Roland Jupiter-4

T
hough the later
Jupiter-8 and -6 are
more sought-after on
the second-hand
market, Roland’s
Jupiter-4 is the synth
that started it all. It
was not only the fi rst in the Japanese
brand’s Jupiter line – still ongoing
over 30 years later – but Roland’s
fi rst ever polysynth full stop.
As with other Roland classics,
the Jupiter-4 was a fairly
straightforward instrument in design
terms, but still had a distinct
personality. Labelled ‘Compuphonic’
the JP-4 combined ’70s-style
analogue with some modern-for-the-
time touches that would become
synonymous with ’80s synth design,
key amongst them being digital
control and basic preset capabilities.
The original instrument had four
voices, each with a single oscillator
with saw, triangle, square and
pulse-width modulation modes, plus
a switchable sub oscillator. These
feed into high-pass and resonant
low-pass fi lters, with two ADSR
envelopes for modulation, along with
a pleasingly slow-moving LFO.
Chorus/ensemble effects and a
simple arpeggiator fi nish off the
‘classic Roland’ vibe.
Naturally, Roland have updated
the design somewhat for this Roland
Cloud revisit. The original’s 10 –
notoriously lacklustre – presets and
eight user slots have been replaced
by a 64-slot preset bank that can be
expanded with user patches. There
are other changes too, which subtly
too, with an option to change the
virtual control panel to match the
interface of that synth.
It’s a great addition to the Cloud
then, but how valuable is the JP-4 as
a standalone purchase? That
probably comes down to the synths
you already own. There’s no doubt
that the JP-4 was/is a warm and
powerful synth with its own
character, but whether that character
is quite distinct enough from any
other Jupiters, Junos or other retro
polysynths you may already have at
your disposal is up for debate.
expand the fl exibility without altering
the overall character, including
doubled polyphony, a widened range
for the oscillators, additional
arpeggio modes and slightly
expanded modulation options.
As with other ‘Legendary’
instruments in Roland’s Cloud
collection, the Jupiter-4 is powered
by the brand’s Analog Circuit
Behavior technology, which has
already proved its ability to
convincingly ape the sound of classic
hardware. In its default state, the
overall tone here is a touch brighter
than you might get from a hardware
version (at least one that’s had three
decades of use). Roland allow users
to compensate for this, however, with
the addition of new Circuit Mod and
Condition dials, which can be used
to age the virtual circuitry and nudge
parameters slightly off from their
‘straight out the box’ specifi cations.
Roland have really got the hang
of these virtual recreations now, and
the Jupiter-4 looks and feels great,
with a top notch collection of
presets. The synth can be used as a
‘Plug-Out’ exported to the System-8
THE PROS & CONS
+
Looks and sounds
like a classic
Fantastic (expanded)
selection of presets
Effects round out the
sound nicely
-
Sonically fairly
similar to other –
widely emulated
– Jupiter models
Editing effects can
be fi ddly
FM VERDICT
8.6
This Jupiter emulation looks,
feels and sounds great – a
worthy tribute to Roland’s
original polysynth
There’s no doubt that the
JP-4 was/is a warm and
powerful synth with its
own character
Roland Jupiter-4 | Reviews
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