RolandSYSTEM-8 PLUG-OUT Synthesizer, 49-key

The included Jupiter 8 and Juno 106 plugouts are amazing. As soon as my system 8 arrived, I turned it on, switched almost immediately to plugout 1 (Jupiter 8) and my jaw dropped at the fat magesty of a warm and iconic sound.The native system 8 engine with all the included oscillators and synthesis modes like FM etc are incredible candies that makes the system 8 stand itself and not just an Jp8 or Juno emulation synth. The new Sh2 and Jupiter 4 plugouts available on Roland cloud will make you day dream in your workplace for the very moment to go back home and start jamming

What a fantastic piece of kit! After watching a lot of demos, I took the plunge and ordered...overwhelming amount of options and sound from the keyboard. it looks and feels top notch and compared to my other keyboards, I find the actual weight of the keys, the feel, and the intelligent lay out of the controls super easy to navigate. Heavy duty case but would have loved the option of adding on "wood" side panels to make it look a little nicer. No complaints on this one!!

I bought this fully aware that it had limited modulation options. I didn't need it to be the ultimate flexible powerhouse; I just wanted to make synthwave music, and it does have some truly inspiring sounds. However, here are some things I didn't expect:1. The single LFO is also used for vibrato, so I can't do cyclic filter sweeps and vibrato on the same sound unless I want them to be at the same rate.2. You can't apply the arpeggiator or a keyboard octave change to just one part in performance mode; they apply to both.3. I severely missed being able to map an expression pedal or some other performance control to arbitrary parameters.4. It shows up as two MIDI devices in my DAW; one for notes and one for knobs. That means I need to do more setup to route different parts of my MIDI recording to different devices.5. The control mappings for vintage synth emulations aren't always what you'd expect, so you have to constantly check the screen to figure out what knobs are doingThese may seem like small things, but combined with the very small number of modulation sources and destinations, it felt like too much of a compromise. I hate to return big items like this, but mine was damaged in transit (cosmetically) so I was going to return it for exchange anyway. Luckily Amazon let me switch to a refund instead, so I'm going to try a Prophet 12 next.

The sounds can be awesome but the programming sucks. Roland has this thing in their architecture that really needs some redesigning in my humble opinion. Here's why: If you want to create a performance program, you have to do it from "patches". There are only 64 in each engine. (System 8, Jupiter 8, and Juno 106) If a factory patch doesn't suit your needs, then you can modify and save it OVER THE ORIGINAL FACTORY PATCH. NOW......anything that used that patch in the 64 factory preset performance programs with be modified along with your new program. This sucks major hind end.I LOVE this synth and it fits what I do perfectly. (80's style cover band) However, it is WAY overpriced for a performance synth which is built out of flimsy plastic, has NO after touch, a mere 4 octave keyboard, and only ONE LFO. Shame on Roland, again. Again, my main gripe is with Roland's archaic architecture. There should also be a separate USER storage area for your own creations.I'm going to keep mine and work around the shortcomings. I guess you can store your creations on the SD card but it makes accessing them tedious during a live performance. I also use the FA-08 and FA-06 on stage. I guess I'm a Roland guy when it comes to sounds.It's definitely expensive for what you get but what price does one put on inspiration?

I LOVE this board. Can't think of a single negative as i write this. Haven't tried dumping some of the other Plug-Outs from the Roland Cloud, but the 4 banks in this baby now are a great mix of new and retro. Love!