Having 4 different synth types in a same machine is very nive and adds to both pleasure and creativity, especially considering that in performance mode you can combine 2 sounds from different plugs. Sound exploration is really fun on this keyboard and really all kinds of sounds can be created with punchy leads, fat bass sounds, airy pads, “Jump”-style brass, Vangelis- or J.M. To carve your own sound, you can start from a preset, from scratch or from a “basic” System 8 sound (which sound like 8-bit video games).

Editing is very simple with everything at hand, and sounds can be created very quickly. finally, the keyboard’s surface is smooth and uniform, all-aluminium made (unlike the JD Xi/JD XA and FA06/FA08), with a nice white silkscreen printing the keyboard is rather good-looking when it’s off (that’s for those who don’t like green!).įactory sounds are Roland classics.

maximum polyphony: 8 voices (4x2 in performance mode) it’s still impossible to play poly on mono plugs such as the SH101 a very basic arpeggiator on a maximum 2 octaves a 16-pad sequencer which can be used in realtime or step-by-step (TR-like) on a max 64 steps (2圆4 in performance mode) an excellent vocoder (but no XLR in, only a classic jack input) comes with the Model System 8 and the Jupiter 8 plus the Juno 106 plus has been available since Christmas if you download the latest update, and the fourth slot can take up another plug to be downloaded from Roland’s website (for 75€ apiece) - each plug can contain 64 patches – all rewritable it weighs in at barely over 13 lbs (very slightly under 6kg), but its knobs and control keys are very sturdy – so does the synth seem as a whole

After owning several other Roland keyboards in the past years (including the FA06, Jupiter 50, V-Synth, VP550 and JD XI), I can affirm the System 8’s ranks high 4-octave keyboard with normal-sized keys and a very good feeling. As a happy System 8 owner (I bought it soon after its release), here’s a first review after a few months using it.

System 8 roland