Roland JD800 Center

One of The 10 greatest synthesizers of all time

2012-01-16T16:17:00.000-08:00

I found this article at MusicRadar, very nice comments:

The 10 greatest synthesizers of all time

The machines that changed music

Scot Solida, Mon 26 Oct 2009, 12:14 pm UTC

9. Roland JD-800

It was a difficult decision, putting the JD-800 on the list in lieu of the massively popular D-50. The latter is arguably the classic between the two and represented a major shift in Roland's approach to instrument design and sales. Yet the JD-800 was, frankly, a far better instrument.
Like the D-50, the JD combined sample-based oscillators with a fairly typical signal path that included a resonant filter, envelope generators and the like. However, the JD-800 offered something not available on any other sample-based synthesizer: a bucket load of sliders. Yep, the JD harkened back to the analogue era, offering scads of real-time control (that, alas, could only be transmitted via SysEx). It was big, impressive and utterly sexy, even if it was made mostly of plastic.
More than that, it sounded out-of-this-world. At a time when manufacturers were doing their best to cram as many grainy 8-bit low-rate samples into an instruments' ROM as possible, Roland used only hi-res stuff, resulting in outstanding sound quality.
Alas, the JD-800 was released a decade too soon. The analogue revival was still years off and sales fizzled (at least by D-50 standards). However, Roland knew what it had, and the technology behind the JD-800 would pop up again and again in its best-selling series of rack-mountable MIDI modules.

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Thanks to MusicRadar nice people!

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An user review - control back to the player instead of the computer

2011-12-14T04:41:00.000-08:00

I found this interesting review at ihavesynth.com

Original posted at: http://ihavesynth.com/review/roland-jd-800/roland-jd-800

Review: Roland JD-800

Posted by Synthattica on 10/10/2009

www.ihavesynth.com/user/synthattica
LA area prog-rock keyboardist. Oberheim MC-3000, Ensoniq SQ2, Kurzweil K2000, Roland VSynth v2.0, Roland D-550, Waldorf MW XT, Novation Supernova Rack, OpenLabs Soundslate, G-Force impOSCar, Arturia V-Collection, Waldorf Largo, OP-XProII, Korg Legacy, NI FM8, B4II, Sampletank 2.5xl, Superwave P8.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the JD-800 is one of the greatest synthesizers Roland's ever produced. Not because it is loaded with a ton of features, but because of it's sheer design that I wish Roland would take an opportunity to produce a new line of JD series synths.

Just the LOOK of the JD-800 gives many keyboardists a "synth boner". While constructed of molded plastic (metal side panels would have helped keep more of these around!), it's build could be described as a bit flimsy, but they were durable enough to be road worthy.

It's the philosophy of this synth that I love so much.

When the JD-800 arrived in 1992, people have had enough of analog (can you actually believe that?!?!?), and digital synthesizers were now all programmed with the idea that users would edit sounds using a computer, so real-time control was sacrificed. The JD-800 was the first one to step in and say (you know what? alpha dials suck! So do tiny little LCD screens and silkscreened menus and graphs to guide you through the synths parameters."

Before close examination, it looks like an 80's pop version of an analog synth, but it's anything but.

What you get is a 26 voice ROM-based digital synthesizer. The is ONE DCO that controls the sound source of a multitude of sampled waveforms. After that, the rest of the programming is very familiar to analog synths, with multiple filter choices, envelope sections, dual LFO's, etc. While this may not sound all that interesting, each sound layers up to 4 of these individual signal paths. In this sense, the JD-800 becomes something like a super-charged D-50, except the joystick on the D-50 would be replaced with a mixer section. Personally, I think joystick mixing would have been a better choice when they designed this synth. It's sound is actually based on the D-50, though updated with better wave ROM. While 26 voices was certainly a lot for 1992, keep in mind one voice each is used for each partial, so using all 4 partials limits you to a 6 voice instrument, plus two spare voices for whatever. At the end of the signal chain is an assortment of effects that are entirely LCD-menu driven, which makes them a little complicated to edit.

