I saw that Alex Ball posted a vido on youtube today about the Jupiter 6 and I realised that we don’t have a thread about it here… so, I’ve only ever played one once for an hour or two in person and it was absolutely glorious sounding. Way better than when I had a chance to play on actual Jupiter 8 which surprised me given the reputations of each.
Seems weird that for all the emulations and recreations of the Jupiter 8 (and even the 4) that there has been over the years that no-one has done something for the 6. Anyone have any recommendations for getting close to Jup6 in either sound or functionality? Any other fans of the synth out there?
I’m waaaay more interested in one of those than the 8. They sound glorious! Untamed, eager to fly off the leash. The 8 sounds much smoother and neater, and a bit less interesting, to me, as a result.
I’m still sore over not having enough money to buy the one I found in a random shop in Manchester, UK in the mid 90s. It was something like £600 then. I was a 1st year student and had no job; there was no way I could afford it. But looking back now I wish I’d made it happen.
Wasn’t Johnny Roadhouse was it? They has some great stuff in the re over the years… including a VCS3 at one point. They has it In the window and were asking big money for it.
Not sure how similar it can get but I’ve seen a comparison video of the Jupiter 6 and the Super 6 (for obvious reasons). They weren’t super far off in basic patches anyway.
I’ve never owned a JP6, but I do have an MKS-80 which is supposed to be closer to the JP6 than to the JP8. It is one of the best sounding polysynths I’ve ever owned (and I’ve owned a lot). It’s not as refined as a Prophet-5, nor is it as burly and raw as an OB-Xanything, but somewhere in between, with a pleasingly substantial low end. Envelopes can be a bit clicky, though.
The Jupiter 6 does indeed sound glorious. The multimode filters are beautiful and I think the synth itself is gorgeous. I would use this over a Jupiter 8 any day.
I hadn’t really watched anything about the Super 6 as it’s a bit above my budget so I never realised the similarities… but wow, yeah, that’s really super nice. Apologies for the pun…
Bought mine in '97 and fed it into an ASRX - Pro. MIDI on the JP was a tad archaic and would give me fits when sequencing it and other gear on a MMT-8. So when playing live, I would use it mostly for ambient/atmospheric pads (can easily coax warm, lush pads out of it).
That sums it up perfectly. I used to have a JP8 and found it smooth, musical and all that, but ultimately a little boring. The 6 is more experimental and surprising, and will take you to places you didn’t expect.
I’d like a Jupiter synth to pair up with my Roland TR-8 and TB03 for ultimate Roland trilogy just like a Rytm mk2 on my wish list to complete my Elektron dark trilogy. Perhaps next year after I complete my personal commitment to the no gear contest.
