# TAL-J-8 (Jupiter 8 emulation) - still being updated with features!



## vitocorleone123 (Dec 14, 2020)

New from TAL. 20% discount. Early reports say it’s a bit buggy and the demo noise is terrible.

I’ll probably still get it.... 😃






TAL Software


TAL VST, AU, Audio Unit, AAX plug-ins for OSX and Windows




tal-software.com


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## Maxime Luft (Dec 14, 2020)

Did you find any audio demo yet? Looking forward!


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## Pier (Dec 14, 2020)

Woah I did not see that coming.

Thanks for sharing!


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## Pier (Dec 14, 2020)

Maxime Luft said:


> Did you find any audio demo yet? Looking forward!



Someone on GS compared it to their hardware and first impressions seem positive.









TAL J-8 (Jupiter-8 Emulation) - Gearspace.com


The TAL-J-8 is a very accurate emulation of the popular 80’s hardware synthesiser and calibrated after our own Jupiter 8 device. All sounds are generated in realtime without the use of any samples with the same endless modulation possibilities like the ha



www.gearslutz.com


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## muziksculp (Dec 14, 2020)

I just purchased the *TAL J-8*, I will give it a test drive later today.

I also have their* TAL-MOD *Synth, and highly recommend it.


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## method1 (Dec 14, 2020)

muziksculp said:


> I just purchased the *TAL J-8*, I will give it a test drive later today.
> 
> I also have their* TAL-MOD *Synth, and highly recommend it.



Also just grabbed it, should I add it to your December thread? 
MOD, Sampler & UNO-LX are all wonderful.


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## muziksculp (Dec 14, 2020)

method1 said:


> Also just grabbed it, should I add it to your December thread?
> MOD, Sampler & UNO-LX are all wonderful.



Sure, go ahead. 

I will add TAL J-8 as a Dec. purchase as well. 

Oh.. I don't have their Sampler, or UNO-LX. I will check them out. 

Does their Sampler do something special, what is it very good at ? Just curious. 

Thanks.


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## method1 (Dec 14, 2020)

muziksculp said:


> Sure, go ahead.
> 
> I will add TAL J-8 as a Dec. purchase as well.
> 
> ...



Im getting my Jupiter 8 back from being serviced this week, I have some time off work soon so maybe I'll attempt a bit of a comparison.

The sampler emulates a few classic vintage samplers, with a bunch of control over the emulated DAC section, so if you like that "vintage digital" vibe, this is the sampler for you!


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## Pier (Dec 14, 2020)

TAL MOD is fantastic.


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## muziksculp (Dec 14, 2020)

method1 said:


> The sampler emulates a few classic vintage samplers, with a bunch of control over the emulated DAC section, so if you like that "vintage digital" vibe, this is the sampler for you!



Not a big fan of that. But Thanks for the info.


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## muziksculp (Dec 14, 2020)

Pier said:


> TAL MOD is fantastic.



Yes, One of my favorite synths, also a big fan of DUNE 3.


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## Mark Elba (Dec 14, 2020)

Purchased.

The Jupiter 8 I've been waiting for! 😃

It's very, very good. With TAL-style fully scalable GUI.


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## zvenx (Dec 15, 2020)

Version 1.1.3 

Registration / demo noise volume reduced.
Possible crash fixed when create or delete plugin.
rsp


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## José Herring (Dec 15, 2020)

Oh my. $80...NoBrainer.


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## zvenx (Dec 15, 2020)

Isn't there an into 20% off ($64) showing at your end?
rsp


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## Pier (Dec 15, 2020)

Here's one of the first reviews:



I've never owned a Jupiter 8 but it sounds good.


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## tabulius (Dec 15, 2020)

I played around with the demo today and it sounded wonderful! It is very familiar sound and inspiring. I was looking Arturia V 8 collection, but maybe I’m happy with this, Zebra 2 and later I’ll get Diva as well. TAL Juno 6 looks good too.


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## vitocorleone123 (Dec 15, 2020)

tabulius said:


> I played around with the demo today and it sounded wonderful! It is very familiar sound and inspiring. I was looking Arturia V 8 collection, but maybe I’m happy with this, Zebra 2 and later I’ll get Diva as well. TAL Juno 6 is looks good too.



