samples immediately with no loading time necessary.

That is something I would buy, definitely. Cause I assume the Korg Kronos will be very expensive compared to the usual workstations (Fantom, Motif, M3...). I expect a price tag between the M3 and the Oasys...

Ur in luck then, Kronos pricing had been out for a while and it's only a few more bucks than the leading workstation. 61 key XF and G's sell for about $2,500 in my neck of the woods. Kronos sells for $2,999. Oh wait... that's marketing speak for $3,000! But yeah, nowhere near OASYS prices and much closer to M3 prices. Makes you a little angry being an OSAYS owner. Especially since the Kronos comes preloaded with all additional engines which you had to buy at about $300 a pop on the OASYS. Oh well... better for the new consumers though.

[qube]

There was a review in Sound on Sound which summed it up nicely, stating that the biggest problem with the new workstation is that it is called a Jupiter, as it sets too many expectations and therefore disappoints.

I've had a good play with one, they sound nice, but in a generic Roland workstation kind of way, the hardware underneath is a modified Fantom G, I find the whole 'workstation' model a bit dated now and not in a cool retro kind of way. The interface is too convoluted lots of silly menus and buttons, looks like a fruit machine. I want to be able to play an instrument not spend all day navigating menus and instruction manuals. Given the low cost and high power of a modern laptop you can buy something a trillion times more versatile and powerful without the expense if you opt for the soft-synth route.

I just wish Roland would bring out a Korg-esque 'Legacy Collection' with soft copies of their classic digital and emulations of their classic analog gear.

[Jon]

There was a review in Sound on Sound which summed it up nicely, stating that the biggest problem with the new workstation is that it is called a Jupiter, as it sets too many expectations and therefore disappoints.

Exactly - It's like putting a Ferrari badge on a Ford