AudioKit Pro has released Super J8, a new iPhone and iPad synthesizer inspired by the classic Roland Jupiter-8. The app combines a newly developed DSP engine with what the developer describes as “ethical AI machine learning”, aiming to recreate some of the subtle instabilities and tonal movement associated with vintage analogue hardware.
According to developer Matthew Fecher, the oscillators were trained using extensive recordings of a vintage Jupiter-8. Rather than generating new material, the machine learning process analyses real hardware behaviour to model tuning drift, phase variance, and other small inconsistencies that contribute to the character of analogue polysynths. The results are fantastic.
Feature set
Super J8 includes 64 voices of polyphony, with True Per-Voice Poly Unison allowing stacked unison across multiple held notes. Other synthesis features include oscillator sync, cross modulation, PWM, envelope polarity control, analogue-style voice modelling and per-voice panning. A single-note polyphony mode is also included for sustained pads and layered drone textures.
The engine runs at 2x oversampling and offers three LFOs with over 60 modulation destinations, including the ability for LFOs to modulate one another.
Effects are built in, including reverb based on Sean Costello’s Valhalla code, analogue-style tape delay, chorus and bit crushing. A classic arpeggiator and step sequencer are also included.
Super J8 ships with more than 600 presets, created by a range of established iOS sound designers including Analog Matthew, Electronisounds, DMT Cymatics, Moby Pixel, Red Sky Lullaby and The Sound Test Room.
AudioKit Pro says additional preset banks are planned as free updates.
iOS integration
The instrument runs standalone or as an AUv3 plug-in, making it compatible with hosts such as GarageBand, Logic Pro for iPad, AUM and Cubasis. MIDI Learn is supported, allowing external controllers to be mapped directly to parameters.
The interface has been designed to scale across devices, from smaller iPhones to larger iPad displays, with dual assignable touch pads for real-time performance control.
Super J8 is available now on the App Store priced at $29.99/£29.99, with an introductory offer of $7.99/£7.99 running until February 28.AudioKit Pro has released Super J8, a new iPhone and iPad synthesizer inspired by the classic Roland Jupiter-8. The app combines a newly developed DSP engine with what the developer describes as “ethical AI machine learning”, aiming to recreate some of the subtle instabilities and tonal movement associated with vintage analogue hardware.