That 90's ROMpler sound will always be special to me. There's just nothing like it, and when you're looking for those breathy or twinkly synthetic sounds, most new synths just don't have anything to fill that niche. I have absolutely no idea how they got so much sound out of so little ROM space back then. Persing is a god among men.
Don't know why this specific unit get's so much hype, especially given that the 1080 is quite hated. I get this had a nicer screen, but the sounds just sound more washed in reverb and that's really it. Having had a 2080 and 1080 (still sat besides me) I don't see why you'd get the 990 unless you specifically wanted 90s Movie Soundtrack for your sound. The escalated price now doesn't really make sense imho
I think one of the most iconic sounds that was done on the JD990 is Prodigy’s- Voodoo People lead sound. The JD990 was my first synth and I sold it for a Virus b (I was young and had no money!) Bought it again 13 years later and will never sell it again.
I was actually thinking Virus b when listening to JD-800 / 990 videos from Espen. Can I do enough on the Virus. Not going to give my answer for my needs here, it makes no sense, but yeah, Virus is excellent, JD is excellent. JD seems to give that big production pop rock sound carpet. Can instantly think of fitting names, not knowing if they've used, but Sting, Genesis, Deep Forest... yeah the sound that fits to big production. Or did. It's not the same these days.
Fantastic Synth. Eric Persing could do no wrong when he made the sound for this. Even the demo "City Lights?" sends nostalgic shivers down my spine, it's so 90's. With the Vintage Expansion Board it opened up another 256 sounds on top of the 256 JV sounds as that card was solely designed for the powerful 990's Synth engine. A rompler with osc sync was very rare back then and still rightly lauded. Even the effects are sublime! Will never sell mine, it gets extensive use. JD piano was also used extensively in the emergence of Rave music.
Great description of the JD-990. I had (4) of these (3 with the vintage synth board installed)… sold the one without about 4 months ago, and one with last week. Down to (2) and I've no intention on selling these. My 2nd favorite Roland synth after the MKS-80 (fortunate to have 2 of these also).
This channel really is a timemachine. As I started watching this video, it was released 7 minutes ago, and it had comments that were two days old. But yes, I would also travel through time to see these.
any key words i can enter to get the 990 goods? im new to the JD800 history but love the sound and have no idea of patch names i may find in omnisphere. thanks!
Hope ome day they bring all the sounds from all of these synths into omnisphere. Like the Roland XV 5080, this JV 800, and all the classical Keyboard synths maybe one day. Hope so fr fr
-Have a 1080, 990 peaked my interest -Oh god I have to read a bunch of specs to see if I prefer it now -Oh nvm. There's an Espen Kraft video on it I've said it before, but it begs reiterating: you are the man!
I worked at a music store when this came out and fell in love with it. It's so great to finally see this module recognized! The internal effects were also top notch.
Killer sounds from JD! I am amazed by direct control from JD-800. Great video as always. What a scenery, that house in the woods! Living in that environment, opening mind valves of creativity.
YES!... I still have mine, with the Vintage Synth expansion card, and a full set of plug-in ROM cards, that I should spend some time re-discovering...... I'm still amazed every time I plug it in. The GUI is very well organized, especially for its time.
Yeah, there is something special about the JDs in my mind. I've coveted these since they came out. The brochures you looked at here, were the ones I would look at in bed, read up and down and wish I had back then. But they cost like NOK 24.000,- in the early 90s, and I could never afford that as a 14 year old you know. So about in 2000, I scored this one for NOK 7000,- at Gjøvik Musikk as a second hand thing they took in from a customer. Spent my salary on it like that! ^_^
Love made in Japan More or less, haha! No, but yeah, Espen is borrowing a whole bunch of my stuff as food for his channel. We’ve swapped a few things now so I have my D-50, JD-990 and MKS-70. When you see my upcoming new Studio Tour, you’ll understand why I send some stuff away for periods of time. There simply isn’t more room left to put things here right now. 🙀🤷🏼♂️😂
Yeah, I had a 3rd shift job back then and would carry a dufflbag full of Keyboard mags that I would read during downtime and drool on the pages over stuff like this. I rarely could put the money together to buy any of them but they all have a special place in my heart. That 990 is a great sounding synth. And I really like that display. I think it looks better than the original.
I had the JD-990 with the Vintage Synth Expansion Board = Monster Sounds. Love that Module. ( strings, pads, breath & rhodes ) Enjoyed your video. Fantastic job. Stay Safe everyone.
I've got a XV5080 & JV1010 + Vintage Synth Expansion Board. (love them) The XV5080 is a thing of beauty. (& for the price, the 1010 is definitely still worth it) I don't know if this is true or not, but I heard that with the JD990, there are some extra patches/presets on the Vintage Synth Expansion board that you can't select on the 5080. Since I don't have a 990, I don't know if that's true.
Such a fine series of Synths. Thanks for playing the Hybrid Strings & I really love the PSB vibe with the Killer Pad especially when you stripped some layers away. I will be picking one of these up again someday.
I think that hybrid strings patch has been used on every BBC nature documentary in the last thirty years! I kept on expecting to hear David Attenborough start talking whenever you played it :-D
I owned the Roland JD-800. After a studio division i had to give it away and bought the JV-1080 module. I missed the sounds of the JD-800 so much that i bought the JD-990 as well. I still have it in my studio. The pad and synth-sounds are still amazing. Thank you Espen for the video review!
Hi! I have the JV1080. JD990 sounds so different? I thought they were similar... And about JD-800, wich sounds do you miss, as JV1080 have lots of sounds too...
@@fnonaka Hi Fernando, There are several Pad-Sounds which sound typical like the JD-800 / JD-990. Some sounds of the JV-1080 sound quiet similar but the pads of the JD-Series are a bit fuller.
