As for the Jp8000, there are two reasons why I use it: as a synth engine, and as a controller for my other synths.

I really like the strings on the JP8K. Sure they sound thin, but to prevent that I turn the OCS Balance more towards the right and have OSC2 as a tuned-down pulse wave. Fixes my problem. Also, when the filter envelope is low, resonance is high and cutoff low, with a bit of delay, it sounds like it's being played underwater. I love it!

Controller...I never use aftertouch anyways, so I don't miss it. If I want to program parameters on my sound modules (and if they respond to CC's), I can do it from the JP8K. If in a sequence I want to make a 'controller' track, instead of manually entering controller events in the list or scroll editors, I can just set a knob on the JP8K to transmit the right CC, press record, and off I go!

For those of you who have Rebirth but are sick of playing with the mouse, you can assign CC's to each knob on the two synths and control them from the JP8K all at the same time.

Things that I DON'T like about it....

There seems to be a bug in one of the Tx/Rx modes which deactivates Control 1 (OSC1) when the local is 'off' for sequencing.

It ALWAYS turns the local to ON when you turn the machine on. Older synths used to keep the local off in its start-up memory if you wanted it to.

Saving patches to the 'patch' and 'performance' banks sometimes doesn't work. To get around this I dump the temporary memory into my sequence, so I never lose anything.

Funny clicking sounds when I use the delay. Sometimes I get them, sometimes I don't. I usully soften the envelopes so that the sound does't cut so sharply.

The hype. WWWAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY to much hype. That's why it's so expensive! I was lucky and got mine used for $900, but some poor kid the other day forked out $1300 for one, and he doesn't even know how to use it! But he's happy, though, "because it's ANALOGUE!!!!" Poor guy...

So, if you want to make some cool sounds and have a REALLY nice controller, get a JP8K.

Nick

Why get both? Hook 'em together and there's not much left to say. Set the XP-80 up with pre-designed sounds, patches, performances after spending hours and weeks behind the scenes studying what you want to do. Then dig into the JP-8K and embark on sound explorations live that -- with enough effort and imagination and mastery of the details of the instrument -- will leave the fantastic work of Howlett, Thornton, Jordan, Kirkland and Reiss in the Dusts. <g> And if you set it up properly, you have 88 plus 61 keys to work with, more than Glenn Gould ever had and he did pretty well even so....

All the debates about (ph)fat, thin, compares with this or that are irrelevant. I spent months investigating all the options and playing around on multitudes of excellent equipment by all the great companies out there, from Sweden to Japan (what a musical paradise we're living in now, eh? too bad too many people in this thread haven't yet climbed down out of the trees, if their rhetoric is any indication of their intelligence and breeding, or utter lack thereof, sigh...). This combination was a happy choice for me. Your mileage may vary, if you actually have any originality and talent and ability to think for yourself, that is. Otherwise just follow my lead and you'll be fine.

Now, if I had a _little_ more spare cash lying around, I'd pick up a JP-8080 to add a little more polyphony and control to my dream setup....

Enjoy yourselves, folks.

SB