Unless there's specific emulations you "need", or are just looking for a good bargain, Arturia collection is often NOT the way to go. Don't forget you can also get Obsession for an OB-Xa, and bx_oberhausen for a SEM (but only buy when $49 or less), The Legend for a Model D, etc., all of which are as good as, or better than, Arturia's. And Diva can sometimes get close enough to a lot of classic synths that the differences are there, but no one would probably care if the music was good.


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## SupremeFist (Dec 15, 2020)

I'd be really interested in any opinions on this vs Diva for classic Jupiteresque sounds. (For Juno I prefer Cherry's DCO-106 over the Tal version.)


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## penfever (Dec 15, 2020)

Thanks to TAL, Arturia, Cherry Audio, et al, for (yet another) slew of lovely emulations of two classic Roland synths. Seriously, there must be a dozen of these emulations now! Honestly, even the so-so ones are pretty decent.

Now that we've hopefully, _finally _gotten the J8 mania out of our systems, can we finally talk about some of the REAL beasts out there yet to be emulated properly, or in some cases AT ALL, in software?

Yamaha CS-80
Yamaha FS-1R
Access Virus
DSI Poly Evolver
Oberheim OB-12
Kawai K5000
Roland JD-800
Hartmann Neuron

My checkbook is waiting ...


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## Pier (Dec 16, 2020)

penfever said:


> Access Virus



Have you checked Dune and Spire?


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## ReleaseCandidate (Dec 16, 2020)

Pier said:


> Have you checked Dune and Spire?



There is Viper https://www.adamszabo.com/vstplugins/viper/
You also can download the Virus wavetables from there.


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## zvenx (Dec 17, 2020)

> Version 1.1.6
> 
> Added VCO 1 and VCO2 to the SC (Service Control) dialog. This gives you the option to detune them on a voice basis. We added a very small value per default to remove the unwanted static phase lock between the two VCO's. This way the phase slightly drifts per default.
> Removed notch filter effect when syncing a saw with almost exact the same frequency.





rsp


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## shponglefan (Dec 17, 2020)

Anyone else experiencing any visual glitches? I find that for whatever reason the full display doesn't always refresh, leading to the below visual glitch. And when it does fully refresh the display, it flickers momentarily.

Their other plugins (e.g. BassLine 101, TAL-U-NO-LX) don't seem to exhibit the same issues.

It's not a deal breaker, since dragging it off screen or resizing it refreshes the full display. It's just really odd.

(This is in Studio One 5.1 on Windows 10.)


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## Mark Elba (Dec 17, 2020)

shponglefan said:


> Anyone else experiencing any visual glitches? [...]


Yes I've seen the same happen a couple of times in Logic Pro 10.6 on MacOs 10.15.7.


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## vitocorleone123 (Dec 18, 2020)

shponglefan said:


> Anyone else experiencing any visual glitches? I find that for whatever reason the full display doesn't always refresh, leading to the below visual glitch. And when it does fully refresh the display, it flickers momentarily.
> 
> Their other plugins (e.g. BassLine 101, TAL-U-NO-LX) don't seem to exhibit the same issues.
> 
> ...



No issues here yet in S1 5 in Win10.


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## Lode_Runner (Dec 22, 2020)

For those who have this already, how are you finding it?


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## Living Fossil (Dec 22, 2020)

Lode_Runner said:


> For those who have this already, how are you finding it?



So far i've just played around with the demo on several occasions, and honestly i'm wondering a bit about myself - maybe my ears need some days of vacation.

Of all hardware synths i used to work with, the Jupiter 8 and the Matrix 12 were my absolute favorite ones (followed by its rack version - The MKS80 and the Prophet VS...), and while this
TAL emulation seems to be pretty accurate it leaves me more or less unimpressed.
I also tried it with some similar effects as i used with real thing (mostly Lexicon reverbs) but it still sounds like a stranger.

It's not the same problem as with the Arturia Emulations (those simply have not very good filters - maybe it's better in the new version, haven't checked yet), it's just that it doesn't trigger any emotions as the real thing did.
In the same time, i like Diva's emulation much better (without thinking it's perfectly there).
I guess i will give my ears some rest over the christmas days and retry it again...


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## doctoremmet (Dec 23, 2020)

penfever said:


> Oberheim OB-12


This Viscount abomination with an Oberheim logo slapped on is considered a classic now?