The JD-800 is fully multi-timbral, and multi-mode is where you create your keyboard splits and complex layers. I generally avoid multi use with this instrument since this synth is really created for thick pads and power-chords, and adding multi layers kills the polyphony. Also in multi mode is where you'll find the drum section, an editable palatte of drum sounds, many of which became nearly as identifyable as the "digitalnativedance" patch from the D-50.

While the JD-800 was packed with a multitude of usable sounds, Roland created a set of ROM cards that added more waveforms to work with, and come with a memory card to save your specific sound sets using those waveforms.

If you're considering one of these boards, and I HIGHLY recommend them, you should know that there is NO sequencer or appegiator, this is strictly a performance synth. I believe the panel controls transmit midi control parameters, though I've never used it in that fashion, so I'm not completely sure.

The best uses for the JD-800: brass pads, warm strings, percussive sounds, pan flute type sounds, FX pads. Drum sounds are usable.NOT good for: pianos, organs, acoustic instruments like upright basses and guitars.

My personal recommendation: slave up a JP-8080, Wavestation, or D-50 to get some truly THICK Roland pads.

Again, this synth doesn't have every bell and whistle, but you can see Roland's intent to replace their two legendary synthesizers: The Jupiter 8 (mostly in appearance and physical analog-style control) and the D-50 (in terms of sound). What they wound up creating was a synthesizer that took sound control back to the player instead of the computer, and paved the road for the JV series of instruments, that would evolve into the XV series, then ultimately the Fantom series.

An Collector Item

2011-04-14T11:54:00.000-07:00

I found this at RolandClans:

Forum member, synth-owner say:

Hedegaard:

"I purchased it new in 1994 and have the brochure, card brochure, all manuals and all the cards except Accordion card. All cards bought from new back in the day, except strings card which I got off E-bay."

It´s really a nice synth collection.

An user JD800 experience

2010-08-24T10:06:00.000-07:00

Here a interesting testimony from a JD800 owner, posted recently at JD-800 Tech group relating some troubles and happiness with the JD:

Hi to the tech board. I have had the pleasure of owning a JD800 for several
months now and am totally obsessed over it. The JD800 is one gorgeous keyboard
all around.

Keys I have used extensively for projects in the past included: Korg Microkorg
(went through 2 of these before the tiny keys got to me this year), Korg Karma,
Korg Triton, Yamaha S03 (stolen one night), FM7 softsynth and Sampletank
softsynth.

I have moved on from my band days, and now only have the JD800. It can make up
for all of the prelisted synths, although these days a good VA like Korg's
MS2000b would be essential to have too with a digital. Honestly I like the
stable sound of digital oscillators as well, it's another kind of sound tool,
that gives your monophonic lines a "Synclavier"-like feel.

That brings me to the next point - the JD800 feels alive when you are playing
it. I can't describe it, it simply feels like no other synth I have played.
Sure, first thing I remember about the Korg Karma was it having an excellent
keyboard, but to me and the way I was using my tools back then, it was down to
being a killer preset machine. Whereas the JD800, you start playing on sounds
you normally would shun because they just sound like something from the outer
limits! I got the JD800 to finally own a "true synth". I have no regrets, the
JD800 is a very expressive and touching keyboard. The phaser reminds me of the
phaser from the ARP Quadra.

I really want to get deeper into it but I don't have that much time to practice
synth programming. I was always a preset hound but this board is making me want
to get that aspet of it together. I will be trying out the often mentioned
patches on the internet this week.

When I got it of course it needed some good TLC, it was kinda filthy. Contact
cleaner, compressed air and all that. One of the waveforms for the parts in
multi-mode, #4, was wildly going in and out of tune. Sometimes, some patches
using that waveform would sound horrible because of the detuning. A factory
reset was needed to fix that! Never read about this happening to anyone so I
thought I should mention it.
Next I saw the sliders start changing values on their own, though not full-on
possesed mode. Thanks to all the sources on the net I was able to get it open
and clean the entire thing well. It passed all the diag tests, and the
aftertouch is the only quirk on it now.

