Roland System-8 Manual

Roland System-8 – historic turning point?
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Analog Circuit Behaviour, or: on the quality of the sounds
“Powerful and deep, the SYSTEM-8 delivers a vast palette of sounds inspired by over four decades of legendary
Roland synths. Its next-gen Analog Circuit Behavior (ACB) engine powers an eight-voice, three-oscillator monster
with stunning filters and effects, highly versatile LFOs, and a massive array of high-resolution knobs and sliders to
control it all. Support for three PLUG-OUT synths means the SYSTEM-8 can host spot-on recreations of numerous
Roland classics, and JUPITER-8 and JUNO-106 PLUG-OUTS are even included with purchase. Split and layer synths
for unheard of sounds, and tap into the integrated vocoder, arpeggiator, CV/Gate outs, and advanced polyphonic step
sequencer to fuel endless creative explorations.”
(source: Roland.com)
So much for publicity. Whether that engine is now called an ACB or something else won’t really make a big
impression on musicians, but the essence of what System-8 now stands for is visible here: a quailty emulation of
analog sound synthesis. Nobody, but nobody believes that the System-8 is meant to replace the Jupiter-8. Or the
Juno-106.

Roland System-8 Specifications

General

Product type	Digital synthesizer
Product color	Black
Keyboard number of keys	49
Maximum polyphony (notes)	8
Display type	LCD
Built-in display	Yes
Display number of characters	16
USB ports quantity	1
Compatible memory cards	SD, SDHC
Power source type	DC

Weight and Dimensions

Depth	364 mm
Width	881 mm
Height	109 mm
Weight	5900 g