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I owned a Jupiter XM for about half a year. Of all the synths Iâve used, it has by far the worst UI I have ever experienced. I still didnât really understand how to save a goddamn patch when I sold it.
All of that being said, I think I would enjoy it a lot more nowadays. I wanted to use it as a multitimbral sound module with a different synth model on each of the (four?) parts, and also use the onboard FX. That might have led to the worst possible experience, because I constantly had to deal with the horrible menu structure. It also meant that I often used synth models or sample machines that didnât correspond to the labels and knobs available.
If I had stuck to just using one layer of Jupiter sounds, which is what the controls are mimicking, I think I would have had a good time. I was basically trying to use a Juno or 101 with a Jupiter 8 interface, of course that has to be a shitshow. Sure, thatâs the exact use case Roland imagined, but they should have just sold it as a digital Jupiter clone without all of the added functions. And you could choose to do just that. I liked a lot of things about the XM, the size and keys were perfect, the built was good, the sound was great.
All of this is to say that people who are complaining about the small size of the 08 should at least consider the XM and X or their other workstations. Implying that the small boutiques donât have a right to exist because theyâre small is like me wondering how stupid Sequential or Moog are for not making smaller synths in a boutique form factor.
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I hope Iâm never this cynical and narrowminded.
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I gave that post a heart because I liked the take on the wavetable synth and then unhearted it after I read that dreadful take on the Jupiter 08. Itâs not like theyâre ripping anyone off or stealing anyoneâs work or something. If you find it boring, just donât buy it and move on. I think itâs cool they arenât too proud to acknowledge they kinda messed up on the first rerelease of their legendary synth and now have improved everything that sucked about it.
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What did Roland do to you?
Where did they hurt you?
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Thereâs a reason Roland makes boutiques.
David Ahlund said in a product demo he was doing on a sonic state vid some time ago- something along the lines of-
'The first boutique models were kind of novelty items. Roland made a few, but they were really popular, and sold out. So they made some more. And people bought those. â
So if you make even a joke product, and it sellls, of course you are going to make more. You make what sells. Simple really.
So all these people complaining about Roland making these things, complain about the customers, not Roland.
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Consumers taking responsibility for consumption?
How very dare you!
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Call me a dreamer
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And- while Iâm on it-
Who cares what other people buy? Or why they buy it? If it makes them happy, fucking go for it. If a tiny 303 brings you joy, brilliant. I had the TR09, it was ace.
If you feel offended by Roland, stop paying attention to Roland.
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Horrible menu structure is a pretty distinct pattern through Roland and it sucks because itâs like everything that youâd want in a nice 37 key synth. It also follows suit that they pack in so much for a multimbral synth but make it frustrating to get there. Iâd hate to tweak each part by having to switch between each part.
Iâm neutral on the Jupiter 8 boutique, itâs nice, and if I didnât have the Ise Nin, Iâd probably have picked this up.
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A tale as old as time. Though really the consumers are just buying what theyâre willing to put up with. Consumers have made reasonable requests that follow something more practical, but like you said, money talks, so it becomes easy to hit the lowest common denominators.
Lots of people are buying what they like.
How did you arrive at 'buying what theyâre willing to put up with â ?
â i think this is shit, ah well Iâll just buy it anwayâ
Who does that?
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If you believe half the feature requests and general spec whining on here, a lot of people.
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something about enshitification aka the LCD 
the pretty well known concept thatâs essentially brought us economically to this point. Anyway, this has deviated. Money talks. Simple as that.
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Is this what weâre gonna do now, just point at elements we donât personally like and shout enshitification at them?
How are the 8 segment displays on the Boutiques evidence of enshitification?
Theyâve always had them, are they shitter now than when they first started selling them?
Are they a massive step down from the crisp oled screens on the original Jupiter 8?
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LCD screens are part of Rolandâs almost entire history. You look at all the OGs and theyâve had them. Itâs not a downgrade. They just never upgraded. Same with their sister company, Boss. They keep formats for decades.
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you should go read my posts further up. I already said if I didnât have my Ise Nin, Iâd buy the jupiter 8, and for no other reason that itâs a hardware option, imo, not the best.
Not to mention, the response is to him quoting that itâs a novelty item, and people were paying for it, meaning they could roll more out for the sake of making a profitâthey didnât have to do better. So yes, a nice screen would have been better on the jupiter 8, just like a bigger screen on the n/vision synth would have been nice for the menu diving associated with, which my posts above described is a common pattern for them. Or even just increasing the size so you have longer throws. That, imo, is keeping things âshittyâ because people will still buy it.
I also donât have an issue with LCDs, as long as it shows more information. The JV series are LCDs, I love those, so not sure why equating the small LCDs with getting something larger is moving the posts into oled territory.
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