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## ElectricFrog (Dec 23, 2020)

A walkthrough of presets, factory and third party:


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## vitocorleone123 (Dec 23, 2020)

Living Fossil said:


> So far i've just played around with the demo on several occasions, and honestly i'm wondering a bit about myself - maybe my ears need some days of vacation.
> 
> Of all hardware synths i used to work with, the Jupiter 8 and the Matrix 12 were my absolute favorite ones (followed by its rack version - The MKS80 and the Prophet VS...), and while this
> TAL emulation seems to be pretty accurate it leaves me more or less unimpressed.
> ...



You're not alone on the plugins v. hardware. I read this post yesterday comparing the TAL, Arturia, and Roland plugins to the hardware:

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/showpost.php?p=15186954&postcount=142

I like it. I have the TAL (Arturia generally don't impress me on sound but are getting better and better on interface design). But none of the Jupiter plugins excite me from any maker. Maybe they just aren't my thing, overall. I still like them.


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## SupremeFist (Dec 23, 2020)

Living Fossil said:


> In the same time, i like Diva's emulation much better (without thinking it's perfectly there).


I a/b'd the Tal against a specific Jupiteresque Diva sound I have in a track I'm working and came to the same conclusion; at least for me Diva sounds "more analogue" for the kinds of sounds I like (and I prefer the GUI).


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## Flo Leissle (Dec 24, 2020)

I will only buy this synth, when The Unfinished makes a soundset for it...


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## Maxime Luft (Dec 24, 2020)

Flo Leissle said:


> I will only buy this synth, when The Unfinished makes a soundset for it...


He's certainly not finished yet...

(ok that one was bad)


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## peladio (Dec 24, 2020)

SupremeFist said:


> I'd be really interested in any opinions on this vs Diva for classic Jupiteresque sounds. (For Juno I prefer Cherry's DCO-106 over the Tal version.)


TAL is much closer to the original though..

While I love u-he..Diva is not a Jupiter emulations so I have no doubt TAL's effort would be closer


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## Yaroslove (Dec 24, 2020)

Tal has made a great emulation of that legendary synth!


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## SupremeFist (Dec 24, 2020)

peladio said:


> TAL is much closer to the original though..
> 
> While I love u-he..Diva is not a Jupiter emulations so I have no doubt TAL's effort would be closer


I've never had a real Jupiter so I don't know, but also I don't care. Tal may well be a more accurate emulation of the specific hardware but I like the sound of Diva better for those kinds of sounds.


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## peladio (Dec 24, 2020)

SupremeFist said:


> I've never had a real Jupiter so I don't know, but also I don't care. Tal may well be a more accurate emulation of the specific hardware but I like the sound of Diva better for those kinds of sounds.


Neither have I..I was referring to TAL vs Cherry Juno 

But if you don't care about how close they are then it's probably better to stick with Diva I guess..


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## SupremeFist (Dec 24, 2020)

peladio said:


> Neither have I..I was referring to TAL vs Cherry Juno
> 
> But if you don't care about how close they are then it's probably better to stick with Diva I guess..


Sure, and I like the sound of the Cherry Juno better than the Tal one. Just my preference dude.


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## Ashermusic (Dec 24, 2020)

I think as lot of us, me included, have bought into the whole emulation thing a bit too much. Good sound is good sound, mediocre is mediocre.

I was tempted, but then I realized that with the U-he Repros and others I have, other than the fact I remember my friend David Michael Frank's Jupiter 8 fondly, I don't need it.


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## vitocorleone123 (Dec 26, 2020)

Anyone who tried the app and bought it (or tried it and was on the fence) - be sure to get the latest 1.19RC version with the enhanced SC (including Random!) and SC lock functions.

Using the SC panel REALLY brings more analog mojo to the sound. While not sounding like a different synth, it definitely sounds like a better synth. To me, anyway!

I'm now playing with the Default sound and am super impressed. I love it! The new Pan knobs in the SC aren't Random yet? Odd, but the rest are, and it's not hard to tweak those. It sounds so good. Heck, I'd bought it and was still on the fence, but now....

Going to spending some hours today I think on just this synth, learning it better. I'm impressed. I can definitely recommend this synth now, especially at the intro price.


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## ElectricFrog (Jan 10, 2021)

A side by side comparison between TAL J8 and Arturia Jup-8 V 4


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## vitocorleone123 (Jan 10, 2021)

ElectricFrog said:


> A side by side comparison between TAL J8 and Arturia Jup-8 V 4



Do they say what version of the TAL synth they’re using? It’s cut off in the video (I’m not somewhere I can listen at the moment). It makes a difference.