I remember seeing it in a music shop, someone was playing it, doing all sorts of lead guitar type stuff on it. I thought it sounded amazing, but forgot about it until I saw a band using it in the mid 90s. But many people said it sounded bad as it wasn't analogue etc. I never paid any attention and bought one in the 2010s followed by the 990.
Mike Oldfield made incredible use of the 990 in his early to late 90s albums. The angelic pad from "Ascension" on The Songs of Distant Earth is positively heavenly! You made some great use of it yourself with that demo track. Beautiful!
I have a JD-990 with the Vintage Synths expansion card installed. Absolutely love the combo, but haven't messed with it for a couple of years. That changes tonight. The best part about your content is not how many of your videos I watch, but how many of your videos I RE-watch over and over. Not to mention how many times I replay your songs I in my car. "The Golden Boy" is one of my most favorite songs ever, and your Dreams album is a dream. My synth playing and compositions have definitely leveled up because of you. You're a blessing to synth lovers, Espen. Cheers!
I sold mine clearing out all my external gear. This was one that got away. I also loved my Wevestation rack with the vocoder. Thank you for the memories
That was my first real synth. Loved everything about it except the 24voice polyphony, I couldn't get enough of it ! I recall I used it with a kawai Q80 sequencer the effects in that unit were superb.
I've had so many Roland instruments over the years. I was always yearning for something I couldn't quite realize with them, but there were some fantastic moments. I bought a brand new D-50 when I was still in high school. I had it all through college and eventually sold it. I loved the R-8 drum machine and held on to it forever. The JV-1080 was so useful to me and is all over my first album. I did end up selling it. I had wanted the JD-800 for so long because that interface was so freaking amazing, but when I finally got one I found that it wasn't versatile enough to take up so much space in my studio, so I didn't keep it very long. I never had a JD-990, but listening to this video makes me want one. If Roland ever made it available as a purchase on the Cloud I might pick it up. What I heard here was an improvement over everything I remember coming out of the D-50, JV-1080, or JD-800.
Ambient relaxation dream machine! Lovely sounds, thank you Espen for sharing this great bit of kit. I have a JV-2080 with 6 of the sr-jv80 cards installed.
it seems nobody likes the 2080's, but i'll never get a better module for $200. I got it with 5 expansion cards inside, guitar center never checked lol. I use it all the time, so screw the haters. the vocals and spacey stuff AND the French horns yummy
@bookmarkthis VSTs or VSTis are software (virtual) instruments. More specifically it refers to software instruments which connects to "host" program through VST interface, invented by German software makers Steinberg. For example, if there is software midi sequencer app (like Cubase, FL Studio, Sonar) in order to be able to hear midi notes user needs it to be connected to midi sound module (software or hardware). VST interface allows software instruments to be connected and launched inside midi sequencer app instead of dealing with midi connection. Since almost all instruments on Windows platform supports VST interface and vast number exists only as such, abbreviation itself became synonymous with virtual instruments.
@bookmarkthis VST is a way of using outside programs inside your digital audio workstation. So, like a developer makes a synth program, but to make it fit into a production workflow they make it a VST plugin, so it integrates well with the DAW just by putting the file in your plugins folder.
@Keyser Söze They can be recreated lol. Korg's VST version of the M1 is literally 1-to-1, they just boosted the amount of reverb on every patch but that can be changed.
I've had the 990 since 2002. I found it has the most musical quality or texture above all the other ROMplers I've had, which has been most of them that have come and gone over the years. It excels with these intense lush pads that grabs you ever time. A very similar experience that happens with analog synths. Very musical and each note and chord inspires ideas for the next notes. The only other module that could come somewhat close on the 990 pads was the Korg TR-Rack. Now I remember hearing the JD800 in a local music store in Utica, NY when it first was released. Back then it was unaffordable, but I still remember its sound stood way out among anything else there. I never acquired a JD800, yet? But someday I would like to get a chance to play both side-by-side. I expect they'll be comparable, but not identical in that character that I like so much in the JD990. And maybe I'll find the underlying character of the JD800 better in another subtle way. I've had the Fantom XR, JV880, Korg TR-rack, JV1010, XV-5050, Juno-88, and now the Jupiter-Xm which has a good 5080 engine and great sound overall, but still doesn't capture that JD990 vibe. I've spent a lot of time using the Integra, and I can say that while these other Roland modules are all excellent, they still fall significantly short of that particular inspirational quality the JD990 has. Omnisphere speaks for itself, but the JD990 still has an edge in a way that it lacks. Can't describe it further than that, you have to experience it for yourself to understand. Hope this helps those looking to decide to take the plunge and purchase a second hand unit. But who knows, Roand has done a good job in bringing back the D50 in the Boutique series. If they can do with this for JD990, even though I own the original, I probably would spend the $399 on a boutique version since JD990's components are aging and one of these days mine will need service, and all bets could be off in reviving it depending on just what goes wrong. Just image if Roland does bring it back, and if they add all the expansion cards like the Integra does, but stores all of them at once in flash memory with no loading times or exclusion choices the Integra is riddled with. That would in itself make it worth buying. And how about a JD800 emulated mode? I hope Roland is reading this.
Love the 990, I replaced the LCD with one of those OLEDs on mine as well it looks superb! I dig the 90's as much as the 80's so any more 90's era VAs or romplers you have there Espen, lets hear um! Bring on the 90's!
I can't bring on the 90s in terms of music unless it's the 90s music mimicking the 80s. The 90s dance music is really something I don't do anymore as I did so much of it in the actual 90s. Never again!
Loved this vid...Nice to see more vids on an extremely superb synth, the JD990 is very programmable, fit the SR-JV04 Synth expansion card and you have bliss...Love my jd, will NEVER sell.
The UI is so intuitive I managed to do a basic patch tweak with no reference to a manual, and I’m not great at working out how to work technology. It’s a great synth, got mine off eBay just before prices went even higher.
