Roland System 8 and TR-8: a match made in HEEEEVUN!
Posted: 04 Jul 2019
After much deliberating, research, countless hours of video, and more bourbon than I probably should have in an evening, I picked up a Roland TR-8 (second hand) and a Roland System 8 (new). It's my first hardware purchase since my Akai MPC Live earlier this year, and I feel like I've hit a point where I can stop my hardware purchases. For now.
I've been eyeing Jupiter 8's for a very long time, and with the actual classics going upwards of $15,000 USD and up and the age of my current Juno 106, I decided that the System 8 would be a great choice. I've A/B'd the Roland Cloud plugout version of the Juno 106 with my own, and it's indistinguishable to my ears - and I'm guessing the Jupiter 8 emulation is just as good. Add the Roland JX-3P that comes with it, plus the actual System 8 synth engine, and I'm getting 4 quality synths for the price, all encompassed in a customized hardware controller.
Doing the math, if I wanted to "keep" the Roland Cloud plugouts of the Juno 106, Jupiter 8, and JX-3P "forever", I'd have to do 3 years of subscriptions - which comes out to roughly $540 USD to $720 USD, depending on sales and percentages off at any given time. I scored a pretty awesome deal on the System 8 (thanks to Matt at Sweetwater), so I'm pretty content I made the right choice. Also, BLINKY LED'S!!!!
Any other Aira System 8 or TR-8 owners out there?
I've been eyeing Jupiter 8's for a very long time, and with the actual classics going upwards of $15,000 USD and up and the age of my current Juno 106, I decided that the System 8 would be a great choice. I've A/B'd the Roland Cloud plugout version of the Juno 106 with my own, and it's indistinguishable to my ears - and I'm guessing the Jupiter 8 emulation is just as good. Add the Roland JX-3P that comes with it, plus the actual System 8 synth engine, and I'm getting 4 quality synths for the price, all encompassed in a customized hardware controller.
Doing the math, if I wanted to "keep" the Roland Cloud plugouts of the Juno 106, Jupiter 8, and JX-3P "forever", I'd have to do 3 years of subscriptions - which comes out to roughly $540 USD to $720 USD, depending on sales and percentages off at any given time. I scored a pretty awesome deal on the System 8 (thanks to Matt at Sweetwater), so I'm pretty content I made the right choice. Also, BLINKY LED'S!!!!
Any other Aira System 8 or TR-8 owners out there?