Otherwise it plays like a dream, and it probably is, as Roland's newer gear
after the JV and XV stuff IMHO does not have the same charm, uniqueness or power
that Roland gear of the past has. One things for sure, they all are unique and
sound unique. Of the newer stuff I liked the Juno Stage, though I have not
played a Fantom yet. The guys at YouTube in the comments are always going back
and forth on Fantom vs. JD800.
V-Synth is interesting in a way since you can use the sample feature to
literally create your own oscillators and voila its a ROMpler, a JD-8000 with no
sliders lol. We'll see how they respond to the newer competition.

By: gdanielak

JD-800 Pseudo-module

2010-08-13T11:05:00.000-07:00

Some interesting pictures at Flickr by Ran Kirlian.

A damaged Roland JD 800

It has the deadly keyboard glue problem that could be fixed by replacing the complete keyboard set.

Roland JD-800 modded #1

Roland JD-800 with keyboard glue issue being cut and converted into a light pseudo-module version. Still needing cleaning and case closed but works wel..

Complete customization process (in spanish) at celiar.blogspot.com. This is a must see work!

JD-801 Xpander prototype

Photoshoped prototype of my upcomming JD 800 mod project (how it should look like).

The lost bender & volume controls that uses to be placed at the left of the keyboard will be moved to a external control box.

This picture only meants to be a sketch of the mod. I will post real pictures when it's done.

Interesting, uhm?

May, 18 - Happy Birthday Rick Wakeman!

2010-05-18T07:15:00.000-07:00

May, 18 is the birthday of Rick Wakeman.

Master Rick used a JD800, sadly I´ve not yet found a picture using it.

Thanks for the music Rick!

(Edited):

Reply received:

Thank you for taking the trouble to email me with birthday wishes! I have been so inundated with such an astonishing amount of wonderful e-mails from people like yourself, that it is just not possible to reply to them all, but rest assured that I read each and every one. I hope you understand and thank you once again.

Cheers
Rick Wakeman

JD-800 guitar solo with Wah-wah and Distortion pedals

2010-03-09T04:50:00.000-08:00

Another good video showing the Guitar patches of the JD-800 with Wah-wah effect pedals.
The videos was performed by S4K (Space4Keys) with MXR pedals.
The Nord Lead is used as controller for the JD-800 because the JD keys was broken. In this previous post of the same player this can be seen.

Part II: In this part, at 1.09s the player show the pedals being added to the resulting efect.

Some frequently serviced parts

2010-02-26T12:39:00.000-08:00

Most often keybed and painel parts need replacement. Here the service manual pages with part numbers and the how-to´s.

Front Panel Switches Parts list

(Click to enlarge image)

Image by mike.partington

How to remove individual keys

(Click to enlarge image)

Image by sensitivedragon

How to install individual keys

(Click to enlarge image)

Image by sensitivedragon

Parts list and diagram of individual keyboard keys

(Click to enlarge image)

Image by sensitivedragon

The complete manual are here: Manuals: Owner and Service - JD800 and JD990

From MATRIXSYNTH: Roland JD-800 in Fancy Dress

2010-02-22T08:42:00.000-08:00

Another beautifull modified JD like a SCI Prophet-VS.

I found this at MATRIXSYNTH: Roland JD-800 in Fancy Dress. That´s a nice blog to everyone who love synths or are ready fall in love.

This was done by Customsynth.co.uk, the same company who made the "Gandalf , The White".

Great demo. Pressures, waves, tecno, the monster breath.

2010-02-22T05:19:00.000-08:00

A very nice demo by Fischek.

Factory Reset

2010-02-22T04:26:00.000-08:00

The factory reset function will clean all your editings and restore original internal memory.

Use with caution. If you do this by mistake, there´s no way to undo this action.