I absolutely LOVE this video! I have two JV-80’s and 5 cards that I have been using from the moment Roland released the JV-80. The “tones” amazed me and continued to when the 990 came out!
Another useful feature on the 990 (as well as the 1080 & 2080) is the multiple output pairs for by passing internal effects processing. That was a 90's 'pro' consideration and is endlessly useful for recording and/or external processing.
Even though you are not totally to blame, you did provide the slight nudge to pick up some nice vintage modules in the last 6 months. Loved your Yamaha TX802 vs TX816 comparison, and I subsequently picked up a cheap TX802. I just picked up a (not so cheap) JD-990 thanks in part to this video. A newer screen is also on it's way and I'm in discussion with a seller for the Vintage Synth expansion card. Hope you are proud of yourself, lol. Seriously, keep up the good work and let's have a few more original music videos too! They are very nice, and always welcome..
Wow and wow! Great demo song, very inspiring for me. Thanks again for such a cool video, Espen! JD-800/990 have a very special sound, some of it`s famous sounds are easy distinguish in the most of the soundtracks of early 90s. For instance I can recall the solo works by Christopher Franke, the fantastic beautiful music by John Serrie, famouse keybordist Clive Nolan, I think Yanni, Jean-Michele Jarre, of course... That UI of the JD990 reminds me the same on the Yamaha SY77/99 - same buttons for jump between the pages. I think many digital old synths had the same UI.
The screen is superb !!!! I really love it. I sold my Jd990 because of the maintenance , and the vst enviroment, but sometimes I miss it and miss the jd800 too. When will Roland realease the vst version?????? Great Video !!!!!!!!
I'll keep an eye out for one when checking eBay and other places, but I'm fairly content with my JV-1080 (which I heard was also very popular w/ TV/movie scoring) w/ Vintage Synth expansion card for my more casual uses.
I love my JV-1080, but after seeing the screen on this and the JV-2080, I really miss the much easier editing on those machines, vs. the 1080. The visual envelopes, effects routing etc, are much, much easier on the machines, other than the 1080.
Great video and demonstration as always. The I-52 Golden Sounds (16:56) surprised me a lot with a patch sounding like an amalgamation of Fairlight CMI-esque sounds backed by a "classic" pad. Wow! Some other sounds, however, have a bit of a "cheap E-Piano" vibe being played standalone. I'm sure that embedded in the right material they can all shine.
Yes my friend, I always thought Marty's Halo stuff sounded similar to Enya and turns out they both used Roland synths. Hers was older but based on a very similar concept and platform.
@@olympian3 heh, I don't know how 80's Juno compares with JD. Enya used Juno(s) based on the sound. I've had Juno-106, and now I can go back with Access Virus b, even to Jupiter kind of sound. I didn't hear "Juno" in the JD, but Virus has the "Roland" in it somehow.
I had a JD800 and remember the 990 being released, if i remember correctly the thing that set the module apart from the instrument was the addition of a second single mode, so essentially its single mode was 2 part multitimbral with all the effects available on both parts.
My first synth was the Juno 106...then I got an A-80 Controller and a Kurzweil 100PX...then...I got a Roland VK-1000 ...then a JD 800...then a JD 990...and a a friend added his Super JV 1080 XP into my studio...and we had it all! LOL Good times at UnReel Studios in San Mateo, California back in the mid 90's up to the 2001...then I got married... and all was sold! I miss those synths man...now I have a Juno DS88...an Plug-ins...but I really miss those days...especially that JD 800...all those levers and knobs...and the VK 1000 was an amazing draw-bar organ reproducing machine!!! Thanks for sharing!
Getting goosebumps because of that music the third time at 3:50 when I hear that Demo Track. And your videos are brilliant! Oh and that bass on 2:44 ... nice!!!
I liked your comment at the end, its almost too rich for that 80s sound, I kept thinking that Korg poly 61, somewhere over top those rich synth strings..I think the 90s sounds starting to move more into the digital relm and away from that analog. Not that I object in any way. I always finding it fascinating how diffeent synths can still have all the same tools, LFOs, Resonance, Effects, etc.. but yet all of them can still produce so many different textures and colors of sound....always love your vids Espen, Thanks. Just want to add I enjoyed the little video of the house...and the ghost..cool
4:58 yes great layout. And this is why I don't get people saying the D50 is difficult because the basic structure is nearly identical. To tell the truth except for the more and better ROM and some precessing/fx it's almost the same synth. I had almost every JX JV JD MKS JP since mid 80s. The 990 with vintage board still is an excellent choice today. Mostly because it does so good in any mix.
Fantastic demo of an amazing module! Also great to see a JD800 with a working keyboard, mine sadly has failed. Still a great Synth though. Loved this video!
Absolutely agree. It's one of two synths (the other being the Roland V-Synth) that I'm hoping makes it's way over to the Roland Cloud. It has such incredible warmth and is one of my favorite digital synths. I had the 990 at one point, but I wish I actually played with the JD800 -- even if it's not as feature-rich, those sliders must be so much fun!
Nice video I have owned one of these myself. Thought you were going to go into the more advanced features but I appreciated your audition for the background music in Miami vice.😁 Please make more videos
I'm trying to think of a Paul Hardcastle JazzMasters album that didn't have Jade splashed all over it. Paul was the 990 flag bearer for Roland. He adores it. And it's not difficult to see why. There's a reason why it was called the 'Demonym' (after the 'D' in JD, and 'Demon', or 'Jade' obviously, both in music circles, and by engineers differentiating multiple synth sounds on the console chinagraph strip). I would often come back into the studio the following day, and see things like 'Flare Wolf' , 'Bronski Treat' , 'Grange Chills' (colloquium), written on the strip for particularly good patches, either found or recorded in my absence - and I would know exactly what it meant when I listened to the new bits they'd put in place. We stopped using ours when ProTools DAWS became the go to... That, and needing rack space. Diggles & Dickeys just went out of fashion, in the same way as Freddies a decade or so earlier (I'll leave you guys to work that one out). Our 990 collected dust for a few years in our machine room upstairs behind the AV suite/writing room, along with all the other obsoletes. We sold it for around 350 squids if memory serves me right, , along with a few other odds and ends as a job lot as part of a clear out. We were a bit stupid, now that I think about it. It really does sound lush. And I think it sounds more 'honest' than our plug-ins if I'm.. err.. hon.. ...Well.. You get the picture. Might just have to go find me a mint 'Jade' and put it in our main studio rack next to our M1 and Wavestation in pride of place. Lesson learned..
