Kronos's Competition from Roland - the all new Jupiter-80

Hedegaard · Post by **Hedegaard** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:29 pm

Uh Oh!!!

Kronos presales just dropped 10000 units, thanks to Roland's new synth:

http://www.roland.co.uk/products/produc ... spx?p=1165

Is this the end, the demise of the Kronos?
(Before it was even available to the public I might add!)

rkuli · Post by **rkuli** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:33 pm

Has not made me question my pre-sale order in the least.

RK

Synthoid · Post by **Synthoid** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:43 pm

It's attractive, yes... but hardly competition for Kronos.

RKfan · Post by **RKfan** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:47 pm

Lots of people interested in it though - have a look at the last 5 pages of the Musikmesse thread - you can even see Howard Jones playing it from there -

Enjoy

ScoobyDoo555 · Post by **ScoobyDoo555** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:54 pm

Loads of people interested etc, and I can see why....

But it's NOT a Kronos-competitor.

IMHO, a lot of people just WANT a synth, regardless of who makes it..... Korg, by keeping quiet on the price (NOT availability - I think we all sympathise with the tragic state of events over in Japan) haven't done themselves any favours at all.

Sadly, there will also be people who simply need a synth right now (for gigging, or projects etc)...... Roland could clean up if Korg aren't careful.

That said, Roland is Japanese as well, and must be suffering the same problems......

burningbusch · Post by **burningbusch** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:55 pm

It's good to get it out in the open. I see it pushing more people (the fence sitters) TO the Kronos rather than away, as it's DEFINITELY NOT a Kronos killer, even though it's priced in the same ballpark.

Busch.

RKfan · Post by **RKfan** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:02 pm

Loads of people interested etc, and I can see why....

But it's NOT a Kronos-competitor.

IMHO, a lot of people just WANT a synth, regardless of who makes it..... Korg, by keeping quiet on the price (NOT availability - I think we all sympathise with the tragic state of events over in Japan) haven't done themselves any favours at all.

Sadly, there will also be people who simply need a synth right now (for gigging, or projects etc)...... Roland could clean up if Korg aren't careful.

That said, Roland is Japanese as well, and must be suffering the same problems......

Yep.... real DUMB MOVE .....

RichF is tight lipped

StephenK is a bit cranky at the moment (OK he works for Yama.. sorry Karma Lab)

And every one else is just keeping Schtum (good German word appropriate for Musikmesse)

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:12 pm

Hedegard, was that a late April fools day joke or what???

I can't imagine you were serious about that funny concept called "Jupiter 80"...

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:33 pm

Late April fools, yeah.

Post by **Sharp** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:37 pm

Hmmm...... not sure where this fits in the market at all.

Sharp.

TSUNAMI · Post by **TSUNAMI** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:48 pm

hhhmmm not really direct competition ... but worth a look ... the howard jones vid done by Sonic state shows some really nice textures can be had from the Jupiter 80 but my next major purchase is a Kronos without a doubt

TagPass · Post by **TagPass** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:50 pm

Hmmm...... not sure where this fits in the market at all.

Funny, to me I'm the opposite. I rather like the idea of purpose-built gear rather than the all-in-oners. (That's why I don't care that my iPhone has an iPod -- I've got an iPod for an iPod!)

If you already have a workstation keyboard or a computer DAW, a board like the new Jupiter might be a nice addition to the sonic palette -- something that adds nice layers and sounds to what you've got, unencumbered by sequencer bells-and-whistles. If you play live, ditto that idea.

I definitely don't think it's fair to try to compare it 1:1 to the Kronos or to assume that the target market will be the same people... but I can at least see the appeal of a keyboard with a focus on the sound and playing... like a new module with a hefty interface.

If my Oasys (or the Kronos) didn't have the sequencer and the audio recorder, I'd likely see those the same way!

McHale · Post by **McHale** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 6:08 pm

Hedegaard wrote:Uh Oh!!!

Kronos presales just dropped 10000 units, thanks to Roland's new synth:

http://www.roland.co.uk/products/produc ... spx?p=1165

Is this the end, the demise of the Kronos?
(Before it was even available to the public I might add!)

And then they watched the demo videos - which are typical Roland, awful. Kronos sales just tripled because those who were holding out to see what Roland would answer with finally saw that there is nothing to see here...

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 6:12 pm

My short first view evaluation on the “Jupiter 80”:

- positive:
a) With 256 voices polyphony and up to 9 Layers (4 split left, 4 split right, 1 lead) you can produce quite thick and fat walls of sound. And the presets from the Howard Jones video were obviously made for this purpose (many pads and 80s powersynth patches) Even if that is not my taste at all (fat overprocessed sound walls): there are certainly people who like and use it.
b) I even guess that the kind of musicians they aim at (lazy synth programmers, just on the fly keyboard users, who rather prefer using presets and preset combinations) DO exist. I only doubt they are as many as they seem to think.

- negative:
a) the Gaia VA on board (confirmed by the Roland Clan moderator) sounds mediocre at best
It is no further developed VA nor a further developed V-synth. Who wants such a lame VA from the ‘cheap product line’ in a 3000€ workstation???
b) it seems to me (subjective impression: I might be wrong!) that many of the onboard synth sounds do not even come from that VA, but are based on sampled waveforms (perhaps including classics like the Jupiter eight). That makes them sound better than the Gaia sounds, but less tweakable like real VAs. Oh, I forgot: this one is not for tweaking.
c) the haptic live control for synth sounds is plain ridiculous, with 4 sliders and 4 knobs: no advanced amateur, not speaking of professionals, will be willing to deal with this nonsense.
d) the Hammond clone can’t be used in any serious way, with 4 sliders and a touchscreen. This combination will make any B3-player sick before even trying to use it.
e) a sequencer is missing completely: no chance to play something and export the idea as midi to your DAW. Instead the “Jupiter 80” is stuck in the 70s, allowing you to record one stereo audio track, somewhat like on an old Sony cassette deck of the 70s.
f) no sampling at all on board
g) the preset push buttons at the fronts are a bad joke: no keyboarder will have his hands and eyes there during play, as even an endorsing Howard Jones admitted. Utterly idiotic.
h) Maybe it is easy to recall a limited number of live set presets. But where is something like a set list or favorite list for live gigs???

To me it looks as if the estimated 3000€ are simply 1000 up to 1500€ too much for such a device. And concerning functionality and sound, it doesn’t even scratch at the bottom of the 'Kronos league'. I doubt that Korg will sell more than 4-5 Kronoi less for this strange and overpriced concept of a keyboard, which is anything else than a Jupiter 8 legacy.

TagPass · Post by **TagPass** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 6:17 pm

e) a sequencer is missing comopletely: no chance to play something and export the idea as midi to your DAW. Instead the “Jupiter 80” is stuck in the 70s, allowing you to record one stereo audio track, somehat like on an old Sony cassette deck of the 70s.

I would've listed this as letter "c" under "positive"

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Kronos's Competition from Roland - the all new Jupiter-80

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