JD-800 – Roland’s digital classic

A digital classic? You might think we’re talking about the famous D-50. A great instrument, no doubt. But in our opinion the JD-800 is far better. It’s the only digital synth fully equipped with sliders. And it sounds as warm as an analog synth. In short, it’s one of the best polyphonic synthesizers ever made.

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You get a JD for approx. 600 USD / 500 Euros these days. Why it’s not at least four times as expensive is a mystery to us. Here are some photos and sound samples of the JD-800. 20 minutes of music. Enjoy …

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PS: check out our in-depth Roland JD-800 synthesizer review

Filed under 2013, General

“Es genügt, einen Ton schön zu spielen” sagte der Komponist Arvo Pärt im Jahre 2005. Diese Aussage ist ebenso einfach wie ich auch exzellent: Es braucht kein Meer an Tönen, denn entscheidend ist der Klang. Dass so mancher Vintage-Synthesizer der 70er und 80er Jahre teils unerreicht hochwertige Klänge liefert, steht außer Frage. Doch tatsächlich leben wir “heute” in einer nahezu perfekten Zeit. Einerseits hat man – mehr oder weniger – noch Zugriff auf die Vintage Analogen, andererseits wird auch bei Neugeräten die wichtige Komponente des hochwertigen Klanges wieder zunehmend berücksichtigt. Doepfer, Cwejman, Synthesizers.com, MacBeth, Moog, GRP, Studio Electronics, COTK, John Bowen und andere Hersteller bauen hervorragende Synthesizer, die den “Klassikern” in nichts nachstehen. All diesen (alten wie neuen) “großartigen” Instrumenten ist Great Synthesizers gewidmet. _________________________________________________________ In 2005 composer Arvo Pärt said: “Playing one tone really well is enough”. In other words, it is sufficient to play one tone 'beautifully'. I agree with that. All musical efforts are focused on the sound itself. Although I studied classical music (piano and drums), it’s the electronic sound that inspires me. Synthesizers are the epitome of new sounds and exciting tonal spheres. Today, many companies produce high-quality - excellent! - synthesizers: Doepfer, Cwejman, MacBeth, Moog, GRP, Synthesizers.com, COTK, Studio Electronics, John Bowen and others. It's their products I'm really interested in ... apart from Vintage Synthesizers, which I have been collecting for 20 years. Subsequent to our former websites Bluesynths and Blogasys, Peter Mahr and I have now created GreatSynthesizers. We hope you like it.

3 Comments

  1. I absolutely love my JD-800. I’ve owned three of them over the years and I’ll never let her go. I replaced the keybed last year after the infamous red goo issue and it’s almost like new again. Only thing, there are a few notes that shut off when another specific note is being played (such as the lower g and a g the next octave up). Any clue what this is?

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