Excellent Video! I really love the pads on the JD-990/JD-800. Is it just me or does the JD-800 seem to put out more raw audio than the JD-990? Thanks for another great video. Take care, Sam.
Im really into modular synthesizers. I’ve realized recently that my favorite modular manufacturer Industrial Music Electronics has taken several elements of their designs from 90’s hardware. For instance the Tyme Safari mk2 which is a 16 bit sampler, looper, delay has horizontal sliders for the start and end points. My friend recently got that Akai sampler which you’ve featured and I made the connection. The Hertz Donut Mk3 is a digital phase modulation oscillator roughly based on the CZ series. Their digital filter is based on a old Waldorf filter etc. I just thought this was interesting. Cheers!
I had both JD-800 and JD-990 Module, and really had no problem to just keep the 990, when the sound would match the one from the 800. But it doesn't. Jd-800 is a bit more alive. In the end i had mor fun with the 800 and editing is much quicker. Sold the 990... but it is very good though!
@@Psychlist1972 I tried that as well, I wasn't comfortable with that. You permantly have to change your look between those two units, and the farer away the 990 stands the worser it gets.
That 90's ROMpler sound will always be special to me. There's just nothing like it, and when you're looking for those breathy or twinkly synthetic sounds, most new synths just don't have anything to fill that niche. I have absolutely no idea how they got so much sound out of so little ROM space back then. Persing is a god among men.
Don't know why this specific unit get's so much hype, especially given that the 1080 is quite hated. I get this had a nicer screen, but the sounds just sound more washed in reverb and that's really it. Having had a 2080 and 1080 (still sat besides me) I don't see why you'd get the 990 unless you specifically wanted 90s Movie Soundtrack for your sound. The escalated price now doesn't really make sense imho
@@blakasmurf
Strongly disagree !!!!
It was a long search for me, but now I got one for only 880 euros last week.
I am proud❣️
I think one of the most iconic sounds that was done on the JD990 is Prodigy’s- Voodoo People lead sound. The JD990 was my first synth and I sold it for a Virus b (I was young and had no money!) Bought it again 13 years later and will never sell it again.
I was actually thinking Virus b when listening to JD-800 / 990 videos from Espen. Can I do enough on the Virus. Not going to give my answer for my needs here, it makes no sense, but yeah, Virus is excellent, JD is excellent. JD seems to give that big production pop rock sound carpet. Can instantly think of fitting names, not knowing if they've used, but Sting, Genesis, Deep Forest... yeah the sound that fits to big production. Or did. It's not the same these days.
Fantastic Synth. Eric Persing could do no wrong when he made the sound for this.
Even the demo "City Lights?" sends nostalgic shivers down my spine, it's so 90's.
With the Vintage Expansion Board it opened up another 256 sounds on top of the 256 JV sounds as that card was solely designed for the powerful 990's Synth engine.
A rompler with osc sync was very rare back then and still rightly lauded.
Even the effects are sublime!
Will never sell mine, it gets extensive use. JD piano was also used extensively in the emergence of Rave music.
Great description of the JD-990. I had (4) of these (3 with the vintage synth board installed)… sold the one without about 4 months ago, and one with last week. Down to (2) and I've no intention on selling these. My 2nd favorite Roland synth after the MKS-80 (fortunate to have 2 of these also).
This channel really is a timemachine. As I started watching this video, it was released 7 minutes ago, and it had comments that were two days old. But yes, I would also travel through time to see these.
Yes, anyone supporting me on Patreon will get earlier access to my videos. And other perks as well. ;-)
@@EspenKraft Ouch. Busted :-(
2 years later, and I'm very happy that this video popped up in my feed again... 🎹🍻
For folks who want 990-like sounds, but not the hardware, you'll find a LOT of the sounds in Omnisphere, given Eric Persing's involvement with both.
Was literally scrolling through the comments to see if anyone mentioned Omnisphere, thanks!
any key words i can enter to get the 990 goods? im new to the JD800 history but love the sound and have no idea of patch names i may find in omnisphere. thanks!
Thx much for the update. Omni , here we come
Hope ome day they bring all the sounds from all of these synths into omnisphere. Like the Roland XV 5080, this JV 800, and all the classical Keyboard synths maybe one day. Hope so fr fr
I love what Eric persing did. and does for sound creation. He sure deserves a lifetime achievement award for that
-Have a 1080, 990 peaked my interest
-Oh god I have to read a bunch of specs to see if I prefer it now
-Oh nvm. There's an Espen Kraft video on it
I've said it before, but it begs reiterating: you are the man!
Cheers!
Estimados Espen:
Tus comentarios y análisis, simplemente, son excelentes!!!!
Un gran abrazo desde Argentina
Espen you are knocking it out of the park.. And the 90s rocks..
The 1080 was always one of my most coveted synth modules and all the expansion cards.
I worked at a music store when this came out and fell in love with it. It's so great to finally see this module recognized! The internal effects were also top notch.
Killer sounds from JD! I am amazed by direct control from JD-800. Great video as always. What a scenery, that house in the woods! Living in that environment, opening mind valves of creativity.