JD-800:

Press data transfer.
Page up to select factory preset.
Press yes

JD-990:

Hold exit and press utility.
Press F6.
Press F5.

A short demo adjusting the cutoff frequency and resonance

2010-02-19T08:28:00.000-08:00

Adjusting the cutoff freq and reso on the JD-800 to create the background.

See more Youtube Synthspassed videos.

Some factory sounds

2010-02-19T08:16:00.000-08:00

Another video from Retrosound.de with nice sound quality.
Someone told you JD are great for pads? Yes, but there are more than pads there.

Meanwhile, enjoy this samples from the factory sounds.

Gandalf - The JD-800 Custom White Synth

2010-02-19T03:16:00.000-08:00

This is a very nice customization.

Jeff Toman of Customsynth.co.uk artistically created a beautiful new all-white look for Dave´s Roland JD-800, in the style of a classic '80s SH-101 synth.

You can see it at Dave´s site.

Also see the 29-image Flickr set showing Randel's synth barn in Essex, CT, adding custom parts onto an otherwise stock synth..

And here is Gandalf, The White:

And the studio:

A Roland JD-800 Synth Repair Video

2010-02-17T11:59:00.000-08:00

This guy diagnosed and discussed these common issues:

Battery replacement
Dead keys
Clanking keys
Missing weights
Glue
Velocity stuck at max value
Bad buttons
Jumpy sliders
Part numbers included

Remember: If you try it is at your own risk.

Video at Youtube by Moretacos1

Software and Patches for the JD-800 and JD-990

2010-02-17T11:01:00.000-08:00

There are very good professional software supporting the JD-800 and JD-990, but if you want a non-pay choice, this are the best.

The JD-800 Patch Organizer created by Laurent Lecatelier-Dudec (France), was released as freeware in 24/04/1999 (date in original author´s site) and is no more available from the programmer´s site.

In more recent years, Gwydion Elderwin (Australia) created a JD-800 Randon Bank Creator and a Jd-800 to JD-990 Bank Converter.

About the patch banks here.

The first, I guess was compiled by Stephen Drake, the guy who kept most of JD material available for years. This site is proud to pay him our tribute.
The internet banks are so-so grouped, thus makes some sense.

Gwydion also have done a strong work removing duplicates from hundreds of patches, adding lots more and creating a library for each synth. Still is missing time to classify all that stuff into categories.

The bank files are in .rar format. You need Winrar or compatible to extract it.

Downloads:

JD800 Patch Organizer                                               230 Kb
JD800 pach banks organized by Gwydion Elderwin      499 Kb
JD800 Path banks internet colletion                                407 Kb
JD800 randon bank creator                                         512 Kb

JD800 to JD990 Bank Converter                                  177 Kb

JD990 Patch Organizer         230 Kb
JD990 Pach banks organized by Gwydion Elderwin     544 Kb

Keep Your JD-800 Clean

2010-02-17T10:38:00.000-08:00

Just be careful with the JD-800, clean it very often.

Dust in the sliders, button and circuits can provoke a typical JD-800 berzerk (auto-programming...).

This effect is like a ghost acting in the synth. If you don´t use to change program while playing, turn off the banks edit mode. (just press bank A-b-C-D to light off and then save the patch.

You will also note, when some parameter is changed because dust, a "point" will light in the painel, like if you have done it.

Differences between JD-800 and JD-990

2010-02-17T06:07:00.000-08:00

The JD-990 is the Supermodule of the JD-800. It have extended capabilities and is a "big plus" to any setup.

Expanded wave ROM (6MB vs. 4MB)
Ability to use a 8MB expansion board
4 additional outs
True stereo engine
Osc sync
Cross-mod (FXM)
Osc structures that allow ring mod and serial dual filters
Additional LFO waveforms
MIDI CC control of parameters
Tempo-sync delay
Polyphonic portamento
Performance memories
Additional multi-timbral slots
One patch can keep full effects in multi mode

For the complete comments by Don Solaris and some DEMOS of the JD-990 visit:Roland JD-990 info and synthesis examples

Thanks to Ian and Don Solaris for this part.

