Morphoice announces EightyEight, a new Roland Jupiter-8 emulation

Developer Morphoice is back with another vintage synth emulation, a free public beta of the new Roland Jupiter-8 emulation. EightyEight.

The developer has already tackled iconic synths like the Roland Juno-6 (EightySix) and the Yamaha CS-80 (Unstable).

This time around, developer Morphoice is taking on the Roland Jupiter-8 with the EightyEight.

Roland’s 1981 Jupiter-8 is an eight-voice polyphonic analogue synthesiser that helped shape the sound of an entire generation of film and music.

These days, you might expect to find a good, working unit for sale somewhere North of $15,000, like, way North.

Let’s be thankful for emulations, right?

EightyEight is available as a free public beta in AU and VST3 formats for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

As such, it’s important to acknowledge that this beta version is far from a finished product; some key features are yet to be implemented, and user feedback will help improve the overall performance and experience of the final release.

The free beta is available through the pay-what-you-want system on Gumroad; however, anyone who pays $10 or more now will receive a full license when Morphoice releases the final version.

If EightyEight follows a pricing plan similar to the previous Roland Juno-6 emulation (EightySix), you could potentially save around 75% by paying $10 at this stage.

And, like the previous EightySix beta, this beta version may stop working when the final release goes on sale.

As with previous Morphoice projects, EightyEight is a circuit-modelled emulation, built on measurements from the Roland Jupiter-8 hardware.

Recreating component-level behaviour, like filter nonlinearity, drift, and wobble, is often where an emulation comes alive. Rather than just sounding similar, the inconsistencies are what make it feel real.

Morphoice modelled the oscillators, filter, envelopes, and even the eight individual voice cards to capture the vintage hardware’s behaviour more authentically.

The developer balanced this attention to detail with lookup tables in areas where component-level accuracy isn’t audibly beneficial, thereby reducing CPU stress.

Well, EightyEight is certainly a hybrid because Morphoice has made some notable changes from the original.

But the changes aren’t intended to create a new monster; instead, it’s about offering additional options where you might want them.

All fundamental elements of EightyEight are basically the same as the Jupiter-8 hardware.

EightyEight is an eight-voice polyphonic synth, with two oscillators per voice. It offers two ADSR envelopes, a four-pole resonant low-pass filter, and a non-resonant high-pass filter, again like the original hardware.

The multi-waveform LFO and Crossfade function will mirror the original hardware, but these features are not yet implemented (expected in the coming weeks).

The Crossfade function is such a defining element of the Jupiter-8, and has been utilised in countless 80s movie score/themes, so we’ll have to wait a little before we get close to the full experience.

Another classic Jupiter-8 feature yet to be implemented is the multi-mode arpeggiator with Hold.

The hybrid nature of EightyEight comes from slight changes to existing features and the introduction of a few new ones.

For example, both oscillators now offer a full set of standard waveforms (sine, saw, square, pulse, and noise).

New features include a Juno chorus effect, taken from the EightySix Juno-6 emulation. Since the Jupiter-8 doesn’t have a built-in chorus effect, I imagine this addition could be a welcome one.

Morphoice also added a Strymon-inspired reverb from the DarkStar plugin and a drive/distortion effect from the HeatBurn plugin (an Oxford Inflator clone).

The synth features a Vintage control that lets you morph between a pristine, factory-tuned unit and something that sounds like it’s been on the road for years, with all the bumps and bangs that entails.

When it comes to classic 80s synths, it can be a headache trying to choose a favourite, but the Jupiter-8 is perhaps king when it comes to iconic melodies.

Harold Faltermeyer often named the Jupiter-8 his favourite synth, and no one does 80s melodies like him.

All Axel F (Beverly Hills Cop theme) melodies come from the Jupiter-8.

The easy answer is no, since we have emulations from Roland Cloud, TAL, Arturia, and Cherry Audio, to name a few.

But the real answer depends on how good EightyEight is, which is difficult to say at this stage, and how much it costs.

Given the price of EightySix (£33.61), I’d expect EightyEight to be cheaper than Cherry Audio’s Mercury 8, which would make it far cheaper than Arturia’s offering, etc.

If EightyEight sounds and feels right once all significant features are implemented, and the price is right, it could be a very interesting option for Jupiter-8 fans.