YES!... I still have mine, with the Vintage Synth expansion card, and a full set of plug-in ROM cards, that I should spend some time re-discovering...... I'm still amazed every time I plug it in. The GUI is very well organized, especially for its time.
Same here - but i really hate how to get to the sounds of the expansion card - way too many steps. ;)
I ask myself why Roland card 808 and 909 drums sound ( for JD800) does not have the original open hi hat from 909? Weird...
Dude you f**king ROCK! Super dope demo songs and 10/10 reviews always. Never stop PLEASE!
Sweet! Many thanks man!
Yeah, there is something special about the JDs in my mind. I've coveted these since they came out. The brochures you looked at here, were the ones I would look at in bed, read up and down and wish I had back then. But they cost like NOK 24.000,- in the early 90s, and I could never afford that as a 14 year old you know. So about in 2000, I scored this one for NOK 7000,- at Gjøvik Musikk as a second hand thing they took in from a customer. Spent my salary on it like that! ^_^
Love made in Japan More or less, haha! No, but yeah, Espen is borrowing a whole bunch of my stuff as food for his channel. We’ve swapped a few things now so I have my D-50, JD-990 and MKS-70. When you see my upcoming new Studio Tour, you’ll understand why I send some stuff away for periods of time. There simply isn’t more room left to put things here right now. 🙀🤷🏼♂️😂
Yeah, I had a 3rd shift job back then and would carry a dufflbag full of Keyboard mags that I would read during downtime and drool on the pages over stuff like this. I rarely could put the money together to buy any of them but they all have a special place in my heart. That 990 is a great sounding synth. And I really like that display. I think it looks better than the original.
Thanks Andres for helping producing this joyful video and also thanks goes to Espen...
I had the JD-990 with the Vintage Synth Expansion Board = Monster Sounds. Love that Module. ( strings, pads, breath & rhodes ) Enjoyed your video. Fantastic job. Stay Safe everyone.
I've got a XV5080 & JV1010 + Vintage Synth Expansion Board. (love them) The XV5080 is a thing of beauty. (& for the price, the 1010 is definitely still worth it) I don't know if this is true or not, but I heard that with the JD990, there are some extra patches/presets on the Vintage Synth Expansion board that you can't select on the 5080. Since I don't have a 990, I don't know if that's true.
Such a fine series of Synths. Thanks for playing the Hybrid Strings & I really love the PSB vibe with the Killer Pad especially when you stripped some layers away. I will be picking one of these up again someday.
Thanks my friend. Remember, be quick! ;-)
I think that hybrid strings patch has been used on every BBC nature documentary in the last thirty years! I kept on expecting to hear David Attenborough start talking whenever you played it :-D
I remember Holby City having strings and I bet it was the 990.
I owned the Roland JD-800. After a studio division i had to give it away and bought the JV-1080 module. I missed the sounds of the JD-800 so much that i bought the JD-990 as well. I still have it in my studio. The pad and synth-sounds are still amazing. Thank you Espen for the video review!
Hi! I have the JV1080. JD990 sounds so different? I thought they were similar... And about JD-800, wich sounds do you miss, as JV1080 have lots of sounds too...
@@fnonaka Hi Fernando, There are several Pad-Sounds which sound typical like the JD-800 / JD-990. Some sounds of the JV-1080 sound quiet similar but the pads of the JD-Series are a bit fuller.
The JD-800 seemed so exciting and futuristic to me as a 20 yr old in 1991, when I first played it in the music stores back then.
The JD-800 really looked like the Jupiter-8 of the 90s.
I remember seeing it in a music shop, someone was playing it, doing all sorts of lead guitar type stuff on it. I thought it sounded amazing, but forgot about it until I saw a band using it in the mid 90s. But many people said it sounded bad as it wasn't analogue etc. I never paid any attention and bought one in the 2010s followed by the 990.
Mike Oldfield made incredible use of the 990 in his early to late 90s albums. The angelic pad from "Ascension" on The Songs of Distant Earth is positively heavenly! You made some great use of it yourself with that demo track. Beautiful!
Cheers!
I have a JD-990 with the Vintage Synths expansion card installed. Absolutely love the combo, but haven't messed with it for a couple of years. That changes tonight. The best part about your content is not how many of your videos I watch, but how many of your videos I RE-watch over and over. Not to mention how many times I replay your songs I in my car. "The Golden Boy" is one of my most favorite songs ever, and your Dreams album is a dream. My synth playing and compositions have definitely leveled up because of you. You're a blessing to synth lovers, Espen. Cheers!
Many thanks for saying man! Very happy to hear my music can inspire others to step up. Awesome! :)
I sold mine clearing out all my external gear. This was one that got away. I also loved my Wevestation rack with the vocoder. Thank you for the memories
Cheers!
That was my first real synth. Loved everything about it except the 24voice polyphony, I couldn't get enough of it ! I recall I used it with a kawai Q80 sequencer the effects in that unit were superb.
Within about two minutes you played every sound I need for for an upcoming gig.
I know where my stimulus check is going! Is that your barn?
What a "lushy" module! I realy love the sounds that came out this box! Thx Espen!
I've had so many Roland instruments over the years. I was always yearning for something I couldn't quite realize with them, but there were some fantastic moments. I bought a brand new D-50 when I was still in high school. I had it all through college and eventually sold it. I loved the R-8 drum machine and held on to it forever. The JV-1080 was so useful to me and is all over my first album. I did end up selling it. I had wanted the JD-800 for so long because that interface was so freaking amazing, but when I finally got one I found that it wasn't versatile enough to take up so much space in my studio, so I didn't keep it very long. I never had a JD-990, but listening to this video makes me want one. If Roland ever made it available as a purchase on the Cloud I might pick it up. What I heard here was an improvement over everything I remember coming out of the D-50, JV-1080, or JD-800.
Ambient relaxation dream machine! Lovely sounds, thank you Espen for sharing this great bit of kit. I have a JV-2080 with 6 of the sr-jv80 cards installed.