The Original Internal Sound Demos

2010-02-17T05:43:00.000-08:00

The sound files here are recording from the Roland JD-800 internal sound demos. Copyright by Roland Co.

The JD-800 have two good internal demos, one for each mode (single or multi-timbral).

Mode	Server 1 (server is closing) (hpg.com.br)	Server 2 (Ok, at Google Docs)	Size	Time
Single Mode	Part 0	Part 0	977 Kb	1:02
Single Mode	Part 1	Part 1	707 Kb	0:45
Single Mode	Part 2	Part 2	1097 Kb	1:10
Single Mode	Part 3	Part 3	641 Kb	0:40
Single Mode	Part 4	Part 4	566 Kb	0:36
Single Mode	Part 5	Part 5	533 Kb	0:33

Multi Mode	Multi Demo	Multi Demo	660 Kb	1:36

Note: This are 128kbps mp3 files, so I reduced the overall quality. I want upload better quality sound files, but have been short in time. Anyways, the sounds are great.

See the movies in the other posts. They have great samples of what great sounds this synth is capable.

Links for other JD sites, stuff and foruns. Permanent list

2010-02-12T10:27:00.000-08:00

The links are unordered. Some sites may requires translation like translate.google.com

The two best foruns for the JD-800 and JD-990:

JD-800_Tech Yahoo Group. This is a group covering technical, repair, performance, and programming aspects of the Roland JD-800 synthesizer. The group have no owner, so be aware of spam messages (try to ignore).
Roland_JD-990 Yahoo Group. For all users of the Roland JD-990. This group is intended for the sharing of links, Useage info, Tips/tricks, & user patches.

Tact Switch Black - up/down, decr./incr

(replacement for 13169696)

vintageplanet.nl - Parts Service for Vintage Synthesizer - They have parts for JD-800 and JD-990.

VintageSynth One of the most famous reference for every synth.

Harmony Central This is one of the best site and foruns for musicians.

KSS Roland JD-990/JD-800 competition

www.bluesynths.com A detailed guide to keyboards and their musical aspects by synth lovers. good stuff, very nice pictures and great sound demos (not the internals) of the JD-800!
They also have very interesting sound at their Myspace profile: Roland JD800 Long Mix.

SynthMania.com Information and Demos of Synthesizers. Great material or the Jd-990, sound demos for original and card patches . Must see and listen!

retrosound.de Vintage Synthesizers Page.

synrise.de This site turned to pay mode, but have some o the best material about synths I have seen.

JD-990 page from Don Solaris A great page with info on the JD-990 and some real nice mp3 samples of the JD-990 at it's best. Don Solaris is one of the most active members at Harmony Central and a "JD master".

Midiox Sysex utility program for sending/receiving bulk dumps from your synth (Win 9X.. and later.

Pro-Rec's JD-800 & jd-990 page 3rd party patches for your JD-990.

Sonicstate.com Great synth site!

MatrixSynth Great everything synths blog!

Sonic Plug- Roland JD-990 Great tribute page to the JD-990.

http://www.synthzone.com Great synth tech info.

Synthzone JD800 patches some assorted patches for the JD-800.
Synthzone JD990 patches some assorted patches for the JD-990.

MEMI-Makers-Soundpool Free JD-990 Sounds.

Kid Nepro's Home page 3rd party patch creator/reseller. Good stuff, I have their demo for the 990 in the file section.

Dancetech.com Good review.

JarreLook Great Jean Michel Jarre Tribute Band from the UK.
If you want Jarre patches, see their download page for JD800 patches and other synths

JD-800.tripod.com - Good info and description of the JD-800 Sound Libraries cards and waveforms.

Mark Smart have great material:

Mark Smart JD-800 page -Using the JD-800 As A Giant MIDI Slider Box
Mark Smart Choir Sounds Without Samples - Excelent page about about creating choir patches for the JD-800, based on the classic VP-330. Choir Patches and sound Demos avalilable.

