Plug-outs, how do they get into the system 8?

29 Oct 2019, 08:32

Sorry for the noob question. I'm in the process of buying a used system-8, and I really don't understand the process of how the plug-outs get into the System-8.
This unit was originally purchased in 2018. As I understand, the only fixed plug-out in the system-8 is the system-8 itself. And there's room for 3 more.

Now, how does a plugout -probably downloaded/purchased online- get eventually into the system-8 slot? Strangely enought, there's totally nothing in the manuals which describe that workflow.

And suppose, I "delete" a plugout from the system-8, how do I get that plugout into the system-8 again?
Where are these plugouts available? I read something about Roland Cloud and visited the site, but it remains unclear how things work.
Are plugouts licensed? When I buy a used S8, do I risk missing some license info?

Like I said, I'm not an owner yet, so sorry for these noob questions. I really invested time to get this info online.

Re: Plug-outs, how do they get into the system 8?

29 Oct 2019, 09:55

Open the VST version in your DAW, then click the Plugout button. It will then transfer the plugout to your System-8, replacing the one in the currently selected slot. You can use the VST version to transfer individual patches or entire banks to/from your System-8.

You can restore the factory plugouts at any time (the Jupiter-8, Juno-106, and JX-3P). This part can be done on the System-8 without a computer. You can restore a single plugout or all of them at once.

Let me know if you need more details.

Re: Plug-outs, how do they get into the system 8?

29 Oct 2019, 10:11

Stormchild wrote:
Let me know if you need more details.

Thanks, I appreciate your response.
I checked the Roland documentation of the System 8, but it mentions very little about how to deal with plugouts.
So I need a DAW to transfer plugouts to the System 8? What if I don't have a DAW?

Re: Plug-outs, how do they get into the system 8?

29 Oct 2019, 11:08

The factory firmware has 3 plugouts in it, JP-8, JX-3P and Juno-106. You can restore a firmware plugout into a plugout slot at anytime. That's described in the System-8 user and reference manuals.

Instructions to load one of the mono-synth plugouts like the ProMARS, SH-101, SH-2, etc., comes with the plugout software. Basically you connect the PC to the System-8 via USB and run the plugout as a VST in your DAW. The Plugout VST UI has a function to transfer to the System-8. There are a number of free DAWs available to download. I use Reaper and it's very good.

Re: Plug-outs, how do they get into the system 8?

29 Oct 2019, 12:22

Thanks!

Re: Plug-outs, how do they get into the system 8?

30 Oct 2019, 02:14

Sutur wrote:
So I need a DAW to transfer plugouts to the System 8? What if I don't have a DAW?

Doesn't need to be a full DAW. Any VST host will do. There should be some free ones available.

If you're on a Mac, use GarageBand. For Windows, one option is to download NI Komplete Start (free); it includes Komplete Kontrol, which you can use to load any VST:
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-kontrol/

Re: Plug-outs, how do they get into the system 8?

6 Nov 2019, 10:21

papasan wrote:
The factory firmware has 3 plugouts in it, JP-8, JX-3P and Juno-106. You can restore a firmware plugout into a plugout slot at anytime. That's described in the System-8 user and reference manuals.

Instructions to load one of the mono-synth plugouts like the ProMARS, SH-101, SH-2, etc., comes with the plugout software. Basically you connect the PC to the System-8 via USB and run the plugout as a VST in your DAW. The Plugout VST UI has a function to transfer to the System-8. There are a number of free DAWs available to download. I use Reaper and it's very good.

Hi! I have a used System-8 (pristine condition) with V1.30 installed. I don't see a menu option that would me allow to load one of the four default plugouts into the third slot (or any of the others).
The documentatikn also gives no hint about it. I can only restore the preloaded engine for that slot, which is the JX-3P, but that's the one I want to replace with the System-8 native engine.
thx in advance!

Re: Plug-outs, how do they get into the system 8?

6 Nov 2019, 11:45

The System-8 native engine isn't a plugout. I haven't tried this but I believe you can't load multiple engines into plugout slots. e.g., have 2 Jupiter-8 plugouts at the same time. So if you have the JP-8 and Juno plugouts loaded then your only option is to load the JX one. Perhaps they're fixed slots. I've only loaded the ProMARS plugout in slot 3.

Re: Plug-outs, how do they get into the system 8?

6 Nov 2019, 12:44

papasan wrote:
The System-8 native engine isn't a plugout. I haven't tried this but I believe you can't load multiple engines into plugout slots. e.g., have 2 Jupiter-8 plugouts at the same time. So if you have the JP-8 and Juno plugouts loaded then your only option is to load the JX one. Perhaps they're fixed slots. I've only loaded the ProMARS plugout in slot 3.

thx for the answer! That's what I feared. So I can't have more than ONE bank of System-8 patches. That's a boomer and pretty stupid.

Re: Plug-outs, how do they get into the system 8?

6 Nov 2019, 18:59

Saxifraga wrote:
thx for the answer! That's what I feared. So I can't have more than ONE bank of System-8 patches. That's a boomer and pretty stupid.

If you also use Roland Cloud, you can create as many banks as you want and swap entire banks in on the fly.

Personally I think they should allow pressing shift + A–H to switch between "collections" (a term I chose for "banks of banks" to avoid confusion), which would give you 512 patch slots per synth. 64 is pretty stingy.