Thanks!
it seems nobody likes the 2080's, but i'll never get a better module for $200. I got it with 5 expansion cards inside, guitar center never checked lol. I use it all the time, so screw the haters. the vocals and spacey stuff AND the French horns yummy
@@jjrusy7438 totally agree man! You scored on that one big time. 💯😁
I had one of these! WHERE DID I PUT IT
Synthfairy took it and left you a RUclips account
just find it and throw it out somewhere ..... may be at my place .... 🤣
Its under your chair holding it up.🤣
Espen, you are great! Your demos are awesome! This is Music!
Many thanks! :)
OMG
these strings sounds a lot better than most todays VSTs
Luke P. Of course they do...
@bookmarkthis VSTs or VSTis are software (virtual) instruments. More specifically it refers to software instruments which connects to "host" program through VST interface, invented by German software makers Steinberg. For example, if there is software midi sequencer app (like Cubase, FL Studio, Sonar) in order to be able to hear midi notes user needs it to be connected to midi sound module (software or hardware). VST interface allows software instruments to be connected and launched inside midi sequencer app instead of dealing with midi connection. Since almost all instruments on Windows platform supports VST interface and vast number exists only as such, abbreviation itself became synonymous with virtual instruments.
@bookmarkthis VST is a way of using outside programs inside your digital audio workstation. So, like a developer makes a synth program, but to make it fit into a production workflow they make it a VST plugin, so it integrates well with the DAW just by putting the file in your plugins folder.
Uhh I'd hope hardware sounds better than VSTS jesus christ
@Keyser Söze They can be recreated lol. Korg's VST version of the M1 is literally 1-to-1, they just boosted the amount of reverb on every patch but that can be changed.
I've had the 990 since 2002. I found it has the most musical quality or texture above all the other ROMplers I've had, which has been most of them that have come and gone over the years. It excels with these intense lush pads that grabs you ever time. A very similar experience that happens with analog synths. Very musical and each note and chord inspires ideas for the next notes. The only other module that could come somewhat close on the 990 pads was the Korg TR-Rack. Now I remember hearing the JD800 in a local music store in Utica, NY when it first was released. Back then it was unaffordable, but I still remember its sound stood way out among anything else there. I never acquired a JD800, yet? But someday I would like to get a chance to play both side-by-side. I expect they'll be comparable, but not identical in that character that I like so much in the JD990. And maybe I'll find the underlying character of the JD800 better in another subtle way. I've had the Fantom XR, JV880, Korg TR-rack, JV1010, XV-5050, Juno-88, and now the Jupiter-Xm which has a good 5080 engine and great sound overall, but still doesn't capture that JD990 vibe. I've spent a lot of time using the Integra, and I can say that while these other Roland modules are all excellent, they still fall significantly short of that particular inspirational quality the JD990 has. Omnisphere speaks for itself, but the JD990 still has an edge in a way that it lacks. Can't describe it further than that, you have to experience it for yourself to understand. Hope this helps those looking to decide to take the plunge and purchase a second hand unit. But who knows, Roand has done a good job in bringing back the D50 in the Boutique series. If they can do with this for JD990, even though I own the original, I probably would spend the $399 on a boutique version since JD990's components are aging and one of these days mine will need service, and all bets could be off in reviving it depending on just what goes wrong. Just image if Roland does bring it back, and if they add all the expansion cards like the Integra does, but stores all of them at once in flash memory with no loading times or exclusion choices the Integra is riddled with. That would in itself make it worth buying. And how about a JD800 emulated mode? I hope Roland is reading this.
Doesn't look like Roland have read it yet, still waiting.
You predicted the future and even got the price exact. Roland just announced a boutique JD-800 with 128 voice polyphony. Cheers!
Thanks! Great video.
I shared this video at the Jd800center too.
Awesome! :)
Love the 990, I replaced the LCD with one of those OLEDs on mine as well it looks superb! I dig the 90's as much as the 80's so any more 90's era VAs or romplers you have there Espen, lets hear um! Bring on the 90's!
I can't bring on the 90s in terms of music unless it's the 90s music mimicking the 80s. The 90s dance music is really something I don't do anymore as I did so much of it in the actual 90s. Never again!
Never say never... :)
Which module did you use? they're kinda weird displays not off the shelf. I have a replacement LCD which cost a fair bit.
@@EspenKraft you never did 'enough' music, any decade, music is endless in any styles ! 😉
I have a Roland M-GS64 Voice Module - Sound Expansion, since 1995. I'm still so in love with this machine!!
Got the jd800 and the 990 with the vintage synth exp. board, awesome synths.
Loved this vid...Nice to see more vids on an extremely superb synth, the JD990 is very programmable, fit the SR-JV04 Synth expansion card and you have bliss...Love my jd, will NEVER sell.
I have a JD-990, from Japan, a NEW old stock unit. I love it!
The UI is so intuitive I managed to do a basic patch tweak with no reference to a manual, and I’m not great at working out how to work technology. It’s a great synth, got mine off eBay just before prices went even higher.
Nice Warm Sounds 👍👍👍❤️😎. Great demonstration. I have not played mine in ages thanks
Cheers!
I absolutely LOVE this video! I have two JV-80’s and 5 cards that I have been using from the moment Roland released the JV-80. The “tones” amazed me and continued to when the 990 came out!
Cheers! :D
Another useful feature on the 990 (as well as the 1080 & 2080) is the multiple output pairs for by passing internal effects processing. That was a 90's 'pro' consideration and is endlessly useful for recording and/or external processing.
Even though you are not totally to blame, you did provide the slight nudge to pick up some nice vintage modules in the last 6 months. Loved your Yamaha TX802 vs TX816 comparison, and I subsequently picked up a cheap TX802. I just picked up a (not so cheap) JD-990 thanks in part to this video. A newer screen is also on it's way and I'm in discussion with a seller for the Vintage Synth expansion card. Hope you are proud of yourself, lol. Seriously, keep up the good work and let's have a few more original music videos too! They are very nice, and always welcome..