Synthony Music´s Synth & Amp; Midi Museum

Dragonkiller Good japanese page with links for more stuff, movies, etc.

Sysex Database Sysex messages for the JD and other synths.

Filters and Aftertouch

2010-01-27T10:42:00.000-08:00

Two videos by moretacos1. Visit is page at Youtube, there are lots of good material.

Mean while, I selected this two:

Great Filters. Program orjust move the sliders as you want.

Atertouch:

Much more than the demo, much more than pads

2010-01-27T10:23:00.000-08:00

If you want to listen some other uses of this synth, like playing some guitar leads and stuff like that then watch this until the end.

Jd800 Roland Synth Demostration, performed by S4K (Space4Keys)
Note: The the keys of his JD are broken, so he uses other keyboard as master controller.

Movies and great sounds at Youtube

2010-01-27T10:02:00.000-08:00

Youtube have many movies with the JD-800. Some have best sound qualiy, others not.

Remember, the JD-800 is a massive sound machine so don´t be cheated if some video have not all that quality we expect. Go after the best demos you can and use the best audio players, like headphones or good speakers.

Of course, the JD-800 is a fine top level synthesizer. You can listen to other machines, like the JD-990 module, or similar quality machines, like the Roland V-Synth and Phantom, the Korg Triton, the Nords, etc.

I will start with a good movie from that great people from Retrosound.de.

Vintage Roland JD-800 synth demo by RetroSound. See the machine in action. Some typical sounds from the Roland JD-800 Synthesizer. Not so good audio quality, but very impressive.

See more Youtube synth videos from Retrosound.

Next, two better audio demos:

Audio part I - Analog and digital type pad sounds:

Audio part II - Wow! Some of the JD like pads!:

Manuals: JD800 and JD990 (Updated)

2010-01-25T03:32:00.000-08:00

The JD-800 and the JD-990 have strong sound features and the user manuals are a "must have" to anyone who wants to use in depth all resources and to learn about sound synthesis.

Roland has made manuals for most of their products available as free PDF downloads.
This material is @ Roland Corp.

English Language Manuals	Size	Sources
JD-800 Owner´s Manual	8.982 Kb	Roland US	Roland FTP - UK	Google Docs.
JD-800 User´s Guide		Roland US		Google Docs
JD-800 Midi Implementation	424 Kb		Roland FTP - UK
JD-800 Turbo Start Guide	62 Kb		Roland FTP - UK

JD-800 Service Manual	39.2 Mb			Google Docs

JD-990 Owner´s Manual	7.675 Kb	Roland US	Roland FTP - UK	Google Docs
JD-990 User Guide	6.333 Kb	Roland US		Google Docs
JD-990 Turbo Start Guide	62Kb		Roland FTP - UK
JD-990 Patch/Waveform/Rythm List	1.348 Kb	Roland US		Google Docs

The Original Japanese manuals:

Japanese Language Manuals	Size	Sources
JD800 User´s Guide	2.622Kb	Google Docs	Here the 3 manuals from Roland.jp site
JD800 Reference Part 1-4	3.953Kb	Google Docs
JD800 Reference Part 5	2.486Kb	Google Docs

JD990 User´s Guide	1.043Kb	Google Docs	Here the 2 manuals from Roland.jp site
JD990 Reference	6.315Kb	Google Docs	Here the 2 manuals from Roland.jp site

From www.bluesynths.com:
"We HAVE TO add this user manual to the literature list. It's simply a
great piece of synthesizer literature. Contains not only detailled
explanations, drawings and graphics about each part of the JD-800, but
also lots of background information (music theory, how to create
realistic string sounds, about using effects, etc). 200 pages."

RIP Geocities

2010-01-22T12:13:00.003-08:00

Geocities has gone and all material the original we had collected.

Has I´m really short in time, I will be posting here almost as possible.

Thanks for visiting and support this great synth!