Taras WOLF retro DESIGN REVIEW. 25th November 2019
A retro review looks at products that are at least over ten years old from a present-day WOLF design perspective. While the technology and fashion of the period influence design, and are taken into consideration, great design ideas will transcend their eras to be timeless.
Interesting and factual information may be provided, but our review aims to deliver insight from the perspective of a designer’s mind and eyes.
Impressive considering it is almost a quarter of a century old.
Introduction
Product Focus
As with most reviews the focus is on the design and its evolution with the Keyboard industry. The functioning systems and sound quality are not necessarily not considered.
Product description
The JD-800 was released in 1991 as Roland’s new flagship synthesizer. Although a digital synthesizer it presented an analogue look and feel with its buffet of controllers.
Price and Availability.
There was a time when the JD-800 could be snapped up for a bargain but today they are well regarded with a small cult following. A good working example will be anywhere between $1200 and $2000AUS. An immaculate example with original manuals, and factory case would command $2500+ and even more again if it has original sound cards.
Additional information
The JD-800 was definitely an attempt to revive the glory of the Jupiter 8, but it was met with mixed responses when new. In an era when flagship models were also workstations the JD-800 being “Just” a synthesizer seemed underwhelming, especially as it is was relatively large in size. Curiously it had no disk drive and its screen was considered small in comparison to what Yamaha & KORG had on offer.
Review
Just a synthesizer?
First impression/ Delight
The JD-800 is impressive and expresses this all over with its numerous controllers. It is large, stylish and certainly invokes a sense of curiosity to explore all those sliders and knobs.
Exterior Design Review
The JD-800 took over from the D-70 as flagship synthesizer and was a significant evolution in both size and design. Departing with Roland’s more minimalistic styling on their LA synthesizers the JD-800 bravely exposes all its controllers. This analogue looking synthesizer also introduces angles in its design language, a first for Roland. There are three diagonal lines that radiate from the user to create a subtle “V” shape to frame all the controls. There is also a gentle wave that flows over the overall shape and this swerve is expressed clearly on the side edges. The intersections where the angles and curves intersect are complex but well resolved and elegantly detailed.
The colour is a metallic grey and reminiscent of the Super JX from 1986. Considering it has a relatively small screen for 1991 the JD-800 feels more like an evolution of the Super JX than the “D” series synths. The main panel has a brushed metal finish which gently compliments the satin finished plastic end panels. Overall, the combination of angles and curves blend together to disguise what is a relatively large instrument. The result is complex but exciting design that still appears slender and stylish.
Craftmanship.
The JD-800 is externally clad in a single sheet of metal as the main central area and then is capped with plastic end pieces. Another plastic panel runs across the top of the keyboard to link the end panels and this houses the screen and patch bank buttons. The metal panel has a quality brushed finish and folds tightly down at the rear. The plastic panels are more vulnerable to damage and we’ve noticed that the paint finish tends to ware quite easily. When this happens, their surfaces tend to look blotchy and dirty. Most of the ones we’ve seen have a lot of ware and damage to the corners, especially where the pitch bender is located.
The sliders and knobs are all very smooth with a weight and feel of quality. We particularly like the size of the square buttons that have a small 4×4 grid of raised dots. They feel nice and are easy to press. Perhaps the biggest quality issue with the JD-800 are the keys, as every unit left the factory with red glue under the keys that deteriorated prematurely to create a terrible mess that has been widely called “The sticky key issue”. At this point in time probably every JD-800 would have dealt with this issue.
The screen looks green when off and then upon powering up glows an excitingly orange.
FUNCTION- Experience.
Considering the number of controllers on the front panel, the JD-800 manages to avoid overwhelming the user. Everything is well spaced, and organised practically to be almost self-explanatory. The result is an engaging experience that feels both exciting and friendly. The soft curves on the body further invites the user to explore and touch everything. As mentioned previously the large square buttons feel nice and are easy to press.
It’s interesting that a disk drive was not incorporated when considering that Roland had this technology since their S-50 Sampler in 1986. Having said that the sound cards were inventively small for 1991, and compared to floppy disks the cards were perhaps a better way to maintain copyright. There are two screens to make things a little easier, but we feel Roland could have considered bigger screens which they had done previously with their D-70 and W-30. Interestingly the JD-800 also chose to omit the alpha dial.
Would a larger single screen be better than these two small ones?
Larger than usual number buttons.
Desirability / Collectability
The JD-800 was not considered to be highly successful in its day. Musicians were not fully sold on the analogue look and feel, and in an era of workstations the JD-800 seemed expensive for being “Just” a synthesizer. Today however the JD-800 has its own unique fan base that have helped these instruments to appreciate in value. Good ones can easily fetch over $2000 Aust and even more if they have factory ROM cards. We have seen complete ROM card sets command almost as much as the price of the synthesizer itself. The original factory case is particularly rare and mostly only found in Japan or units that have been privately imported from Japan. A serious fan of the JD-800 will hunt down all eight ROM cards and then seek out a factory hard case.
This one has an original case and manuals two sets of manuals, one in English and the other in Japanese.
Original User Manual in English.
Original User Manual in Japanese.
The JD-800 with its original box!
This is the Japanese fold open brochure for the JD-800 which is near identical to the international one apart from the texts language.
Owning a complete set of ROM cards is a challenge that many pursue.
WORD OF THE WOLF
In our opinion the JD-800 is quite a beautiful looking synthesizer with a certain grace and elegance about its shape and colours. Unfortunately, its build quality is not of the highest standards so this beauty is compromised once surfaces and edges show ware. It is hard to find a JD-800 in good cosmetic order so expect to pay more when you find an immaculate one like the one in this review. It holds a firm place in the history of Roland synths and being the flagship model in its day it is likely to be even more valued with time.
WOLF DESIGN EXCELLENCE SCORE = 7.8
Disclaimer
The information in this review is intended for informational or educational purposes to provide readers an understanding of how something may be seen from a certain design perspective. In this case it is from the view point of WOLF DESIGNS. As design is subjective this review should only be considered as an independent opinion. Information further to being of an opinion is provided to the best of our knowledge based on our own research at the time of doing the review. We cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies or inconsistencies and reserve the right to change or update any content as appropriate.
The final responsibility of the design resides with the original manufacturer.