Click the auction link on top when you get there for additional listings.
Here’s Yamaha’s classic duophonic (with a little effort) synthesizer with Don Solaris’ mods to facilitate chaining the VCFs for something closer to a 24db/octave response. There’s also a mod to the LFO’s rate control to get better use of it at audio rates - a welcome addition to the CS-15’s already pleasing sound palette. All told, the mods make a good sounding, but somewhat limited instrument rather less limited! It’s in great condition for a synth of this vintage, and was serviced a few years ago by the same techs who performed the mods. The sliders don’t have a “buttery smooth” glide, but are silent, as are the pots. I hear a very, very faint crosstalk between filters while the serial mod is not engaged, and I can’t say whether it’s due to the modification or, as with my old CS30, it’s part of the synth. It’s not noticeable in practical use, but if you’re actively looking for behaviors like this, you might hear it. It’s also like a 50 year old keyboard, so… I would rather have the single-voice CS-30 with its modulation possibilities, but I also just don’t have the space anymore. Please find the details of the mods here: https://greatsynthesizers.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/cs-15_mods_DonSolaris.pdf Will ship from Berlin, Germany in its Yamaha-branded hard case.
"It's a monster! ..yes, it's digital.. but, when you hear a 96kHz synth.. you quickly realize.. if there IS to be a digital synth.. then 96k is where it should be.. at that frame rate.. it's not 'steppy' and a lot smoother than the 'others', IMO. I'm the only owner of this 'lonely heart'. Bought it new, back when Awave was in a tiny arcade next to South Yarra station. It was the only synth that's ever 'tricked' me.. I thought it was analog 'something'. It just sounded too 'pure'.. so, I had to have it.. unfortunately, I haven't used it as much as it deserves.
This Solaris has resided in my smoke free studio since it was purchased new. Never toured, original PSU and manual (not that the manual is much use to anyone anymore.. that is.. with the advent of the newly developed V2 OS). For those that don't know, John was instrumental working alongside the late great Dr Robert Moog, in fact, he was there, in the early 70s, working alongside Dr Bob on the original MiniMoog.. fast forward a few years.. and there he was working alongside the late great Dave Smith @ Sequential Circuits. John worked on the Prophet 5, the VS and the Sequential Sampler, the Prophet 2000.
This was shortly before Yamaha acquired Sequential and retrenched the staff, yep.. that old chestnut.. and John went on to work at Korg where he was behind the WaveStation (basically he took his knowledge of the Korg VS and threw it into the WaveStation, as some might already be aware of). So, with all that history under his belt.. when it was time for John, whom I refer to as 'synth god', John started development on the Solaris.The Solaris is the culmination of all his passed work and synth experience, despite the panel often likened to the Oberheim Matrix 12, John had implemented Filters, Wave shapes, Step Sequencers, and not to forget 'Wave Sequencing' that've appeared in all his passed projects on those aforementioned classic synths, that he worked closely on with 'other' synth gods such as Dave Smith and Dr Bob Moog.
So, you could say.. the Solaris is what a 21st century synth-classic 'ought' to be. And, ultimately, that's why I wanted it, but.. I'm afraid, as good as it is.. it's more synth than I've ever needed...x10! It would be much more suited towards professional sound designers than someone who messes around with Samplers more often that not. Therefore, I'll let it go to another enthusiast.. other esteemed 'registered' owners in the Solaris forum are Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams, JJ Abrams, Jean-Michel Jarre, Matt Johnson, Ty Unwin to name a few.
In a nutshell, if had a paragraph to sum it up.. it's like a Matrix-12 integrated with a WaveStation and then there's CEM, SSM, Moog and Prophet 5 'mimicked' filters and oscillator shapes... basically, loads of features and 'flavors' from every 'beast synth' before it.
Main features: 10 Voice Polyphony 4 Oscillators 4 Filters 6 Envelope Generators 4 LFO's (+1 for Vibrato) 16 Step Sequencer Arpeggiator 8 analog outputs (4 stereo) Digital (ADAT) Output MIDI over DIN & USB 15 kg / 33 Lbs Comes with the original Australian 240v external PSU"
Why DCOs? Unlike traditional VCOs (voltage-controlled oscillators), DCOs maintain consistent pitch and phase – which may sound like a subtle difference, but in practice, it’s key to achieving harder, tighter, and more aggressive bass. DCO-based synths like the Pulse don’t drift or smear. They hit with precision, punch, and presence, which is especially crucial when you want bass that stays locked in with your drums and doesn’t fall apart under compression or saturation."