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## Pier (Jan 10, 2021)

ElectricFrog said:


> A side by side comparison between TAL J8 and Arturia Jup-8 V 4



I think there is something wrong with the audio of that video. I hear something like nasty aliasing on the high end on both synths which I don't think should be there.


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## EvilDragon (Jan 11, 2021)

vitocorleone123 said:


> but are getting better and better on interface design



"wasting screen real estate for useless overly skeumorphic UIs" is not really getting better on interface design


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## vitocorleone123 (Jan 16, 2021)

Think it's up to v. 1.25 now....


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## Jkist (Jan 17, 2021)

Yeah, the new patches by "Himilaya" are the best presets in the synth IMO, they slay.


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## vitocorleone123 (Jan 18, 2021)

Jkist said:


> Yeah, the new patches by "Himilaya" are the best presets in the synth IMO, they slay.


1.2.6 is out with some supposed CPU optimizations. This guy's a madman with a relentless update schedule. I just wish it could update automatically.


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## Living Fossil (Jan 18, 2021)

Jkist said:


> Yeah, the new patches by "Himilaya" are the best presets in the synth IMO, they slay.


Where do you see them?

My version (1.2.6 - yeah, had to buy it...  ) only shows the following preset packs:





EDIT: Found them... I just saw there is a separate download on the TAL homepage....


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## kgdrum (Jan 18, 2021)

vitocorleone123 said:


> 1.2.6 is out with some supposed CPU optimizations. This guy's a madman with a relentless update schedule. I just wish it could update automatically.


Besides the continual lack of funds I’m actually trying to hold off buying he J-8 until the end of the introduction period so I get as close the finished product as possible.I don’t have the patience to update this 2 or 3 times a week,lol 
Patrick listens to customer comments and applies tweaks, incorporates suggestions and updates products at a furious pace.
I already have TAL’s U-No-LX and Tal Sampler which are great,this will be a nice addition to the toolbox.


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## vitocorleone123 (Jan 21, 2021)

.... and....

1.2.7 is out. I'd not mention it, except the RC (aka Release Candidate) tag has been removed, meaning it's "real" now. I suspect the furious pace of updates will begin to wane in the come month or so.

Please update if you haven't. Many, MANY things have been updated vs. when it was first available. See for youself:

CHANGE LOG​
Version 1.2.7
CPU optimisations.
Sound quality improvements.
Demo added (jupiter 8 vs tal-j-8)

Version 1.2.6
CPU optimisations.
Sound quality improvements.

Version 1.2.5
Possible crash introduced with 1.2.4 fixed.
VCO-1 sync option added.

Version 1.2.4
Sound enhancements (cross modulation, vco instability).
127 additional factory presets. Please download the presets from the preset section if you have installed an older version of the plugin.

Version 1.2.2
VCO modulation does not affect VCO 2 when in LOW FREQUENCY mode fixed.
Improved cross modulation (bug fix).
Slightly lower CPU usage (still working on this).

Version 1.2.1
Noise oscillator in unison mode fixed.
Factory presets load with doubled LFO rate fixed.
SC dialog can also be closed when clicking on the SC button.
FX lock not working fixed.
MIDI lock not working fixed.

Version 1.2.0
VST3 id fixed on windows to be compatible with macOS.
The plugin maybe not load anymore in existing sessions after the update. You can still download 1.1.9 for older projects. You can rename the TAL-J-8.vst3 folder of the older 1.1.9 plug-in in C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3 and run both plugins parallel as long you need it in older sessions.
Windows < 1.2.0 compatible VST3 version:
_archive_ *Windows 1.1.9 deprecated*

Version 1.1.9
Synced delay always 120 Bpm fixed.
VCO Pitchwheel amount shows wrong value fixed.
Voice panorama parameter in the SC dialog added.
vst3 installed with installer not found by ableton 10 fixed.

Version 1.1.8
Bug Fixes.

Version 1.1.7
Improved SC dialog.
SC / Calibration lock.
Bug fixes.

