I don’t think it is. Some vendors use “discontinued” for their messaging when they should use “out of stock”, and that creates confusion.
(Sweetwater lists it as out of stock rather than discontinued, and they are usually accurate)
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That makes sense. I wouldn’t expect it to be discontinued until several years from now based on Roland’s history of groovebox releases.
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I’m just reporting what I see here. If you’re asking me of all people why hardware JD-08 specs don’t match the Zenology JD-800, you’re asking the wrong person 
:
https://www.roland.com/us/products/jd-08/specifications/
Effects
Distortion
Phaser
Spectrum
Enhancer
Delay
Chorus
Reverb
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I had no idea. Neither does Sweetwater
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MC707--roland-mc-707-groovebox
I got mine for $849 from the Roland Store on Amazon. Musician’s Friend is selling it for the same price.
From what you’re saying neither it nor the 101 would be a fit for you, because buying both of them to have all that synthesis and sequencing firepower, plus battery-powered portability… it’s not a cheap investment.
I guess if the sequencer and arp is more important than the synthesis method, perhaps deeper study of those functions on the JD and JX, to see if there are any differences, may assist in your decision.
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haha! My main concern is whether Zenology is compatible with JD-08, I’m really hoping they are.
The desire to export Zenology patches to JD-08 is understandable.
I don’t see it on the product site. Maybe you can find it as I may have missed it
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I haven’t searched extensively but haven’t seen any mention as yet, I think it’s a case of waiting for some people to have it. It seems all everyone wants to do on youtube so far is go through the 1st 64 presets. I didn’t even use them when I owned a real JD. I wish loopop had one.
@governersilver wrote “discounted” not “discontinued” (I also misread it)
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I’ve listened to quite a few demos of the JD-08, and to my ears that the sound does not have the weight and power of the originals (I currently have a 990), the filter behavior isn’t the same, high end is different etc. Buuuut… since the originals are costing crazy money these days to buy and (in the case of the 800) maintain, Roland is to be commended for giving people affordable options.
It seems that the JX-08 is closer in its modeling to the originals, and I could see myself picking one up at some point.
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After several hours now into discovering the JX I have to say that it sits very well in the mix with others. By itself it’s not the strongest one, but in combination it really shines and can give an arrangement a final touch. I also use it more and more to create small basic musical idea stems and use them as foundation for songs. I also compared the filter reso selfoscillation…it tracks well, but in comparison with the SH01a filter reso selfoscillation…that one sounds way more pleasing and beautiful to my ears. Still the weakest point about the sound, but if I understood it right, the JX8p didn’t had this at all.
All in all, I am gonna keep it. For maybe future live concerts, the form factor is also a big plus.
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Judging by the Zenology version, I’d say the filter is absolutely spot on, I imagine it’s exactly the same DSP code. The slider also has the steppiness which I love. I was very sceptical at first as the filter is the thing I miss about the JD (definitely not the weight and size!) as it has a very unique distortion/saturation. They haven’t emulated the bitrate breakup on the low level fade out of the FX but I’m fine with that. Perhaps the whole thing is a bit more hi fidelity across the board.
assuming the JD-08 uses the same code which is highly likely, have a look at this:
I’m completely satisfied with Zenology, but if the JD-08 can load it’s banks then it’s a definite buy for me and certainly satisfies my JD craving.
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I just watched a JX-08 demo last night comparing it to the original. It was an A/B blind comparison until the reveal at the end. The reviewer laid waste to the JX-08 in his closing overview - which was surprising, but refreshing. Great demo/review.
The JX-08 sounded terrible in that video IMO.
That video is now posted for the third time in this thread.
His Grandma story doesn’t get better with each post 
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Yeah I’m still trying to figure out what was worse the Grandma joke or the bad attempt he did at matching of the envelopes.
Edit: That said I find most of his videos usually ok.
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Savage/hyperbolic reviews get a lot more clicks on youtube than fair ones, so it’s not surprising he went over the top in his video. I haven’t seen anything else from this dude, but I’m incredibly tired of this kind of negativity for clout so I definitely won’t be watching anything else he does.
I also don’t agree that the JX-08 sounds bad in the video. He went out of his way to make it sound bad so that the youtube algorithm would reward him, and it still sounds pretty good? Honestly, that’s a big point in favor of the JX-08!
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Update - easier to mute the thread … carry on as you were.
The forum chides me when I’ve replied to the same person three times in a topic. I wonder if it can do the same for duplicated video links?
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I found another Roland page listing Zenology-compatible hardware.
No JD-08. No other Boutiques.
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But that could be related to general Zenology banks, for example I think the 707 and 101 loads standard Zenology banks but not the models. It’s a given it won’t load standard Zenology banks but just plain wrong/short sighted if it can’t load JD Zenology banks.
It’s ridiculously complicated and like a full time job trying to keep up with Roland’s various systems and sub systems.
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Any comparison between the JD-08 and the JD-800 is incomplete without mentioning the Red Goo.
Acetone can no longer be sold in the state of California, so I’d have to consult an adhesives expert before embarking upon a JD-800 restoration.
All of the other boutiques replicate synths that can be obtained with a reasonable amount of money and effort and then repaired by a competent tech as needed. The JD-800 has problems that require specialized adhesives knowledge and as a well ventilated workspace.
It is helpful to know where the JD-08 falls short sonically, but it’s on the long term buy list for me regardless.
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