Can A Modern Polysynth Beat Classic Roland Jupiter 8
Synthesist Starsky Carr – in his latest video – pits a vintage legend against a modern contender in an 8-voice analog polysynth matchup.
“I set out to score the Frap Tools Magnolia against the Roland Jupiter-8 across price, features, reliability, repairability and — the hard part — sound,” Carr explains. “It wasn’t close on most of those – and then the sound test threw me a curveball I wasn’t expecting.”
Topics covered:
0:00 – Two 8-voice analogue polys, 45 years apart
1:08 – Sound test begins: matching a big warm pad
2:56 – Filters, envelopes & adding pitch LFO
4:13 – PWM comparison
6:11 – Fat square bass & an acid bass
8:20 – FM face-off
11:30 – Wave folding (Jupiter-8 can’t do this at all)
11:46 – High-pass filter tricks — the MS-20 move
12:29 – Pick Your Winner
14:31 – Final thoughts
Does the Magnolia holds its own against the Jupiter 8? Share your thoughts in the comments!