"Today I figured I would test combining the JD-800 as an editor for the JD-990 and quickly decided: I hate it. You just can’t edit enough to make it worth it. Yes, you have access to all of the front panel controls, which is nice, but you really can’t do it very seamlessly. Imagine you are editing Tone 1 and want to switch to editing Tone 2, but you don’t want to hear Tone 1. Normally you can shut off Tone 1, but you can’t do that via the JD-800, you’d have to use the 990 to do it. And the only way to access card data on the JD-990 is by ensuring both the JD-800 and 990 have cards in them (obviously the JD-990 needs a card if you want to use it, but it’s frustrating that the 800 also needs a card for you to switch to the JD-990’s card). You can’t edit the FX or really anything embedded in a menu.
As Don Solaris and others on Gearspace suggest – they really are two separate synths. Using the JD-800 as an editor for the JD-990 is just not efficient or fun. The whole point of all the sliders is for ease of use and speed – things you begin to lose when using the JD-800 to edit the JD-990 because of all of the gotcha’s.
I don’t know if I want to keep the JD-800. The JD-990 is just so much better for what I want that I think I can live with the worse interface in exchange for the better sound. I’ll keep them for a while perhaps and see what I create that I like more with each. I think the conclusion will be that the JD-990 will be more useful and take up less space. Hard to give up such a great UI, but I have other synths. And actually, something nicer about the 990’s interface is that you can independently turn on and off Tone’s AND also turn on and off the ones you wish to edit. On the JD-800, you have to press a button to switch between ‘layer/active’, which is an extra annoying step.
Such a shame that there is no Roland JD-900. If Roland tried making it today, they’d use zencore and it wouldn’t be the same thing. Again, huge shame.
"Here is my documentation describing the new functions in v2.1 OS for the sequencer and arpeggiator. I know many people don’t bother to 'read the manual', but in this case, I think it will really be of value. There’s some special applications of a few functions you need to know about, such as the ‘note pool’ used for random note values, or how the modulation paths work."
Welcome to Bad Gear, the show about the world's most hated audio tools. Today we are going to talk about the Roland JV-1080. Is this classic Roland rack synth the Roland Cloud of the 90s? Can these sounds still be used in modern music production or do we have to subscribe to Zenology? Can it hold up with analog synths?
"I am very happy to announce the release of v2.0 Operating System for the Solaris!
I wanted to post a huge 'Thank You' to Jim Hewes, who has been laboring for almost 4 years on the Solaris OS. Jim has fixed more than 80 bugs, and added at least a dozen of features that I have requested. During this last year, not only did he completely re-work the entire SysEx code (replacing a bare-bones NRPN system) to allow for MIDI access to all of the now over 7300+ parameters (!), but has been working overtime to get a reasonable 4-part Multimode structure working. I think you will all agree what he has done is managed to save the Solaris from early abandonment to bring it forward as a still viable current instrument. What other hardware synth has been able to do that which came out 10 years ago?
I would also like to thank Hrast for coding the new Phase Mod oscillator type, and Sonic Core for providing the code for the CZ waveshape set. You can view Hrast's work under the name Hrastprogrammer and his wonderful software synth Transiztow: http://www.hrastprogrammer.com/hrastwerk/index.htm...
The biggest structural change is that each Multi Preset now is actually 4 layers deep, making it four times the size of a previous preset. All older presets will load as 4-part Multi Presets. Loading an older preset file automatically converts it into the new Multi Preset format. The new Multi Preset will populate Part 1 with all the parameters, including the Master FX, Output settings, Performance knob assignments, stored joystick position, SamplePool, arpeggiator settings, Assign switches, and BPM. As before, when the Preset LED is on, you are in Preset Mode. Touching any parameter knob will immediately jump out of Preset Mode and put the Solaris into Edit Mode. When in edit mode, the bottom line of the center display will display the current selected parameter, which now includes the part number as P1, P2, etc.
New Oscillator Type: PhaseMod (PhsMod)
In addition to all of the new Multimode features, a 7th Oscillator Type has been added. This features both “DX7-style FM” (otherwise known as Phase Modulation or PM) and Phase Distortion (PD, from the Casio family of CZ synths). The waveshapes provided are as follows: For PM – Sine, Morphing Saw (Morph1), Morphing Square (Morph2) For PD – CZSaw, CZSquare, CZPulse, CZSawPulse, CZReso1, CZReso2, and CZReso3.
For Phase Modulation, use PMod as the mod destination. For Phase Distortion, use the Shape knob and destination. (You can have both types of modulation going on, of course.) On the oscillator’s page 2, you will find Sync and Quant(ization) parameters. For the PhaseMod Type, the only sync value is Gate. For certain PM sounds, you need to ‘lock’ the start of the phase to make sure you have a consistent attack to the sound, or you don’t want to have phase cancellation with stacked oscillators. Gate works with the Phase setting, to restart the phase at a specific point for every note-on event.
