However, it also appeared
on the market at around the same time as the DX7 and that was to
sound the death knell for the Jupiter 6!
The Jupiter 6 was a nice synth - from my limited experience
with it, the Jupiter 6 sounded good and was relatively easy to use
but its 6 voices and its then 'old fashioned' sound were not enough
to compete with the 16-voice DX7 with its sparkling new FM electric
pianos, marimbas, vibes and so on. The JP6 also lacked a velocity
sensitive keyboard (which was a compelling feature of the DX7) and,
to top it all, it was quite a bit more expensive than the DX7! Hardly
any wonder that the JP6 was not the success Roland had anticipated!
Of course, now the JP6 is seen as a bargain - it does
most of what a Jupiter 8 can do (although some claim it doesn't
sound quite the same) but without the reverential price tag.
The Nostalgia JP6 sound was multi-sampled with the Jupiter
6 in 'unison' mode (i.e. all 12 oscillators stacked on top of each
other with detune) and the result is truly thick and glorious string/pad
sound that works well in any number of circumstances and musical
styles.
Samples kindly donated by Jon Katz |
