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The JD-800 is Roland’s answer to half a decade of hard-to-program synthesizers. Covered in sliders that act as dedicated editors just like a classic analog synth, the JD-800 is an extremely programmable and hands-on digital synthesizer. It is also an interesting and great sounding digital synth with incredible flexibility and control. Internal ROM based waveforms are combined to build your sounds. The sounds are based on Roland’s D-50, but updated for the nineties with multimode filters – uncommon but welcome at the time.
The JD-800 came in a tough metal case capped off on the sides with large plastic covers. Programming may be a little too flexible for some users, but once you know what you’re doing with it, almost any sound you can dream up can be dialed in and stored.
It has been used by William Ørbit, Emerson Lake & Palmer, 808 State, Ken Ishii, Astral Projection, Rabbit in the Moon, Depeche Mode, Underworld, Tangerine Dream, LTJ Bukem, Apollo 440, Jean Michel Jarre, ATB, Vangelis, Pet Shop Boys, Faithless, Luke Vibert, Mouse on Mars, Laurent Garnier, MC Hammer, Bushflange, Genesis, and Eat Static.
Specifications
Polyphony: 24 voices
Oscillators: ROM based digital synthesizer
#Instruments: 6 part multitimbral
Keyboard: 61 key keyboard with velocity and aftertouch
Arpeg/Seq: NO
Control: MIDI