Quantize reduces the bit resolution of the PhaseMod oscillator. The range is 0-31 (with 31 = 1 bit). Results are very subtle until you are in the 27-30 range.”
JV-1080 Signature Sound Set: Don Solaris features 32 new presets for Roland’s DCB recreation of the JV-1080. Expertly crafted by the noted sound designer, this versatile collection shows off the JV-1080’s immense range.
For this collection, sound designer Don Solaris drew on his deep experience with the original JV-1080 hardware module to create everything from booming bass sounds to hauntingly beautiful pads. “As a kid, I programmed the JV-1080 day and night—you couldn’t take me away from this synth,” Don says. “The new JV-1080 plug-in made me glued to the chair again. The new features and sound quality really inspired me!”
From the mystical beauty of “Magic Pad” to the fat “Deep SQR,” these patches will flavor your compositions with fresh sounds from a tried-and-true favorite.
2. JV-1080: Cinematic Cyberpunk
Boot up and jack in with JV-1080: Cinematic Cyberpunk—a patch collection to cybernetically enhance your tracks. Developed by Romanian sound designers Dual Shaman, this futuristic patch collection features 32 presets for Roland’s DCB recreation of the JV-1080.
Filled with heady pads, menacing leads, and dystopic pulses, JV-1080: Cinematic Cyberpunk pays homage to the futuristic world of science fiction. Influenced by films like Bladerunner and Akira, the sibling sound design team of Dual Shaman have engineered vast digital landscapes with the JV-1080’s deep sound-sculpting capabilities.
3. JV 1080 Widescreen Ambient J Scott Youtube
Get the big picture with JV-1080: Widescreen Ambient by top sound designer J. Scott G., a blockbuster patch collection for Roland’s DCB recreation of the JV-1080.
JV-1080: Widescreen Ambient will elevate your tracks with some serious space and dimension. Expertly crafted by veteran sound designer J. Scott G., every patch in this collection is downright huge.
"Enough with washed in reverb Quantum demos! This is the RAW sound of Quantum playing one single wavetable i recently built from the ROM of Sequential Prophet VS synthesizer. This is a direct audio, no effects, just basic realtime tweaking of the wavetable. There are many more built. Check Gearslutz forum, Quantum thread for details (around date Aug 27)."
Update via Z in the comments: "That first photo of the Solaris with the SCI gear is MY PHOTO of MY GEAR."
Note the Solaris has four oscillators, not 3 as stated in this listing, and they are digital, not discrete. I'm guessing by discrete, they mean fully featured, routable, independent oscillators. The Solaris is about as close as it gets to a fully modular poly synth. It's more flexible than most. You can freely assign and route the different components of the synth vs. being stuck on a set path. Check out http://www.johnbowen.com for details.
"Groundbreaking audiophile digital poly, 3 [4] discrete full-range DCOs per voice.
- 7th-generation, this unit is less than one week old.
I received this unit today from Germany.(8.19.19)
- The unit is still sealed in the factory box and has NOT
been opened (see photos #4 & 5)
- John Bowen has assured me the warranty on this unit is transferable and will be 100% honored. I will provide his contact info if you need to confirm.
- This unit's serial # 0364
- This black-faced unit has the optional backlit pitch/modwheels and newly offered OLED screens.(those options cost extra $$)
The entire 2019 run is sold out. I rarely ever see these for sale. I waited 13-months for this one. Don't miss out on a rare opportunity."
Here’s Yamaha’s classic duophonic (with a little effort) synthesizer with Don Solaris’ mods to facilitate chaining the VCFs for something closer to a 24db/octave response. There’s also a mod to the LFO’s rate control to get better use of it at audio rates - a welcome addition to the CS-15’s already pleasing sound palette. All told, the mods make a good sounding, but somewhat limited instrument rather less limited! It’s in great condition for a synth of this vintage, and was serviced a few years ago by the same techs who performed the mods. The sliders don’t have a “buttery smooth” glide, but are silent, as are the pots. I hear a very, very faint crosstalk between filters while the serial mod is not engaged, and I can’t say whether it’s due to the modification or, as with my old CS30, it’s part of the synth. It’s not noticeable in practical use, but if you’re actively looking for behaviors like this, you might hear it. It’s also like a 50 year old keyboard, so… I would rather have the single-voice CS-30 with its modulation possibilities, but I also just don’t have the space anymore. Please find the details of the mods here: https://greatsynthesizers.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/cs-15_mods_DonSolaris.pdf Will ship from Berlin, Germany in its Yamaha-branded hard case.