Version 1.1.6
Added VCO 1 and VCO2 to the SC (Service Control) dialog. This gives you the option to detune them on a voice basis. We added a very small value per default to remove the unwanted static phase lock between the two VCO's. This way the phase slightly drifts per default.
Removed notch filter effect when syncing a saw with almost exact the same frequency.

Version 1.1.5
No sound with Audio Unit in Live fixed.

Version 1.1.4
Crash when importing microtuning *.tun files fixed.

Version 1.1.3
Registration / demo noise volume reduced.
Possible crash fixed when create or delete plugin.

Version 1.1.1
Portamento fix.
SC dialog when changing presets fixed.


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## SupremeFist (Jan 28, 2021)

This now sounds to me significantly better than it did on release, so I bought it. Super nice!


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## vitocorleone123 (Feb 5, 2021)

Updates have slowed dramatically

Current is 1.3.2.


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## Mark Evans (Feb 11, 2021)

EvilDragon said:


> "wasting screen real estate for useless overly skeumorphic UIs" is not really getting better on interface design


Normally I'd agree with you but the Jupiter 8 is the only 'classic' analog synth I know well on account of a friend who owned one and it pleases me that a couple of decades later I can look at a very similar thing and have slightly more of a clue about what's going on.

Tune with everything done on the J-8:


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## vitocorleone123 (Feb 11, 2021)

EvilDragon said:


> "wasting screen real estate for useless overly skeumorphic UIs" is not really getting better on interface design


There's a lot of facets and trade-offs to product design.

_Yes, I'm admittedly biased because I'm a professional product designer (mostly mobile UX), not a professional musician._


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## EvilDragon (Feb 12, 2021)

vitocorleone123 said:


> There's a lot of facets and trade-offs to product design.


You won't find me disagreeing with that statement


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## vitocorleone123 (Mar 25, 2021)

Current version: 1.4.1.

I wish the product had a Check Updates feature that allowed for automatic updates.

For awhile, early on, I was wondering if I'd keep it around. But it's truly evolved and cemented it's place in my primary soft-synth plugin folder.

The more recent changes in the changelog:


Version 1.4.1 / 25.03.2021
Skips presets when using arrow buttons in some hosts fixed.
Minor bug fixes.
UI refresh.

Version 1.4.0
Possible crash fixed when hitting play in your DAW.
MIDI PANEL mode added (button on the top right). MIDI LEARN controls the actual panel when enabled.
VCA LFO modulation smoothed to be more like on the hardware.
Super small adjustment to the SAW waveform. It affects only very low played saws. You may not be able to hear any difference. Done just to be more accurate to the original hardware.

Version 1.3.9
Releasing sustain pedal also releases holding notes fixed.

Version 1.3.8
VST2 UI position problem when hide / show keyboard fixed.
Plugin does not send MIDI output fixed (useful for recording the arpeggiator output).

Version 1.3.7
Possible crash while switching presets or arpeggiator mode / range fixed.
Arpeggiator mode and range changes whithout pressing a note.
Toggle switch changes with mouse click improved.

Version 1.3.6
Arpeggiator backward compatibility fix (arp switch added).
Arpeggiator HOLD issues introduced with 1.3.5 fixed.

Version 1.3.5
Arpeggiator fix. The arpeggiator is now the same like on a real Jupiter 8. It will sound different in most cases if you already used the arpeggiator in an existing track. We also decided to implement only the real behaviour without any switches (we maybe add other modes in the future).
Scaling issues on windows fixed.

Version 1.3.3
Changing number of voices sometimes did not work. Fixed.
Linux VST3 plugin resizing bug fixed.
Improved Service Control (SC) UI.

Version 1.3.2
First note not playing at dead start in some hosts fixed.
Smoother changes when changing ADSR values.

Version 1.3.0
Long release times not possible fixed (introduced by 1.2.6)

Version 1.2.9
Long decay times not possible fixed (introduced by 1.2.6)

Version 1.2.8
Added some lag in the envelope attack with vco modulations.
Slightly calibrated cross mod. This is fix now. Sorry for the issues...

Version 1.2.7
CPU optimisations.
Sound quality improvements.
Demo added (jupiter 8 vs tal-j-8)


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## kgdrum (Mar 25, 2021)

vitocorleone123 said:


> Current version: 1.4.1.
> 
> I wish the product had a Check Updates feature that allowed for automatic updates.
> 
> ...


+1 agree
It’s almost pathological how often and how many updates the TAL synths receive.


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