Congrats on the purchases! I have a new video coming Friday that will have people running for Ebay like no other. ;-)
Roland modules are amazing - have owned a few but currently have the Integra-7 which is the ultimate.... nice video - thanks :-)
Love it, does sound so rich and warm.
OMG yes, this one def. have the richness and luxury of sound I'd want. Gonna hunt one down from now of. Need this in my collection of timeless sounds.
thank you very much for all ,what you doing. so much plesure to listen your music.
Many thanks! :)
Very interesting about the panning on layers.
Can also be done on the 2080.
Lovely synth. I remember stacking it with the 550, so lush. Thanks.
Daamn this thing sounds luscious! Digging your jam too. Glad I found this.
Thanks man!
Just ordered my JD-990! Very excited for it to reach!
Wow and wow! Great demo song, very inspiring for me. Thanks again for such a cool video, Espen! JD-800/990 have a very special sound, some of it`s famous sounds are easy distinguish in the most of the soundtracks of early 90s. For instance I can recall the solo works by Christopher Franke, the fantastic beautiful music by John Serrie, famouse keybordist Clive Nolan, I think Yanni, Jean-Michele Jarre, of course... That UI of the JD990 reminds me the same on the Yamaha SY77/99 - same buttons for jump between the pages. I think many digital old synths had the same UI.
Awesome, thanks for the comment man! :)
The screen is superb !!!! I really love it. I sold my Jd990 because of the maintenance , and the vst enviroment, but sometimes I miss it and miss the jd800 too. When will Roland realease the vst version?????? Great Video !!!!!!!!
Great rack demo and music! Thank you! Amazing sound!!
Great content Espen . I never owned this one, but I have the XP-50 . Back then Roland did great synths. The JV & XP series sound quality is superb :)
Thanks!
Wow, nice one Espen, thanks! This thing is on my wish list!
Many thanks! :)
I love that blue screen of JD800 !
I'll keep an eye out for one when checking eBay and other places, but I'm fairly content with my JV-1080 (which I heard was also very popular w/ TV/movie scoring) w/ Vintage Synth expansion card for my more casual uses.
I love my JV-1080, but after seeing the screen on this and the JV-2080, I really miss the much easier editing on those machines, vs. the 1080. The visual envelopes, effects routing etc, are much, much easier on the machines, other than the 1080.
The 990 has better sounding PCM waves, they lossily compressed them on the later units. But the 990's filter can get overloaded with high resonance.
Great video and demonstration as always. The I-52 Golden Sounds (16:56) surprised me a lot with a patch sounding like an amalgamation of Fairlight CMI-esque sounds backed by a "classic" pad. Wow!
Some other sounds, however, have a bit of a "cheap E-Piano" vibe being played standalone. I'm sure that embedded in the right material they can all shine.
Interesting that this was used to create such iconic sounds in the Halo: Combat Evolved original soundtrack.
Yes my friend, I always thought Marty's Halo stuff sounded similar to Enya and turns out they both used Roland synths. Hers was older but based on a very similar concept and platform.
@@olympian3 heh, I don't know how 80's Juno compares with JD. Enya used Juno(s) based on the sound. I've had Juno-106, and now I can go back with Access Virus b, even to Jupiter kind of sound. I didn't hear "Juno" in the JD, but Virus has the "Roland" in it somehow.
I have this and the SR-JV80-04 vintage exp.card installed in it. Great machine!
Darth Plissken Same here!
Me Too!
I had a JD800 and remember the 990 being released, if i remember correctly the thing that set the module apart from the instrument was the addition of a second single mode, so essentially its single mode was 2 part multitimbral with all the effects available on both parts.
"Once in a while , I am the nineties!' Love it.
I have now 3 roland JD990 in my synth rack!!! I LOVE IT!!!!... and I love you make a video about it!.
Bought one sight unseen when they first came out. Unbelievable unit. Wish I hadn't sold it...
Thank You very much! Now I have to find and buy it. Have JD800, but 990 will make a great addition to all my gear. Love 90s sound.
Great demo and rack! Pads are just awesome! Thank you a lot!
Thanks again man! :)
You have a great tracks man.. I love your music
Awesome! :)
What a great 80/90 sounds song in the beginning of the Video ! Love them!
Sweet!
My first synth was the Juno 106...then I got an A-80 Controller and a Kurzweil 100PX...then...I got a Roland VK-1000 ...then a JD 800...then a JD 990...and a a friend added his Super JV 1080 XP into my studio...and we had it all! LOL Good times at UnReel Studios in San Mateo, California back in the mid 90's up to the 2001...then I got married... and all was sold! I miss those synths man...now I have a Juno DS88...an Plug-ins...but I really miss those days...especially that JD 800...all those levers and knobs...and the VK 1000 was an amazing draw-bar organ reproducing machine!!! Thanks for sharing!
Sad story man, at least the selling stuff part... I know it all too well ;-)
It's no wonder that Hans Zimmer had these modules, they sound fantastic and so rich and cinematic similar to the Kurzweil K2000.
i had a 990 in the past..switched it for a Vsynth, and now using VSynth GT and Jupiter 80...*Love* the Roland synths :-)
i have VSynth GT2 to. do u think that i have to get 990 or XV 5080 especially for the pad sounds?
Cool,Espen you have such great synts in your collection.
Heavens, I had no idea you could function for function control the JD990 from the JD800. Now I'm going to have to hunt down a JD990...
Getting goosebumps because of that music the third time at 3:50 when I hear that Demo Track. And your videos are brilliant! Oh and that bass on 2:44 ... nice!!!
