The recent updates to the Jupiter 4, Jupiter 8, and Juno 106 plugouts inspired me to fire up the System 8 over the last couple of days. The new Circuit Mod (basically the vintage knob functionality, which the JP4 already had and the JP8 and Juno106 now have as well) is very well implemented, there is an nice range of sound variation within the turn of the knob (color knob under osc3), and you can hear a convincing re-enactment of the tuning/envelopes taking on a mind of their own as you progressively increase the value, and depending on amount applied and the sound played, the results can range from amazing to amusing.
But something occurred to me as I was playing the System 8. Yes, the build quality, while not horrible, feels a bit cheap compared to most* other instruments I own....yet, the sound makes it worthwhile. Not only are the onboard effects very nice and usable, but when I run it through other FX (giving it a fair battle against some of my other gear), the versatility really shines. For all their faults, Roland has a way of inserting little acts of brilliance, like the tone knob on their synths. EQ is massively important in the big scheme of things, and being able to quickly tweak that on a knob before the signal comes out of the synth sometimes makes all the difference in getting the right sound in a mix fast.
So, yeah. This I guess is how Roland gets you in the end. The cloud updates inspire you to rediscover the gear you already have, and I think that may be a good thing. Like probably untold thousands, I do wish they would come out with a System 8 MkII (or whatever), with proper build quality/design/musical feel, more plugout slots (critical since these are essentially like patch banks), selectable-color lighting (for those that don't own one of these, the presence of so much light around the knobs actually becomes an important feature, as it shows active function per plugin...thus, it's not like they have the option to eliminate knob lights and go for more vintage look).
The Jupiter 4 plugout remains my favorite System8 synth engine. I've never owned or played an actual JP4 to compare, but there is something about the factory presets -- they are so basic, yet such great raw materials for crafting new sounds. You can hear their pedigree all over early synth music, yet it's easy to turn them into your own thing. There's a good reason the JP4 was so popular.
Like most Roland gear, it's a "find the sweet spots and you'll be rewarded" situation. Some synths sound great no matter what you do, and that can be a blessing and a curse, because it sort of desensitizes you to the difference between amazing and mediocre. Roland synths (or at least I should say their modern VA synths since I haven't owned an actual Roland analog since the 90s) seem to want to put the ear out of its comfort zone a little... sort of like the old saying that uncomfortable situations force the brain to make dopamine, so that when you do hit a sweet spot you immediately know you're where you need to be? Different tools for different jobs, as I see it.
*except maybe the JP-8080, which simultaneously has the most durable tank-like chassis and yet the cheapest-feeling knobs and sliders ever to make it into a desktop synth, it's like a build quality dichotomy where they (seemingly intentionally) went to two extremes in one unit. What's going on Roland?