Roland released one of it's coolest (and heaviest) synths back in 1981 and produced about 2000 Jupiter-8's before discontinuing them in 1985. The Jupiter was released a couple of years before the invention of the MIDI spec and did not have MIDI included, although later models had a DCB port which let you interface the Jupiter with computers, drum machines (like Roland classic TR808) and other midi synths. Roland produced the MD8 "DCB to Midi converter" which connected everything together. There were also a few third party midi retrofits that were produced from companies like Kenton which brought the Jupiter into the modern studio.

Compared to other analog synths manufactured during that time period, the Jupiter-8 is produced with a higher quality and built to last. Compared to the Curtis chips, used by Oberheim and Sequential, the failure rate of the Roland IR series IC's used in the JP-8, is very low and as a result many of the 2000 original units are still being used today by a wide range of keyboard players and producers. When an original Jupiter is offered for sale it still commands a hefty price.

If you don't have that kind of cash to spend on an original Jupiter 8 Arturia has done it right with the release of their cool virtual instrument - Jupiter-8V. It has all the original parameters as the original with lot's of cool new features, digital effects and more real time controls via the new modulation matrix. Of course, you can now store as many patches as you like and recall them with the click of a mouse.

The software has received great reviews for its sound quality compared to the original Jupiter-8 and adding our new sounds to the software package brings it to the next level. Our Jupiter-8 VCollection is available as a download via our free e-mail delivery. Just open the file in your Arturia software and your ready to roll.