Thanks for saying! :D
I liked your comment at the end, its almost too rich for that 80s sound, I kept thinking that Korg poly 61, somewhere over top those rich synth strings..I think the 90s sounds starting to move more into the digital relm and away from that analog. Not that I object in any way. I always finding it fascinating how diffeent synths can still have all the same tools, LFOs, Resonance, Effects, etc.. but yet all of them can still produce so many different textures and colors of sound....always love your vids Espen, Thanks. Just want to add I enjoyed the little video of the house...and the ghost..cool
Thanks! Yeah the ghost turned up in time for once...
Thank you for a great run-through, very interesting! Great track too! :)
Many thanks! :)
the 800 and 990 are a MUST have for every synth freak! the best!
Great demo, what a synth! Thanks as always Espen ☺️
4:58 yes great layout. And this is why I don't get people saying the D50 is difficult because the basic structure is nearly identical. To tell the truth except for the more and better ROM and some precessing/fx it's almost the same synth. I had almost every JX JV JD MKS JP since mid 80s. The 990 with vintage board still is an excellent choice today. Mostly because it does so good in any mix.
d50, d550, jd800, jd990 are roland best digital synths ever they made
top synths indeed
Yes, and the VSynth-series (i use 2 JD800's too btw)
The 8000 was one of the quinessential rave synths.
Stunning Demo Espen.
Happy you liked it! :)
Fantastic demo of an amazing module! Also great to see a JD800 with a working keyboard, mine sadly has failed. Still a great Synth though. Loved this video!
Many thanks! :)
I had 2 jd800’s both died on me. However never giving up my jd 990-nothing compares even my Jupiter x.
Yes, I consider this module to be a unique phenomenon of Roland.🤝
Thanks for inspiring me to turn on my jd800 and 990 tonight 🎹🙂
Absolutely agree. It's one of two synths (the other being the Roland V-Synth) that I'm hoping makes it's way over to the Roland Cloud. It has such incredible warmth and is one of my favorite digital synths. I had the 990 at one point, but I wish I actually played with the JD800 -- even if it's not as feature-rich, those sliders must be so much fun!
Faders are always fun. ;-)
Nice video I have owned one of these myself. Thought you were going to go into the more advanced features but I appreciated your audition for the background music in Miami vice.😁
Please make more videos
Thanks! I release a new video every Friday. ;-)
I'm trying to think of a Paul Hardcastle JazzMasters album that didn't have Jade splashed all over it. Paul was the 990 flag bearer for Roland. He adores it.
And it's not difficult to see why. There's a reason why it was called the 'Demonym' (after the 'D' in JD, and 'Demon', or 'Jade' obviously, both in music circles, and by engineers differentiating multiple synth sounds on the console chinagraph strip). I would often come back into the studio the following day, and see things like 'Flare Wolf' , 'Bronski Treat' , 'Grange Chills' (colloquium), written on the strip for particularly good patches, either found or recorded in my absence - and I would know exactly what it meant when I listened to the new bits they'd put in place.
We stopped using ours when ProTools DAWS became the go to... That, and needing rack space. Diggles & Dickeys just went out of fashion, in the same way as Freddies a decade or so earlier (I'll leave you guys to work that one out). Our 990 collected dust for a few years in our machine room upstairs behind the AV suite/writing room, along with all the other obsoletes. We sold it for around 350 squids if memory serves me right, , along with a few other odds and ends as a job lot as part of a clear out.
We were a bit stupid, now that I think about it. It really does sound lush. And I think it sounds more 'honest' than our plug-ins if I'm.. err.. hon..
...Well.. You get the picture.
Might just have to go find me a mint 'Jade' and put it in our main studio rack next to our M1 and Wavestation in pride of place. Lesson learned..
Excellent Video! I really love the pads on the JD-990/JD-800. Is it just me or does the JD-800 seem to put out more raw audio than the JD-990? Thanks for another great video. Take care, Sam.
Thanks Sam! The 800 is definitely more "raw", where the 990 is more "slick". ;-)
Big fan of 90s Espen kraft!
When that beat came in at 2 mins my jaw just hit the floor. I regret getting rid of my 990.
this might just be the hardware sound module Ive been searching for to use with my new TriplePlay guitar MIDI synth!!! Thanks
Cheers!
I remember seeing Vangelis rack set up and it had The JD990 in the rack along with the JV1080 and 2080 .
JD-990 and JV-1080 are the awesome duo!
JD990 is my most fav digi synth ever. I had a JD800 but sold it since I only used the 990 anyway.
Im really into modular synthesizers. I’ve realized recently that my favorite modular manufacturer Industrial Music Electronics has taken several elements of their designs from 90’s hardware. For instance the Tyme Safari mk2 which is a 16 bit sampler, looper, delay has horizontal sliders for the start and end points. My friend recently got that Akai sampler which you’ve featured and I made the connection. The Hertz Donut Mk3 is a digital phase modulation oscillator roughly based on the CZ series. Their digital filter is based on a old Waldorf filter etc. I just thought this was interesting. Cheers!
Demos are great because they match period sounds and playing.
I love my JD-990 + SRJV-04. I use it connected to my laser harp. It sounds amazing.
I had both JD-800 and JD-990 Module, and really had no problem to just keep the 990, when the sound would match the one from the 800. But it doesn't. Jd-800 is a bit more alive. In the end i had mor fun with the 800 and editing is much quicker. Sold the 990... but it is very good though!
I haven't yet tried it myself, but supposedly you can do 90% of the JD-990 editing with a JD-800 over MIDI.
Actually, Espen covers this later in the video.
@@Psychlist1972 I tried that as well, I wasn't comfortable with that. You permantly have to change your look between those two units, and the farer away the 990 stands the worser it gets.
I still have my JD800, great synth.
Same here, did some comparison side-by-side before selling the JD-990. Two different synths really, though similar in architecture.
good one and great visuals Espen ..you have a good eye also:)
Thanks Nik!